Alright brethren, Isaiah 47.
It wasn't intentional, but it seems like every book we're studying
right now, we've come to a passage that deals with judgment. And
so it is today in Isaiah 47. We hear God's just
judgment upon the nation Babylon. Also called here the Chaldeans. But earthly Babylon, They represent
spiritual Babylon, mystery Babylon. And to put it as simply as I
know how to put it, all who were not chosen by God by grace and
eternity in Christ, all who Christ did not redeem, all who are not
regenerated, all who end up not being found in Christ, are Mystery
Babylon. That's who make up Babylon. Satan's the head of that empire,
but God's the head of him. At home, you can read Revelation
17 through 21, and it'll tell you about God's judgment upon
apostate Babylon. We're worshippers. Worshipping
their will, worshipping their works. They can be irreligious,
but usually they're very religious. That's who Babylon is. Now first of all, we're worshipping
Babylon claims to be pure by their works. They claim that
they made themselves pure by their works. In irony, verse
1, God calls Babylon, what she is not. He calls her this because
this is what she thinks she made herself. This is what men and
women think they made themselves by their works. He says, come
down and sit in the dust, oh virgin daughter of Babylon. Christ indeed creates his elect
anew. The Spirit of God creates a new
spirit in us. Christ, our holiness, our holy
one is formed in us. And there's a new holy man made
within his people, perfect, unblameable, uncorruptible, a holy man by
the holy incorruptible seed, by Christ alone. Look over at
2 Corinthians 11. And this is what Paul was talking
about when he said this, and I'm going to read this because
we're going to see something here about Babylon, about well-worshippers. 2 Corinthians 11-2, Paul said,
I'm jealous over you with godly jealousy. For I have espoused
you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin
to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent begot Eve through his solitude, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ, from looking
only to Christ, single-minded, single-hearted to Christ, knowing
he alone is your wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
I'm afraid your minds will be turned from him only. For if
he that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we've not preached,
or if you receive another spirit which you've not received, or
another gospel which you've not accepted, you might bear well with him. You see, we're worshipers, this is
the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is the
problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is the
problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is the
problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this
is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers,
this is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers,
this is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers,
this is the problem with Babylon. We're worshipers, this is They get a little bit of understanding
of some doctrine, they start reading the Bible, and they get
a little understanding of some doctrine, but their minds are
still corrupted from the singleness of Christ only, from Him alone
being salvation. They follow the preaching of
another Jesus, They have another spirit, they're under another
gospel, and here's how it's manifest. One way it's manifest, they boast
of themselves that they made themselves pure and chaste by
their works. Something about them did it.
So God, our Savior, calls Babylon here what she is not, but what
she boasted that she'd made herself. He calls her old virgin daughter
of Babylon. Now in reality, what she is. And whatever man and woman is
that claims to be saved by their works, God declares in Revelation
17, He called her the great whore that sits on many waters. The
Holy Spirit told John the waters are peoples and multitudes and
nations and tongues. The majority in this world make
up Babylon. The majority in this world do
not believe the true and living God, are not born of his spirit,
and do not have a mind single for Christ only. That's always
been the case in every generation. God has a remnant according to
the election of grace, a remnant, a small remnant in every age.
But Will Work's religion is beautiful to carnal man. Go over to Revelation
17, I'll show you. Carnal man finds Will Work's
religion to be beautiful. It appeals to the carnal mind.
Just like a harlot would appeal to a man with all her jewelry
and her jewels and all of that. Listen to how false religion
is described in Revelation 17, verse 4. It's just talking about
Babylon as a woman. The woman was arrayed in purple
and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious stones
and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand. but it's full of
abominations and filthiness of her fornication." What is all
these jewels and these adornments? What are they in life? What are they? Well, they're
the doctrines of will-worship. They're the commandments of men.
They're the doctrine of works and for salvation. They're the
large cathedrals and they're the oppressive preachers that
have all these degrees behind their name. It's the multitudes
of people that come. It looks impressive. It's attractive. And upon her forehead was a name
written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots
and abominations of the earth. And she hates Christ. She hates
Christ and his people. I saw the woman drunken with
the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
She's drunk with hatred against us, but she's also drunk and
makes others drunk with all this adornment. Look at Revelation
18. All nations have drunk of the
wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have
committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth
are waxed rich to the abundance of her delicacies. That's what
a man dead in his sin, trying to come to God by his works,
He's drinking this wine and he's drunk by false religion. He thinks he's a king. He's committing
fornication against the true Christ, the true husband of the
church with this harlot. He's a merchant of the earth.
He thinks you can buy and sell the gospel. But God hates pride,
and that's all pride. Every bit of that is pride. Now
go back to Isaiah 57. It's pride, and they're attempting
to rob God of the glory that belongs to Christ alone. Now
listen, before anybody gets lifted up in pride from hearing this
about them, you know this is what we were, all we were in
our flesh. And you know this is still in
our nature. our sin nature. So we can't,
no, we can't be puffed up with pride against anybody. But this
is what God hates. It's just pride. This is what
Christ said. Remember the publican of the
Pharisee, the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. Christ
said, whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased. Well, I'm telling
you, brethren, There's coming a day when Christ is, he's the
judge, and he does the abasing, and he's going to, in just judgment,
he's gonna abase all false religion. They might not humble now, humble
themselves now, but one day. Verse 1, he said, come down and
sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground.
There is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans. You're trying
to exalt yourself and sit in my throne. There's no throne,
O daughter of Babylon, for thou shalt no more be called tender
and delicate. This is what Christ did for you
and me when he came to you with the gospel. He brought you down.
He brought you down to the dust. He made you see he's the king.
But men and women who exalt themselves, boasting of their righteousness
by their works, and of their holiness by their works, and
of the merit that's in them, and their being deserving of
a reward from God for what they've done. They're going to be brought
down to the dust when Christ comes to judge. They're trying
to take Christ's throne. Christ declares, there is no
throne, O daughter of Chaldeans. Whoever the king on the throne
is, He's the one lawgiver and He's the one judge. He's the
sovereign potentate on the throne. He's the lawgiver. He's the judge.
That's Christ our King. He's the only King. but men and
women by nature. We came into this world trying
to take those throne rights from Christ. We wanted that power. We wanted to exalt ourselves.
And that's all men do, no matter how beautiful and adorned they
are in religion. That's the heart until God gives
you a new heart. They're trying to take the throne,
and here's how they do it. They enforce the law. Christ
is the only one that can do that. You can't make another man hear
what the law says. And they don't make another man
hear what the law says in truth and in spirit. And they're trying
to enforce man-made commandments. And so they're judging men, condemning
men. And Paul said they do all of
that for one reason. They want glory in what they
made you do. That glory belongs to Christ. He's the king. This is what he
said to us, brethren. John 4, look with me. I mean,
James 4, look with me. And you can hold your place in
James. We're going to come back here. James. This is a vital message, brethren.
I want you to hear that. We're going to get to a point
here in a minute that is so very, very important. But James 4,
look here now, talking about Christ being the only King, the
only Lawgiver, the only Judge. James 4 11. Speak not evil one of another,
brethren." You better believe it. Don't you speak evil of another
person for whom Christ died. You're going to see why here
in a minute. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that
speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh
evil of the law, and judgeth the law. But if thou judge the
law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one
lawgiver who's able to save and to destroy. Who are you that
judges another? Oh, that infuriates a well-worshipper
to be told that. Because they think they're wise
and prudent enough, powerful enough to do the judging. That
is trying to compete with Christ as being the king. He's the only
one. He's the only one, but God's gonna humble his elect. He humbles
his elect. Go to Isaiah 33. I'll show you
what he makes you do. God humbles his elect. He's gonna
make us hear the law, declare us guilty, and he don't, you
know, every man in religion talk about it like it's a one-time
thing. Brethren, he saved us when he called us, but he's continuing
to save us, and he's gonna keep doing this till the end. But
when He calls you, He makes you hear the law declare you guilty. If He brings you in a trial,
you need to be corrected, He'll make you hear the law declare
what your sin is and why you need to be corrected. But this
is what He makes you say. You hit your face and you say,
Isaiah 33.22, The Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our King. He will
save us. That's where He's going to bring
His child. But we're worshippers, they're attempting to take His
throne. Remember we saw in 2 Thessalonians, He opposeth Himself and exalteth
Himself above all that's called God or that's worshipped, so
that He as God sits in the temple of God showing Himself that He
is God. The will was for will exalt themselves above God in
every aspect of salvation. They'll take God the Father's
glory, they'll take Christ the Son's glory, they'll take God
the Holy Spirit's glory, they'll contribute to themselves the
things only the triune God can do in salvation. But they especially,
especially do it in judgment of men. When our Lord gave his
parable of the Pharisee and the publican, What did the Pharisee
do? And why did he give it? He said
he gave this parable to them that thought in themselves that
they were righteous and did what? Despised others. If you're going to try to come
to God by the worst law, you are going to have to despise
others. You will always do that. You
will always judge others because it's the only way you can make
yourself feel better about yourself. That's just a carnal, deceitful
heart that's deceived a man and he can't even know it. But to
do so is to make war with Christ. To do that is to make war with
Christ. He said in Revelation 17, 14, These shall make war
with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. For He is the
Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with Him are
called and chosen and faithful. Christ the King judges in righteousness,
and He judges, and He says to Babylon, one day, you don't see
this going on so much right now, but one day in judgment when
Christ comes, He's gonna say, come down and sit in the dust,
oh virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground. There's no
throne for you now, oh daughter of the Chaldean. You're no more
called tender and delicate anymore. You're not gonna be attractive
from here on. Now, that's the God we're gonna have to deal
with You don't want to be found being a wheel-worshipper looking
to yourself for anything. Now secondly, the judgment of
God is just. The judgment of God is just.
He gives men the same judgment wherewith they judge others. He gives them, I'm tired of this
judgment, do the judgment. And He gives men the same judgment
wherewith they judge others. Babylon took captive the Lord's
people. and made them serve in bondage. They took the Lord's
people captive and they made them serve in bondage. I'm talking
about political Babylon. And that's what false religion
does. They take men into bondage. It starts out in bondage. You've
got to learn all this stuff, you've got to learn, you've got
to meet all this criteria before you can even unite with them.
And then they give you all these commandments you have to obey,
and they enforce those things upon you. Well, God said, now,
Christ says, now, I'm going to bring Babylon into bondage. She'd
been bringing men into bondage. Now she wasn't being in bondage.
He said in verse 2, take the millstones and grind mill. That's a picture of being in
bondage. That's what you did to my people.
Now you're going to serve. You're going to grind and be
a slave. Babylon shamed the captive children
of Israel. They forced them to uncover themselves
as they made them wade waist high through rivers, across these
rivers. They wouldn't have done that.
They made them take off their bonnet and hike their skirts
up. That was a shameful thing to
the children of Israel to have to do this before their captors.
But Babylon made them do this. Well, brethren, vain religion
shames her captives by uncovering their sins. The shame of their
sin, they uncover it and they use it to exalt themselves over
another. What did the Pharisee do in that parable? He said,
I'm not like this man. He's an extortioner. He's unjust.
I'm not like him. That's all that's in our heart
by nature. Do you not find that to be so
right now? That you don't even have to be prompted to do, to
just look at somebody else and start condemning them for something.
That uncovering the sins of others, that's in us by nature. That's
what we gotta be saved from. But God said now, because the
natural man goes on doing that in their religion, He said now
the shame of your sin will be uncovered. This is the judgment
of God. You see, he judges with the same
judgment that men judged others. Whatever men did to others, he
said, you're gonna get the same thing. Look, verse two, uncover
thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over
the rivers, thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame
shall be seen. See, the glory of taking vengeance. is Christ our judge alone. He said, all judgment has been
given to me. And that's who's going to do this. Verse 3, He
said, I will take vengeance and I will not meet thee as a man.
He promises, I will repay, saith the Lord. And He says here, and
I will not meet thee as a man. He doesn't judge like men judge.
Christ is the all-powerful, all-knowing, just judge. He cannot be bribed
like an earthly judge. Most of men's works is a sinner
trying to bribe him. He can't be bribed. He's no respecter
of persons like men are. Most men think they ought to
be respected for who they are. what nation they're from, what
people they're from, what sex they are, what class of society
they are. He's no respecter of persons.
You see this in the news every day. Earthly judges go far lighter
on the ultra-wealthy than they do on poor folk. Not Christ. He doesn't judge by appearance
like man does. The judgment of man was summed
up in Romans 2. They accuse or else excuse one
another. And it's all unjust. Not him. He judges according to what's
in the heart, what was really there in the heart. And if you
haven't been given a new heart wherein he dwells, that's made
holy by him only, then the only thing that's in the heart is
unjust judgment. but His judgment will be just.
He judges righteous judgment, and His vengeance is perfectly
righteous. But this One who takes vengeance on Babylon, now here's
the good news for His people. Right in the middle of all this,
He gives you who know Him some comfort. The One who takes vengeance
on Babylon, on the wheel-worshipper, on the apostates of the world,
He's our Redeemer. He's our Holy One. He said in
verse 4, As for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
the Holy One of Israel. Christ is our Redeemer. Our near kinsman. He came down
and took flesh because His brethren were flesh and blood. He's our
near kinsman. You had to be a Redeemer. You
had to be a near kinsman. You had to be near of kin. You
had to be willing to redeem and you had to be able to redeem.
Christ is all three. He's all three. He came and was
made a curse for us. He was made, everything we are
and all the sin we are, He was made and bore that shame in this
just judgment. He's talking about pouring out
on Babylon. He bore that judgment in the
place of His people. And that's all our hope. That's
the only way we expect to be justified is to be perfectly
righteous. And having no sin past, present,
or future, God won't remember it. God don't even recognize
there's ever been a sin, period, ever in the story. That's what
we have in Christ. And that's our only hope. That's
our only hope. But this job of a redeemer was
not only to redeem his people from the curse, it's to pour
out vengeance on our adversaries. Thus saith the Lord your Redeemer.
This is Isaiah 43, 14. Thus saith the Lord your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I have sent to Babylon and
have brought down all their nobles, their rich, hearty, proud rulers,
and the Chaldeans whose cries in the ship I brought down the
whole place for you, God said. See, that's the job of our Redeemer.
That's why we don't try to take vengeance. You trust vengeance
to Him. The Lord of hosts is name. He
created all His creation and all His creation does what He
commands it to do. Just like if He said, if wrath
comes past this world, He said, it's for my glory. There's a
lot more that could come to pass, but I restrain it. The same is
true with anything else that comes. Anything in His creation
that you see, a tornado comes, it's doing what He commands it
to do. Going where He commands it to go. His creation does what
He commands. After his resurrection, Christ
comforted his saints and he declared this, all power is given to me
in heaven and in earth. He had all power as God before
he came, but he went back as the God man glorified with all
power in heaven and in earth. He's the Lord of hosts. So you
don't want to make yourself the enemy of his people. Do not make
yourself the enemy of God. If they just profess they believe
Christ, then you trust that. And don't you make yourself their
enemy. Because when adversaries fight against His saints, they're
fighting against Christ Himself. And Christ makes His whole creation
to be at war with them. We're not talking about this
little Jesus this world talks about. We're talking about God
of glory. He's the Lord of Hosts. He's the Holy One of Israel.
Our holiness is Christ. Our sanctification is Christ.
He's the Holy One of Israel, of His people, of His elect.
He promised, Lo, I am with you always. Moses said, Lord, Make
me know Your presence is going with me. He said, How shall I
and Your people be separated, sanctified, kept holy from all
the people in this world? There's only one way. It's going
to be by Your presence. Christ said, I'm the Holy One
of Israel. I'm with you always. That was
what He commanded. That was their confidence that
He gave them to go forth and preach the gospel in all the
world. I have all power and I'm with you. I'm your holy one. I'm going to keep you separated
and I'm going to keep you sanctified under me. But he's going to use
his power and his holiness against Babylon for our sake. This is
our comfort. This is our peace. You don't
have to fight Babylon. You don't have to worry about
Will Work's religion. I'm not worried about it at all.
It's accomplishing his purpose. My grandfather used to say, the
Lord has a lot of leaves on the tree just to shade the fruit.
Think about what the world would be if there wasn't false religion
in it. It makes people moral to some degree. It ends up creating
what we got now, but it serves a purpose. But Christ is going
to execute vengeance, strict holy justice. Sit thou silent,
verse 5, get thee into darkness, O daughter of Chaldean, for thou
shalt no more be called the Lady of Kingdoms. Now, here's the
third thing, and this is so very important. Even in the judgment
of Babylon, Christ is teaching His saints. He's teaching you
and me right here to be merciful for His sake. Even in this judgment,
He's teaching us to be merciful for His sake. He declares why
He gave Babylon judgment without mercy. And here He's showing
us why He's going to judge the world of apostate Babylon, iniquity,
and holatry against God, false religion. He's going to show
why He's going to judge them with no mercy. The reason is
because they judged with no mercy. That's why. Look at verse 6. He said, I was wroth with my
people. We just read the Lord's going
to chase them He loves, and He's going to chase His people. His
wrath toward His elect is not like His wrath toward the wicked.
It's like a father getting angry at his child he loves, but he
don't stop loving them. And He's going to chasten them,
He's going to correct them. But they don't stop being My
people. I was wroth with My people. I polluted My inheritance. He
delivered them. That means He delivered them
into the hand of Babylon. He used Babylon as the rod of
correction to chasten His children and teach His children. I gave
them into Thy hand, God said. Thou did show them no mercy. Upon the ancient, the old people
even, thou hast very heavily laid your yoke. Now in love to
his elect, God delivered him into Babylon. He's teaching his
people. He's not going to lose his people.
They're righteous and holy in him. They don't ever stop being
his people. They don't ever stop being righteous and holy in Christ.
But he will chasten his child in love for your good. And he's
delivered them there, but Babylon showed his people no mercy. None. They rejoiced that this
happened. They boasted in themselves because
this happened. They afflicted them. They laid
a heavy yoke upon even the old men and the old women. Listen
to this. I'll just give you this from Lamentations 5.11. This
is talking about that very thing. They ravished the women in Zion. They raped the women. The maids
in the cities of Judah. Now, as you read this, this really
happened politically, physically, but this is a picture of what
false religion's doing to God's people. This is what happens
when men judge his people without mercy. They ravaged the women
in Zion and the maids in the cities of Judah. Princes are
hanged up by their hand. The faces of elders were not
honored. They took the young men to grind
and the children fell under the wood. The children, and they
used them just like they used the old men. The elders have
ceased from the gate, the young men from their music, the joy
of our heart is ceased, our dance is turned into mourning, the
crown's fallen from our head. But God's chastening's always
effectual in His people. You know what that chastening
did? That was God chastening His children using Babylon just
like a father might use a belt to chasten his child. But you
know what it worked in them? This was what the children of
Israel said, those that were truly His, woe unto us that we
have sinned. That's where God brought them.
See, that's going to be the word of His saints. God's going to
sanctify the affliction to your heart and you're going to see
it's Christ our head correcting us. You're going to see it's
God our Father that loves us correcting us. He's going to
grant you repentance. He's going to make you confess
your sin to Him. He's going to make you part from
your sin. He's going to make you believe Christ and trust
Christ and keep following Christ and rejoice that He's your advocate
with the Father, your high priest with the Father, so nothing's
changed between you. and God. See, He don't bring
His child to judge the other. He brings you to say, I have
sinned. And you say it to Him. But religion
without the Spirit of Christ is proud, it's self-righteous,
it's self-sanctified, and so they show no mercy. They show
no compassion because they don't think they need mercy. And they
really and truly don't know what mercy is. They never experienced
it from God. So they afflict with heaviness. Now, just like everything else,
Christ gets the preeminency. We're gonna see this most at
Calvary's cross. Go to Psalm 69, and I want you
to hear what Christ prayed. Psalm 69. This was the Pharisees,
the scribes, the Romans, the Nicolaitans, this was all apostate
Babylon's judgment of our substitute. But on the cross, Our substitute
didn't revile back. Right here, we're gonna see,
he's committing his cause to God that judges righteously. And that's what he commands you
to do. Vengeance is his. You commit your cause to him
and you shut up and be silent and wait on him and he'll hide
you in his presence and he'll save you and he'll bring you
through it. And he's gonna bring you to acknowledge your sin and
on him to be your only righteousness and your holy one. And He'll
save you. But watch what He says here now.
This is Him bearing that judgment with no mercy. Verse 19, He's
praying to the Father. He says, Thou hast known my reproach.
And my shame and my dishonor, my adversaries are all before
thee. You see, he's committing it to the Father. He knows your
adversary too. You commit it to him. Look here. Reproach hath broken my heart,
and I'm full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity,
but there was none. No mercy. I looked for comforters,
but I found none. No mercy. They gave me also gall
for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
They even went beyond not showing mercy. They gave him something
awful. Let their table become a snare
before them. This is Christ's intercession. And He's praying this justly
to the Father. And He's still praying this for His people now.
Let their table become a snare before them. He's saying this
about the adversary. And that which should have been
for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened
that they see not, and make their loins continually to shake. Pour
out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take
hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate,
and none dwell in their tents. And here's the reason. Verse
26, For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten. and they talk
for the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. You see, just like
God did Israel with Babylon, He justly permitted the Pharisees
and the scribes and all the enemies to do with Christ what God had
determined before to be done. He turned Babylon over. He let
Israel be taken captive by Babylon to chasten His people. He did
that to Christ to save His people. But Babylon showed no mercy to
them, and they rejoiced to show judgment without mercy. And that's
what men did to Christ on Calvary's cross. No judgment and no mercy. And he prayed, verse 27, add
iniquity to their iniquity and let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the
book of the living and not be written with the righteous. But
I'm poor and sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set
me up on high. You do what Christ did right
there. You pray to the Father to save you. You trust Him to
make that intercessory prayer of vengeance. That vengeance
belongs to Him, not you and me. You just trust Him, commit your
cause to Him. You go home tonight, you read
Romans 14 and 15, Paul quotes that Psalm 69, and he quoted
it, teaching you and me, you show mercy to one another, rather
than trying to take Christ's throne in judgment. You show
mercy. We then that are strong are to
bear the infirmities of the weak, not to please ourselves. Let
every one of us please his neighbor for his good dedication, for
even Christ pleads not himself, but as it's written, the reproaches
of them that reproach thee fell on me. Now here's the lesson. Christ promised in Matthew 7-2,
he said, with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. Now
that's just a statement of fact. With what judgment you judge,
you shall be judged. With what measure you meted out,
it should be measured to you again. God makes His people rejoice
in mercy. You know how? Christ has made
you hear the law declare you guilty. He's made you hear that
in you is nothing good. You are the vilest, worst criminal
there is on the top side of this earth. It's what God makes His
child to know about our own selves. When you see somebody else sin,
you know that's nothing compared to what I am in me. And God has shown us, He's just
to show us mercy. Because He settled His judgment
on Calvary's cross for us. He poured out the wrath and the
judgment and the condemnation that we deserve on Christ in
our place. And so now He's judged to give
you mercy without judgment. And that makes you, oh, you hate
this sin nature that wants to be a judge unrighteously and
self-righteously. You hate it. And you want to
do nothing but show mercy, mercy, mercy. Because you see, that's
all God's shown to you. And he's made you to know you're
going to be judged by the law of liberty. You're not going
to be judged the way this world's going to be judged. You're going
to be judged by the law of liberty. What is that? It's the law of
the gospel. Go to James 2. It's the law of
the gospel. It's the good news that Christ
already bore our judgment. It's satisfied. He's made His
people righteous. And so in that day, that's what
you're going to be judged by. You're going to be judged according
to your works. But they're not going to be your
works. They're going to be all Christ's works. And you're going
to be judged perfectly righteous with no sin ever. And here's
what God's made you to know, verse 10, James 2, 10. He made
you know, whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend
in one point, he's guilty of all. For he said, do not commit
adultery. He said, also do not kill. Now,
if you commit no adultery, yet if you kill, you become a transgressor
of the law. So speak ye. And so do as they
that should be judged by the law of liberty. That's what he's
made you to know. He made you know you're guilty
of the whole law. You've committed transgression, so you broke it
all. But he makes you know you can be judged by the law of liberty.
For he shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy.
And mercy rejoices against judgment. Mercy rejoices to show nothing
but mercy. That's one reason He's going
to give self-righteous sinners judgment without mercy. It's
because they poured out judgment without mercy upon His people.
Now, God in Christ is one with His anointed. To touch God's
anointed is to strive against Christ Himself. Go to Jeremiah
50. I want you to stay with me just
a little bit longer. I won't keep you much longer,
but this is vital. To strive against one of Christ's
sheep is to strive against Him because He dwells in His people.
He's one with His people. And let me show you something
here now. And you remember this. This is a way Christ is going
to reveal the heart that is in men. This is how He's going to
do it right here. He said He's going to reveal
the heart of men. He's going to deliver somebody to your hand
that has fallen, that He's chastening, that He's correcting. And whatever
is in your heart, that's what you're going to do to them. and
He's going to make it known. That's what He did to the Babylonians.
That's what He's doing to will worshipers. Look here at Jeremiah
50.24. That's what He did when He delivered Christ to the hand
of the Pharisees. He showed what was really in
their heart by the way they treated Christ. Jeremiah 50.24, I've
laid a snare for thee. He's talking to Babylon. I've
laid a snare for thee. God put Christ in the hand of
the Pharisees. When He did, He laid a snare
for them to reveal what was really in their heart. They made that
boast that they're righteous and holy and all they love God. He manifest what was there. And
that's what He's doing. He did to Babylon. He put His
people in their hands to chasten them. They saw a people that
was brought low. They saw a people that didn't
have their former glory. And Babylon said, this is our
chance to exalt ourselves. and they showed him judgment
with no mercy. He puts people in your path every
day, especially his people that fall, that have sinned, and that's
how God's going to reveal what's really in the heart of his child,
or in the heart of those that have a false profession. He said
there, I put a snare before you, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,
and thou was not aware. Thou art found out. You're caught. Because you strove against the
Lord. You did that to His people. And He'll repay with the same
judgment that they paid to His people. Verse 29. Call together
the archers against Babylon, all you that bend the bow, camp
against it round about, let none thereof escape. Recompense her
according to her work, according to all that she hath done, and
due to her. That's what our text is showing
us. He said in Revelation 18, 6, reward her even as she rewarded
you and double unto her double according to her works in the
cup which she has filled, fill to her double. That's what God
said against those who judged His people. For she's been proud
against the Lord and against the Holy One of Israel. See,
it's not just against His people, it's against Him. Therefore shall
our young men fall in the streets, and all our men of war shall
be cut off in that day, saith the Lord. Behold, I am against
thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts. For thy
day is come, the day that I will visit thee. And the most proud
shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up. And I will
kill no fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about
him. Child of God, here's the whole
point. You fall down before Christ. And you thank God that He's been
merciful to you. You thank God. See, judgment
is God's strange work. That's what Scripture calls it.
He said, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but
He delights in mercy. and because he chose to, he put
you in Christ. Christ bore the judgment to declare
God just, and now he delights to be merciful to you. You fall
down, him that glories, let him glory in the Lord of mercies.
Who's a god like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity of passage
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth
not his anger forever because he delighteth in mercy. Aren't you thankful? And if God
chastens one of His children before you, I pray He'll make
you aware in your heart that it's God's work. Don't do what
the Pharisees did to Christ. Christ said they have afflicted
the one you've afflicted, Father. They're talking to the grief
of the one you've wounded. If that child of God's suffering
and God brought terrible providence upon him, God's dealing with
him. How would you like it if you
disciplined your child in public? Somebody, a stranger walked up
out of the blue and they said, let me put in my two cents. Let
me give a lick or two. You'd say, that's my child. God
said, that's my child. You be merciful. You help restore
him. Speak ye, and so do, as they
that should be judged by the law of liberty. You see, this
is what reveals the heart. You really think Christ put away
all the sin of His people, then you'll be merciful to that brother.
You can't do anything without believing Christ. You've got
to believe He really put... When the Lord told Peter, forgive
without limit, the next thing Peter said was, Lord, increase
our faith. You've got to have faith to believe they're righteous
in Christ. Oh, he couldn't do that and be
a child of God. God help us to stop saying that.
God help us to stop saying that. Mercy rejoices against judgment.
You know what the next word in James is? For what does it profit,
my brethren, though a man say he has faith and have not works? See, these are not the works
men boast of. Pharisees, they're boasting of
their good deeds, but when it comes, God, here's the trap.
God puts a fallen child of God in front of them, sinned grievously,
and they're not aware. That's God trying their works
right there, showing what's in their heart. And child of God,
if you're on the receiving end of judgment, and you're being
judged by men, And you're being shown judgment with no mercy.
Remember, it's God's chastening hand. It's God's chastening hand. You repent to God. You confess
your sins to God. You forsake them for Christ. And you lay down and you give
Him the glory that He delights to show mercy because Christ
has made you absolutely righteous in Him. But don't revile again. Commit your cause to Christ who
judges righteously. Do what He did. Vengeance belongs
to Him alone. And here's what He's going to
make happen. Isaiah 49, 13, Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! Break forth
into singing, O mountains! For the Lord hath comforted His
people, and He will have mercy upon His afflicted. In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. This is like the
waters of Noah to me, my covenant to you is like the covenant I
made with Noah. For the mountains will depart
and the hills will be removed, but my kindness shall not depart
from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. Did Peter find mercy? A child of God wouldn't deny
the Lord. Surely he wouldn't do it three
times. Did Peter find mercy? He found
out God delights to show mercy and he's just to do it because
Christ is our Holy One. I pray that's a blessing, brethren.
I pray God will bless it. It's hard to preach on those
things. Very hard to preach on them, but God be with us. Come on.