Good and Godly Leadership (2 Chronicles 19:4-11)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:07.349 You may be seated. Well, let's turn to second chronicles. Now, 2 00:00:07.509 --> 00:00:15.630 second chronicles, Chapter Nineteen, and here the chronicler will give to us more 3 00:00:15.990 --> 00:00:23.260 of more of an account of Jehoshah fet's reign as a king in Judah. 4 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:32.820 Be Reading Verse for through Verse Eleven. So second chronicles nineteen, verse four 5 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:44.649 through Verse Eleven. Jehoshah fat lived at Jerusalem. He and he went out 6 00:00:44.689 --> 00:00:49.570 again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them 7 00:00:49.609 --> 00:00:55.399 back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. He appointed judges in 8 00:00:55.479 --> 00:01:00.159 the land and all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and 9 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.150 he said to the judges, consider what you do, for you judge not 10 00:01:04.390 --> 00:01:10.230 for man but for the Lord. He is with you in giving judgment. 11 00:01:10.469 --> 00:01:14.269 Now, then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be 12 00:01:14.510 --> 00:01:18.859 careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord, our 13 00:01:18.900 --> 00:01:26.140 God, or partiality or taking bribes. Moreover, in Jerusalem, Jehoshav had 14 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:30.500 appointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel to give judgment for 15 00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:37.689 the Lord and to decide disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem and 16 00:01:37.810 --> 00:01:41.969 he charged them. Thus, you shall do in the fear of the Lord 17 00:01:41.969 --> 00:01:47.359 and Faithfulness and with your whole heart. Whenever a case comes to you from 18 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:52.920 your brothers who live in their cities concerning bloodshed, law or commandment, statutes 19 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:57.959 or rules, then you shall warn them that they may not incur guilt before 20 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:02.150 the Lord and Wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you 21 00:02:02.310 --> 00:02:07.789 shall do and you will not incur guilt. And behold, I'm a Riah, 22 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:10.469 the Chief Priest, is over you in all matters of the Lord, 23 00:02:12.110 --> 00:02:15.020 and Zabadiah, the son of Ishmael, the governor of the House of Judah, 24 00:02:15.419 --> 00:02:20.300 in all the kings matters, and the Levites will serve you as officers, 25 00:02:21.219 --> 00:02:25.979 deal courageously, and may the Lord Be With the upright sends the reading 26 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:35.969 of God's word. May he bless it to us well. Here we read 27 00:02:36.210 --> 00:02:43.289 of good King Jehosha fat doing some wonderful things among his people. We get 28 00:02:43.370 --> 00:02:46.439 this right away when we read that he goes out again among the people, 29 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:52.800 and he does this for a particular purpose, to bring them back to the 30 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:58.479 Lord, to Yah Way, the god of their father's I'm as he does. 31 00:02:58.590 --> 00:03:01.270 So he does it in many ways, and we've seen other parts of 32 00:03:01.469 --> 00:03:07.909 his rule and his good reign over Judah, some parts that were not so 33 00:03:08.189 --> 00:03:14.460 excellent as well, as we looked at last week. But here he is 34 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:22.020 establishing justice in Israel, judgment among God's people, and he does so I'm 35 00:03:22.180 --> 00:03:29.289 well, let's consider the situation that he is establishing. As he calls them 36 00:03:29.330 --> 00:03:32.729 back to Yah way, the God of their fathers, he decides to appoint 37 00:03:32.849 --> 00:03:38.569 judges in the land and all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 38 00:03:39.530 --> 00:03:45.039 I'm throughout all the land and all of these different places, perhaps in 39 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:50.000 every town, or at least in every important town. I'm he is establishing 40 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:55.509 judges, I'm judges to rule and decide cases where our laws are broken, 41 00:03:55.669 --> 00:04:01.229 where land issues need to come are dealt with. You can imagine all kinds 42 00:04:01.270 --> 00:04:06.030 of things. Throughout the book of Deuteronomy and other places in the first five 43 00:04:06.069 --> 00:04:11.539 books of the Bible, we have lots of instructions about how Israel is to 44 00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:15.099 live their life in the land. And of course, whenever you have wherever 45 00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:20.019 you have instructions and you added sinners to that, you have problems. And 46 00:04:20.180 --> 00:04:25.730 that's what judges were called to deal with and they were called to do deal 47 00:04:25.810 --> 00:04:31.410 with it rightly well. In addition to these judges that are appointed throughout the 48 00:04:32.329 --> 00:04:40.920 throughout his country, throughout Judah Jehoshaphat also has a special counsel appointed in Jerusalem. 49 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:46.279 We read that in Verse Eight, he appoints certain levites and priests and 50 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:51.990 heads of families of Israel to give judgment for the Lord and to decide disputed 51 00:04:53.069 --> 00:04:59.750 cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem and this seems to be a court 52 00:04:59.790 --> 00:05:05.829 that deals a possibly with a high and important cases, with appeals perhaps, 53 00:05:05.990 --> 00:05:12.379 of things that are either difficult to decide or were disputed at lower levels. 54 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:19.740 Here we see God ruling in in a sort of joint way and exercise that 55 00:05:19.860 --> 00:05:25.529 all the people participate in, through the Levites and priests and through these heads 56 00:05:25.569 --> 00:05:31.370 of families. I'm all there represented Israel, a court to which appeals could 57 00:05:31.410 --> 00:05:38.160 be made, difficult disputed decisions could come to my won't get into it in 58 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:44.639 detail because the chronicler doesn't hear, but these institutions that are part of Israel 59 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:47.680 or fascinating to learn about. I'm all the things that when on and and 60 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:53.310 how they went on. It's a topic worthy of study and it's one that 61 00:05:53.829 --> 00:05:59.389 we do learn about some here in addition to these offices that he establishes, 62 00:05:59.509 --> 00:06:03.579 first throughout the country and then this high court in Jerusalem he he had, 63 00:06:03.740 --> 00:06:09.819 he establishes a partificate, a particular kind of ethic. These judges are not 64 00:06:10.019 --> 00:06:14.220 just to judge, but they're to judge in a certain way, and I 65 00:06:14.339 --> 00:06:17.339 want to think about just a couple things in regards to that this evening. 66 00:06:18.089 --> 00:06:20.970 First, how they are to rule, the character of their rule, and 67 00:06:21.050 --> 00:06:27.370 then on what basis there to rule? So first, how are they to 68 00:06:27.449 --> 00:06:32.639 rule? What instructions does Jehosha fat give his judges? Well, the main 69 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:36.480 one that he gives is they are to rule according to the fear of God. 70 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:44.480 This is something we discussed somewhat in Sunday school this morning. They are 71 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:47.430 to rule in the fear of the Lord. We read this several times. 72 00:06:47.949 --> 00:06:55.189 First is he establishes the individual judges throughout Judah. In verse seven he says. 73 00:06:56.550 --> 00:06:59.069 Well, even going back before that, in verse sex, he says 74 00:06:59.110 --> 00:07:02.740 consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the Lord. 75 00:07:03.620 --> 00:07:08.339 He reminds them who it is they are judging, for the kind of 76 00:07:08.379 --> 00:07:12.660 office that they are in. And then in verse seven he adds to this. 77 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:16.769 Now then let the fear of the Lord be upon you, be careful 78 00:07:16.930 --> 00:07:21.930 what you do. And then he ties that to not their actions, he 79 00:07:23.129 --> 00:07:27.250 ties it to the very character of God. Why are they to do what 80 00:07:27.329 --> 00:07:31.000 they are to do? Because God is who he is, he says, 81 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:38.879 for there is no injustice with Yahweh are God, or partiality or taking bribes. 82 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:44.350 God is the great judge over his people and he judges in a particular 83 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:49.230 way. These judges that are under Jehoshah fat are ultimately God's judges. They 84 00:07:49.269 --> 00:07:56.670 are to judge and minister at administer justice according to his ways, and because 85 00:07:56.790 --> 00:08:01.420 God is always just, they are to be always just, because God doesn't 86 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:07.980 take bribes. Kind of laughable thought, and he is not partial, also 87 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:13.810 a laughable thing. Neither are they to be they are to be careful what 88 00:08:13.970 --> 00:08:18.250 they are to do. They are to fear the Lord. He emphasizes this 89 00:08:18.410 --> 00:08:24.529 again as he appoints these rulers in Jerusalem, this this counsel there. He 90 00:08:24.610 --> 00:08:31.279 says they are in verse eight to give Judgment For the Lord. Again, 91 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:33.639 it is, of course, in service to the nation and service to their 92 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:39.039 brothers, but they are to have a higher charge in mind. They are 93 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:43.629 serving the god of their father's. That is why they are deciding disputed cases, 94 00:08:43.549 --> 00:08:46.309 and so he says in verse nine, similarly as he said to the 95 00:08:46.389 --> 00:08:52.750 judges before, thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, in 96 00:08:52.990 --> 00:09:00.779 faithfulness and with your whole heart. They are to do this, he adds 97 00:09:00.779 --> 00:09:05.620 in verse ten, because the Lord is ultimately ruling. To judge improperly or 98 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:11.850 to allow injustices in the land to be partial against those that are weak, 99 00:09:11.009 --> 00:09:16.850 to take the bribes of the rich so that rulings might go against the poor, 100 00:09:16.809 --> 00:09:24.879 is not just to falsely administer justice, it is to incur guilt before 101 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:31.440 Yahway. In verse ten, Wrath will come upon you and your brothers if 102 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:33.919 you don't do this. If you do, it will not if you do 103 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:39.789 this, you will not incur guilt, he says. And so they have 104 00:09:39.870 --> 00:09:45.309 a great responsibility here, both them and, I should add, the two 105 00:09:46.509 --> 00:09:50.350 high officials that are placed over the council. In verse eleven, Amaria, 106 00:09:52.429 --> 00:09:54.659 the chief priests over you and all matters of the Lord, and Zebadiah, 107 00:09:56.100 --> 00:10:00.220 the son of Ishmael. I don't have much to say on this at this 108 00:10:00.259 --> 00:10:03.419 moment, but it is striking. I think it's worth observing that, even 109 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:07.009 within the theocracy. There was a kind of division between the sacred and the 110 00:10:07.090 --> 00:10:11.769 secular, a kind of sense that, though there is overlap and the counsel 111 00:10:11.929 --> 00:10:18.690 was dealing with things as a whole, there were still distinctions within the kingdom. 112 00:10:18.889 --> 00:10:22.600 It's an interesting thing worth reflecting on. That being said, back to 113 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:26.519 the quality of the the judgment that these judges are supposed to give. It 114 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:31.440 is to be in the fear of the Lord. That point is very clear, 115 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:35.519 and we might put it in this way to fill that out a little 116 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:41.509 bit, that fear of God meant and a very, very real sense of 117 00:10:41.629 --> 00:10:46.830 the way of an awareness of his omniscians. In other words, they were 118 00:10:46.990 --> 00:10:52.139 to rule with a sense that God was looking over their shoulders, that God 119 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:56.740 knew all things. Going back to verse seven, be careful what you do, 120 00:10:56.539 --> 00:11:00.940 for there is no injustice with the Lord, our God, or partiality 121 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:05.370 or taking bribes. It's a reminder that not only does God not do these 122 00:11:05.409 --> 00:11:09.850 things and so you shouldn't do these things, but also that God knows what 123 00:11:09.049 --> 00:11:13.649 you do. Be careful what you do. He doesn't take bribes, but 124 00:11:13.730 --> 00:11:18.720 if you do, it may be in secret before men, but it's never 125 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:24.679 in secret before God. And awareness of God's all knowing power is supposed to 126 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:28.480 create a kind of fear of him and a kind of carefulness about how they 127 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:33.789 are to rule. He also, he also, I'm sorry, he. 128 00:11:33.909 --> 00:11:39.990 They should also be aware of his omnipotence, which is his all powerfulness. 129 00:11:41.870 --> 00:11:45.470 God Not only knows the hearts, he knows whether or not they are being 130 00:11:45.629 --> 00:11:50.779 partial or impartial in their judgment, and so they should be careful because if 131 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:56.179 they are to incur guilt, we read, then they will also incur wrath. 132 00:11:56.460 --> 00:12:03.409 God watching and knowing these things. He's not a just a powerful record 133 00:12:03.450 --> 00:12:11.250 keeper or a knowing record keeper, as he logs and notes Israel's justice and 134 00:12:11.570 --> 00:12:18.159 injustice. They will either incur guilt or not, wrath or not, and 135 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:22.639 so they are to have a fear of God. We should also add that 136 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:28.679 this awareness of his omnipotence and a fear of the Lord also lends not only 137 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:35.549 to a kind of carefulness, but also a kind of courage. To fear 138 00:12:35.750 --> 00:12:43.750 God and not man is to embolden these judges. This is how jehoshaphat ends 139 00:12:43.419 --> 00:12:48.700 in at the end in verse eleven. He says deal courageously, and may 140 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:54.779 the Lord Be With the upright when you are judging these judging things, it's 141 00:12:56.259 --> 00:13:01.490 difficult. You have people coming before you have different motives, different reasons. 142 00:13:03.570 --> 00:13:07.129 Perhaps it's a friend whom you're called to judge, whom you know have done 143 00:13:07.250 --> 00:13:11.889 wrong and you know that you're going to lose your friendship with this person if 144 00:13:11.970 --> 00:13:16.639 you if you say that they've done wrong. Maybe it's a family member, 145 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:24.440 maybe it's a business partner. In judging impartially, there are sometimes sacrifices that 146 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:30.350 have to be made. Sometimes even when it's not personal, it's just the 147 00:13:30.429 --> 00:13:37.750 the consequences. You might remember that in Israel, when a person was judged 148 00:13:37.830 --> 00:13:41.580 to be guilty, particularly of a capital offense, they were to be put 149 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:48.980 to death immediately and by the witnesses who are right there. Can you imagine 150 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:54.940 going to the gate to accuse someone of a deed you knew to be worthy 151 00:13:54.100 --> 00:14:01.529 of death and that you would personally be required to put that person to death? 152 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:05.929 It might make you hesitate a little bit. Or as a judge, 153 00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:09.240 it might make you hesitate a little bit. I really getting this right? 154 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:15.879 Am I judging this correctly? You can see why a higher court would be 155 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.480 appropriate and even helpful. If you were a lower judge and a town somewhere 156 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:26.549 and you felt your abilities perhaps lacking, to be able to appeal it up 157 00:14:26.590 --> 00:14:33.590 to Jerusalem, seek the advice and counsel of a broader a body of leaders 158 00:14:33.710 --> 00:14:39.379 and elders, would be a very helpful thing. But no matter whether you 159 00:14:39.460 --> 00:14:43.580 were in a lower court or in the higher court, you were called to 160 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:50.659 be courageous, to not be fearful and the things that you had been called 161 00:14:50.740 --> 00:14:56.929 to do, to not be fearful of men, but to be fearful of 162 00:14:58.049 --> 00:15:01.330 God. That was the call of the judge. That was the character and 163 00:15:01.370 --> 00:15:05.889 the the way these judges were to rule. Flowing from that was a kind 164 00:15:05.929 --> 00:15:11.639 of faithfulness to God, something that was to be done with the whole heart. 165 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:16.080 That's what Jehosha fat says. He says they are to be faithful and 166 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:24.669 to to judge rightly with their whole heart. So this is how they are 167 00:15:24.830 --> 00:15:30.710 to rule. Now by what are they to rule? This is a very 168 00:15:30.750 --> 00:15:39.820 significant fact, because judges rule judge differently. Judges are not legislators. They 169 00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:43.779 are making decisions on the basis of something else, and here in particular, 170 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:50.490 it is the law of the Lord, the law of Yawing. Jehoshaph hat 171 00:15:50.529 --> 00:15:54.610 makes this very clear. The chronicler tells us that they were brought back by 172 00:15:54.730 --> 00:15:58.649 him to the Lord, the God of their others. And when he appoints 173 00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:02.450 judges in all the cities, he says you are judging not for man but 174 00:16:02.570 --> 00:16:08.279 for the Lord. Again, notice in Verse Verse Eight, I'm sorry, 175 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:14.639 verse nine, no one more. Verse Ten, he says, whenever a 176 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:18.230 case comes before you from your brothers who live in the city's concerning bloodshed, 177 00:16:18.309 --> 00:16:23.350 law or commandment statues are rules, then you shall warn them. You shall 178 00:16:23.389 --> 00:16:29.470 not incur guilt before the Lord. Ultimately, it is Yahweh who is not 179 00:16:29.629 --> 00:16:33.899 only their judge, but he is a their ultimate king. It's a very 180 00:16:33.940 --> 00:16:40.980 striking thing that in Israel the Kings did not have legislative power, not really. 181 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:45.620 They had a lot of administrative power to be able to make some things 182 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:51.570 happen in particular ways and to organize things. Here we see Joolsha fat root 183 00:16:51.850 --> 00:16:57.250 exercising that is, he appoints various people, but notice that Jehoshahat is appointing 184 00:16:57.370 --> 00:17:03.559 these people in accord with God's own word. In other words, jehoshaphat himself 185 00:17:03.640 --> 00:17:08.839 is being an example of what he wants these judges to do. If you 186 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:14.640 go back, for example, and read Deuteronomy Sixteen versus eighteen through twenty, 187 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:19.470 or Deuteronmi, seventeen, verses eight, eight through thirteen, you'll read this 188 00:17:21.950 --> 00:17:26.950 the same situation, a prescription in the law, for this is how rules 189 00:17:27.029 --> 00:17:33.059 shall be done in Israel. That's why some commentators refer to this section as 190 00:17:33.259 --> 00:17:40.099 Jehoshah fats reforms. Just like in the reformation, the reformers went back to 191 00:17:40.339 --> 00:17:45.250 the word of God as a way to or reorganize the church. Just to 192 00:17:45.369 --> 00:17:49.329 think about our doctrine is to think about what it is, how what our 193 00:17:49.369 --> 00:17:52.450 worship is to be like, what our piet is to be like. Jehosha 194 00:17:52.490 --> 00:17:57.599 fat was doing that too. As a good king ruling under Yah Way, 195 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:02.480 he was going back to the word, back to the Covenant, back to 196 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:07.039 Deuteronomy, and he's saying, let's get this right, this is how we 197 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:11.680 ought to rule. And that's what he does here, and that's exactly what 198 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:15.630 he wants for these judges. They are to rule not according to their will 199 00:18:17.390 --> 00:18:23.029 but according to God's will. One interesting way to understand this, or to 200 00:18:23.109 --> 00:18:27.380 impress the point, is by comparing what Jehosha fat is doing what to what 201 00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:34.259 this Egyptian Pharaoh does a few hundred years before Jehosha fat. His name is 202 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:41.130 Pharaoh Horemheb and he does some very similar things in Egypt. This Pharaoh, 203 00:18:41.609 --> 00:18:47.890 he makes these rulings and he says similar things that Jehosha fat does. He 204 00:18:48.049 --> 00:18:51.130 sets up lower court officials, he sets up higher court of officials, he 205 00:18:51.250 --> 00:18:55.920 uses priests, all these kinds of things. He tells them also be wives, 206 00:18:56.119 --> 00:19:00.839 he tells them don't accept bribes. But there's a very significant difference between 207 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:07.160 the Pharaoh in Egypt and this king and Judah. The Pharaoh in Egypt, 208 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:12.750 we read in his rulings that he did all of these things according to the 209 00:19:12.950 --> 00:19:19.069 counsel of his heart and that the judges were to judge according to quote, 210 00:19:19.589 --> 00:19:26.019 the words of the palace and the laws of the Throne Room. The words 211 00:19:26.059 --> 00:19:29.940 of the palace the laws of the Throne Room. By what I say, 212 00:19:30.539 --> 00:19:34.740 you shall rule. That's what you are to do, my judges. But 213 00:19:34.859 --> 00:19:41.130 what is Jehoshaphat do? He says by Yah ways, rule by Yah ways. 214 00:19:41.529 --> 00:19:48.890 I'm judgments you are to judge, Jehosha fat being himself a great example 215 00:19:49.049 --> 00:19:55.680 of this. It's fair to take all of this and remind ourselves that that's 216 00:19:55.759 --> 00:20:02.200 exact same things are true today in the Church of God, for the elders 217 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:06.359 of each individual church, for the Higher Church counsels, at presbytery, a 218 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:12.710 general assembly. They too are called to judge and to do so without partiality, 219 00:20:12.910 --> 00:20:17.750 without taking bribes, without giving preference to those that are powerful, to 220 00:20:18.349 --> 00:20:22.819 those that are rich. They are to do so with out giving preference to 221 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:30.259 their own opinions and their own ideas. Church counsels, as in Israel of 222 00:20:30.380 --> 00:20:34.220 old, it also in new Israel, are not to judge or to legislate, 223 00:20:36.930 --> 00:20:40.730 but to judge according to the word of God and the word of God 224 00:20:41.690 --> 00:20:47.170 alone. And, interestingly, Jesus himself commands us to this. He tells 225 00:20:47.210 --> 00:20:49.319 us that when there are problems in the church, we should of course address 226 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.200 one another, we should bring it to one another, but ultimately, he 227 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:56.039 says in Matthew Eighteen, when that doesn't work, you are to bring it 228 00:20:56.200 --> 00:21:03.799 to the church. Paul says in First Corinthians six that we are uncapable of 229 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:08.470 judging these things, and he even says to the Corinthians that they are failing 230 00:21:10.150 --> 00:21:15.869 and embarrassing themselves by not judging and judging rightly. Let me read you a 231 00:21:15.910 --> 00:21:19.660 little bit from First Corinthians. Six. Paul says to these this church, 232 00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:23.500 he says, when one of you has a grievance another against another, does 233 00:21:23.579 --> 00:21:29.460 he dare go to does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of 234 00:21:29.539 --> 00:21:33.289 the saints? He says, Corinthians, why are you taking your complaints against 235 00:21:33.329 --> 00:21:38.930 one one another outside of the church? He says, do you not know 236 00:21:40.289 --> 00:21:44.170 that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be 237 00:21:44.210 --> 00:21:48.960 judge by you, are you incompetent to try trivial matters? Do you not 238 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:53.920 know that we are to judge angels? How much more than matters pertaining to 239 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:59.680 this life? So, if you have such cases, why do you lay 240 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:04.390 them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to 241 00:22:04.549 --> 00:22:11.710 your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough 242 00:22:11.750 --> 00:22:17.740 to settle a dispute between the brothers? But brother goes to brother, goes 243 00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:22.579 to law against brother, and that before unbelievers. You see what he's saying. 244 00:22:22.619 --> 00:22:29.259 He's saying, guys, look at you. Are More than capable of 245 00:22:29.380 --> 00:22:33.009 doing this. This is your job, this is your duty. You are 246 00:22:33.130 --> 00:22:37.930 embarrassing yourselves by taking your disputes and your grievances to the courts outside of the 247 00:22:38.009 --> 00:22:41.849 church, when there are those who have standing right here within the church, 248 00:22:42.250 --> 00:22:49.200 wisdom within the church, to judge these things. So as in the Old 249 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:56.119 Testament, also in the New Testament era there are judges and rulers and authorities 250 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:03.269 in God's church called and ordained by him to fulfill these capacities. But they 251 00:23:03.309 --> 00:23:08.029 are to judge rightly, they are to judge with faithfulness, whole, with 252 00:23:08.109 --> 00:23:12.500 a whole heart towards God and most certainly in the fear of the Lord. 253 00:23:15.259 --> 00:23:19.980 Well, how does this all apply to us today, beyond just the necessity 254 00:23:21.180 --> 00:23:26.339 for having these things? Well, there is right to start there. We 255 00:23:26.500 --> 00:23:30.529 need officers who know the word. Who Know the word. How can they 256 00:23:30.569 --> 00:23:33.450 rule according to the word of God if they don't know the word of God? 257 00:23:36.369 --> 00:23:41.329 We need people, we need officers in our church who are able to 258 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:47.559 judge with who have wisdom and character, who are not the types of people 259 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:52.920 who take bribes and show partiality and do what they can to honor themselves and 260 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:59.670 get ahead in the world, but men who have a fear of the Lord. 261 00:24:00.390 --> 00:24:08.789 I conscious awareness of his omnipoti on omnipotence and as omniscians that have both 262 00:24:10.380 --> 00:24:18.059 carefulness in what they do and also courage. This passage also shows us that 263 00:24:18.099 --> 00:24:22.059 we need to constantly be reminded, as they are, that we are no 264 00:24:22.339 --> 00:24:30.849 mere human organization, that as as Israel as the church, we are ruled 265 00:24:30.970 --> 00:24:34.730 by a king and judged by him. We the things that we do, 266 00:24:36.009 --> 00:24:40.559 we're not just doing as a social organization, applying this by law here, 267 00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:45.039 that by law here, just so that we can continue on, continuing on. 268 00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:51.599 We exist and we are ruled by Yahweh himself, the great king who 269 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:56.069 rules over US, who watches over US and desires to have a holy people. 270 00:24:57.670 --> 00:25:06.150 This passage reminds us of that fact. And finally, this passage reminds 271 00:25:06.190 --> 00:25:10.819 us that if we are going to do these things right, we must depend 272 00:25:10.859 --> 00:25:17.940 on God entirely for our strength to fulfill these duties, as I mentioned before, 273 00:25:17.980 --> 00:25:21.140 with courage. This is a large part of what fear of the Lord 274 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:26.690 is. It's looking to him at all times, in an all ways, 275 00:25:26.930 --> 00:25:33.250 in his word and trusting him that what he says is right, that his 276 00:25:33.529 --> 00:25:38.240 ways are true and that he is watching over us in all times, even 277 00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:45.200 when things are difficult. To do what is right. Why do we need 278 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:52.150 to Remond MT be reminded of this? Well, because church officers go bad 279 00:25:52.230 --> 00:25:57.390 courts are people, are partial, take bribes, do bad things, people 280 00:25:57.430 --> 00:26:04.019 fall into sin, miscalculate the word of God, they act like humans. 281 00:26:08.339 --> 00:26:15.460 Remembering that and remembering that Jesus rules, as king and judge over all gives 282 00:26:15.500 --> 00:26:22.410 us a sense of security. Sometimes it boggles my mind that, as the 283 00:26:22.490 --> 00:26:26.609 church, we haven't already driven ourselves into the ground and out of existence a 284 00:26:27.369 --> 00:26:34.799 thousand times over, even with all of the best understanding of God's rules, 285 00:26:34.839 --> 00:26:40.640 the best understanding of his commendment Commandments, ruling in decency and in order, 286 00:26:40.920 --> 00:26:45.799 with proper respect and all these things, would we not still cause everything to 287 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:52.069 fall apart if it were not for God sovereignly ruling over us, watching over 288 00:26:52.109 --> 00:26:59.109 us and giving US great leaders like King Jeosaphat, good rulers and judges like 289 00:26:59.549 --> 00:27:04.779 Samuel, David and Solomon and others who stand before the Lord with courage and 290 00:27:06.019 --> 00:27:12.059 righteousness, men like Peter and Paul, James and John, like the reformers, 291 00:27:12.140 --> 00:27:17.849 who stood up courageously and said, by God's word, the church must 292 00:27:18.490 --> 00:27:25.369 be ruled. That happens. These great men happen. Great things in the 293 00:27:25.450 --> 00:27:30.680 Church happen because God is great, because God is ruling over us and defending 294 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:36.079 us, and because Jes Jesus promises that the gates of hell will not prevail 295 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:41.759 against his church. He promises that the church will not prevail against his church. 296 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:49.750 He promises that we will be safe under him. This is why we 297 00:27:49.910 --> 00:27:56.589 need to remember who our God is, and we need to remember that he 298 00:27:56.750 --> 00:28:02.420 rules not only according to his righteous commandments, but according to his Gospel as 299 00:28:02.539 --> 00:28:07.579 well. When Jesus judges us, he judges us as we are in him. 300 00:28:10.140 --> 00:28:11.779 When he looks at us, he sees, yes, our sins, 301 00:28:11.819 --> 00:28:18.730 are mistakes, are errors, the ways that we are falling apart and falling 302 00:28:18.809 --> 00:28:25.690 away from him. But he also judges US according to his righteous rule of 303 00:28:25.809 --> 00:28:30.920 justification in us. When Jesus stands on the judgment seat and he looks at 304 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:36.319 his chosen ones, he knows whom his blood has been applied to. He 305 00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:41.750 knows whom he has declared as righteous and just. He knows who belonged to 306 00:28:41.829 --> 00:28:48.829 him, who he is fighting for against tyranny, against partiality, against bribery 307 00:28:48.950 --> 00:28:55.349 and all kinds of other things. To know that Jesus, who died on 308 00:28:55.430 --> 00:28:57.700 the cross for us, is the one who is ruling and defending us, 309 00:29:00.420 --> 00:29:04.980 is a great courage maker. It's one that allows us to stand before him, 310 00:29:06.460 --> 00:29:10.849 even though we have sins, and to say I will do the right 311 00:29:11.009 --> 00:29:15.930 thing, to stand before him and say I will trust in you no matter 312 00:29:15.089 --> 00:29:22.569 what, and not stand before him and give up and say what's the point, 313 00:29:22.410 --> 00:29:29.920 and to say I'm already done with anyway. I might as well sin 314 00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:36.839 the extra mile. Knowing Jesus as our justification, knowing Jesus as one who 315 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:42.150 judges US according to his righteous rules, righteous ruling, and that, through 316 00:29:42.230 --> 00:29:48.829 the cross, gives us a lot of confidence, confidence that when we're scared, 317 00:29:49.750 --> 00:29:56.140 when we're worried, when Satan accuses US and men want other things and 318 00:29:56.339 --> 00:30:00.819 the church is pushed back and forth by various powers, that we can stand 319 00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:07.450 against all those powers and refuse the bribe and gold and do the right thing 320 00:30:08.250 --> 00:30:15.650 and say the hard things, because he is our king, because he has 321 00:30:15.690 --> 00:30:26.599 our justification, because he is the judge. It is from this position of 322 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:30.720 faith, faith in the Lord Jesus, Faith and what he has done, 323 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:34.789 faith in the kingdom that he is establishing, that we can that we can 324 00:30:34.869 --> 00:30:41.630 go like his disciples in Matthew Ten and stand in the courts of the world 325 00:30:41.750 --> 00:30:47.869 even and testify to the Kingdom of God and not be afraid, and we 326 00:30:47.950 --> 00:30:52.900 can also stand in the courts of the Church and testify with truthfulness and honor, 327 00:30:52.099 --> 00:31:00.180 knowing that God will deal justly, that God, as Jehosha fat says, 328 00:31:00.180 --> 00:31:08.890 will be with the upright, those who stand in the justification of God, 329 00:31:10.009 --> 00:31:15.049 according to Jesus, on the Cross and who act and live their lives 330 00:31:15.809 --> 00:31:23.559 in his name. So, brothers and sisters, as we consider doing right 331 00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:30.880 and doing wrong and in our lives, and as we consider those requirements that 332 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:37.829 we have to judge, and judge rightly, when sins are committed, let 333 00:31:37.869 --> 00:31:42.750 us remember what Jehosha fat says, for it is the word of our Lord. 334 00:31:45.190 --> 00:31:52.099 Be Courageous. The Lord will deal with the upright. Let us pray