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So please turn in your Bibles 
to Ecclesiastes chapter 8. Ecclesiastes chapter 8. While you're turning there, I want 
to make a necessary qualification. We are currently studying or 
engaged in a series on biblical ethics. Remember, several years 
ago I read a book on the law of God and its application in 
society. And I was speaking to another 
minister about that particular book, and he critiqued it or 
he criticized it by saying there wasn't much gospel in it. Well, 
that wasn't true because there was a lot of gospel in it, but 
the primary focus of the book was to set forth the Bible's 
teaching on the law of God. And it's because of our love 
for the gospel and our commitment to the Lord of the gospel that 
we are studying what the Bible says concerning biblical ethics 
and their place in society. Jesus said in the Great Commission 
that we are to go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. We do that by preaching the gospel, 
preaching the good news that Jesus lived and died and rose 
again so that sinners may have everlasting life. We preach that 
salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus 
Christ alone. But then Christ goes on to tell 
us that we are to teach those newly made disciples to observe 
all things that I have commanded. And Christ speaks in both the 
Old and the New Testaments, so it is our duty to recognize the 
voice of the Redeemer and to seek, by God's good grace, to 
put it into application in our own individual lives, in our 
families, in our churches. And yea, we ought to be prayerful 
that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And that 
will is defined for us in the pages of the Old and the New 
Testaments. Well, I'll just pick up reading 
in Ecclesiastes chapter 8, beginning at verse 1. Who is like a wise 
man, and who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes 
his face shine, and the sternness of his face is changed. I say, 
keep the king's commandment for the sake of your oath to God. 
Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand 
for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him. Where the 
word of a king is, there is power. And who may say to him, What 
are you doing? He who keeps his command will 
experience nothing harmful. And a wise man's heart discerns 
both time and judgment, because for every matter there is a time 
in judgment, though the misery of man increases greatly. For 
he does not know what will happen, so who can tell him when it will 
occur? No one has power over the spirit 
to retain the spirit, and no one has the power in the day 
of death. There is no release from that war, and wickedness 
will not deliver those who are given to it. All this I have 
seen and applied my heart to every work that is done under 
the sun. There is a time in which one 
man rules over another to his own hurt. Then I saw the wicked 
Bury, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they 
were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is 
vanity. Because the sentence against 
an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts 
of the Son of Man is fully set in them to do evil. Though a 
sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet 
I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, 
who fear before Him. But it will not be well with 
the wicked, nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, 
because he does not fear before God. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, as we come to consider 
Your Holy Scripture now, we pray for the ministry of Your Spirit. 
God, we revel in and we delight in the freeness of our salvation, 
the fact that You have saved us and redeemed us, not because 
of any righteousness which we have done, not because we are 
lawful, or not because we have gathered up good works, but solely 
based on Your grace and through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ 
do we stand. We pray that even now, Lord God, 
You would help us to understand Your Word in all of its detail, 
in all of its address to this world. We pray that You would 
give us the mind of Christ and help us genuinely to think Your 
thoughts after You. We pray for any that may be here 
that are unconverted, that do not know Jesus Christ as Lord 
and Savior. We pray that the fear of God 
would be promoted in their own hearts and in their own minds. 
and that they would be led to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
for the salvation of their souls. We pray now, God, that you would 
forgive us and cleanse us, for we know that sin does cast a 
darkening influence over our minds. And we pray that you would 
just cleanse us afresh in the blood of the Redeemer and cause 
us to see your word. And we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen. Well, this morning we're going 
to continue in this sermon or this series on biblical ethics 
and we'll notice what the Bible says concerning criminal punishment. what the Bible specifies in terms 
of penal sanctions. The technical term for this study 
is penology, p-e-n-o-l-o-g-y, the study of the doctrine of 
punishments and how we are to deal with a criminal class in 
society. And we see a very relevant text 
here in Ecclesiastes 8 at verse 11. Because the sentence against 
an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart 
of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." I'll argue 
in just a moment that this has reference to temporal society 
or to the here and the now. I believe verses 12 and 13 then 
move on to eternity and God's handling of, God's dealing with 
those who continue impenitent in His presence. But for our 
subject this morning, we'll focus on verse 11 and we'll notice 
the temporal judgment of God and make several observations 
on this text and then move into some areas of practical application. Warn you, there is a lot here. 
We probably will not get to all of it. So God willing, whatever 
we do not see this morning, we'll pick up in this evening. And 
basically, the applications that I want to make this morning are, 
first of all, some general principles of what the Bible says concerning 
punishment of criminals. Secondly, the biblical methods 
of punishment. Thirdly, the immorality of the 
prison system. I realize, again, on a Sunday 
morning you're coming in here, we don't think about prison systems 
and the immorality of it. You know what? It is immoral. 
And I'm not saying we shouldn't pray for prisoners or go visit 
them or try to minister to them. I'm just saying, as an institution, 
and this is no dig at my brother who works in the prison, I'm 
not asking that he be out of a job or anything like that, 
but we need to see that what we think is humane in our own 
day and age is actually barbaric according to the word of God. 
And that what we often classify as barbarism that is revealed 
in the scriptures is full of dignity and full of respect even 
for the criminal. One of the things I've been struck 
with in doing this particular study is that God maintains a 
respect for the dignity even of a criminal. They continue 
to bear his image, and as a result they must be punished as image-bearers 
of the living and true God. And because that doesn't happen, 
we then well up with all this vigilante mindset, and, oh, that 
creep should die, and all that sort of thing. Well, if the magistrate 
functioned according to God's word, we probably would be a 
lot more righteous in our dealings in this particular area. Then 
the fourth observation, a practical application, is the dignity of 
biblical punishment. And then fifth and final, again, 
these are just the applications, the necessity to flee to Christ 
for salvation. But let's first look at Ecclesiastes 
8 and verse 11 and make four observations by way of exposition. Notice, first of all, that this 
verse deals with criminal justice in society. Criminal justice 
in society. Go back to verse 2. I say, keep 
the king's commandment for the sake of your oath to God. Honor 
and obey the king. That happens here on earth. That 
happens here in the lower world. This is what the responsibility 
is in terms of our relationship in society. Romans 13 and 1 Peter 
chapter 2 deal with this very theme. We are told in Romans 
13, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, 
for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist 
are established by God. We are to be good citizens. Now, obviously our citizenship 
is in heaven. We are sojourners and pilgrims 
in this lower world. But as sojourners and pilgrims, 
we are to be law-abiding. We are to be upright. We are 
to be good citizens. We are to obey the civil magistrate 
insofar as they do not tell us to sin against God. Notice the 
language in the text itself at verse 11, because the sentence 
against an evil work is not executed speedily. The execution of a 
sentence speaks of judicial terminology. It has reference to the law courts. It has reference to punishment 
or sanctions imposed. And then notice as well, it says 
an evil work. This is something we'll develop 
in a bit more detail when we look at what the Bible says concerning 
capital punishment. The Bible says that we are to 
capitally punish those who engage in evil works, not thoughts. God is not Orwellian. He doesn't 
mandate that the state come and punish you for thought crime. 
He mandates that the state punish you for crime. God's going to 
deal with what you think. The state is to deal with what 
you do. All sin is crime, but not all 
crime, or all crime rather is sin, but not all sin is crime. 
God deals with sin. He has tasked the magistrate 
to deal with those external works or acts which infringe upon the 
rights and liberties of others. The same thing is thought, or 
is given to us in Romans 13. In Romans 13 at verse 3, for 
rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil, to evil works. And that's what's in view here 
in Ecclesiastes 8.11, the execution of a judicial sentence against 
an evil work. And then continuing on in this 
observation, we notice that the execution of punishment is supposed 
to take place by the magistrate. See, we have a problem when the 
government or when the authorities who we pay a lot of money to 
don't punish criminals. You say, well, that's not right. 
It's not only not right, it's highly ungodly. And as well, 
the execution of punishment is supposed to take place speedily. That doesn't mean without a regard 
for due process, every man is entitled to due process of law. 
But a 10-year trial? A 15-year trial, a however long 
trial, these things are not to take place. In fact, a criminal 
deserves to be punished speedily. So this verse deals with criminal 
justice in society. A second observation on Ecclesiastes 
8.11 is that the verse highlights the restraining power of law 
and penal sanctions. Right? The law cannot save us, 
the law cannot change our hearts, but the law can restrain the 
heartless. Greg Bonson says the law of God 
contains both positive demands and penal sanctions. It not only 
commands the full discharge of its precepts, but also the infliction 
of appropriate penalty for all infractions. Both of these elements 
must be heeded, or else the law of God is not being kept. Not 
only are we supposed to observe the law, but those who violate 
its precepts are to be punished accordingly. Now, as we go through 
this, it's probably going to cause you to say, wait a minute, 
this doesn't happen today. Exactly. That's why we need to 
study this. This is why we as Christians 
need to be able to think biblically, so that if somebody we work with 
says, well, what would you do? Well, I would do this, because 
this is what the Bible says. Wow, that makes sense. If you've 
ever gotten into a discussion with anybody about biblical ethics, 
you'll generally see the light pop on over their heads. That 
makes a lot of sense. Well, of course it does, because 
God makes a lot of sense. Let's return to the Owner's Manual. Let's go back to the instruction 
manual. Humanism has certainly not yielded 
the results we would all like. Not when we're afraid to walk 
down the streets in Chilliwack. When the lower mainland is populated 
with the UN and the scorpions and the spiders and the thugs 
that are running the streets. When law-abiding, decent citizens 
have to be afraid to walk to the store to get a bottle of 
milk? Oh, we can't have that Old Testament law. That's barbaric. 
No, barbarism is, I can't walk to the store to get a loaf of 
bread. One of these old dolls walking 
with her walkers can't walk to the store without being accosted. 
It's wretched. Humanism is barbaric, brethren, 
not theology, not God's will. This verse, thirdly, demonstrates 
the provocation of wicked men. Because the sentence against 
an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore, there's 
an implication. If you don't do this, something 
happens. What's the therefore? Therefore, 
the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 
We're not helping them. Let's just take this to a very 
practical level. When your little child is asserting 
him or herself with no, no, no, no, no, then you don't do anything 
to restrain that? Not only are you not helping 
them, you are promoting more evil. You may not like to hear 
this, I may not like to hear this. I'm not as consistent or 
as faithful in my execution of parental authority as I ought 
to be. You see, when you take a sinner 
and you don't seek to restrain them, what happens? They grow. They grow in evil. They grow 
in wickedness. They grow in their depravity, 
and that's precisely what the preacher says in Ecclesiastes 
8.11. Because the sentence against 
an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart 
of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. It is not 
only the quantity of evil works that increase, but the perversity 
of evil works increase as well. Now, some of you older people 
in our midst probably look at the news today and you're just 
real. Things like that didn't happen 
when you were a little kid. I mean, I'm not even that old 
and things that are going on today didn't happen when I was 
a little kid. What is going on? Well, we don't 
want to do anything to ever infringe upon the ability of this particular 
person, so we'll just let him go. Are we going to let him go 
into sin, more depravity, more evil? As we've had cause to notice 
in our study on biblical ethics, what we see around us really 
shouldn't surprise us. When we have pretty much thrown 
God out of society, we will get a slice of hell on earth because 
ultimately that's what hell is. Hell is a place where all of 
the goodness and the kindness and the gracious influence and 
restraint of God is removed. That's why when you read in Romans 
1 and one of the punishments that God does is he gives them 
over. Sinners look at that and say, 
oh, blessed liberty. No, that's damning depravity. When God gives a people over 
to their own sin, nothing could be worse. That is the essence 
of hell. What we get is when men, wicked 
men, are provoked, we end up with all kinds of problems in 
society. When wicked men are provoked 
and their hearts are fully set to do evil, well, then righteous 
men can't go out together. loaf of bread. We have to invest 
in more locks. We have to get alarm systems. 
We have to put clubs on our cars. We have to do all these things 
because the moon's bringing the heat to bear upon the criminal. 
And a fourth observation, with reference to Ecclesiastes 8.11, 
is the verse teaches God's consciousness with reference to civil justice. 
The fact that this is in the Bible, along with the whole host 
of other passages we have referred to in this series, tells us that 
while the magistrate in our day may not care, and while the criminal 
certainly doesn't care, and while a lot of Christians may say, 
why would you go to the Old Testament on a Sunday morning and evidence 
that they don't care, God Most High is in heaven. and he looks 
down upon the sons of men, and he sees the evil that is rampant. He has given his will, he has 
given the means to seek to restrain that, and yet we have said no 
to God. God is concerned with what goes 
on in society. So that is a brief exposition 
of Ecclesiastes 8.11. Now we'll broaden out to the 
rest of the Bible as we make those applications I said earlier. 
The first is some general principles of biblical punishment. Some 
general principles of biblical punishment. The first is that 
punishment of criminals is necessary in order to protect non-criminals. 
If I were to give you a piece of paper and a pen and say, I 
want you to write down everything the government is supposed to 
do. Conditioned as we have been, we'd probably write a volume. 
When we could probably get away with writing on the front of 
one page. The government is not supposed 
to have their hand in everything. But one of the things they're 
most certainly to have a hand in is the restraint of wickedness 
in society. That's the whole point of Romans 
13. They are to provide a context 
wherein people who don't engage in criminal activity can go about 
unmolested and can do what God has called them to do. In order 
to exercise dominion in this world, there has to be a context 
where we're not afraid to go get a loaf of bread from the 
store, where we can carry out our tasks as workers without 
being threatened without being killed, without being molested, 
without having things done harmfully to our person. Secondly, punishment 
of criminals is necessary in order to carry out God's wrath 
in history. Turn to Romans 13 for a moment. 
Romans 13, and we're going to investigate this in a bit more 
detail in another couple of weeks. But just for our own purposes 
this morning, notice what one of the functions of the governing 
authority is. It's to punish criminals in order 
for God or in order to carry out God's wrath in history. Actually 
pick up in Romans chapter 12 at verse 17. Repay no one evil for evil. Have 
regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, 
as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, 
do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For 
it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. For those of you who might have 
been a little uncomfortable singing Psalm 94, consider this verse. I mean, we're just saying, God 
of vengeance, O Jehovah, God of vengeance, O shine forth. 
Render to the proud their worth. And there's something probably 
in the deepest recesses of our hearts that say, is this okay? 
Because we have been conditioned. Like it or not, we have been 
conditioned, humanistically. When we sing Psalm 94, we are 
obeying Romans 12, 19. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves. If we didn't sing Psalm 94 and 
we went off and got our hunting rifles and we sat down at the 
five corners and just started, you know, taking out gang members, 
we'd be violating Romans 12, 19. We'd be avenging ourselves. But 
notice, but rather give place to wrath. Allah sings Psalm 94. Pray to the Lord God Most High 
to execute His just judgments in this world. It's not wrong 
for a new covenant Christian, created or recreated in the image 
of Christ, to cry out for God to visit child molesters and 
pedophiles and rapists and murderers with punishment. If that's wrong, 
then God himself is wrong because he's against those things. We are giving place to wrath, 
for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the 
Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, 
feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a 
drink, for in so doing you will heat coals of fire on his head. 
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Now, 
in verse 1 of chapter 13, there's no adverse in it. In other words, 
there's no but, or and, or stop, or any major change in the context. This flows naturally from what 
has been said. Don't avenge yourselves, but 
rather give place to wrath. Romans 13 is the expression of 
God's wrath in history. Look at the text. Let every soul 
be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except 
from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 
Therefore, whoever resists the authority, resists the ordinance 
of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you 
want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will 
have praise from the same. for he is God's minister to you 
for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, 
for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister 
and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil." You 
see, the magistrate fulfills a God-ordained role in bringing 
God's wrath to bear in history. You say, well, that's not what 
we think. Well, that's what God says. Thirdly, punishment of criminals 
is necessary in order to root out evil from society. Well, 
it'll always be here, so why bother? Okay, your kid's always 
going to rebel, so don't ever spank him. No. We'll operate under the assumption 
that when we spank them, we can hopefully restrain some of that 
evil. I'm not preaching a utopia on 
Earth. Contrary to the misrepresentations of post-millennial eschatology, 
I do not believe in a utopia on earth. But I do believe that 
Christians better get serious about praying that petition in 
the Lord's Prayer that God's will be done on earth as it is 
in heaven. In heaven, there is no abortion. 
In heaven, there is no pedophilia. In heaven, there is no gang violence. Fourthly, punishment that is 
consistently carried out serves as a deterrent to would-be criminals. This is one of the objections 
to the death penalty. It doesn't deter crime. Well, 
it deters at least one criminal's crime. When you execute a man, 
he doesn't go out and commit that crime again. But you know, 
God's Word tells us just the opposite. See, this is the subtlety 
of Satan. We actually hear that and say, 
well, I guess it doesn't really deter crime. God says, if you 
do evil, be afraid. You should be afraid to go out 
and do wrong in society. You should be afraid to commit 
a crime. This is what the Word of God 
says. If you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword 
in vain, for he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath 
on him who practices evil." I submit we have not got a society where 
anyone's afraid to do anything wrong because nothing happens. 
Fifth, punishment inflicted is to be consistent with the crime 
committed. Man is said to be punished according 
to his guilt, Deuteronomy 25, 2. According to his wickedness, 
2 Samuel 3, 39. According to his own ways, Ezekiel 
33, 20. This comes to expression in the 
civil arena as a just reward, according to Hebrews 2 and verse 
2. And it is summarized in what 
men have called the law of retribution. or the lex taliotis, an eye for 
an eye. Punishment inflicted is to be 
consistent with the crime. A sixth observation by way of 
a general principle. Punishment is intended to be 
certain. It is to be certain and without 
mercy or pity to the criminal. Here's another area where we've 
lost it. The man was in court and he showed no remorse. I don't 
care. God is in the business of promoting 
remorse. God is in the business of promoting 
repentance. God is in the business of changing 
the heart. The magistrate is to inflict 
punishment for criminal activity. The very names of our prisons, 
penitentiary, or penitentiary, penitentiary. Is that the word? 
I can't think of it. Penitentiary. God is concerned. We'll step 
over that boundary. Punishment is intended to be 
certain, without mercy or pity to the criminal, no matter who 
he is. Doesn't matter if he's rich, 
doesn't matter if he's poor. Remember we referred to the Lady 
Justice? She's got a blindfold on. She 
wants to see her bankroll and be swayed. She's got her scale 
in one hand and her sword in the other and a blindfold on. 
Why? Because if you're rich or you're 
poor, it doesn't matter. If you've committed a crime, 
you are going to be punished. And seventhly, punishment should 
be consistent with the law of God. This should go without saying, 
I wrestled with even putting it on here, but we are 21st century 
evangelicals. Verne Poitras says, since all 
authority derives from Christ, all authority is answerable to 
him. We actually have this idea that 
it's okay that the government does whatever they want. No! 
If they are instituted by God, they're answerable to God. This 
is why the psalmist in Psalm 2 instructs the judges and the 
kings in his day to kiss the sun lest he be angry and they 
perish in his way when his wrath is too little but a little. That's 
why the Proverbs say righteousness exalts a nation. Sin is a reproach 
to anything. All actions of the state ought 
to conform to God's standard of justice revealed in Christ. Just to remind us all, Christ 
speaks as loudly in the Old Testament as He speaks in the New Testament. This is what Christ was talking 
about when He said, Go and teach them to observe all things that 
I have commanded, and lo, I am with you always to the end. of 
the age. There are a lot of things in 
the New Testament that are not repeated. A lot of things that 
the New Testament doesn't prescribe that we find in the Old Testament. 
We are to study that. We are to seek by the grace of 
God to apply that. We are to pray that that will 
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now, secondly, by way 
of a major application, the biblical methods of punishment. It's very 
great because there's only three. Beautiful. We don't need, you 
know, a library full of reams and poems to tell us how to deal 
with criminals. The Bible's very clear. There's 
three basic ways. The first is restitution, or 
repayment, or compensation. Now, I was thinking, too, preaching 
to those people, you're going, oh, this sounds like Sharia law. 
This sounds like Islam. No, it isn't. The Bible never 
said cut off a thief's hand, because then the thief couldn't 
pay back. You've got to have both hands to work in order to 
pay that debt back. Only one instance in the entire 
Old Testament that speaks of cutting off a hand. And it's 
a very unique situation that probably didn't occur very often. And it had to do with somebody 
who jeopardized the fruitfulness of someone else in terms of legitimate 
flow of seed. Deuteronomy 25, if you want to 
look at that later. I don't want the kids to be thinking 
about, what about this? Kind of an interesting case. 
Restitution. Payback. Exodus 22, verse 3, he shall 
make full restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall 
be sold for his theft. Or, of course, indentured servitude, 
biblical slavery. Differs a lot from what we know 
of as slavery, which we really can't get into it a whole lot. 
But suffice to say, this was a prescribed penalty in Israel. The second form is corporal punishment. Again, I just think about myself. 
I didn't hear sermons like this when I was coming up in the church. 
I wish I would have, because it's so beautiful to see what 
the Bible says, to know what it means, to see that what we 
might have believed was really weird and bizarre is actually 
perfectly equitable. Corporal punishment. Then the 
third is capital punishment, the death penalty, which deserves 
a sermon. all on its own. But just for 
a moment, turn to Deuteronomy 25. Deuteronomy 25, in this issue 
of corporal punishment. If anything, this is illustrative 
of how we can often go astray in our minds and in our hearts 
in thinking that something in the Bible is really kind of harsh 
and really has no place in the society of men in our own day. 
Deuteronomy 25 verses 1 to 3 deals with corporal punishment. If there is a dispute between 
men and they come to court, that the judges may judge them, and 
they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, then it shall 
be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge 
will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according 
to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. Forty blows 
he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and 
beat him with many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated 
in your sight." I'm just going to ask you for a few moments, 
do not be embarrassed. Do not think Butler's really 
gone off the deep end now. He has just entered into the 
realm of clinical whacked-out-ness. I realize that this sounds odd 
to us. I realize that we hear of the 
stories in Sharia, and we freak out, oh, is that what the Bible 
is like? I realize we have not seen anything like this, and 
it does come to us as foreign as God's sovereignty in the salvation 
of sinners. But you have to notice, specifically, 
there are five elements to this punishment that are absolutely 
amazing. The first is that there must 
be a proper trial. There must be a proper trial. You just walk into a store, steal 
something, walk out, and there they were with rots, you know, 
letting you have it. There's a proper trial. If there 
is dispute between men, and they come to court, that the judges 
may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the 
wicked. Due process. They've listened. They've weighed 
evidence. They've heard the story. They have now justified the righteous, 
and they have condemned the wicked. That's what we want. Due process 
of law. We want proper trials. Notice 
there must be proper supervision. Notice verse two, then it shall 
be if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge 
will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence. I was thinking about this. The 
judges, if they're functioning righteously, ought to be paid 
a lot of money. They ought to be paid a lot of 
money so that they perform well, not so that they're, you know, 
balanced and skewed and bribed, but they ought to be treated 
with respect because they got a big job. There must be proper 
supervision, so that when the sentence is carried out, it is 
carried out without mercy, without pity, or without too much barbarism, 
without too much punishment. Thirdly, there must be a proper 
limit. There must be a proper limit 
and be beaten in his presence according to his guilt with a 
certain number of blows. I'm sorry, that's proper proportion 
according to his guilt. I mean, if a guy steals a candy 
bar, you don't beat him with 35 rods, probably. If a guy is a repeat offender, 
that may go into the sentence. You beat him, or you inflict 
this punishment according to his guilt. There must be, fourthly, 
a proper limit. Forty blows he may give him, 
and no more. Not to exceed that. Later on, 
they would only give thirty-nine, lest they get too close to the 
forty there. And fifth, there must be proper 
dignity. This is just amazing. Look at 
it, verse 3. Praise God that he's concerned for the brother 
who violated the law and deserves to be punished. Nevertheless, 
he's got dignity. Christopher Wright commenting 
on this passage says, it is sad that in the popular perception 
the Old Testament is so often vilified for the severity of 
its punishments. Whereas this law, with its careful 
limitations and its explicit protection of the rights and 
dignity of criminals, is overlooked. There is wisdom here. There is 
beauty here. There is justice here. There 
is the balance of mercy and severity. There is all things we expect 
from a wise and a gracious and a good God who knows how to order 
society. Paul himself received this on 
five occasions, according to 2 Corinthians 11. It certainly 
did not promote in the Apostle Paul a desire for penal reform. He didn't go to Jerusalem with 
a sign that said, we need to change the corporal punishment 
laws. He received this five times. 
And you know, you can hear the objections now. I mean, hopefully 
they're not going out in your heads, probably to some degree. 
I realize new ideas often challenge us. But I'm just asking you to 
take this, pray about it, and see that this is not barbaric. But we hear things, and we might 
think, like, wow, that's very severe. That's very harsh. That's very hard. I got a piece 
of practical wisdom for you. Don't go out and do anything 
wrong with that. Be afraid. I guarantee that if any of our 
children were victimized or brutalized, we would probably be very content 
with the implications. You know, we've tried a whole 
host of other things that are man-centered to the core and 
have we made a better society? Have we promoted more peace? 
Have we made an environment where there is lawfulness? happiness and righteousness, 
not in some utopian manner, but again, so that lowly people in 
our generation don't have to be afraid to go get a loaf of 
bread at the store. I submit, brethren, that God 
most high knows what's right for society. He has said the 
methods of punishment are to be restitution, corporal punishment, 
and execution for capital Again, we'll deal with that, God-willing, 
next time we're in biblical Athens. We'll turn back to Ecclesiastes 
8 and verse 11. As we conclude, we'll look at 
this critique, or the critique of the prison system, God-willing, 
tonight. The dignity of biblical punishment. 
I just want to end now. I know there's been a lot to 
think through, a lot to digest. But look at Ecclesiastes 8, verse 
11. Because the sentence against 
an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart 
of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a 
sinner, verse 12, does evil a hundred times and his days are prolonged, 
yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, 
who fear before him. But it will not be well with 
the wicked, nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow 
because he does not fear before God. We have now moved in verses 
12 to 13 with God's healing. Society may falter. Society may 
reject. Society may not impose the lawful 
sanctions. Society may reject every bit 
of God's wisdom, and sinners may be provoked, and the sons 
of men may be given more fully over to do evil. But there is 
a day of reckoning coming, and this text assures us of this. 
no sinner will escape the judgment of God. They may escape the judgment 
of the civil magistrate, they may escape the judgment today, 
they may go in and steal or rape or pillage or destroy or do any 
number of things and end up not being touched by the law, but 
stand before the just judge of all the earth, all men will do. 
The blessedness of those who fear God is displayed here. It 
will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. Now remember, in the Old Testament, 
when you read the fear of the Lord, that is simply another 
way of saying being a Christian. Being fearful of God, according 
to the Old Testament, is recognizing several things. Recognizing who 
God is in His dignity, who God is in His majesty and in His 
glory, who God is in His infinite wisdom and power, in His grace 
and in His mercy. The fear of God means seeing 
ourselves before Him. It is akin to the prophet Isaiah, 
who, when he was confronted with the holiness of God, he said, 
Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and 
I dwell among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the 
Lord. The fear of God is how we see 
God and how we see ourselves in relationship to Him. The fear 
of God is that which promotes a casting of oneself upon the 
grace of God. Remember Newton's famous hymn. 
We sang it this morning before a prayer meeting. "'Twas grace 
that taught my heart to fear." That's what Solomon, who wrote 
the book of Ecclesiastes, is talking about. The blessedness 
of those who fear God. It will be well with those who 
fear God, who fear before Him. I want it to be well with each 
and every one in this room. when you stand before God. You 
may not be a rapist, a pedophile, a murderer, or a gang member. 
You may not have a card carrying membership in the Scorpions or 
the Spiders. You may, by all intents and appearances, 
look to be a very respectable human being. But before God, 
you have sinned. The Bible is clear. All have 
sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, 
no, not one. There is none who understands. 
There is none who seeks after God. The capstone on that section 
says, there is no fear of God before their eyes, Romans 3.18. 
In order for it to go well for you on that day of judgment, 
there is one refuge, there is one place, there is one solace, 
there is one hope, one comfort, one help, and that's Jesus. Jesus 
Christ. You believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ and you shall be saved. That's the statement of Holy 
Scripture. That's the testimony from the beginning to the end. 
You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. 
And you will be able to stand before God on that day clothed 
in a righteousness not your own. Clothed in a righteousness which 
avails with God because God gave it to you. That's how it will 
be well for those who fear God. Calvary is the place where you 
need to learn to fear God. That bloody cross, that spectacle 
of spectacles, when the Savior, as our brother pointed out, cried 
out, why hast thou forsaken me? You look there and you will live. 
And you will be fit to stand before God on that coming day 
of judgment. But you know this text, according 
to the preacher, tells us the damnation of those who don't 
fear God. It says, Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and 
his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with 
those who fear God, who fear before him. But it will not be 
well with the wicked. You hear this today. You listen. You may think I'm 
nuts. Corporal punishment. You're crazy. You listen. And 
you listen good. If you're not in Jesus Christ, 
it will not be well with you. You're not in Jesus Christ, it 
will not be well with you. This is the consistent testimony 
of holy men. The preacher is clear. Nor will he prolong his 
days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before 
God. Matthew Henry said, Sinners herein 
deceive themselves, for though the sentence be not executed 
speedily, it will be executed the more severely at last. Vengeance 
comes slowly, but it comes surely. And wrath is in the meantime 
treasured up against the day of wrath. Elijah, prophet of old, who ministered 
in the days of Ahab, who ministered in a time when Israel would go 
a whoring from God. They would go after the bales. 
They would go after statues. They would go after localized 
deities that would hopefully bring them fertility in their 
lives, in their ground, in all of that. Elijah the prophet stood 
up, opposed by several hundred of these false prophets. Stood 
up, having been accused by Ahab as being the troubler of Israel. 
And he made this challenge to Israel. He said, how long? How long will you falter between 
two things? Baal is God, to serve Him. Jehovah 
is God, to serve Him. And there's some of you, in this 
room, right now, that are trying to live with the truth of Christ. 
Oh, I hear the command of Christ. I hear the gospel. I hear the 
truth of God. How do I see it? You may not 
call it Baal. You may not worship Him and, 
you know, attract yourself and dance around Him in a frenzy. 
You may be yourself. may be any number of sins that 
you're committed to, don't forget what enthusiasm says. We'll be 
well with you. There's only one way to wellness, 
one way to health, one way to happiness, and it's through Jesus 
Christ, the Lord. Let us close in prayer, and God 
willing, we'll take up the rest of these observations this evening. 
Father, we thank you for the Holy Scriptures and for their 
clarity, and we pray that you would give us the mind of Christ 
in these crucial areas. And God, we can only pray, have 
mercy on our society. We look around us, Father, and 
in many respects it is terrifying, yet we know that you are sovereign, 
that you are in heaven, that you do whatever you please. We 
would pray, Lord God, that you would be merciful in our generation. 
We pray first and foremost that you would instruct us, instruct 
your people, to know the scriptures, to understand your word, and 
to see the application in our own time. And we pray, God, for 
a mighty outpouring of your Holy Spirit, where you would awaken 
those who are dead in their trespasses and sins to flee to the Lord 
Jesus Christ for salvation. God, we praise you, and we bless 
you, and we love you, and we thank you that you have given 
us your word, that you have given us your Son, that you have given 
us everlasting life. And we pray that you would go 
with each one of us now, and we ask, through Christ our Amen.