Clean Transcript

God's Law As The Standard and Teacher of God's Social Order

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• I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Exodus, chapter 22. We're going to read the first 17 verses, and it'll be a little while before I get to these verses, but I think you'll see the absolute necessity. So, Exodus chapter 22, tonight I'm dealing with the law as restitution. The law as restitution. Because we're supposed to be learning about God's law as our teacher. So, in Exodus chapter 22 and verse 1, God says, "If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep."

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• "If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him, for he should make full restitution. If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox or ass or sheep, he shall restore double. If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field, of the best of his own field and of the best of his own vineyard shall he make restitution. If fire break out and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn or the standing corn of the field be consumed therewith, he that kindle the fire shall surely make restitution. If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house, if the thief be found, let him pay double."

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• "If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand into his neighbor's goods. For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges, and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor. If a man deliver unto his neighbor an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep, and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it, then shall an oath of the Lord be between them both, that he had not put his hand into his neighbor's goods,"

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• "and the owner of it shall accept thereof, he shall not make it good. And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof. If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for a witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn. And if a man borrow it out of his neighbor, and it be hurt or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good. But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good, for if it be a hired thing, it came for its hire. If a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife."

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• "If her father utterly refused to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins." John Wycliffe wrote in his English Bible, "This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people, and for the people." God is one and His law is one, and it's important for you and I to note that according to the Bible, law is revelation. In fact, the Hebrew word for law is the word Torah, and the word Torah actually means instruction or authoritative direction. The law is nothing less than the revelation of God and His righteousness. There is absolutely no ground in scripture for despising God's law. So many people try to relegate law to the Old Testament and grace to the New Testament.

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• But the truth of the matter is, Genesis chapter 6 tells us that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And when you get to Ephesians chapter 6, it says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, for this is the first commandment with promise." So you find grace in the Old Testament. You find law, of course, in the New Testament as well. When you stop and think about God's law, the only alternative to God's law is man's law.

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• So the issue really resolves, or comes down to this, boils down to this, it's either theonomy or autonomy. And of course, in Genesis chapter 3, that was the actual temptation. "You shall become as God's knowing or determining good and evil," or you don't need God. You can make up your own law as you go. And whenever you deny God's law, inevitably you're going to install your law, or at least someone's law. And the Bible says in the book of Judges chapter 17 and verse 6, as well as in Judges 21 and verse 25, "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes."

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• And that's basically where we are today. I never will forget years ago, I was in a motel somewhere and I had the TV on and I hate, I despise, those stupid talk shows and that kind of thing, especially the ones that are just really trying to raise people's attention. And I was flipping through trying to find some news or something, and all of a sudden, here's this one man who was interviewing this little teenage girl, I say teenage girl, 18, 19, she was already a movie star. And she was living with a married man.

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• I stopped when I heard that. And the TV host asked her, "Do you not think that is wrong?" Her answer was classic. She said, and I quote in verbatim, I've never forgotten it. "It may be wrong for other people, but it's all right for me." What did she just say? "I'm a law to myself. I make up my own rules. I make up my own law." So, anytime you deny the validity of God's law, it's just merely so that you may establish your law, or at least someone's law, and it's going to be an alien law system.

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• Now, I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not, but you must have law. Every individual has to have law. Every family has to have law. Every society, every nation has to have law. It's impossible to exist without law. Because without law, all you have is anarchy, confusion, chaos, and destruction. So the question is not whether you will have a law system or not. The question is, whose law system will you have? And with whose law system will you be in submission? And law, of course, is very obviously inescapably religious. When I say that, you have to understand this, that every law that is passed is a religious law. Why? Even the law passed by Washington, D.C. Even the laws passed in Montgomery, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, they're religious laws. You say, "But they say they're not." I understand that. But do you understand behind every law is a determination of right and wrong, good and evil? And your determination of right and wrong, good and evil, rests upon your theology or your religion.

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• So you cannot have a law that is not religious. It may not necessarily be a Christian law, but it is still a religious law. You have to understand the source of your law is basically your own God, is what it amounts to. So if you think that your reason is always right, then your reason becomes your God. If you think the Supreme Court is always right, well, the Supreme Court is your God. And modern humanism always locates religion in the state. Because it makes the state God.

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• I want you to listen to these quotes. The last one may shock you. The first three or four will not. It was Hegel who said, "The state incarnates the divine idea upon earth." Wow! The state incarnates the divine idea upon earth. In other words, the state is God walking on earth. That's what he's saying. Here's Nietzsche, number two, "The state is the supreme power, ultimate, and beyond repeal, absolutely independent." So what he's saying is the state is God. Here's one, Benito Mussolini, "Everything for the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state." How about this one, Hitler? "The state dominates the nation because it alone represents the nation." Each one of these quotes now demonstrates the fact that the state is claimed to be God. Now we should listen to this one.

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• I'm not going to tell you who said it until afterwards, but here's the quote. "The state embraces everything and nothing has value outside the state. The state creates right." Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Do you want to know why abortion is legal? Or at least it was and still is in a number of states. Because they said the state said it's right. Why is Sodom and Gomorrah protected? Because the state says it's right.

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• Why is transgenderism being pushed? Because the state says it's right. Why is theft protected and pushed? Because the state says taxation is legal whether you like it or not, and whether you agree with it or not. In other words, the state basically creates right is what it amounts to. So what I want you to see tonight is this. Anytime you deny the validity of God's law, you're always going to substitute man's law in some shape, form, or fashion. So very quickly, tonight, I'm going to give you four ideas concerning law. I will tell you up front, I cannot give you any scripture for the first three, except scriptures against them, because the first three are unbiblical. They're totally humanistic.

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• Only the last one is biblical, okay? So here we are. Law as reformation, which I'll speak about. Law as regulation. Law as redistribution. And the law as restitution. So think with me just for a moment as law as reformation. That is basically humanistic. And when you talk about law as reformation, that is where man attempts to do that which God Himself does not do, and would not allow. The idea of law as by reformation just simply means this. It means salvation by law.

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• That is where we get our rehabilitation centers from. That is also where we get our reformatories from. So, law then is viewed then as something that rehabilitates and reforms. I get so tickled often times when I travel. I see these buses beside the road and it has Department of Corrections, Indiana Department of Corrections, Alabama Department of Corrections. And when I'm able to stop, I'll ask one of the officers there who's guarding. I'd say, "I need to ask you a question. What is it?"

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• "How many of these men are you really correcting?" And the truth of the matter is, absolutely none. You see, salvation is not by law. Even God's law was not intended to save. It is true that God's law will indeed restrain, direct, and convict and condemn, but it could not give life. The Bible says in the book of Galatians chapter 3 and verse 21, "Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid! For if there had been a law which could have given life, then verily righteousness should have been by the law."

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• Well, let me ask you a question. Where in the world did we get all these reformatories? Where did we get all these rehabilitation centers? Where did we get our penitentiaries from? Our prison system? Would you believe that William Penn, who lived from 1644 to 1718, the English Quaker, and the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn and his Quaker friends began what are known as our penitentiaries today, basically our prison system and our reformatories. Why?

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• Because the Quakers believed that every man had a little spark of divinity. Every man had an inner light. Every man had something good on the inside of him. And basically, all he needed was to have that little light and that little flame stirred up, and then it would just blaze up into roaring goodness and kindness. It's that kind of thing. The word penitentiary actually comes from the word penitence, which means the state of being penitent, regret for wrongdoing, sinning. It means contrition and repentance. Now, when you think of a penitentiary, here's what I want you to think about. A monastery. You say, "What does a penitentiary and a monastery have in common?" Well, you remember monks live in a monastery. Every monk has his own little room, which is referred to as what? His cell. And then you had a number of those little rooms in a row, and now you have a cell block. And what did those runes do when those monks were there?

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• They were there meditating, doing penance, thinking about their sins and how to reform themselves and how to become better monks. And so the idea was, if we can take these criminals now and put them by themselves in their little cells and let them begin to meditate, then there's going to be reforms made in their lives. They will be rehabilitated. The only problem is it just doesn't work.

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• You can ask any warden. You can ask any correctional officer. You can even ask a criminal. And you'll find out that those criminals who are thrown into prison actually come out better prisoners and better criminals than when they went in, because they've learned from all the other inmates in there as well. So, there's law basically as reformation, which is totally and completely humanistic and ineffectual. Secondly, there is law as regulation, which also is humanistic. Law by regulation literally tries to make it impossible for men to sin by controlling them and their activities and literally by regulating them to death. So regulation then, laws, regulation, seeks to make sure that our businessmen really and truly do not cheat, swindle, steal, or lie.

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• How do they do that? Well, by regulation, that is how. Because all of these regulatory agencies, such as OSHA, HEW, the IRS, and all these people, they're going to check on you, and they're going to make sure that these businesses are regulated and they are running according to the way the government says they should be running. You know, there's a Latin saying that has been around for years, caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware.

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• In other words, what we have today is this. We don't have basically what you and I would call free trade. What we basically have is, and not just supply and demand, but we've got people that are so regulated, basically, that they can stay in business as long as they follow the regulations, whether they are crooks or whether they're not crooks. But, you know, if the government was not involved, and let's say that Brother MacDonald is a businessman, and everybody in this church goes to Brother MacDonald and does business with him, and he begins to cheat everyone.

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• Well, let me ask you a question. Once you find out that you're being cheated, are you going back to see Brother McDonald in his store? Of course not. He's going to go out of business. But as long as he follows the regulations, and as long as he does what he's told, and he's a good little boy, the government will subsidize him and keep him in business with taxpayer money, of course.

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• That's simply law as regulation. Regulations are highly unworkable. For instance, in the 1930s, you could walk down the street with a fifth of liquor sticking out of your hip pocket, flipping a gold coin, and a cop would stop you and arrest you. Why would he arrest you? Because it was illegal to have that alcohol in your back pocket. In the 1970s, you could walk down the street with that fifth of whiskey in your hip pocket, flipping that golden coin, and a cop would stop you and arrest you. Why? It was unlawful to have gold. You could have alcohol, but you couldn't have gold at that particular time. All I'm saying is this is regulation where they simply try to regulate people to death. You know, we have the old saying, "Ignorance is no excuse of the law." You know, that used to be true. And when I say it used to be true, that's because the Bible was our law book. And everyone had a Bible, and everyone knew how to read the Bible, and everyone knew the law of God.

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• Therefore, ignorance was no excuse of the law. And by the way, whether you know it or not, originally, when the judges walked into the courtroom, they walked in carrying an open Bible, and men stood out of respect for the Bible. When they kicked the Bible out, now the judges want you to stand out of respect for them instead of the Word of God. But it was no excuse of the law when we had biblical law because everybody understood the law. But today it is an excuse.

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• How many of you read the Federal Register every day or every week? Do you realize there are over 60 volumes of laws and regulations in the Federal Register? 60 volumes! Each one of us violates the law every single day. Because we don't know those laws. We have no idea. I'm just simply pointing out the fact ignorance is an excuse because today we have humanistic law. I'm probably not pronouncing his name correctly, but he was the Russian. His last name was Beria.

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• He was the most ruthless and long-serving secret police chief under Joseph Stalin in Russia. He bragged that he could prove criminal conduct on anyone, even the innocent. And here was his saying, "Show me the man and I'll show you the crime." And that's basically true today. Because we violate so many laws we don't even know about. Have any of you ever crossed the gore? You don't even know what that is, do you? One of my men years ago got a ticket from a cop because he crossed the gore. You know what the gore was? The yellow lines. You know, the little yellow lines before you actually get to the place where you're to turn, you ran on the yellow, that's the gore. He got a ticket because he got on the yellow lines right before he got to the place where he could turn. Law is regulation. Totally, completely unbiblical. Here's a third one very quickly, and that is law as redistribution.

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• And of course it's humanistic in core. Most of you, or at least those of you who are older, have read about the Russian Revolution back in 1917. You remember how the Bolsheviks, they were going to take everything away from the Tsar and everything away from the elites, and they were going to distribute all that land and all that money to the peasants. How much land did the peasants get? None. How much money did they get? None. It's just like the radical Republicans promising the blacks after the war 40 acres and a mule. How many got 40 acres and a mule? None. You see, there was redistribution in Russia, but it was not to the peasants. And there was redistribution during Reconstruction times, but it was not to the blacks and it was not to the poor whites.

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• It was to the carpetbaggers and scalawags. Yeah.

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• Now, I want you to stop and think of the plunder that goes on in America today under the law as redistribution. Do you remember all that COVID relief money? Where did it go? Who got all that money? There were billions. Did you realize there are trillions of dollars missing today? Trillions. Hmm. Well, why do all the banks get bailed out when little T-90 business people do not get bailed out?

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• And how is it that there are some companies that are too big to fail? And so they always get more money than they particularly need. How does that go?

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• Now, you know the distinction, I hope you do, between legal plunder and illegal plunder. Everybody understands illegal plunder. So, if I went back to Brother Tim, and I pulled out my pistol and I stuck it between his eyes and I said, "Give me all your money or else," I'd get his money. Or, I'd get shot if he had a gun and could whip me, beat me. If I did get away and he recognized me, knew me, I'd finally pretty well end up in prison. Hmm. Wow. That's illegal plunder. But what is legal plunder? That is when I come to Tim and I pass the law or I've gotten it passed or I've got the authority and I say, "You give me this money or else you're going to jail." Now there's a book in the back.

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• If you've never read it, I would encourage you to read it. It is titled The Law by Frédéric Bastiat, a Frenchman. I want to read to you his definition of legal plunder and what he says. Listen very carefully. Here's how to identify legal plunder. "But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply, see if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong." Wow. "See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime." He went on to say, "Now legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways." Think about this.

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• "Thus we have an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, benefits, subsidies, encouragements, progressive taxation, public schools, guaranteed jobs, guaranteed profits, minimum wages." This is written in France. "Minimum wages, a right to relief, a right to the tools of labor, free credit, and so on and so on. All these plans as a whole, with their common aim of legal plunder, constitute socialism." Government education is socialism. Why? Should I pay for someone else's education when I don't even know them?

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• And when they're educating them in a way that I totally disagree with? Well, that's legal plunder. So if you do not submit to the legal plunder, then they come and steal your property. Well, he goes on. "This question of legal plunder must be settled once and for all, and there are only three ways to settle it. Number one, the few plunder the many. Number two, everybody plunders everybody. Or number three, nobody plunders anybody." He says, "We must make our choice among the limited plunder, universal plunder, or no plunder. The law can only follow only one of these three. No legal plunder."

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• "This is the principle of justice, peace, order, stability, harmony, and logic. Until the day of my death, I shall proclaim this principle with all the force of my lungs, which, alas, is all too inadequate." That's what he said about legal plunder. Think for a moment of all of the unbiblical and all of the unnecessary taxes that are placed upon you and I that the government really does not need, and the reason they're placed upon us is basically to drain off the excess Federal Reserve notes that keep the system from imploding.

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• I'm just simply saying it is redistribution. When you think about the income tax, the inheritance tax, the property tax, and a host of other taxes, they're all designed to take from some and give to someone else. It's legal plunder. And when you get to Exodus chapter 30, verses 11 through 16 particularly, God said when it came to supporting justice, He said it's a half shekel. He says the rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less. Why? Because everyone has an equal interest in justice. But when you believe the law as redistribution, you're willing to take from everybody and give to those who do not deserve it. Inflation is another tax. It's a secret tax. You don't see it, but it's there.

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• I really enjoy telling people about my wife and I when we first got married. Because, Lord willing, if we get to live until January, we'll be married 60 years. I remember giving her ten bucks a week to buy groceries for us, and I'd kind of fuss at her a little bit if she didn't bring two or three of it back. So that meant she'd buy milk, bread, meat, veggies, fruits, everything for the two of us to live on for a week for six or seven bucks. Unbelievable. Our first house we bought had a double lot, real hardwood floors, real pine paneling in the den. It was a two bedroom in a beautiful section in town.

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• It cost me $10,000. My house payment, along with my insurance, was $73 a month. I'll guarantee you the house that I paid $10,000 for in the 1960s, you probably could not buy that same house today, even though it's so much older, for less than $100,000 to $150,000, since it's in a nice section of town. I'm just saying that's inflation. One of my favorite stories is the nickname for Henry VIII. Henry VIII had a nickname of "Old Copper Nose."

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• Because what he would do, he would take a copper coin and he'd put silver plating on it and try to pass it off as a silver coin and people would keep it in their pockets and they'd be pulling it out and their hands on it and his etching was on that coin, and that thumb would always hit right where his nose was, and the copper would show through, and thus he was called Old Copper Nose. That's inflation. That's inflation. So, I'm just trying to show you laws of redistribution.

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• Here's the greatest illustration that I can really think of, and that is this. Years ago, my father was having a conversation with a black man who worked for him briefly. And so, the black man looked at my father and he said, "Mr. Weaver," he said, "I think what they ought to do, whoever they are, you know," he said, "I think what they ought to do is they ought to take all the money in the world and divide it equally between everybody. And then everybody has an equal amount of money." My dad looked at him and said, "That wouldn't work." He said, "Why not?" Dad said, "Because some men work harder than others. Some men are smarter than others. And some men are more wicked and vile than others. And before the week was over, there'd be an inequality because some would have more than others." The black man paused and he said, "Oh, I meant they ought to do it every Saturday night." Well, that might work if you did it every Saturday night, but otherwise, it's not going to work.

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• It's just not going to work. Benjamin Franklin said, "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of our republic." And Joseph Sobran said it like this, "If you want government to intervene domestically, you're a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you're a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you're a moderate. If you don't want government to intervene anywhere, you're an extremist." Well, that's true. That's true.

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• Now, but all of those are ungodly, unbiblical, and humanistic. I want to deal tonight with the law's restitution. That is why I read Exodus chapter 22. When you look and study the Bible, when it comes to punishments for crimes and sins in the Bible, you'll be amazed to discover that there was no such thing as a prison system under biblical law.

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• Now it is true there were wards and there were temporary holding places until a person was tried. And then after he was tried, well, he could either be disinherited, he could be whipped, he could make restitution, or there would be the death penalty. And that was basically it. So in Deuteronomy chapter 25, let me read this, beginning with verse 1, God said, "If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them, then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed. Lest if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee." So usually restitution was the answer, whipping sometimes, and if a death penalty was demanded, John Gill says it like this, there were four kinds of death criminals were put to by the Hebrews.

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• There was stoning, strangling, burning, and slaying with a sword. And such crimes which were not a severe demanded death penalty, they were beaten, that deserve to be beaten. Otherwise, you have either disinheritance for ungodly, rebellious children, or then you have restitution. So when you look in Exodus chapter 22, you're going to find that there is a two-fold restitution, there is a four-fold restitution, there is a five-fold restitution, and when you get to Romans chapter 6, not Romans chapter 6, but Proverbs chapter 6, you're going to find there is a seven-fold restitution. If you would hold Exodus chapter 22 and look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Proverbs chapter 6, you will see the circumstances under which there is indeed a sevenfold restitution. So in Proverbs chapter 6, beginning there with verse 27, look what the Bible says.

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• God asked, "Can a man take fire into his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth into his neighbor's wife, whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent."

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• Now look what he says. "Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry. But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold. He shall give all the substance of his house. But whoso committed adultery with a woman, lacketh understanding. He that doeth it, destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away."

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• "For jealousy is the rage of a man, therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts." So there is indeed a sevenfold restitution. So you have the ratio here given. Here's the second thing I want you to understand, and that is the ratio of restitution is determined and based upon the value and the usefulness of that which was stolen.

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• For instance, when you look back in verse 1, "If a man steal an ox or a sheep and kill it or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep." Now, why is it five for an ox and four for a sheep? Well, stop and think about the value and the training that's involved. It is true you can use a sheep for meat. You could use the sheep for wool, for clothing. You could use the sheep, I guess, for just pets or whatever. But when you stop and think about an ox, an ox not only can be used for meat, his hide can be used for leather, clothing, tents, whatever.

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• But that ox can also be trained. He can be trained to pull plows and to pull wagons and to pull whatever is necessary. So the ox was far more valuable and far more useful than a sheep was. So let me try to give you an illustration like this that would try to show you how this is based. Let's suppose that you were a plumber. How about an electrician? Maybe a carpenter.

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• And you have a work truck. And that work truck is full of all your tools plus materials. And you drive that truck every day, and you work out of that truck every day, except Sunday. And you do have a nice car. But you only drive that car on Sunday, and you drive it to church. Here's a good question. If someone is going to steal your vehicles, or one of your vehicles, which one would you rather he steal? The car that you drive once a week or the truck that you need every day with all your tools in it? You see, the truck is far more valuable than the car, even though the car may be more expensive.

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• And so this is exactly what God is saying. So the ratio is based upon the value and the usefulness of that which is stolen. But thirdly, I want you to note there is a problem of defense in relationship to threat, in relationship to theft. Look in verse three, verse two, he said, "If a thief be found breaking up and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him." Then he says in verse three, "If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him, for he should make full restitution. If you have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft." So, here is the problem then with theft. Now, note in verse 2, he said, "...if a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him." Now, we're talking about night, because the next verse said, "...if the sun be risen upon him." So, according to God's law then, if someone is breaking into your house at night, it is lawful for you to take his life.

  #53 | 37:35 to 38:37 | cleaned

• Why? Number one, you don't know who he is. Number two, you have no idea whether he's armed or not. You have no idea whether you and your family are in danger. And next, you could never identify him because you can't really see him. And so God says, if he's breaking in, then he is to be killed. Years ago, I had a man come to me who was a professing Christian, and he asked me a question. He asked me, "Brother Weaver," he said, "what would you do if you woke up during the night and some man was climbing in your bedroom window?"

  #54 | 38:37 to 39:19 | cleaned

• I looked at him, I said, "Well, the answer is very simple. If I get my hands on a gun, I'd shoot him. If I couldn't get my hands on a gun, I'd get a baseball bat and I'd beat him in the head." He said, "Well, I don't think you ought to do that." I said, "What do you think I should do?" He said, "I think you ought to go in another room and pray about it." I said, "Sir, do you mean to tell me I should be in another room praying while the man is raping my wife and or murdering my children? I said, I would pray. I really genuinely pray. I'd pull that baseball bat back and I'd say, 'Dear God, don't let me miss him this time.' That's how I would pray. Because that's exactly what God says."

  #55 | 39:21 to 40:03 | cleaned

• Now, look, if you would, at verse three, he said, "If the sun be risen upon him, there shall no blood be shed for him, for he should make full restitution. If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for theft." I'll come back to that just a little bit, but note if you would, in the daytime, you can see he's unarmed. You can see him to identify him. You can see he's no threat.

  #56 | 40:05 to 40:29 | cleaned

• So God says, don't kill him. You can identify him, he can be caught later. That's like some of these deputies, some of these cops, they get in trouble when they shoot these men that are running away from them and they shoot them in the back. Listen, my life's not in danger if you're running away from me. My life's not in danger if I can see you and identify you and you're not threatening me in any way whatsoever. My life's not in danger.

  #57 | 40:30 to 41:01 | cleaned

• And if you stole something of mine, fine. I know who you are. I'll call the sheriff. I'll let the sheriff take care of it. It's just that simple. So God says, if it's during the daytime, you do not, you do not shoot him.

  #58 | 41:02 to 41:15 | cleaned

• Now, look, if you would, at verse four, we're still going there. He said, "If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox or ass or sheep, he shall restore double." Now, wait a minute. Why now, in verse one, it's five for an ox and four for a sheep. Now, he's mentioned down in verse 4, if it's ox or an ass or sheep, he's just to restore double. But note, if you would, what the Scripture says, "if it be found in his hand alive." In other words, if he is caught before he can abuse your goods or your animals, or before he can dispose of them, he's just to pay double. Why? You've been inconvenienced.

  #59 | 41:16 to 41:58 | cleaned

• You have not been deprived. You're getting your property back. That's God's law.

  #60 | 41:59 to 42:04 | cleaned

• Now, let me show you something else. Fourthly, there are certain acts which, whether they are deliberate or accidental, that require restitution. Look in verses five and six. He said, "If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field of the best of his own field, and the best of his own vineyard shall he make restitution. If fire break out and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn or the standing corn of the field be consumed therewith, he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution."

  #61 | 42:05 to 42:51 | cleaned

• So what is God telling me? God's telling me, first of all, I'm responsible for my animals. If my animal gets out, if my cow gets out, breaks through my fence and goes through your garden and eats everything in your garden, I'm responsible to make restitution for what my cow ate. And especially if I was negligent in not fixing my fence, which allowed that cow to get out. That's what God is saying.

  #62 | 42:52 to 43:19 | cleaned

• Many of you that have traveled through the West, you see these signs that says "Open range." You know what that means? It means there's cattle grazing and cattle walking across the roads because there are no fences. And if you hit one of those cows, it's your fault. Because it's an open range. In other words, you're responsible to watch out for that cow. But if I have a fence, and I neglect my fence and my cow gets out or my horse gets out and eats some of your crop, then I'm responsible to make restitution. And then he says this, now watch carefully. He said, "If fire break out and catch in thorns so that the stacks of corn or the standing corn of the field be consumed therewith, he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution."

  #63 | 43:21 to 44:14 | cleaned

• Do you understand that God's law is teaching us responsibility and accountability? What does that mean? That means if I'm going to burn off my pasture, if I'm going to burn off my woods, I better have a fire break around it. I better have sufficient people there to help me control that fire. Because if that fire jumps my property line and gets on someone else's property and burns their trees down, I'm responsible.

  #64 | 44:17 to 44:46 | cleaned

• You say, "But it was an accident." That's immaterial. And parents, let me tell you something. I learned this the hard way when I was a boy. I had a bunch of cherry bombs. You know what cherry bombs are? Yeah, you know. My grandmother lived with us. And I was out in the yard and I was lighting those cherry bombs and I was letting them burst. And my mother came outside and she said, "Son, your grandmother has a headache."

  #65 | 44:48 to 45:17 | cleaned

• "If you're going to pop those firecrackers, please go somewhere else." Well, I looked way down the field at some young pine trees. Good shade. So I walked across our fields. I climbed over the fence which separated our property from our neighbor's property. And I went to his planted pines where it was cool. And I was throwing those cherry bombs just bursting left and right. I had one left. One.

  #66 | 45:18 to 45:52 | cleaned

• And so I turned around and started to the house. I lit that cherry bomb. I threw it behind me like that. And I just started walking home. I probably got from here to the door. And I smell smoke. And I turned around. And that pine straw was on fire. It was already burning up an area this big around. I was a kid. I ran to one of those pine trees.

  #67 | 45:54 to 46:27 | cleaned

• It had a low limb. I broke that thing off. I went back and I beat fire. I get you. I know for 45 minutes before I got it put out. It scared me to absolute death. And it didn't dawn on me until I was mature that if I had burned that man's standing pine down, my father would have been responsible because I was a child. So God says there's certain things that you and I have to take responsibility for, whether it's deliberate or whether it's accident. That is immaterial. Yeah, you're responsible. God's law teaches responsibility. Here's the fifth thing.

  #68 | 46:27 to 47:10 | cleaned

• Once you hear this, you may not want to keep anything for your neighbor. But God says in verses 7-13, responsibility is to be determined for goods held in custody. So once you understand this principle, you might want to back out on something. So look if you would, beginning there with verse 7. He said, "If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house, if the thief be found, let him pay double." Why double? Because the man who owned it was not using it anyhow.

  #69 | 47:12 to 47:49 | cleaned

• So again, he's just been inconvenienced. But watch verse 8. "But if the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges to see whether he put his hand into his neighbor's goods." In other words, you have to give an accounting for whatever you say, "I want to keep this for him." By the way, the word keep means to watch. It means to protect. Now watch this. He says in verse 9, "For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox or for ass, for sheep or for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judge, and whom the judge shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor." So if you are found negligent, you owe your neighbor twice whatever the value it was that you were keeping for him. Isn't that interesting? He said in verse 10, "If a man deliver his neighbor an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or a beast, or keep it, and die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it, then an oath of the Lord shall be between them both, and that he hath not put his

  #70 | 47:50 to 49:03 | cleaned

• hand into his neighbor's goods, and the owner thereof shall accept it thereof, and make it good." Watch verse 12. "And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution on the owner thereof." Wow! So if I tell you I'm going to keep your sheep, if I tell you I'm going to keep your cow while you're on vacation, and that cow or that sheep gets stolen, I'm responsible to make restitution.

  #71 | 49:03 to 49:26 | cleaned

• Because I told you I'd protect it. I would keep it. Then he says in verse 13, "If it be torn in pieces, let him bring it for a witness, and he shall not make good that which is torn." So if a panther or a bear comes around and kills that cow or kills that sheep, all I've got to do is say, "Here it is. I didn't do this."

  #72 | 49:27 to 49:48 | cleaned

• This is the providence of God. Therefore, I don't have to make it good. So here is what you and I would call restitution on goods that we are keeping and watching for other people.

  #73 | 49:49 to 50:00 | cleaned

• Now, six, I want you to pay close attention to this. There are special principles that are involved in rental or loan arrangements. So if you look in your Bibles to verse 14, he says this, "If a man borrow aught of his neighbor, and it be hurt or die, the owner thereof not being with it, he shall surely make it good. But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good."

  #74 | 50:01 to 50:31 | cleaned

• "If it be a hired thing, then it came for its hire." So God says, if I borrow something from you, and you're not with it and it breaks, I'm responsible to restore it. So if I borrowed, say, Brother Nelson's riding lawnmower, and he said, "Sure, you may use it," and I take it and use it, and while I'm using it, the motor blows up. I don't wait until night and push it back under his garage and just hope he doesn't notice it. I'm responsible to fix it. Years ago, when I was building a house, when I was much, much younger, I borrowed a skill saw from one of the men in our church. And that skill saw got stolen.

  #75 | 50:31 to 51:28 | cleaned

• Now, I know who stole it, but I could never prove it, but I know who stole it. And it was a brand new skill saw. I took it out of the box. I probably didn't use it a week. When it got stolen, I went and bought two brand new skill saws. One for me and one for David. And I took David back a brand new one. I learned.

  #76 | 51:28 to 51:55 | cleaned

• Years ago, I borrowed my father's chainsaw. I always had a special little gas can that had mix in it. I always mix my oil and my gas for chainsaws or whatever. I had it. I borrowed that chainsaw. I put gas in it. I started it up. It ran for about two or three minutes and then quit. I couldn't start it. The motor locked up. I went back and I checked that can. And someone had poured out my mixture, not me, and just put regular gas in it with no oil. It was my father! It cost me $150. I had the motor rebuilt and I gave it back to him working.

  #77 | 51:57 to 52:59 | cleaned

• And that taught me a lesson. Buy your own chainsaw. You see what I'm saying? This is what God is talking about. God is saying, look, if we borrow something, we need to take it back the way it came.

  #78 | 53:00 to 53:16 | cleaned

• Now, if I borrow that riding lawnmower and he's with me and he's watching and he sees I don't do anything wrong, it just happened, then it's his. He can pay for it. But if I say, "Brother Jim, tell you what I'm going to do. I'll give you 50 bucks to rent this thing from you." He says, "All right." And I give him 50 bucks and I rent it and the motor blows up and it takes $500 to fix it.

  #79 | 53:16 to 53:43 | cleaned

• That's his baby because he rented it. And it came for its hire. So there's a vast difference between a rental and borrowing. So God is saying you need to learn this law now. I want you to note seventhly, I want you to look closely at verses 17 and 18. Because you don't think this is involved in restitution, but it is. Look in verse 17. Or 16, that's where I want to go next. Verse 16, he says this, "If a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife."

  #80 | 53:44 to 54:26 | cleaned

• "And if her father utterly refused to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins." Are you talking about the social order that we have today? When you start applying God's law, if a man seduces a young woman who is not betrothed, and he lies with her, God says, he must endow her to be his wife and he can never ever put her away. The only way he can escape marrying her is found in verse 17 if her father utterly refused to give her unto him. The father still has to say so. If the father utterly refuses, he said, "then he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins." You know what a dowry was? A dowry was usually a minimum of two years' wages. That dowry was usually given to the father to keep for his daughter in case that man died. And that way that daughter would have something to live on until she could find someone else to marry. That's what a dowry was. And by the way, I don't know if you know this or not, but most of your life insurance companies were started by preachers because they believed in a dowry and a lot of them did not have money to give a dowry.

  #81 | 54:28 to 56:15 | cleaned

• And so they came up with this life insurance. If they died, then of course the wife would be taken care of. You need to go back and look at some of the original names of some of these life insurance companies, because some of them had the widows and orphans protection agencies. Wow. Yeah.

  #82 | 56:15 to 56:36 | cleaned

• Now, so God is protecting the woman here. So if a man seduces this woman and the father says, "No, you're not going to be my son-in-law, you cannot marry."

  #83 | 56:37 to 56:47 | cleaned

• Now you've got to give him two years worth of wages. Everybody wants to marry a pure woman. Every man does. But here's a woman that has now been made impure, but yet she can come into the marriage with two years worth of wages, which would tend to make the man a little more forgiving. You see what I'm saying? I'm serious. This was protecting the woman. Look, if you would, in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 22. I want you to see this because we're still talking about theft. We're talking about restitution. Look in Deuteronomy chapter 22, beginning there with verse 28. Deuteronomy 22, look in verse 28. Deuteronomy 22, verse 28.

  #84 | 56:48 to 57:38 | cleaned

• He said, "If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found, then the man that lay with her shall be given to the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver. And she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her, and he may not put her away all his days." Fifty shekels of silver. Wow!

  #85 | 57:38 to 58:08 | cleaned

• So, do you remember that passage in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4? I want you to turn there very quickly, since we're talking about theft. Do you understand that seduction and fornication is not just a violation of the seventh commandment. It's also a violation of the eighth commandment as well. Notice, if you would, in your Bibles, 1 Thessalonians, chapter four. Let me show you this. Look what the Bible says. 1 Thessalonians, chapter four. And let's begin reading there with verse, well, let's see, verse three. 1 Thessalonians four, verse three. He says, "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication." So a violation of the seventh commandment, "that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel," that is his body, "in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles, which know not God."

  #86 | 58:11 to 59:08 | cleaned

• Now watch, "that no man go beyond and defraud his brother, in any matter," or the matter which is theft, "because the Lord is the avenger of all such as we have also forewarned you and testified. For God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." Therefore, he despises not man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit. But notice, if you would, he said in verse 6, "that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in the matter." So, seduction is not just simply a violation of "thou shalt not commit adultery," it's also a violation of "thou shalt not steal." And, of course, it's a violation of others as well. Notice, if you would, back in Deuteronomy chapter 22, eighthly, if you would, let me just give you this.

  #87 | 59:08 to 1:00:02 | cleaned

• There was another way that a man had to make restitution, and you'll find it actually in Leviticus, chapter six, verses one through seven. We're not going to read it, but I'll tell you about it. And that is if a man stole something or lied about something just so he could keep it. And he got away with it. And a month went by. And all of a sudden his conscience began to convict him.

  #88 | 1:00:02 to 1:00:33 | cleaned

• And he said, "I should not have done that. I should not have taken that. I should not have lied about that." According to Leviticus chapter one, chapter six, verses one through seven, he was to bring a trespass offering to the Lord because he had sinned against God as well as sinning against his neighbor. Then he was to restore that which he had stolen or lied concerning plus 20 percent. A fifth. So if it had been a hundred bucks, he had to restore a hundred and twenty. If it had been a thousand, twelve hundred. He had to restore, basically, 20 percent. Now, Ginsburg on Leviticus says this, "It will be seen that the trespass against God is, strictly speaking, a violation of the rights of a neighbor's property."

  #89 | 1:00:33 to 1:01:34 | cleaned

• "As fraud and plunder are most subversive of social life, a crime of this sort is described as an insult to and a sin against God, who is the founder and sovereign ruler of His people." So the trespass offering had to be made to God because when you stole, when you lied concerning this, it was a sin against God.

  #90 | 1:01:35 to 1:01:56 | cleaned

• Now let me try to tie all this together for you. I want you to understand that God demands restitution. The law demands restitution. You remember, I think it's in Genesis chapter 20, that Abimelech took Sarah, Abram's wife. You remember even Abram said she's my sister and she said he's my brother. And she must have been an exquisitely beautiful, good looking woman. Even at 90. Yeah. Yeah. In a bit of that took her. And God said to Abimelech, he came to him in a dream by night.

  #91 | 1:01:56 to 1:02:39 | cleaned

• He said, "If you touch her, you're a dead man. I'm going to kill you. She's the wife of a prophet. You had better give her back." And brother, when he woke up the next morning, he could not give Sarah back fast enough. In fact, he told the Lord in that dream, he said, "Lord, You know in the innocence of my heart and the integrity of my hands, I've done this thing. Did she not say he's my brother? Did he not?" You see, back in those days, you could not do anything unless the brother gave permission or unless the father gave permission. And the Bible says in the book of Genesis chapter 20 and verse 14, "And Abimelech took sheep and oxen and men's servants and women's servants and gave them unto Abraham and restored unto him Sarah his wife." He made restitution when he gave her back.

  #92 | 1:02:39 to 1:03:27 | cleaned

• May I remind you also of the Egyptians who use the Hebrews for 400 years as their personal slaves. And in the book of Exodus 11, verse 2, God says that the Israelites were to borrow of the Egyptians gold and silver and precious stones and all this kind of stuff. You say, "That borrow, that word bothers me." Well, don't let it bother you, because the same word is translated, "ask," 94 times in the Bible. He said, "Ask of these Egyptians." And they loaded them down with silver and gold and everything they needed, not just to live on, but for the tabernacle to build it, everything. You know what God was doing? He was making the Egyptians pay restitution. Because they had enslaved His people for 400 years.

  #93 | 1:03:27 to 1:04:22 | cleaned

• You remember that David condemned himself in 2 Samuel chapter 12, it was. Because Nathan had come to him and told him this story about this poor man with one little lamb, and the rich man had a lot of flocks, and he spared to take those, but he took this one little poor man's lamb and gave it to his traveler friend. David was so incensed. He said, "The man that hath done this thing shall surely die, and he shall restore fourfold." And Nathan said, "You are the man."

  #94 | 1:04:23 to 1:04:57 | cleaned

• But see, they did understand this four-fold restitution. I hope you remember also that the Babylonian captivity was about restitution. For 70 years, Judah and Jerusalem were in captivity in Babylon. Why? Because they violated God's Sabbaths. They violated the land sabbaths. And the Bible says, in 2 Chronicles 36, verse 21, listen carefully, "...to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths. For as long as she lay desolate, she kept sabbath to fulfill threescore and ten years." When they violated the land sabbaths, God said, you will make restitution.

  #95 | 1:04:59 to 1:05:50 | cleaned

• And that's exactly what they did. God requires restitution, and restitution is the only just and equitable way to handle this. So let me just show you. Hang on with me. Look at our modern day society. Look at our modern day judicial system. So let's say, let's say that Jacob works really, really hard. And he makes a good bit of money. And he just wants a fine, fancy car. He just wants it. And God has given him the money to get it.

  #96 | 1:05:51 to 1:06:36 | cleaned

• So he goes out and he buys him one of these nice, beautiful, suburban SUVs. And he is so excited about this thing. He comes home and he leaves the key and he leaves it running because he's going to get his wife and those kids and he's going to take them a ride and let them smell that leather and see that new thing. And so while he's running in and getting them all together to say, "Hurry up, hurry up, I got something out here I want to show you, hurry up." While he's doing that, a homeless man happens to ramble by and sees that running car with nobody in it. And he jumps in it and takes off peeling leather and peeling rubber. And I mean, just goes. And Jacob sees it.

  #97 | 1:06:37 to 1:07:32 | cleaned

• He then gets on the phone and calls the law. And I mean, man alive, they put out an all points bulletin, be on the lookout for this brand new SUV, suburban, blue, I mean, and just about that time it goes out, one deputy calls back, he says, "I've got him right in front of me, I'm going to pull him over." And just as he puts the lights on and puts the siren on, and the old homeless man sees, he gasses it, he hits it to the floor and takes off. The policeman gives chase. They get going 70, 80, 90, 100 miles an hour. And as that homeless man, who happens to be drunk as well, goes around that curb, he can't handle it, and he wraps that brand new SUV around a tree, totaling it. And he gets out laughing. And he looks at the cop and he says, "So you got me, so what?" All right, listen to me. Modern day scenario. Number one, Jacob has been ripped off because his car has been stolen.

  #98 | 1:07:34 to 1:08:53 | cleaned

• Number two, he's now ripped off because his car is totaled. Number three, he's now ripped off because even though he may have had insurance and insurance pays for it, they're going to raise his premium. Number four, he's ripped off again because this is a homeless man who has been drinking and he has to have an attorney. And guess what? He can't afford one. So tax money gives him an attorney. And then he gets ripped off again because when the man is actually found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison, his tax money then gets to support him and feed him and clothe him and give him health for ten years. Wow. Look how many times he's been ripped off.

  #99 | 1:08:55 to 1:09:55 | cleaned

• What would happen if we were living under biblical law? Well, if we were living under biblical law, if he stole that car and he got caught before he wrecked it, if that car cost $50,000, that homeless man would owe Jacob $100,000. He'd have to pay double. If that car was really imported, and he really wrecked it and totaled it, he would owe him at least a four-fold restitution.

  #100 | 1:09:59 to 1:10:38 | cleaned

• Now, you're going to tell me, I've heard all my life, crime doesn't pay. That is true only when you follow biblical law. When you follow humanistic law, crime does pay. That's why we have so many criminals. Now, you're going to tell me, "Well, this homeless man, if he has to make a fourfold restitution. How is he going to do that? He doesn't have any money." Well, that's no problem. No problem at all.

  #101 | 1:10:44 to 1:11:30 | cleaned

• You remember what the Bible said back in Exodus chapter 22? "If you have no money, he shall be sold for his theft." Oh!

  #102 | 1:11:31 to 1:11:40 | cleaned

• Now he becomes a slave. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 17. Watch this. Deuteronomy chapter 17. And let's begin reading there with verse 8. Deuteronomy 17 verse 8. Watch this. "If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then thou shalt arise and get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. Now watch, and thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judges that shall be in those days, and inquire, and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment. Look carefully, and thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee, and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee. According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgments which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do, thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee to the right hand or to the left."

  #103 | 1:11:41 to 1:12:53 | cleaned

• "And the man that will do presumptuously and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel." So here's the way it works in God's law. God's law says if he steals that truck, he has to make restitution. If he has nothing, he shall be sold for a step. That is, he becomes your slave or somebody's slave until he works out what he owes you.

  #104 | 1:12:54 to 1:13:28 | cleaned

• You say, "Well, what's going to stop him from running off?" God said he'll die if he runs off.

  #105 | 1:13:29 to 1:13:35 | cleaned

• Now, I don't know about you. I think I'd rather work than be killed. I'd rather work than be put to death. So crime does not pay under biblical law, but certainly it does pay under humanistic law. So, recently down in Georgia, I don't know where it is in all the other states, but some of the prisoners that have been guilty of what you and I would call minor crimes, they no longer send them to prison. They now send them to restitution centers where they at least have to work out and pay off court costs and pay back the victim at least what they stole.

  #106 | 1:13:35 to 1:14:18 | cleaned

• It's not a fourfold or a fivefold, but it's there. Now, what you're going to tell me is this. "Well, Brother Weaver, you don't understand. I don't like this thing about restitution. I don't like it at all. I mean, my goodness, I just don't like that." Well, let me tell you something. If you don't like restitution, then you don't like God's salvation. Because the salvation that we have is only by restitution. Do you realize that we are sinners and we are guilty under God's law? We violated God's law. We cannot save ourselves.

  #107 | 1:14:19 to 1:14:50 | cleaned

• And what in the world happened? The Lord Jesus Christ came as our substitute. He came as our sacrifice. He came as our propitiation. And He came and offered a sacrifice in our place and satisfied and propitiated the justice and the holiness and the righteousness and the wrath of God. He made restitution for us. So if you don't like restitution, you just simply do not like God's salvation.

  #108 | 1:14:50 to 1:15:22 | cleaned

• You can read all about that in Romans chapter 3, verses 25 through 26. Let me just tie it up. Do you realize that God demands restitution? He demands that God, God demands that we make restitution. I was visiting one of my men in his office and I was waiting for him because he was with someone else. His secretary was a personal friend of mine because her husband was a pastor and we were all friends and she had a bowl of candy on her desk. And she said, "Brother Weaver, would you have some candy?"

  #109 | 1:15:24 to 1:16:01 | cleaned

• I said, "Yes, thank you. I believe I will." And I picked up that jar of candy and it slipped right out of my hands. It hit the floor. The glass broke and candy went everywhere. I was so embarrassed. I apologized to her. And I went to picking up all the candy and she went to get a broom to sweep up all the glass. And I said, "I'll get you another one. I'll get you another."

  #110 | 1:16:01 to 1:16:25 | cleaned

• "No, no, Brother Weaver, you don't have to do that." I said, "Yes, I do." "No, you don't have to do that." "Yes, I do." So I went down to the drugstore next door and I bought one of the finest, nicest glasses full of candy that I could find. And I brought it back and I gave it to her. She said, "You really didn't have to do that." I said, "Yes, I did. Not just for you, but in obedience to God and to teach me the next time I pick up a glass full of candy, I will hold on to it. I will." So you don't play this game, "Well, let's just forgive and forget." No, no, we forgive. We make restitution and then we forget. We obey God. One of the greatest evidences that we are genuinely converted is that we're willing to make restitution. You remember Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus, of course, was a republican.

  #111 | 1:16:25 to 1:17:17 | cleaned

• He cheated a lot of people, undoubtedly. And when he heard the Lord was coming, he got up that tree, and our Lord said, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house." And when he shimmied down that tree, he said, "Lord, behold, the half my goods I give to the poor, and those that I've taken wrongly from, I restore fourfold." He was willing to do it. He was willing to do it. There are things that we need to make restitution in. We've lied. We've gossiped. We've slandered. Yeah. We need to understand here is God's law. You want society changed. You change society by obeying God in your life. And listen, if you're not going to obey God, don't expect everybody else to obey God. Because God demands personal obedience and personal responsibility.

  #112 | 1:17:18 to 1:18:19 | cleaned

• And may I remind you, you can look at it later for yourself. In Acts chapter 3 and verse 21, the Bible speaks about the restitution of all things. There will be a final total restitution when our Lord returns, and everything will be made back the way it should be made. But until then, if the government will not do right, and it won't, if society will not do right, and it won't, you must do what is right.

  #113 | 1:18:19 to 1:18:55 | cleaned

• in your family, in your church, in your community. You follow God's law of restitution, and I will assure you, you will learn how to behave correctly, responsibly, and even safely. Restitution is God's law. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You, Father, for restitution. And we're thankful that Jesus Christ made restitution for each of us. And Lord, we just pray that You would make us personally obedient and that we would understand Thy law and apply it by Your grace and Your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen.

  #114 | 1:18:57 to 1:19:56 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T05:05:29Z