Well, that served as an introduction to the message I'd like to attempt to bring. Would you turn with me to Proverbs chapter 17? Proverbs chapter 17. I want to read the 15th verse. Proverbs 17, 15. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. You'll notice the Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, the Lord, Jehovah. The translators thought the name too holy, too sacred to write down. So they substituted it with the Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, Capital D. Now, I don't know whether that was the thing to do, but I like the idea. The Lord. Holy and reverend is his name. The Lord. Jehovah. The self-existent one. His name, Jehovah, was taken from that time in Exodus chapter three, verse 14, when the Lord identified himself to Moses. I am that I am. The self-existent one. He has no needs. Now I want you to think about that for a few moments. He has no needs. Think how dependent you and I are. Utterly dependent all the time. He has no needs. He does not need for something to happen before he can do something. He never responds to anything. He only acts. just like the bush that burned and was not consumed, did not need the energy of the wood to continue burning, that's the Lord. He has no needs. You know, all of His glorious Attributes are comprehended by this independence of Christ. He's omnipotent. Obviously, He's independent. He has no needs. He's sovereign. His will must and always is done. Obviously, He has no needs. Every attribute of God is comprehended in this name, Jehovah. the self-existent one, the three in one, Jehovah the Father, Jehovah the Son, and Jehovah the Spirit, the three in one have no needs. He does not need you, nor does he need you to fill in the blank, whatever it might be, before he can do something for you. Aren't you thankful for that? What if he had to find a reason you to act in your behalf? We'd all be toast, wouldn't we? Jehovah, the self-existent one who has no needs. Now we don't read in our text of anything but this one, Jehovah, who has no needs. Now you'll notice it says in verse 15, he that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination. to the Lord. Now this one we're speaking of, there's no one like him. There's nothing to compare him to. He is other. He's not like me and you. Holy and reverend is his name, and there are things that are an abomination to him. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter 3. Verse 32, for the froward, the perverse, the twisted is abomination to him. Look at chapter six, verse 16. These six things that the Lord hate, Jehovah, yea, seven are an abomination unto him. And look what they are. a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, and heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. This is abomination to the Lord. Look at Proverbs chapter 11, verse 1. A false balance scales that do not accurately give the proper weight. A false balance is abomination to the Lord. but a just weight is his delight. Chapter 12, verse 22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but the heart, but they that deal truly are his delight. Proverbs 15, verse eight. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. But the prayer of the upright is his delight. Chapter 15, verse 9. The way of the wicked, the way of works, there's a way that seemeth right unto man. The end thereof are the ways of death. The way of the wicked, the way of works is an abomination unto the Lord, but he that loveth him, but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. Verse 26, the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant words. Chapter 16, verse 5, everyone that's proud in heart, Everyone that is proud in heart is what? An abomination to the Lord. Though hand joined in hand, he shall not be unpunished. And then we have in our text, Proverbs chapter 17, verse 15, he that justifies the wicked And he that condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord. Now, the next thing I'd like you to notice in this text is there's two types of people mentioned. Who are they? The wicked and the just. The wicked and the righteous. That's the only two kinds of people there are. The wicked and the righteous. The just is usually translated righteous. In the days of Noah, we read where God saw. In Genesis chapter 6 verse 5, where God saw. And how God sees things is how they are. God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, non-stop. But the Scripture also says with regard to this man, Noah. He said, Noah have I seen as righteous before me in this generation. Now, Noah by nature wasn't any better than any of these other people, but yet God, who sees things as they really are, He says, regard to this man Noah, Noah have I seen as righteous before me. Now, I'm in one of those two states before God. God either sees me right now, as a man whose wickedness is great in the earth and that every imagination, not even talking about the works, just what goes on in here, every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil non-stop. Or he sees me as righteous, sinless, without guilt, having never sinned. two kinds of people in this world, two demographics, the righteous and the wicked, and we can't be both. Now, that does not mean counted righteousness, even though we're not. It does not mean counted wicked, even though we're not. This means truly, really, literally, Righteous before God or truly, really, literally wicked before God. The righteous and the wicked. Now I want to give you my favorite quote from a human being. This is Blaise Pascal, the French physicist and mathematician. But he made this statement, and this is my favorite quote of any human being. Here it is. All of the wicked believe themselves to be righteous. And all of the righteous believe themselves to be wicked. Well, I know someone who would not think himself, he knows he's a wicked man and he doesn't believe himself to be righteous. Yes, but he thinks he could be. That's the difference. He thinks he could be. He's just choosing not to be right now, but he could be. But here's the fact of the matter when we're talking about the righteous and the wicked, and this is so important with this text. This is so important with that passage the pastor just read from Romans chapter three. Underscore that. All, without exception, all the wicked believe themselves to be righteous, or at least they have the ability to be. All, without exception, all of the righteous believe themselves to be wicked. Now, what does Jehovah find an abomination? abhorrent and grievous to his holy soul. Read the text again. Proverbs 17 verse 15. He that justifieth the wicked. What would you think of a judge who justified a criminal? He committed a crime. No doubt that he was guilty. And the judge said, well, I'm a loving judge. I'm a forgiving judge. You're free. Go back out into society. I have forgiven you of that sin. I'm a merciful judge. What would we say about a judge like that? He's a corrupt judge. An unjust judge. A wicked judge. We'd want to get rid of him. Think if this criminal killed your child and the judge said, I'm a forgiving judge. I'm a merciful judge. I forgive you. You're set free. Why? That judge is worse than the one who committed the crime. And yet this is the way people view the Lord. That, well, he can just forgive. He can just pass over iniquity. He can just forgive us. Not if he's just. And someone who justifies the wicked is an abomination to a holy God. He hates that. He finds it repulsive. He finds it disgusting because he's God. He's holy. He's righteous. He's just. And he that condemneth the just. Somebody that's just, and that judge condemns him, what do we do with that judge? We want to get rid of him, don't we? He's not real. He's not honest. You know, a criminal. He doesn't fear an unjust judge. Somehow he can be bought. He can be paid off. The one the criminal fears is the absolutely just and righteous judge. That is who the Lord is. Now this addresses The great question found in Job chapter 25, if you turn with me there, and this is what the pastor was reading about, Romans chapter 3. And they tell me that Job is the oldest book in the Bible. It's older than the writings of Moses. And somebody says, well, why do they say that? Well, because of the way wealth was measured in Job and the way wealth was measured in Genesis. The way it was measured in Job is older than the way they did it in Genesis. So that's what they say. So whether it's true, I don't know. It doesn't really matter. But they say Job is the oldest book in the Bible. Now, in this 25th chapter of Job, Then answered Bildad, the Shuite, and said, Dominion and fear are with him. He maketh peace in his high places. Is there any number of his armies? And upon whom doth not his light arise? How then can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that's born of a woman? Remember we considered last night the wicked are estranged from the womb? They go about as soon as they be born, speaking lies. David said, I was shapen in iniquity and sin did my mother conceive me. How can he be clean that's born of a woman? Behold, even to the moon, and it shineth not, yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man that is a worm, and the son of man that is a worm. How can a sinful man be just with a holy God. How can God be just and justify the ungodly? How can God be just and justify this ungodly sinner and make it to where I have never sinned and I stand before his holy law having kept it perfectly, having never committed a sin? Does that sound attractive to you? To stand before God, this is better than being forgiven. This is being justified in His sight, having never sinned. Now, how can a man, how can he be clean? That's born of a woman. How can that be? Charles Spurgeon asked this question. If God said to the angels, how can I be just? and justify those sinful creatures on earth, they'd still be cratching their head. I don't know. How could that be? I cannot even imagine how to answer that question. Now, God only justifies the just. He said in Exodus 34, I will by no means clear the guilty. If you're guilty, He won't clear you. He said, I'll by no means clear the guilty. If you have any sin upon you, He will not clear you. That's what He says. I'll by no means clear the guilty. God only justifies the just. God only condemns the wicked. Now if God justifies a wicked man, he's no longer just. Amen? If God actually justifies a wicked man, he's no longer just. If God condemns a just man, he's not just. You know, if He justified a wicked man, I want to say this, I hope, fearfully, but I can hear Satan smirking, you can't condemn us for sin, but you didn't condemn them for sin. You're really no different than I am. Satan himself could say that if God would let one sin go unpunished. I am so thankful for a righteous and a holy God. How can God be just and justify a sinful man? For him to condemn a righteous person would be for him to become an abomination to himself. For him to justify a wicked person would be for him to become an abomination to himself. How can God be just and justify me? Now I ask that question with some awareness of my own unjustness and sinfulness. I'm not just blowing smoke when I'm saying this. I really know that I am a sinner. A sinner, what's a sinner? It's somebody who all they do is sin. A sinner is somebody who's never not sinned. A sinner is somebody who their sin is all their fault. They can't blame God. They can't blame God's sovereignty. They can't blame their circumstances. Their sin is all their fault. And they can't look down their nose on anybody. There's not one son of Adam that you could say, at least I'm not that bad. Not if you believe you're a sinner. If you believe you're a sinner, you realize you have no claims on God. If he passes you by, just and holy is his name. Sinner. Those are the folks that God justifies. Only those are the folks that God justifies. Now the question is, how can this be? Turn with me to the book of Revelation. Verse 8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, the beast. whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now that is the only way you can interpret the Bible from that verse. This book is a closed book until I have some understanding of the fact that Christ Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. There was a time when there was no creation, no matter, no sun, no moon, no stars, no people, no creatures. All there was was God in the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity dwelling alone in Perfect holiness, happiness, security, no needs. And we read that even then there was a lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. Before there was a sinner, there was a savior. God's elect have always been viewed in the Lamb having been slain from the foundation of the world. That's why God has never viewed His people as guilty. You see, Christ was slain before the foundation of the world. There's one reason for death, sin. He took care of the sin problem before I was ever born. Before there was a sinner. there was a Savior. And the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world has made the way for God to be just and justify the ungodly. Listen to this. You know why this creation took place? So the Lamb could come in time and be slain. Listen, the slain Lamb wasn't for the fall. The fall was for the slain Lamb. Everything is according to this purpose All of history, every event that takes place can only be interpreted in light of the Lamb having been slain from the foundation of the world. When there was no time, when there was no creatures, When there was nothing but God and the Trinity of His sacred persons, we have the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That's when the great covenant of grace was made where God said to His Son, I'm going to give you a bride if you take full responsibility for their salvation and you do everything that's needed to make a way for me to be just and yet justify them. The Son agreed to do that. Father, I will. He took full responsibility for the salvation of everybody the Father gave Him. God the Holy Spirit agreed to give them life. It's the Spirit that quickeneth. We just read that. The flesh profits nothing. All of this was taken care of before time began. David, the man after God's own heart, said in 2 Samuel 23 verse 5, he said, Although my house be not so with God, His house was a mess. If you think your house is a mess, his was worse. I guarantee you that. And he was saying, although this house be not so with God. This house. Yet, hath he made with me an everlasting covenant. A covenant made before time began, ordered in all things and sure. And this is all my salvation. Can you say that with David? This covenant that he made before time began and the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This is all my salvation and all my desire. I don't want anything else. You know, Christ is all I have. This is more than, yes, he's all I need, but he's all I have. And I don't want anything else. This is all my salvation and all my desire simply to be found in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, he can't condemn one who's not guilty. And in Christ, I'm not guilty in the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And what a glorious thought. Now turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. This is another passage of scripture that I think sheds some light on this. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Do you know if you're in Christ, you have a new history? I want you to think about that. You have a new history. And it's all good. You don't have any skeletons in your closet. You don't have any, you've got a new history of absolute perfection. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Oh, I don't have the same sinful desires I used to have. I'm a different person. Liar. Liar. What you talking about then? That old position before the law is gone. I stand before God, not guilty, but without guilt. Perfectly sinless. This new creation in Christ Jesus. Verse 18, And all things are of God. Well, that's true with regard to everything, but most especially in this new creation. It's His work. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself. by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ said, be ye reconciled to God, He, God the Father, hath made Him, God the Son, to be sin. Take that to be away. It's in italics. Let's read it without that. For He hath made Him sin. for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. No one will ever be able to comprehend all that that means. And when the Lord was on the cross, it's very fit, that darkness covered the earth. And that lets us know that me and you are really not going to understand all that's going on in this great transaction between the father and the son, when he made him sin. For us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, even in heaven, will not fully comprehend this. I know one thing we'll know. When we see the scars in his hands and in his feet, and the hole in his side, we'll know that the only reason we're there is because of him. We will be sure of that. But what does that mean, this glorious statement? For He, God the Father, the one who has the authority to do this, with God nothing should be impossible. Do you know God can actually remove your sins from you and place them in His Son so His Son becomes guilty of them? This is how God has made the way to be just and justify the ungodly. And like I said, this is so gloriously mysterious. I've had people come up to me and say, what's your position on 2 Corinthians 521? And I just kind of cringe when somebody says that. A position? This is way above our ability to grasp, only to believe. I think when people talk about a position on this, it's like the children of Israel, when the ark had been in the land of the Philistines, and it's finally brought back. And while it had been in the land of the Philistines, I love it when they set it in the temple of their god Dagon. And they came in the next day, and Dagon had fallen before the ark. So they set him back up. If God you have to set up, it's not much of a God, but they set him back up. They come in the next day, he's fallen again. And his head is cut off. And his hands are cut off. And he's a stump before God. And God started plaguing the land of the Philistines from one city to another. They'd say, let us get it out of here. And they'd get it to another city. And the hand of the Lord was heavy there. And they said, send it somewhere else. That's in three or four cities. Finally, they said, get it back to Israel. Thousands and thousands of death because of their having the ark. And so it's brought back to Israel on that cart. And some of the children of Israel thought, let's look what's in it. Let's explain what's in it. God killed over 50,000 people. Now, there are things that are way beyond our understanding that we can only believe. And that's with regard to this verse of scripture. For He, God the Father, the only one who has the authority and the ability to do this. For He, God the Father, hath made Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, sin. There's no way that I can get a hold of what that means. Because I really don't understand sin very much. It doesn't bother me. Not really. It does, but I'm used to it. I can't understand what it is to look at something from a holy attitude, but perhaps the clearest glimpse we can get into what this means is when Christ was in Gethsemane's garden, and He said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. What was in that cup? The cup of the sins of His people that He knew He was going to have to drink. He was going to be made sin. And the thought of this, bearing my sin, my filth, everything about me, He started sweating great drops of blood. The thought of being separated from His Father, being forsaken by His Father, cut off by His Father. He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood, and it wasn't simply because of the physical pain that he was getting ready to endure, although I wouldn't diminish that for a second, but it was the thought of being made sin, drinking in the sins of his people in his own body on the tree. He's the only one who could do this. You know, if I'd die for your sins, guess how much good it would do you? None at all. Because I can't die for your sins. I've got sins of my own. I can't do anything for you. You can't do anything for me. Here's the only one who could do something for us. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he was made sin. I remember, you all remember Jim Baker, that preacher from back in the 80s, and he was a crook, and you could say all kinds of things about him, but somebody said, what about these sins you've committed? He said, oh, I put those under the blood. Oh? You can do that? I don't think so. You see, in this transaction, me and you are shut out. This is not something that we're involved in. Hebrews 1.3 says, When He had by Himself purged our sins. No help from me. No help from you. When He had by Himself purged our sins. For He hath made Him to be sin who knew no sin. He never committed a sin before the cross. He never committed a sin during the cross. He never committed a sin after the cross. He never sinned. You see, if He could sin, He wouldn't be God. God can't sin. Is He God? Yes, He's God. Jesus Christ is God. Yes, I believe in the impeccability of Christ. He was incapable of sinning. He never sinned. Something worse. He was made sin. How? By bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, my sin became his sin. My life became his life, so that he owned my sins as his own. He wasn't innocent. When the father poured his wrath upon him, he took my sins and my sorrows and made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. My sin became his sin. Do you know he experienced everything about sin but the commission of it. He experienced being abandoned, forsaken, shame, guilt, humiliation. You think of that scripture looking unto the Jesus who for the joy that was said before him endured the shame. You're only ashamed of something you did. You're not ashamed of something somebody else did. You see, my sin truly became his sin. Now let me show you this in Psalm 40 if you turn there. Verse one, I waited patiently for the Lord. Have you ever done that? No. He did. This is the Lord speaking. And he inclined into me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit. out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." Look in verse 6, this is quoted in Hebrews chapter 10. Sacrifice and offering, thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it's written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. Who does that describe? No one but the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's quoted in Hebrews chapter 10. Now, look in verse 11. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord, Let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me, for innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities." He didn't say Todd's iniquities that were imputed to me. He said, mine iniquities have compassed me about have taken hold upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They're more than the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me." And these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. How can God be just and justify the ungodly? My iniquities became His iniquities, and He suffered the absolute full equivalence of hell, what my sins deserved, and put them away. And what's the rest of the verse say? 2 Corinthians 5, 21, for He hath made Him to be sin for us. Who's the us? If God be for us, who can be against us? It's the elect. That's His bride. That's His church. For He hath made Him sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Now just as truly and literally as he was made seen, every believer is made truly and really the righteousness of God in him. That's my righteousness. The righteousness of God. When Christ said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, his life, The righteousness of God is the only life that God will accept. And every believer is nothing less than the very righteousness of God. Luke chapter 18. Verse 9, And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. That's self-righteousness. You trust in yourself that you are righteous. And what goes along with it? They despised others. They looked down their nose at others. If you believe you're righteous, you can always find somebody you're a little better than. Two men went up into the temple to pray. The one, a Pharisee. The other, a publican. The highest and the lowest. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. I love the way the Lord points out to us that God wasn't hearing his prayer. Oh, he heard what he said, but he wouldn't accept it. He was praying thus with himself. God, I thank Thee. I'm giving You the credit. This guy was a Calvinist. I'm giving You the credit that I am not as other men are. He didn't say, I thank you for your mercy or for your grace or for the blood of your son. He said, I thank you that my life has changed. I'm not as other men are. You know, there's ministries called changed lives. And the grand of assurance is how much your life has changed. That's a bad ground. Let me tell you that right now. But that's where this fellow was. I thank you that I'm not as other men are. I'm not an extortioner. That's a lie. I'm not unjust. That's a lie, too. I'm not an adulterer. That's a lie, three. Everything he said was a lie. He was all those things. He didn't think he was, but he was, wasn't he? I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. I'm sure not like this pathetic publican back here in the back of the temple. Verse 13, And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful. God, be propitious. God, do something about my sin. I can't do anything about it. The only way anything can be done about my sin is if you're propitious, and you're a sin-removing sacrifice in my stead. That's the only hope that I have. God be propitious to me, the sinner. I tell you, I love it when the Lord says, I say to you, there's the authority. I tell you, this man went down to his house forgiven, having been shown mercy. No. What does it say? He went down to his house justified, standing before God without guilt, having never sinned. That is the state of every believer, and this is how God can be just and justify the ungodly. Now, what I think is very interesting about this parable He tells us He went down to His house justified, and He makes no further comment on it. And He uses the rest of the Bible to explain what that means. Now one final scripture, and we'll let you go. Isaiah 53. Verse 10. Yet, it pleased the Lord to crush him. Now how could that please the Lord? Because that's what the word is. It pleased him to do it. Well, it pleased him because it's his purpose. It pleased him because he was manifesting himself through the cross. The only way we can know him is through what he's doing here. And it pleased him because it was saving his people. It pleased the Lord to crush him. He hath put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. And that word is sometimes simply translated guiltiness, and it's also translated sin. It's the teaching of 2 Corinthians 5.21. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. How? For he shall bear their iniquities. And he put them away. And let me say this, sin can be two places at once. If he bore my iniquities, I don't bear them. I stand before God without guilt. Aren't you thankful the Lord's like this? I love that scripture. He that justifies the wicked and he that condemns the just, they're both alike an abomination to the Lord. Amen.