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house of the Lord and the Lord wonderfully preserved past about there's a speaking voice this morning for those you weren't here this morning he's struggling was something of the of the in the throat so we're trying to preserve him for just the preaching hour so welcome to the SIA to this evening service we do want to remember especially in a special way Deanna Hutchings there was a an email that came through this afternoon she had some heart issues this morning and has been admitted to the hospital they the Hutchins we used to come to our church here attended here for for a few years and they went with the sory at church that's I think they come across the line in Blaine so she's having an MRI later today or tomorrow just to see just to determine what the issues were with with Deanna so we can certainly remember her in in your prayer she should be out of the hospital tomorrow they're hoping and follow-up follow-up results after that so that's all we have for announcements please turn with me in your in your Bibles to Psalm Psalm 15 Psalm 15 to prepare for worship Psalm 15 a psalm of David Lord who may abide in your tabernacle who may dwell in your holy hill he who walks uprightly and works righteously excuse me and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart he who does not backbite with his tongue nor does evil to his neighbor nor does he take up a reproach against his friend in whose eyes a vile person is despised but he honors those who fear the Lord he who swears his own hurt and does not change he who does not put out his money as usury nor does he take a bribe against the innocent he who does these things shall never be moved Amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to the hip first hymn of worship and that be hymn number 400 him 400 Alaska stand please [Music] [Music] [Music] well let's go to God in prayer and ask his blessing upon our time here this evening a gracious and our loving Heavenly Father it's with gratitude father we come into your house this evening singing this wonderful hymn that reminds us of that that goodness father that you would send your your son your love to this earth so that we might be bearers of grace bearers of that grace and recipients of that grace how we praise you Father that you have that you have given to us a desire to be here in your house this evening we trust not out of not out of routine or out of compulsion rather father because we love to come to the house of the Lord to sing your praises and to behold such a great God as you - to be thankful for the person of your son the Lord Jesus Christ Lord we pray and desire that the Lord Jesus Christ would be lifted up in this place this evening we desire father to see him and thrown properly as he ought to be by the praises of his people how we praise you father that you that you would bend your ear to the worship of we we creatures we who still have that remaining sin we still have that sin that clings to us as a shadow clings to a man father we know that we are our desires are for you yet father we we still are of this lower earth of this lower world and and we do not love you as we ought to love you we do not door you as we ought to adorn you we pray that you would forgive us father for Christ's sake and cause us this night to be caught up with that that with a sense of worship of the true God that you are we pray Lord that you remove all distractions from us this evening cause us Lord to to see and behold the great God that you are we pray that as we come before you and become before your word that you would be pleased to bless that word we do ask Lord that your Holy Spirit would attend here this this service this evening we do not desire to be here father without your spirit and so we pray that your spirit would would Tabernacle here within these four walls and we pray that even more than that that Lord you would take that word and we pray that the Spirit of the Living God would take that word and bless it to each and every heart you know the needs that are here father we pray that you would be pleased to meet and bless each of those needs whether they be Christians who are downcast who are discouraged we pray Lord that you would lift them up and cause them to be encouraged by the Word of God by the preached word by that which good which enters in through the mind may they be encouraged in their hearts and cause them father to leave this place praising you and worshiping you for those who perhaps come in this place without a knowledge of their sins forgiven how we pray Lord that that word if God would find would find its place in those hearts as well cause those who come in in unbelief to leave here believing we know again father that salvation is of the Lord and it's not of man yeah father use the means you use it for each word and you bless that word and we pray that your spirit would attend that word here in this place this night and cause those who are weak in faith to be strengthened in faith cause those who who who need a a word of encouragement to be encouraged this night we do pray Lord we pray for those who are sick amongst us we continue to pray for Chris and for Linda we pray Lord that you would be pleased to continue to bless them they they certainly much wisdom in the days ahead as they assess all the information and and seek to make a decision that that ultimately is well pleasing and well pleasing to you and and has your blessing upon its and so let me pray that you would give to them that which they require you have told us that when we lack wisdom where to ask of you and you will give it give it not just sparingly but give it liberally and so we prayed you to give them wisdom give it to them liberally so they might they might make decisions that wisely and and be able to rest in that once that decision has been made to not waver but rather father just to rest in you acknowledging you and father we do pray that you would bless the means is there applied to to Linda as well and the Lord you would seek to that you would be pleased to bless them both with strength continue cause them to continue to look to you and just to entrust themselves to you we think that Babb can be here this evening amongst us we we pray Lord that she too would be encouraged this night by being in the house of the Lord we pray that your word would be a great encouragement to her as well as others who perhaps can't be with us due to illness due to sickness we pray though that you would be pleased to strengthen them and in the in the inner man and the outer man and cause them to be amongst us next Lord today we do pray Lord we do pray for Deanna Hutchings this night we thank you that her life has been preserved and and whatever the issues we're there we pray Lord that she would be pleased to bless the means cause the cause those who attend to her to do it with diligence and we pray Lord that that you would just cause her to be resting and we trusted in due time she will be up out of her sickbed and back to normalcy yet father we recognize that our hands our our lives are literally ultimately in your hands and father whether we rise in the morning we go to bed at night with the acknowledgement that father at you that gives us strength it's you that preserves life in each and every day and so Lord we thank you that you've preserved her we pray that you will preserve her and bless her in this coming week we pray that her her husband and family and children might be a great encouragement to her as well in the father's she would know that strength smun high and that you would be pleased to to to to minister to her inner attitude through that to that in herself as well to that soul but with your word we pray at your word to be an encouragement to her and a comfort to her and do blessa do bless the the surrey church there as they seek to to come round and and rally around the family and encourage them and encourage one another we pray Lord that you'd bless pastor Kirkpatrick there and there this evening as well as he brings the word very shortly we pray Lord that he would know that that strength from on high that you would be pleased to empower not not him for the sake of him but rather empower the preaching father and power your word give to them your Holy Spirit that they that that Lord you might bless that word and cause it to be for the for the for the furtherance of the gospel in that place and and we pray Lord that you would bless it so that Christians might grow and non-christians might hear of the of the claims of Christ and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ for sinners Lord we pray the same for Vernon we pray your blessing upon that man who preaches there this day we we pray that they would be strengthened as a congregation and that father you would lead a man to them down the road we do pray Lord that you would give to us our preachers cause cause there to be a desire amongst a young men in our congregation across the land father to - to be serious about the things of God and seek after those those things that are that truly are but that have been blessed of you to be a man in the man of the word of God in the pulpit fulfilling that role as elder and pastor and teacher Lord we prayed you'd raise up elders raise up teachers and pastors from amongst our own our own group end death and and the Surrey Church and across this land father we do pray that pulpits would be filled with men who are seeking to bring honor and glory to you and we pray though that you would receive all honor and all praise and all glory not even for this and so let me just commit ourselves now to your hands acknowledging the Lord you are the one to whom we go you're the one whom we seek a blessing from this night and we desire to lift up your high and holy name to to worship you for you truly are the God of all gods and and the God who is able to comfort the God who is able to encourage and we thank you Lord for your word that you do not do it through emotions you do not do it through any other means but you do it through the Word of God and so we pray your blessing upon that word here this night that has enters our mind father it might affect our hearts and it might affect our motivations and just cause us to to grow into the image of your son the Lord Jesus Christ and it soon has his precious name we pray amen well please turn with me to the next hymn which is him number 500 him 500 and I'll ask you to stand when you find them [Music] may be seated please open your Bibles to the to the book of zechariah zechariah chapter 9 as we continue through the Old Testament in the evenings Zechariah chapter 9 and we'll read the entire chapter Zechariah chapter 9 the burden of the word of the Lord against the land of Hedrick and Damascus its resting place for the eyes of men and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord all also against him hey math which borders on it and against tyre and sidon though they are very wise for tyre built herself a tower heaped up silver like the dust and gold like the mire of the streets behold the Lord will cast her out he will destroy her power in the sea and she will be devoured by fire Ashkelon shall see it and fear Gaza also shall be very surfing and eccrine for he dried up her expectation the King shall perish from Gaza and Escalon shall not be inhabited excuse me a mixed race shall settle in Ashdod and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines I will take away the blood from his mouth and the abominations from between his teeth for he who remains even he shall be for our God and shall be like a leader in Judah and eccrine like a Jeb you sight I will camp around my house because because of the army because of him who passes by and him who returns no more shall an oppressor pass through them for now I have seen with my eyes rejoice greatly o daughter of Zion shout o daughter of Jerusalem behold your king is coming to you he is just and having salvation lowly and riding on a donkey a Colt the foal of a donkey I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem the battle bow shall be cut off he shall seek peace speak peace to the nation's his Dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth as for you also because of the blood of your covenant I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit return to the stronghold you prisoners of hope even today I declare that I will restore double to you I've bent excuse me for I've bent Judah my bow fitted the bow with Ephraim and raised up your sons of Zion against your sons o Greece and made you like the sort of a mighty man then the Lord will be seen over them and his arrow will go forth like lightning the Lord God will blow the trumpet and go with whirlwinds from the south the Lord of Hosts will defend them they shall devour and subdue with's with sling stones they shall drink and roar as if with wine they shall be filled with blood like basins like the corners of the altar the Lord their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people for they shall be like the jewels of a crown lifted like a banner over his over his land for how great is its goodness and how great its beauty grain shall make the young men thrive and new wine the young women amen thoughts always wonderful when when the Old Testament speaks so so so forcefully of the Lord Jesus Christ that coming daughter of Zion that that Lord Jesus Christ that was promised throughout all the Old Testament and of course we who live in the New Testament get to enjoy looking back upon upon the the coming Lord Jesus Christ we get to praise looking back these Old Testaments saints got to praise looking forward and so we really are in every way just like these Old Testament Saints that that looked forward to Christ and and we we as New Testament Saints benefit from the the riches of Christ every single day of our lives and should we may we never pill our heads ever one single night without recognizing that we are we are blessed people because we have the Lord Jesus Christ he is he is altogether lovely and and truly we ought to be praisers of that God who sent the Lord Jesus Christ and promised in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament let's go to God in prayer and just ask his blessing now to be upon the preaching in a few minutes let's pray our gracious that our loving Heavenly Father we again for praise you Father for the fact that we can enjoy this this this Lord Jesus Christ this Savior of the world but this Savior of our very soles and how we pray loaded this night you would be pleased to cause us to just revel in the fact that when we pillow our heads at night we can know that we have peace with you the fact Lord that we have forgiveness of our sins you have taken our sins you've thrown them into the very deepest part of the ocean you've removed our sins from as as far as the East is from the West because of this this one that was spoken of in Zechariah this coming Lord Jesus Christ how we praise you Father for Christ we pray that Christ will be lifted up here in this place this night by the by your preached word we do pray again you're blessed to be upon our pastor strengthened him in the in the outer man we pray that you would give to him a voice that is sustained for this preaching hour and we do pray Lord that your spirit would come upon him come upon us as a congregation we might hear from you Father and and it would be we can say that it was it was good for us to have been in the house of the Lord this day and we pray that your that your praises might be sung from this place throughout throughout this whole evening and we just commit ourselves now into your hands for it's in Jesus precious name we pray amen please turn with me in your hymn books through the last him before we do hear the preaching that's him number 581 581 Oscar's there [Music] [Music] please turn with me in your Bibles to proverbs chapter 18 proverbs chapter 18 I'm gonna read verse 17 and then we'll pray the first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him well let us pray father we thank you for the written word we thank you for these principles given to us for our personal or interpersonal conduct with one another and as well for the courtroom we ask God that you'd help us to think your thoughts after you help us to receive with thanksgiving the written word and even now may your Holy Spirit be at work in our minds and in our hearts and we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well I want to draw out a few principles of due process due process is generally or generically defined as a course of formal proceedings such as legal proceedings carried out regularly and in accordance with established rules and principles I suggest that we see an abuse of this all the time we see it in the media we see this rush to judgment we see persons hearing one side of a story and then condemning others without first having cross examine them well we see that principle of cross examination clearly outlined here for us by Solomon in verse 17 so I want to look at first this principle of cross examination and then secondly go back into Moses specifically in the book of Deuteronomy and look at the laws concerning witnesses and then as well the law governing corporal punishment now we may not make it to the very end if my voice does die I'm sorry I'll do the best that I can but I want to look first at this principle of cross examination but before we look specifically at verse 17 notice verse 13 which is somewhat similar in verse 13 we read he who answers a matter before he hears it it is falling and shamed to him now I suggest that we see these abuses in our world we see these abuses out there but I wonder if we see those abuses in here in our own relationships with one another are we the sort of fool that is described in verse 13 and the fool that's described in verse 17 or are we committed to due process are we committed to actually investigating objectively the various things that affect us in this world when we look at verse 13 we noticed the situation we see that he who answers a matter before he hears it it's folly and shame to him now if a judge did this if a judge in a courtroom only heard one part and then he rendered a verdict we would see the folly involved in that and yet I suspect we don't see that folly when we engage in the very sort of thing the problem obviously in view is that the man answers before he knows the pertinent facts we cannot answer a matter if we don't know the pertinent facts we can't give a ruling we can't give any sort of confirmation or affirmation to a situation until we are presented with the facts Bruce walki comments on this fool in verse 13 its subject is implicitly the fool who before the wise has finished speaking boorish Lee interrupts him to spout his own opinion is impertinent and imprudent interruption exposes his folly for all to see and brings him disgrace this is not a righteous way to function it's not godly to interrupt people it's not godly to cut people off just so you can force your opinion that's the particular offense in the passage now I would suggest along with Charles britches that this is prevalent this happens a lot again not just out there but it happens within the context of the church it happens in our own our own relationships Bridges says to often this proverb is verified in common life men will scarcely hear out what is unacceptable to them they will break in upon a speaker before they have fully heard him and therefore answer a matter which they little weighed and but imperfectly understood the eager disputant prides himself on his acute judgement it really is a rendering a rather a kind of comment concerning his pride he answers a matter before he hears it because in his pride and in his arrogance he doesn't judge that he needs to take in that data he's already got the prescription he's already got it figured out he knows the best way to go forward well that according to Solomon is folly and while the proud man engages in this kind of thing and proudly wants to assert his prudence his intelligence his wisdom his ability what he's actually demonstrating is his folly and shame and everyone around him sees it and yet at times he doesn't see it himself now look over at verse 18 the first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him now the language that is used here by Solomon could apply to a civil courtroom but it could apply to those interpersonal relationships in fact John Gill shows the comprehensiveness of it he says this often appears true in telling a tale in private conversation in lawsuits before a judge and a court of judicature and in theological controversy so Gill suggests this happens everywhere the first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him the emphasis is upon cross-examination the emphasis is upon listening to both sides of the story if you come to me and you tell me that your husband's the worst human being on the face of the earth forgive me if I don't round up the villagers and get the pitchforks and the torches and go and prevail upon him there's two sides to every story and that's what Solomon as reiterating we all know that and we all expect people to treat us that way but when it comes to others we rush to judgment we forget the rules of due process we forget the principles outlined in Scripture that is the bedrock of our Western civilization jurisprudence situation and we just run willy-nilly into condemning people that are not worthy to be condemned because they haven't been heard the first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him just think in the recent months a bit of a clip of a video was enough to cause great hardship and agony to young kids that didn't do the very thing that they were castigated for again we see it evidently there but we don't always see it evidently within our own hearts and in our own practice cross-examination is a bedrock principle of all matters of justice if we get rid of that forget it we have degenerated to the level of animals and as the people of God we ought never to fear cross-examination the truth never has anything to fear it doesn't have to run and hide from any sort of examination but rather it is able to stand up to the task it is able to present itself well matthew henry with reference to this principle says we must therefore remember that we have two ears to hear both sides before we give judgment now obviously in verse 17 the first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him that cross examination shows problems with the first disputed story that cross examination shows the holes in that person's story again you've probably all had this happen you've heard one person say such-and-such and you say wow I can't believe that that person such a terrible beast of a human being and then you hear their side of it and you say oh wow I didn't know again we as the people of God need to be patient we as the people of God need to guard against these rushes to judgment we as the people of God need to insist upon cross examination so that we don't engage in the sorts of things that we find condemned by Solomon in the pages of Proverbs and then the failure to listen to both sides also compromises another fundamental principle the presumption of innocence again that subtext we're losing we're losing as a society anybody can say anything and take down another person because we're all quick to grab the pitchforks to grab the torches and to burn people down without ever listening to their side without ever investigating the claim without ever looking at the data or the evidence God does not want his people to proceed in that manner God wants his people to be careful God wants his people to be diligent God wants his people to be humble and God wants his people to be governed by facts by evidence by data not by feeling and not by emotion and not what we want it to be the case of we need to guard our hearts when it comes to this particular matter we need to realize that the presumption of guilt works in a communistic society but with reference to free peoples it's always a presumption of innocence that is bedrock and foundational again I suppose none of us give any thought to due process until we're on the wrong side of the law then we want everybody to treat us the way that God's Word says but we as the people of God need to have a proper framework to look at the society around us and as well to function with one another in the context of the local church so that's one principle of jurisprudence or due process it is the principle of cross-examination go back to Deuteronomy chapter 19 Deuteronomy chapter 19 deals with the law of witnesses Deuteronomy chapter 19 specifically verses 15 to 21 now this isn't the only passage that speaks to the law concerning what since there are other passages visa vie Deuteronomy 17 but specifically I want to look at this one now note verse 15 establishes a rule one witness shall not rise against a man commits concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established so there's a negative aspect it cannot be the case that there's one witness sitive li it must be that there are two or three witnesses a principal again that wasn't invalidated by the collapse of the theocracy we see this principle embedded into judicial situations in the New Testament with reference to church discipline in Matthew chapter 18 if your brother sins against you go to him if he hears you if one your brother if he doesn't then take with you two or three witnesses if he doesn't hear them then tell it to the church first Timothy chapter five Paul is very clear do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses so it wasn't located only in the theocratic situation that Israel found herself in in Canaan but rather it is something embedded in our in our creatureliness that we need to abide by now notice the specific well just for one moment look at the text again one witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established Christopher Wright makes this observation he says the purpose of the plurality of witnesses is clearly the protection of the accused it's just incredible and that's why we're going to look at the law governing corporal punishment and I know that's not a happy topic chapter 25 of Deuteronomy deals with the public flogging of a criminal offender I know that that just grates against us as you know Canadians in the 21st century this just seems or feels or reeks of barbarism and all sorts of things that are antiquated but it's actually governed by law it's actually regulated and I want you to see that and appreciate that whether you come down on the side that the government ought to be publicly flogging criminal offenders or not you need to see that it's what a barbaric thing it's not an antiquated thing but it was regulated by the law of God for the benefit of society but specifically here right says the purpose of the plurality of witnesses is clearly the protection of the accused and in Deuteronomy 25 the regulation concerning public flogging was about preserving the humanity and dignity of the criminal offender himself I often think that the way that we treat criminals today dehumanizes them it is barbarism but the biblical pattern and the biblical norm secures the reality that they are image bearers even when they are guilty even when they are criminally are punished for a little activity their dignity is kept in place and their personhood as those bearing the image of God is respected so he says it's clearly the protection of the accused especially the protection of the weaker individual from the vindictiveness of a more powerful opponent obviously this precaution could be floated as Namath discovered in first Kings 21 but it provided at least some safeguard this emphasis on two or three witnesses provides a safeguard so that persons cannot destroy other person's lives without any substance without any basis in reality or fact now notes specifically in verses 16 to 20 there is a violation of the rule concerning the law of witnesses and this text speaks to the presence of a false witness remember God takes perjury very seriously it's enshrouded or a prohibition against it is enshrouded in the Decalogue you shall not commit or you shall not bear false witness it's the ninth commandment and we see so many laws case law applications of that principle in the Society of Israel to show us the seriousness with which God takes this matter because frivolous lawsuits destroy people's lives frivolous or groundless accusations destroy people's lives it ruins them it ruins reputations and while we may say well reputation isn't important it's only how God sees us God says that a good reputation is something to cleave on to it's not to be discarded it's not to be discounted and it's certainly not to be compromised by persons unwilling to do what God demands you see the Lord Most High is serious when it comes to matters of truth when it comes to matters of witness now note the situation in verse 16 if a false witness rises against any man to testify him against him of wrongdoing so this is the issue remember I want to just remind you because there was no witness doesn't mean there was no crime just because there's no witness doesn't mean though crime happened but the Bible speaks to the situation in terms of the ability to prosecute offenders you have to have witnesses to go forward again Cragen a commentator on the book of Deuteronomy he says in legal process the absence of witnesses or the existence of a single witness did not mean that no crime had been committed but it made exceptionally it made it exceptionally difficult to secure conviction so all that to say witnesses and testimony and all of that is absolutely crucial but notice this false witness rises up there's a particular procedure that is given to deal with this verse 17 then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord before the priests and the judges who serve in those days what does that mean it means there was a structure in Israel that had lower and higher courts there was a structure in Israel that had lower and higher courts in fact if you look at Deuteronomy chapter 17 we read of that higher court in verse 8 if a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge between degrees of guilt for bloodshed between one judgment or another or between one punishment or another matters of controversy within your gates then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses it's a central tribunal it's a higher court and their specific task is to deal with the harder cases degrees of guilt for bloodshed is it first degree murder is it second degree is it manslaughter there has to be a structure in place to deal with these sorts of things in civil society again this is not barbarism this is not antiquated this is the foundation of our present system our present system owes its being to what we find in the book of Deuteronomy persons out there that hate the Bible persons out there that hate the Old Testament they certainly love to process when they are on the wrong side of the law everybody likes the presumption of innocence then everybody likes the two or three witness mandate everybody likes the prohibition against false witness when they're on that side of it and they oh that to the Word of the Living God so this is a higher court designed to deal with the harder matters notice verse 9 you shall come to the priests the Levites and to judge them and to the judge there in those days and inquire of them they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment you shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the Lord chooses and you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you according to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you according to the law to the judgment which they tell you you shall do you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God or the judge that man shall die so you shall put away the evil from Israel and all the people shall hear and fear and no longer act presumptuously now back to our passage that's prescribed in earth 17 if it is supposed or if it is thought or if it is suspected that this man is a false witness visa V verse 16 then there is a structure in place to deal with that and that's what God's Word highlights notice in verse 18 there's a determination and notice how that determination comes about and the judges shall make care full inquiry this ain't communism this isn't off to the gulag with you this isn't just cut him off no there's careful inquiry there's the rules of evidence there's the witness testimony there's the sifting through all of those things that's what they were prescribed with to deal with matters of jurisprudence in the theocracy again our Western civilization is built on these principles and we ought to praise God for that but that's what's in view they give careful investigation or inquiry to this and then notice and indeed if the witness is a false witness who has testified falsely against his brother so the determination has been made he is in fact a false witness now note the particular punishment involved for that false witness according to verse 19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother so you shall put away the evil from among you that's beautiful wisdom isn't it it's absolutely masterful if I allege that you are guilty of a particular crime and it turns out that I am a false witness whatever the punishment was associated with that particular crime will be turned against me up to an including capital punishment now I suggest that would empty our courts I suggest that that would mitigate against frivolous lawsuits I suggest that that would discourage false witnesses if they knew they were found out it wouldn't only be they were guilty of perjury and were put on probation but whatever it is they allege that that particular person did whatever the punishment attached to that particular crime would now be poured out upon that false witness it would certainly make people think twice that's the emphasis in Israel back to 17 verse 13 and all the people shall hear and fear and no longer act presumptuously verse 20 in our passage and those who remain shall hear and fear and Hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you we've lost that principal no one's afraid to do anything wrong because nothing happens to them anymore I am speaking broadly generically there obviously things do happen but for the most part we have created a criminal class that has no fear whatsoever of repercussion and that's because we do not take seriously these rules of due process now notice the result as I said and those who remain verse 20 shall hear and fear and Hereafter they shall not again again commit such evil among you Christopher write comments this text has a simple but effective deterrent to perjury anyone proved to have lied in court is to suffer whatever penalty would have been inflicted on the accused if the false accusation had been successful if the case is capital than to risk then the risk to a malicious witness was very great indeed you certainly wouldn't just run willy-nilly into the courtroom and say that man's guilty of a capital offense if you couldn't furnish the evidence because you knew that you would be executed if you couldn't furnish the evidence again what would that do to our court system aye sir I think it would be a a release valve I think it would be you know get it get rid of a bunch of stuff the frivolity would be gone because persons would see that there's a seriousness to this and you don't allege that somebody committed a crime without giving due concern to the results or to the consequences of course the governing principle is found there at the end of the passage verse 21 your eye shall not Betty life shall be for life eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot the Lex talionis basically means the punishment must fit the crime and the crime with reference to the false witness is that he is intending to destroy the life of another and if he is found to be destroying the life of another than according to God his life should be destroyed that's consistent that's biblical that's justice they'll finally look over at Deuteronomy 25 again my point here is not that we march on Ottawa you know demand public flogging for the criminal class that's not my point my point is to see that due process regulates even the punishment of criminal offenders that due process governs how we approach the issue of penology and with reference to the types of punishment I know we for Hearst us in the past restitution or compensation if somebody stole they'd pay it back they didn't pay a fine to the state by serving in a prison they paid the family back who they stole from if they didn't have the money to pay the family back they became that families indentured slave they did work until the time that that that particular problem was recompense and that particular problem was solved again restitution compensation it's gone it's completely gone the thought of it anybody ever getting their stuff back nope forget it even if we catch the guy we're not going to insist that he pays you back where it was cyst they goes to prison and pay the state well he didn't do it criminal activity against the state he did a criminal activity against us why aren't we getting paid back so the Bible is Pro victim too it's another thing we have forgotten Pro victim we actually care about and deal with people that have been offended by criminals capital punishment that's another aspect I know we've considered that recently we will not rehearse it here there is one instance one instance in the book of Deuteronomy of what's called punitive amputation one instance of punitive amputation that means where someone's hand is cut off for a particular offense now the Bible is unique concerned in the ancient Near Eastern world because in the ancient Near Eastern world especially Assyria there was all manner of physical violence inflicted upon criminal offenders cutting off appendages cutting off this cutting off that but the one instance is found in Deuteronomy 25 11 and 12 and the situation is if two men are fighting and one of the men's wives comes to try to rescue her husband and she grabs the other man by the genitals then she is to lose her hand then we might look at that and say wow God really is concerned about modesty God is concerned about modesty but it's probably dealing with seed it's probably dealing with progeny it's probably dealing with the reality that this man will no longer be able to sire chill and as a result of that there is this punitive amputation design to discourage her and anyone else from ever engaging in that activity now most commentators I think rightly so say that was probably a rarity that probably didn't happen a lot there wasn't many instances were you know ladies were doing this to rescue their their husbands while they were in fistfights with other men but I do think it's important that we mentioned there is an instance of punitive amputation but then there is this instance of corporal punishment and that's what's just uh we see here in Deuteronomy 25 now again I want us to see the process involved here in the first place there is the necessity of a trial the necessity of a trial we don't just beat people we don't just find them in the act of something and beat them we we go through the trial we listen to the evidence or we look at the evidence we we listen to witness testimony we go through the process and once the determination of guilt is made then we punish that's the way you do it in the Western world that's the way we do it based on the written word of God again instance at the gulag this isn't you know Russia or the Soviet Union where you you got shipped off to to Siberia if you stop clapping you know for the for the dictator before everyone else that's not the way we function we're supposed to function in terms of punishing people after there's been a trial and you see that chapter 25 verse 1 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 so all the court process has been engaged all of the rules of evidence have been engaged all of the testimony has been engaged in and now the judge pronounces judgment and the rest of the passage goes on the assumption that the man is found guilty and he is going to receive corporal punishment he is going to be beaten for his offense now notice with reference to the beating of the man for his offense there is a necessity of supervision a necessity of supervision look at the text and verse 2 then it shall be if the wicked man deserves to be beaten that the judge will cause him to lie down and beaten in his presence in his presence you don't take him out behind the backward back forty and just you know have your way with them there are rules governing this sort of thing there's a process involved this isn't barbarism this is law this is justice this is the administration of justice and it behooves us to take it seriously God speaks to these issues again not only for the purging of evil from the civil society but as well for the protection of even criminal offenders he should be beaten within inches of his life if that's not what he deserves I know it a certain gut level there's a certain level in all of us that yeah whatever it comes whatever comes to him he has coming to him oh praise God God's not like that praise God that he doesn't operate on that gut level that visceral response but rather its measured it's calculated its regulated its ruled its governed its principle that's the way we execute justice it must be supervision now Craigie again says if the judges declared that corporal punishment was in order then the flogging was to be carried out in his presence in this way the judge was able to see that the sentence was properly executed and that the offender was not treated to leave leniently or too harshly by the officer of the law entrusted with the task that's interesting we want to be too severe with the guy but we don't want to be too lenient with the guy either he deserves this amount of corporal punishment then he better get that amount of corporal punishment supervision is crucial notice in the next place the necessity of proportion proportion verse two 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 he see that according to his guilt it cannot exceed what is according to its guilt in terms of the meaning out of punishment that's just that's ungodly it's unholy these are image bearers even though they're wayward even though they're lost even though they're criminal they're nevertheless protected by God's law and by these principles embedded in Scripture there must be proper proportion you are not to exceed that you're not to go beyond that you're not supposed to to belittle or dehumanize him you're not supposed to treat him as an animal and then worse than an animal and then notice the necessity of limitation with reference to the beating verse 3 again I I see it now Facebook tonight Butler advocates beating criminals and in Chilliwack that's not my point it's not my point now you can ask me privately what I think of this particular passage and I'll be more than happy to tell you what I think of this particular passage my point tonight is simply to highlight that even in the punishment of a criminal offender it is governed by principle it is governed by law it is governed by rule it is governed not by emotion or feeling or sympathy or this or that to love that picture of Lady Justice with the blindfold order on her face that's what we want we don't want it it judge based on money we don't want it to base whether we have a lot or we don't have any the scripture prohibits giving leniency to a poor man that's an emotive response well he's poor life is terrible we understand it's tough for him so we're gonna go ahead and turn the other way what he does is criminal no you don't do that Lady Justice is blind whatever the crime is whatever the facts are whatever the data suggests that's where you go now notice this particular instance of limitation you know this from the New Testament because you see this language used with the Apostle Paul 40 blows he may give him and no more lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these some Paul say he was beaten by the Jews 39 lashes well why because they didn't want to exceed this Deuteronomy prohibition so instead of even getting 40 they would give 39 so that they would be in the safe confines of not violating this law with reference to the limitation involved in punishing a criminal offender you see it's governed by rules it's governed by procedure it's governed by principle it's law that regulates even the punishment of criminal offenders and then notice the necessity to preserve dignity now let me just say this again I know that guttural responds I know the visceral response I know the gut level response he gets whatever it is he gets he gets whatever it is he gets brethren again God does it function that way God doesn't respond that way God says you do it this way you do it in a measured calculated responsible civil humane way because even that criminal offender is an image-bearer of the living and true God in my mind sending image bearers of the living and true God into environments that are just full of of beastial conduct by other persons on men that is to dehumanize people I think that it the way we do things is just terrible and unfortunate but notice the text in terms of the nest the necessity to preserve dignity forty blows he may give him and no more lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these now notice and your brother be humiliated in your sight he's a criminal but he's still part of the Commonwealth he's a criminal but he's still part of Israel it's a criminal but he's still your brother and as your brother as a recipient of at least the common grace of living in this covenant a nation as a result of that you preserve his dignity you don't dehumanize him you don't belittle him you don't treat him as less than a and then an image-bearer the criminal is still a brother thus part of the covenant community he should be spared from a punishment that would be degrading and humiliating Meredith Klein says the just punishment of the guilty was to be dispensed in such a way that his individual human dignity was honored and then again with Ryan 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 limitation and it's a explicit protection of the rights and dignity of criminals is overlooked you get that right and it's unfortunate it's not just humanists it's Christians people in the church that have a problem the Old Testament they're promised sermons like these are not I'll preach on Deuteronomy 25 I mean that was then and this is now and that's not for us I mean the thought of ever flogging a criminal in public and doing these sorts of things it's just barbaric and we won't even entertain it yeah I'm not even picking on humanists here that's our brothers and sisters in Christ that say such things the Old Testament is vilified for what is looked at as being barbaric or antiquated or tribal or clan ish but look at what's embedded in this tax in terms of the punishment of a criminal offender preserve his dignity don't exceed the punishment that is necessary don't engage in the sorts of things that that happen in the gulag don't be commies don't be those who engage in the stripping away of the dignity of human beings so those are some principles certainly there's a lot of other things but this'll hopefully what our appetites to be alert to Scripture with reference to sorts these sorts of things in terms of some concluding thoughts if we ask the question back of Solomon in proverbs 18 why do people do verse 13 and 17 why would anybody ever answer a matter before it hears it why would we do that as I'm sure we have done that before oh no not me pastor Butler I just can't live my life regulated by Deuteronomy law I just two or three witnesses rules of evidence no crossing okay good pray for your brethren that struggle in these things because we hear something we go nuts and we think oh this person's got to be you know dealt with well wait a minute there's a bigger picture there's mitigating circumstances there's other issues that's the reality of the world in which we live and God knows that and God speaks to that not prescribes law in that context but if we ask the question why does a man answer a matter for he hears it I don't think the tax specifies why he does that but I think the overarching structure of Scripture or the rest of Proverbs can help us to at least scratch the surface of such an issue in the first place The Fool is proud and wants to be right the fool is proud and he wants to be right he doesn't want to listen to anybody else because he knows everything we're dealing with competing sovereigns we're dealing with little G cons we're dealing with persons who think that they have the capability to ajudge something with omniscient specificity you don't you need to hear the data you need to hear the facts it might have heard the old radio program it was on in America I don't know if it made it to Canada but it was called dragnet and it was a police shows radio old-time radio not it was before my time I'm not quite that old you know you'd sit by the radio and you'd listen to drag that it was about these two detectives Joe Friday and then his partner I can't remember his partner's name but Joe Friday's tag line what he said all the time was just the facts just the facts well I'm sorry Joe Friday you wouldn't recognize America today because that's not the way we operate you would not recognize Canada if he had ever been here that's not the way we operate it's visceral response it's guttural reaction it's it's I'm mad it's emotion just the facts just the facts so the fool is proud and he wants to be right also the fool is proud he wants to be first right verse 13 he went sirs a matter before he hears it he has to be first out of the gate he has to be the most you know the the quickest to respond he has to be the guy that that is not only right but he's also first because for some sick reason he feeds on that people go wow man that guy's right that guy's first that guy's amazing and that's what fuels this sort of the there's this desire for him turn back for just a moment to proverbs 15 in verse 20 eight proverbs 15 and verse 28 the heart of the righteous does what blurts out the first thing that comes into their head the heart of the right just just vomits whatever it is they think they think that they think they should say no the heart of the righteous studies how to answer so they asked you a question you say give me some time to think about that that's good you want that you want people just you know right out of the holster it already ain't a ready fire aim you want people to study how to answer the heart of the righteous studies how to answer but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil and so the fool is proud he wants to be right the fool is proud and he wants to be first I think Matthew Henry on this text is beautiful he says though already wet is an agreeable thing to play with it is solid judgment and sound wisdom that do business oh I wish every one of us got that though already wit is an agreeable thing to play with it is solid judgment and sound wisdom that do business that's the way we ought to proceed as well the fool is lazy and doesn't want to put in the required effort it'll take time to hear the data it'll take time to cross-examine it'll take time to actually do what I was supposed to do before I answer a matter that's just laziness and we should never accept that approach to life when it comes to such things as well the fool is selfish and he's not concerned about others doesn't care it's all about him I'm right I'm first I'm lazy III that's why someone answers a matter before he hears it as well the fool is ignorant visa vie verse 17 and rejects due process and the principles of due process held out by verse 17 is that presumption of innocence and additionally the necessity for cross-examination see that's perhaps the reason why we are warned in Proverbs 18 13 and 17 to function in a way that is more consistent with God's revealed law and then finally with reference to civil justice or matters of justice or due process and life and Ministry of Jesus did he operate this way absolutely positively John 7:24 judge with what your heart judge with what just what the naked eye can see judge with what your your your prejudice and your bigotry judge with righteous judgment lo and behold we get into John chapter 8 and the Pharisees and the religious leaders want to catch him they want to trip him up they want to show him as a fake and a fraud they want to expose that he has no regard for the law of Moses and the first thing Jesus does is appeal to the law of Moses and he asks for witnesses to throw the stones of this particular woman that is the way that Christ operated with these principles they were a part of who he is not only is God but his man and we see that carried throughout the New Testament itself so brethren I hope that these things again will whet our appetites to think about such things and not just to see the faults and the problems and the issues that are out there which they are increasingly growing out there but to see it in here and most importantly to see it in here am I the kind of person that answers a matter before I even have received the data am I the kind of person that responds viscerally to one side of a story without listening to the other if so God have mercy on me not humble me not show me that I'm not always right God show me that I don't need to be first God show me that it's better and more consistent as the professing people of God to follow your law and to seek by grace to do the things that were read in Psalm 15 praise God Almighty that's a description of Jesus it is not a description of us because we are hasty because we do the various things that are condemned in that particular Psalm but its Christ who ultimately can stand in the presence of Yahweh and by virtue of Christ's grace and His redemptive work on our behalf and the faith God gives us to to unite us to Jesus we shall stand in the presence of Yahweh based on his righteousness now I don't say that so that we can go out and answer matters without hearing them I don't say that so we go out and neglect cross-examination or the principle the presumption of innocence but I say that to encourage us we're not going to heaven because we're great at matters of social or interpersonal relationship we're not going to heaven because we're great witnesses if called upon to testify in a courtroom we're going to heaven because Jesus is everything Psalm 15 says he is we're going to heaven because Jesus is the the one who who merited the favor of God based on his law keeping and the way of relationship with Jesus is by grace through faith in Him well let us close in a word of Prayer father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for its clarity on these matters we thank you for its its concern even for the dignity of criminal offenders god I pray that we would operate according to principle according to due process according to these things written in the law of God versus relying on our emotions or our feelings or the things that that we see not even things that we see can be misinterpreted and the things that we see can be can be misjudged help us to be faithful help us to be upright help us to be godly in a godless society and we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you