The Lady Justice statue is one of the most familiar and recognized symbols in law. She's depicted as holding a sword in one hand, a set of scales in the other, and for about the last 500 years, she's had a blindfold. The sword represents the civil magistrate's right, privilege, to render judgment by punishment. The scales are intended to represent equity. a fair and unweighted consideration of everything in the balances. And the blindfold, of course, represents impartiality. But that's a bit ironic, because sometimes it might appear to us that Lady Justice is indeed blind, that she is indeed blind to what is right. World Magazine recently highlighted the prevalence of false rape accusations that occur daily in our country and of innocent men who have been released after their conviction was overturned. Six, or eight, or ten, or twelve, or even some fifteen, sixteen, eighteen years after their conviction. There's a popular podcast called Conviction that claims to explore big questions concerning our legal system, our criminal justice system, and cases of young men in New York City who say they've been arrested on false charges. Crimes they didn't commit. But as troubling as this is, we know the opposite is true as well, don't we? That many commit egregious crimes every day and they get away with it. They're not caught or there are miscarriages of justice. And although we know that men have an obligation under God to seek justice, to promote justice, to execute justice yet we know at the same time that the Lord alone is the one who perfectly judges with equity. He is the ultimate standard of justice who commands his people regarding justice and he is the ultimate administrator of justice. And so ultimately he's the one we must look to for our final vindication. He's the one we must look to for instruction in defining what justice is, in defining right and wrong. A proper definition of what is right must come from the God who made us, the God who is wholly right and true. Well most, if not all, of the Ten Commandments, maybe you picked up on this, are here in this section. This is an extension, again, as we've been seeing, or an application of the civil law of the Ten Commandments, the moral law being applied to Israel and their society. We could point out the first and second commandment here with idol worship. We could point out the seventh commandment here with adultery. We could point out even the sixth commandment with killing the innocent and righteous, condemning them to death. We could point out the eighth commandment not to steal, the ninth commandment not to bear false witness. But this morning I want you to see in this passage that we have read really how this is an application, yes, of all of those. But as it is giving us a definition of justice, as it is laying out what justice looks like in Israel and their society in covenant with God, I want you to see this morning that this is an extension and application of the fifth commandment, of giving honor, honor both to God and to all men. As we've seen, the proper application of the fifth commandment to honor your parents involves other authorities, but it also involves giving honor to those who are on an equal footing with us in life, or those that we have authority over as well, that there is an honor due to them all, as made in the image of God. But first and foremost, honor is due to the Lord. We'll see that this morning in this section. So as we consider these laws, I hope that you will, as we're thinking about justice and honor, you'll come away reassured with a more firm conviction that you can trust your God who is just, your God who is righteous, your righteous King, the one in whose hand, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose hand all justice has been committed to him by the Father. I couldn't help but think though as I was studying this week and preparing that I think I've said everything that I want to say and probably what I've already said this morning including even it seems like the Lady Justice illustration I used or statue I used as an illustration not too long ago. Although I searched to find to see if I have and I can't. So if you've heard me do it remind me please. But I think I've said everything before that I want to say this morning. And yet this is how God's Word often is, isn't it? That we are hearing things again and again, things that we've already heard. This is even how the law is going to function in Israel. In Exodus, how many times are there sections that we come to regarding the Sabbath? The Lord repeating himself again and again. And then also these very laws that we've read, they are repeated again in later books like Deuteronomy and the remainder of the Pentateuch. And in doing so, the Lord is giving reinforcement. He is giving greater and greater clarity. And so with the repetition, we get reinforcement. We get clarity. As we consider it this morning, and all the verses about justice that we have read, I want you to see that biblical justice, or this text teaches us that biblical justice is the impartial rendering of what is due to all in the fear of the Lord. Biblical justice is the impartial rendering of what is due to all in the fear of the Lord. And because we must look to the Lord first, and because of the commandments we saw with regard to God himself, and his worship, and his authority on life and death, we'll see first of all that biblical justice upholds honor. It upholds the honor of God, but it also upholds the honor of all men. And that's an important order. That order is important for us. So as we consider how biblical justice upholds the honor of God, let us get the order right. Let us do that first. It is the honor of God that we are concerned with first and foremost. Our treatment of others has to be understood in light of our understanding of who God is and what is due to him from us. It needs to be understood in light of who God says they are. And so it implies that we would look to Him. And that in honoring them, we would first seek to honor Him. Through Malachi, the Lord says as much. He says, you wouldn't offer to your governor a sacrifice that is blemished and spotted and lame. But that's what you're doing to me. Where is my honor? He says. And so he's reasoning from the lesser to the greater. If you wouldn't offer it to your governor, why would you offer it and think that I would accept it as your God? So let's keep the order where it should be. We see the honor of God upheld here in two ways. The honor of God is upheld in that we see the honor of God as the authority on life and worship. The honor of God as the authority on life and worship, we'll see that in verses 28 to 31. We're going to jump around quite a bit instead of following just the verses sequentially. But then we'll see the honor of God as the authority on life and death. Then we'll back up a bit to verses 18 to 20. But in verses 28 to 31, as we're seeing that biblical justice upholds the honor of God, we see the honor of God first as his honor in having the authority on life and worship. So he says in verse 28, you shall not revile God nor curse a ruler of your people. As a nation in covenant with the Lord, with Yahweh, he rules their lives both corporately and individually. The familial, the societal, the religious aspects, it's all included, intertwined here in this theocratic nation and covenant with God. So not only is blasphemy of God prohibited here, that's a given, right? But also reviling or cursing the ruler of your people, that is, those as we've been seeing in the past, those who are representing God. Those who have rightful authority, lawful rulers of the people. Paul quotes this verse in Acts 23. This is where he's standing and he's given an account of his clear conscience in serving God all of his days. This God who has brought all of his promises to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. And the high priest standing there, Ananias, orders that Paul be struck in his mouth. And Paul didn't know this was the high priest. But he turns to him and says, God will strike you, you whitewashed tomb. Calling him out for his hypocrisy. You're whitewashed. On the outside, you look great. You look like you're following God's law. On the inside, you're full of a dead man's bones. You're a hypocrite. You're calling me to a standard of God's law, but you're not holding to that standard. And we say, yeah, Paul, get him. And then someone says, you're going to curse the high priest? And Paul says, I didn't know it was the high priest because, and he quotes this verse, You shall not curse a ruler of your people. Even though our leaders, if they are lawful authorities, they may at times abuse their power. If they are lawful authorities, they are to be submitted to. The Lord would not tolerate a society here in Israel of rebellion and anarchy. His intention was to rule them, but it was to be a delegated rule through their leaders. We also see this priority in verses 29 and 30 of God's honor on their life and worship in that here he is He is giving to them commandments regarding their giving. And he says in verse 29, don't delay from giving to me the fullness of your harvest and the overflow of your presses and also your firstborn sons, the first fruits of your produce and your sons. The first one that opens the womb of man and beast alike is to be dedicated unto the Lord. He lays claim to it all. And it's a reminder to them that everything they owned belonged to God. It's a reminder to them that everything they owned came from God. Their very lives, God says in verse 29, excuse me, verse 31, you shall be consecrated to me. Their very lives were to belong to him, consecrated, holy, like a burnt offering, offered entirely upon the altar. He would even regulate their diet. We later find this in Leviticus, but here we find a precursor to this, maybe having something to do with the pagan rituals as well. You're not to be like the dogs. You can give the beasts that are torn in the field to the dogs, but you're different as my people. You're consecrated to me. What do we have that has not been given to us by the Lord? What do we have that does not belong to him? So the whole of our lives are to be consecrated to God. That means your checkbook and your chats. That means your table, your time, and your television. That means your work and your wardrobe. Your love and your leisure. Your habits and your hobbies. Everything. It belongs to the Lord. And so even though there are parts of these verses as we read them that we know don't exactly carry over, don't exactly apply in their specific command, yet verse 31 remains, remains for us, for all of God's people. You shall be consecrated to me. So give some thought to this perhaps this afternoon. Is there anything in my life that it has not been consecrated to the Lord. Is there anything that I'm seeking to steward autonomously or independently from him? As though it were not from him and through him and to him. As though he weren't the source. As though he weren't the means of sustaining. As though it weren't meant for his glory. Are there any areas in my life where I say, hands off there, Lord. Our lives are to be consecrated to him. Nothing lays outside of his claim. And even in our giving, in our giving, it should be as it is here. It should not be from what's left over, but it should be from the first fruits. This testifies to the fact that we are, in thanksgiving, returning to God what we acknowledge He has given to us. And we have not done this of ourselves. So the honor of God is the authority on life and worship. But also, the honor of God is upheld here. This is where the idea of justice comes in, as God proclaims himself to be the authority on life and death. And so back up with me, if you will, and look at verses 18 through 20. And we know the Lord is authoritative. We know he has ultimate authority. He gives us breath and he takes it away. Our lives are in his hand. He creates and destroys, but we get a bit tripped up here, don't we, when we read verses like this. You shall not permit a sorceress to live. And we think of high school and hearing about the Salem witch trials. We get tripped up because we see verses like, whosoever lies with an animal shall be put to death. Whosoever sacrifices to any god other than the Lord alone shall be devoted to destruction. And as we think about this, I think it's helpful if we keep in our minds and we remember that Israel was God's covenant people. Yes, they're a nation. But it's also the Old Covenant Church. And so these things are tied together. The description of the royal priesthood and the holy nation in the New Testament is spoken of the New Testament, the New Covenant Church. This is us. We are that kingdom of priests. We are that holy nation. And so as you read these capital crimes and their punishments that are here, can you imagine these sins being tolerated in the church? Can you imagine us encouraging sorcery, your elders encouraging this, and us sending out in the weekly emails advertisements for a member who reads palms? Can you imagine encouraging sexual perversion. Can you imagine allowing syncretism, the worshiping of other gods along with the true and living God? You see, this would be a problem, it would prevent, it would be a threat to their being set apart as devoted to the Lord. It would be a threat to their being a peculiar nation, and so therefore, the one who engages in these activities are those who would be set apart themselves. The term devoted to destruction, it is set apart for the Lord, but it is given over, it is to be cut off. The church in the New Covenant, if these sins are committed here, we cannot tolerate them, but we don't have the power of the sword. No, but we must declare what is true and what is right in accordance with God's word. And we must say that these are truly and properly sinful. Sorcery was the attempt to predict the future, to read the stars and determine God's providential dealings apart from him. The bestiality mentioned here, this perversion, was likely part of the pagan fertility rituals of the surrounding nations. And of course their gods, the Lord has already said in the first commandment that they were not to have any gods before him in his presence, among his people, in his land. So they were devoted to him. They were set apart as a peculiar people. But the Lord, in prohibiting these matters, is also saying that it is He, and not sorcery, that will be the means of revealing His will, through His Word, as He determines it. That it is not the fertility rituals of the surrounding nations, but it is He who will fulfill His promise to Abraham. to multiply his seed as the sand of the sea or as the stars in the heavens, and to fulfill his promise to Eve to bring the Redeemer, the seed of the woman, to crush the serpent. And it is He, He who is to be their God and not the gods of the nations. He alone is their Savior. So you see interwoven throughout this section of justice, even in these capital crimes and their punishments that are mentioned here. The priority is on upholding honor, yes, but upholding the honor of God as their rightful king, their authority on life and worship, on life and death. So biblical justice upholds the honor of God. But now in the other verses that we have read, we also see having established that biblical justice upholds the honor of all people, of all people. The section begins in the ESV with the heading, Laws About Social Justice, at least in the one that I have. Maybe yours says something like that or the very thing. But given the cultural climate, as that term is thrown around, and given discussions and disagreements within the church about what social justice is and isn't. We need to qualify that statement a bit. It's become such a broad term that it's almost impossible to know what someone might mean when they use the term social justice. There's everything from in the political world and the left leaning politics where the liberal progressive minded, as they're called, social justice warriors, we have that term given to us, we hear it, but that's a very different thing than those in the church those Christians who are calling the church to make use of their prophetic voice and to apply it to the evils of our culture. As we have called out and called for repentance on the evil of abortion for all of these years, that we should also be prophetically calling out other matters of injustice. That's very different than a politically driven agenda. But then there's everything in between. There's a mix. Even within Christ's church there are disagreements between those who want to leave all of these matters alone and don't speak to any of them because of the spiritual nature of the church. And there are those who say it is all of these things are a gospel issue that we should get involved in. There are disagreements among friends, there are disagreements among reformed folks, there are disagreements that are merely semantic, and there are disagreements that are very serious and have serious implications for the Church of Jesus Christ. And I don't plan to get into any of it this morning. Those discussions are necessary and helpful. But what I want to do this morning is, as we have established the priority of the honor of God, I want us to see how God is defining justice here, and what we should be concerned about with upholding the honor of all people. We should be concerned about matters of social justice, but we should be concerned about those matters as God defines them, and because God is concerned about them. Biblical justice upholds the honor of all people. And these verses teach us the various ways in which the honor of all people is to be upheld. So let us do that in accordance with God's word and see, first of all, that the honor of all people is to be upheld in various relationships. We see one that's given as an example in verse 16. If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife." This is a personal and family relationship where honor has been broken and it needs to be mended, it needs to be upheld. Some include this verse along with the restitution paragraph that we have seen and those verses that we have seen earlier. Justice or restitution? Yes, I think it's both here. So the act that we should assume, though the term seduce is used, is consensual. If it was forced, if this was rape, the penalties would be worse. If it was adultery proper, the penalty would be worse. But she is one who is described as not being betrothed. And so the man is held responsible here because the man is the one who is the leader. He holds the primary responsibility as the head of the home, as the head of the marriage. He holds the primary responsibility under God. But behind all of this lies God's purpose for the sexual relationship. So notice how when we have this act, whenever there is fornication, the man ought to take her as his wife. He ought to. Now he doesn't always, we see that, but he ought to. Because the one flesh union is the sign of the marriage covenant. It is that which signifies and seals the marriage. It is that which is which renews the marriage throughout its life. And so it's quite simple here that the principle that we can draw is that you shouldn't be willing to give your body to someone that you're not also committing your entire life to in covenant. That's why the act should follow the vows. That's why the act should follow the ceremony. As one commentator puts it, when there is fornication, a virtual marriage has taken place. But it's not a legal marriage. So he should pay the bride price for her as his wife. And she should become his wife, ideally. Ideally. But the father here may not like this idea so much. He might think that it might appear to him in his wisdom, which is what this is intended to provide for here, that in his wisdom this is just making a bad situation worse. That this man is not responsible, that this man has not shown self-control and I don't want to give my daughter to him. And so there may be circumstances again where it might make things actually worse. In either way he's obligated to pay the bride price. which as we've seen in the past was very costly, which was she may not be able to find a suitable husband if this is public. And it would serve, the bride price or the engagement gift would serve as a way to provide for herself if she's no longer able to be provided for by her father or if she doesn't have a husband to provide for her. And so it functions as sort of an insurance policy. But there is a cost. Make no mistake, there is a cost to seeking sexual satisfaction outside of God's institution of marriage. So to uphold honor, the honorable thing to do here was to take on the role and responsibility of the husband or, if that's not possible, to make restitution for this breach. So the honor of all people upheld in relationships, the honor of all people is also to be upheld for the weak and the vulnerable. We see this beginning at verse 21 and going on through verse 27 where the Lord tells them they're not to wrong a sojourner or mistreat widows or orphans and then he promises that he will repay if they do. Psalm 146 says the Lord is the one who helps. He loves those who are helpless. The Lord helps the fatherless and the widow. What does James say that pure religion is? Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, that we make sure we're right theologically and we argue for it with those who oppose us on Facebook. I don't think that's what James says, right? Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this. Part of it is we visit widows and orphans in their affliction. That we care for those who are in need, those who are helpless and vulnerable because this is who our God cares for. He is the one who cares for them. And so in this, we are reading that the people of God, their desire should be to help and not harm. those who are without the means of basic provision. Widows and orphans wouldn't have the provision of a husband or a father. A sojourner in the land would likely not have anyone to help to aid them. You know, whenever you watch the BBC or National Geographic and they film the pride of lions hunting during these great migrations of African animals, zebras or wildebeests, gazelles. What are they looking for? They're looking for those that are young. They're watching for the smaller, the weaker, the sickly, the isolated ones. The ones that are easy targets. The ones that don't have the protection of size or health or the surrounding strength of the herd. The isolated. The Lord is telling us here If that is you, if you are seeking to exploit those who are vulnerable, He is much displeased with that. And He makes promise to repay. They were also, in verse 25, not to levy interest upon those who are poor. Again, the same principle was here. It should not be to see how we can fill our pockets, to be opportunistic, like a beast. But rather, like our God, we should be seeking to help and to aid. The poor need help to get on their feet, but charging them interest would keep them on the ground. They wouldn't be able to get up again. So instead of interest in this day, a lender would likely want some collateral in case the loan is defaulted on. But even here, the Lord says, basically, don't take the shirt off his back. If you take his cloak, what does he got left? You take his cloak as a pledge. How about give it back to him in the evening so he's got something to cover himself with. You see the general principle here, that to be open handed and generous and not always seeking to receive and to take. There's no legal penalty threatened here, but the warning is far worse if you caught it. The Lord says, for those that would exploit the poor, the sojourner, the mistreated, or mistreat the widow, the fatherless child, if they cry out to me in verse 23, and I hear their cry, God says, my wrath will burn. I'll kill you with the sword, and then your wives will be widows. Your children will be orphans. We read the promise of the threat of the sword. This is military attack from surrounding nations. We read of that in Isaiah 65. And it's precisely because of some of the failures in social justice in their nation that the prophets were saying that they were going to be given over. So no penalty civil is mentioned but the penalty, the warning is far more severe. The early Some of the early Native American tribes had a very unique practice when they were sort of a rite of passage of training their young braves. They were coming of age. They were 13 years old. On the night of their 13th birthday, they have learned to hunt and to scout and to fish, but then they were put to one final test. They were blindfolded and taken miles away from their camp, miles away from their home. They were placed in a dense forest and forced to spend the entire night alone. Could see nothing. And so there they are. You can imagine every twig that snaps, every sound that's heard. You can think of a bear or a beast ready to pounce. And then finally dawn would break. And the boy could look around and he could find the path back to camp, was back to home, was not that far away. But then there was another surprise. Just a few feet away from him, though he didn't know it all night, he would find the figure of a man. who was standing there armed with a bow and arrow, and this man would have been his father. God's protection of those who are vulnerable is not always visible, but it is sure. And we may not fully realize it until the blindfold comes off. We may not fully realize it until the day that faith finally becomes sight, but he promises. He promises to hear the cry of the vulnerable, of the powerless. of those who have been exploited. And as wrath burns hot against their mistreatment, he will surely repay." So the honor of all people and relationships, the honor of all people upheld for the weak and the vulnerable. As chapter 23 begins, we move to really the court of law and we see the honor of all people being upheld there. Because a nation's judicial system, we've said this before, but it's only really as just, even with just judges, it's only as just as its witnesses. And so there is warning in verses one and two about using the judicial process to manipulate an outcome. To see to it that others are harmed. False reports. Malicious witness, verse one. These things can do great damage, and if they're rampant in a culture, in a society, there can be no true justice. There's a warning against the mob mentality in verse two, which was, need we be reminded, this was exactly the way our Lord was condemned to death. Don't fall in with the many to do evil. Don't side with the many so as to pervert justice. even when it's when someone had something coming to them. Come on. I know. I know they didn't. We know that he's not guilty of this, but he's been guilty of so much. If we could get him on this, he would finally get what was coming to him, what he deserved. It's like the great theologian Eric Clapton said, I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy. Don't pervert justice. with this gang mentality, this mob mentality of siding with the majority. Be enough of a free thinker that you're not swayed by the majority, but also, in your thinking, be guided by the fear of the Lord so that it's His law, not just what is popular, that it's driving your convictions, that it's sway over you. But this doesn't only apply to witnesses. It also applies to the judges. Verses six through eight, those who have the power of judgment in their hand. God says, don't pervert it. In verse six, he says, keep far from the false charge. Don't condemn, don't kill the innocent and the righteous. Don't take a bribe. And it too comes with the Lord's warning. Do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. You know, this really can go both ways. If there is a mistake and someone did get away with a terrible crime, they've escaped the judgment of men, but they will not escape the judgment of God. And on the other hand, If there is a wrongful condemnation, a wrongful conviction, so also for the ones who have perverted justice in this way, the Lord also says, I will not acquit the wicked. You may have noticed when we were reading that the poor were protected. We've seen some of this already in in the laws against their mistreatment and against lending money and not exacting interest upon them or from them. The poor are also protected here. In this speaking of not taking a bribe, we talked about Lady Justice and how she's blindfolded. But actually the Bible tells us here that justice is clear-sighted. It's able to see. It's the bribe that blinds and subverts the cause. So this is protecting the poor. It is intended to protect the poor from those who would seek either financial gain or because out of fear, they're afraid of the rich and powerful. And so they side with the rich. But at the same time, we might expect that. At the same time, the wealthy are protected. In verse 3, nor shall you be partial to the poor man in his lawsuit. There may be some out there who think, you know, we have an opportunity to really level the playing field. And we're sympathetic to them because they've had it so bad for so long. Either way, the Lord, the Lord desires and He demands from His people, not that they act from emotion and not that they act from fear or for the desire for personal gain. But they act out of what is right, what is actually just. So upholding biblical justice means upholding the honor of all impartially and regardless of their socioeconomic status. Then the last verse that we read tells us how the honor of all people is to be held up even for those who are different. Even for those who are different, look at verse 9. You shall not oppress a sojourner. This is the second time the Lord has warned against this. He did it back in verse 21 of the last chapter. For you know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. The Lord, again, He already warned against this. But each time they're reminded that they themselves were sojourners. And you would think that they wouldn't need this instruction. They knew what it was like to be the oppressed one in Egypt. So why would they need it? But they did. Because our sinful nature often mimics the mistreatment that we have received. And often gives it to others. Sometimes, when we have the opportunity then to do right, instead, we like the way the tables have now turned. We like the way it feels to be in charge. We like the way these clothes fit and we want to try out our authority for a little while. For once. To be the one in charge. To have things our way. But God says no. Remember, you know the heart of the sojourner. You know how Pharaoh treated you and how kind God was to you. Don't make yourself an enemy of God by becoming like Pharaoh. The honor of God upheld for those who are different. But then, the final thing I want you to see is that the honor of all people is to be upheld when only God sees. And we see this in verses four and five. If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, bring it back to him. Man. We may not actively harm our enemies, But we may be willing to passively let harm come to them if, pretend we look the other way or don't see it. We may be more inclined, most people are more inclined if there's the threat of punishment in a court of law, right, for slander, for false witness, for the perverting of justice, if there are sanctions, if there are consequences. But what about when no one's looking? You see, this is more than just about following the legal code. This is about following the God who loves his enemies, who is gracious towards them, who reconciles them to himself. If you see his beast gone astray, take it back to him. If you find this beast under a burden, relieve him of it. This is the golden rule in action. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. You know, the Sermon on the Mount was not the first time God told his people to love their enemies. When Paul says, if your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat. If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. He's quoting from the Old Testament. They were to be like their God, the one who loves their enemies, his enemies. So biblical justice, as we have seen it this morning, is the impartial rendering of what is due to all in the fear of the Lord. impartial rendering of what is due to all, but it must be guided by the fear of the Lord and in keeping with His command. It's upholding the honor of God and it upholds the honor due to all men. But our faith is built as Christians on this great irony of one who received injustice. We know that irony as the only one who was fully or who in his life fully honored God and man. The one who alone was not only innocent but truly righteous. He was the one who was condemned to die in our place for those who are guilty. And it's a great irony that it was a miscarriage of justice that brought about his condemnation to death. And yet that was precisely the way that God purposed to carry out his justice. His perfect justice. And so, the deepest wound that Christ received was not when they spit upon Him, or insulted Him, or slapped Him. It was not the scourge that lashed His back with stripes. It was not the plucking of His beard. It was not the crown of thorns that pierced His brow. It was not the nails in His hands or His feet. It was not the spear in His side. But the greatest stroke that hit him was the stroke that justice gave, the stroke he received from the Father, the punishment that was due to us. And that's precisely why we have hope, because the righteous one was condemned, that way the guilty hope in his shed blood And so that while no one is righteous so that they can escape the wrath of God. So now also all who are unrighteous may have the gospel of Christ freely offered to them. So don't think for a moment that you can get away from God's justice. But as we've seen, and I hope you've seen that God is a no respecter of persons, don't think for a moment that your sins are too great for his grace. Don't fall for the lie that your sin is greater than his mercy, that his blood, that Christ's blood is not sufficient to save you. As John Newton said, Some of his later words, as his memory was failing him, he said, these two things I remember. I'm a great sinner, yes, but Christ is a great savior. The justice of God upheld perfectly, his honor upheld perfectly in the death of his son, and yet at the same time, his love displayed, expressed, poured out, lavished justice perfectly.