We will if we can. So you can
make it here. We'll have services. If not,
we won't. If you have a question at the
last minute about whether or not we're having them, you want
to call or contact me, that's fine. This thing stays offshore
far enough. Maybe we won't have to worry about it. Revelation chapter 22 verse one
and he showed me. And that's the only way we're
going to ever know anything is if he shows us. A pure river of
water of life clears crystal proceeding out of the throne
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst
of the street of it on either side of the river. Was there? The tree of life. The tree of
life clearly is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Right now we're
on one side of the river. One day soon we're going to be
on the other side of the river. Same Christ. Same one. He doesn't change. We're going
to change. We're gonna be translated like
Enoch, aren't we? We're gonna have to get rid of
this mortality in order to take on immortality, and that's gonna
be a good thing. But he's the same, yesterday,
today, and forever. Digna has moved to Land O'Lakes,
north of Tampa, and meant to put her new address in the bulletin
this morning, and we forgot, so it'll be in there next Sunday.
If you need to get her address before then, text Tricia and
she can get it for you. Her cell phone number is still
the same and she's doing well. Ted asked me to tell you all
that she loves you dearly and she misses us. Number 37 in your spiral hymnal. Approach my soul, the throne
of grace. Tom, you come please. Approach, my soul, the throne
of grace in every time of need. There's mercy for the needy one
who Jesus' name shall plead. Though I'm a weak and sinful
wretch, I will approach the throne. Upon Christ's mighty arm, And
plead his blood alone. The blood, the precious blood
of Christ, Has opened up the way, By which I can draw near
to God, And to my Father pray. Though Satan taps my heart to
sin, I'll call upon my God. And if I fall, he'll lift me
up and cleanse me in the blood. The way is open, God will hear
my groans and cries of grief. Nothing can keep me from His
throne but mine own unbelief. O Lord, my unbelief remove, and
turn my heart by grace. Compel me to approach your throne,
and there spread out my gaze. Please be seated. Good morning. Greg was talking
about the fire that's never quenched. About a week before my brother
died, and he was an unbeliever. He told my sister-in-law, he
said, don't worry about me. I've had a good life. He died unrepentant. He'll never
know until he does die that. You can't have a good life without
Christ. There's no way. There's no way. Philippians chapter 2 and verse
5. Philippians chapter 2 and verse
5. The first four verses deal with
our relationship with each other as believers. It tells us how
we should act one toward another. And it's all summed up in verse
five when the Holy Spirit said, let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Now in a context, it means this
to have the mind of Christ. That I would show towards every
other believer, especially the members of this congregation.
And I would show you the same love. The same compassion. The same forgiveness, the same
mercy that the Lord Jesus Christ showed me when he died on the
cross. That's something that you don't
have to work at. The Holy Spirit will give you
enough love that you can do this thing. You can overlook what
other believers do to you, and you can live with whatever it
was, and you can continue to love them with the same compassion,
love, and forgiveness that Christ showed us. This is not an option.
Love between believers is not an option. It's something that
a child of God will do. Let this mind be in you, which
also was in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation
and took on him the form of a servant. and was made in the likeness
of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as you
have always obeyed, not only as in my presence, but more so
now in my absence, work out your own salvation in fear and trembling. Verse 13, for or because, because
it is God. that worketh in you both to will
and to do of his good pleasure. If we don't have the love toward
the brethren, we need to find out why. And we need to pray
that the Lord will give us the grace to have this love. This
is the most loving church I've ever been in in my life. And
I love every one of you, and I love every minute of being
here. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. Father, we thank you for being
gathered here together this morning, Father, and the only safe place
in this whole wicked world, Father, is church. It's the only place
where you are with us, because there's more than two or three
of us, Father. We're unable to comprehend the
depth of the love that you've shown us, Father, but we're obligated
to show it toward other believers. Give us grace, Father, to do
these things, to want to love others, to want to serve you.
Give Greg the grace this morning, Father, to give us a word in
due season and give us hearing ears, Father, and a willing heart.
We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's all stand together once
again. We'll sing hymn number 352 from the hardbacked hymnal
number 352. Let's all stand. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high, hide me, O my Savior, hide. ? Till the storm of life is past
? ? Safe into the haven guide ? ? O receive my soul at last
? ? Other refuge have I none ? ? Hangs my helpless soul on
thee ? Levi, leave me not alone, still support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stayed,
all my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is Thy name. ? I am all unrighteousness ?
? False and full of sin I am ? ? Thou art full of truth and
grace ? ? Plenteous grace with thee is found ? ? Grace to cover
all my sin ? Let the healing streams abound, make and keep
me pure within. Thou of life, the fountain art,
freely let me take of thee. Spring thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity. Please be seated. Would you open your Bibles with
me to Zechariah chapter 13 at verse 7. Zechariah chapter 13
at verse 7. Every time we speak of the things
of God, we have to remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13. He said, I know in part, I look
through a glass darkly now. The subject this morning. I feel
as if I know the least part of any subject I've ever considered.
And it has to do with the justice of God. The title of this message
is judgment is not justice. Judgment is not justice. The justice of God was only served
once. What all that means, I have no
idea. But if you take all the judgments
of God and add them up, it will not come near to measuring the
justice that was satisfied at Calvary's cross. All the judgments. The flood was a judgment. God
sent a deluge and destroyed every living thing on the face of the
earth. But in the flood, justice was not served. God was not satisfied. Death
is judgment. But in the judgment of death,
justice is not served. When God rained fire from heaven
on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and consumed those cities with
brimstone and all that were in it, God was executing his judgment,
but justice was not served. Justice was not served. When God said, I take no pleasure
in the destruction of the wicked, what he means by that is not
that I do it reluctantly or I have second thoughts about it. What
he's meaning by that is I'm not satisfied with the judgment of the wicked. The drowning of Pharaoh's army
was God's judgment against Egypt. But justice was not served. Justice was not served. If I could give you a simple
illustration, those of you particularly that are parents and have children,
you know how much you love your children. Suppose with me for
a moment that a criminal, a murderer, kidnapped one of your children
and killed them. And that person was later caught
and tried and sentenced to death. and execute it, execute it. And you went to their execution.
Would you leave that scene feeling like justice has been served? Judgment? Yes. But are you satisfied? Are you
justified? No. When Korah and his rebellion
stood up against Moses and God opened up the earth and swallowed
them all into a fiery pit, judgment was served, but not justice,
not justice. Eternal separation in a devil's
hell of unspeakable horrors, is the judgment of God, but the
reason why hell is eternal is because justice is not served
by hell. Justice is not served by hell. When God said in Zechariah chapter
13, verse seven, and the father is speaking and he says, awake,
O sword. That's the sword of justice. And that sword has been sleeping
ever since the fall. It's like you remember when,
when, when, when David was fleeing from Saul and he went to a Himalaya
and, and he had to leave in haste and didn't have a weapon. And
he asked a Himalaya, the priest, he said, do you have a sword?
And a Himelech said, well, there's one wrapped in a cloth behind
the ephod back there in the corner, Goliath's sword, the one whom
you slew. And they had to unwrap it and
bring it out. And David saw the sword and he
said, there's no sword like that sword. The sword of God's justice
has been wrapped in a shroud of secrecy from the fall. to the time where God brought
it out and said, there's no sword like that sword, and sheathed
it into the heart of his own son and said, now justice has
been served. Isaiah chapter 9. Let's read
our verse together, I'm sorry. Verse 7 of Zechariah chapter
13, awake, O sword. God, the father is speaking,
says it's time for justice to be satisfied. And Isaiah chapter
53 says, and God saw the travail of his soul and was satisfied. Justice now has been served. One thought in my mind, and I'm
sure in yours, of a place where the fire is not quenched, where
the worm dieth not, where there's weeping and wailing and the gnashing
of teeth, one thought of a God-forsaken devil's hell is enough to cause
me to flee to Christ. I don't want anything to do with
that place. For all eternity, all the souls
that are suffering in that place combined does not compare to
the horrors that the Lord Jesus Christ experienced on Calvary's
cross. God will not be justified by
the death of the wicked. That's why hell is eternal. He's
not justified by it. You say, but those people are
going to be there for all eternity, and Christ only suffered. That's
what I'm talking about. This is a mystery. This is a
subject that cannot be even close to understood. But when the Lord
Jesus Christ cried to the Father and said, Father, if there be
any way this cup can pass from me, let it be. Nevertheless,
not my will, but thy will be done. He was drinking the bitter
dregs of God's justice. Not his judgments. Plenty of
folks have suffered the judgment of God, the punishment of God. But the Lord Jesus Christ was
bearing such a burden that God saw it and said, justice is now
served and I'm satisfied. All the horrors of God's judgment
that have been executed throughout all history and for all eternity
cannot compare to the burden of God's wrath that fell from
heaven on the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. I don't know
what that means, but I believe it. And I know
that he willingly laid down his life for the sheep. And I know
that he satisfied God's holy justice. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd
and against the man that is my fellow. Sayeth the Lord of hosts,
smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. And I will
turn my hand upon the little ones. Now the Lord Jesus Christ
quoted this verse to the disciples just as they were leaving the
place where they had the last supper headed towards the Mount
of Olives. Garden of Gethsemane, he quoted
this verse. This is gonna be fulfilled tonight.
And it was fulfilled that night. The shepherd was being smitten.
He was being pierced through and the sheep would scatter.
He had to bear those horrors all by himself. No one could
be there to help him. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
nine, please. Isaiah chapter nine. Verse 6, for every battle of
the war year is with confused noise. War, Isaiah chapter 9,
Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, verse 5, verse 5. For every battle
of the war year is with confused noise. That's a description of
the horrors of war. Bullets are flying and men are
desperate to defend themselves and to defeat the enemy and and garments rolled in blood,
but this shall be with burning and the fuel of fire." What? What shall be with burning
and the fuel of fire when the child is born? When the sun is
given, when the government shall be upon his shoulders and his
name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, of the increase of
his government and peace, there shall be no end and upon the
throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish
it with judgment and justice. All the horrors of war cannot
be compared to the fire that will fall upon the Lord Jesus
Christ in order to satisfy justice. Judgment, as horrible as it is,
is not justice. judgment in all of its horrible
forms. And it is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of an angry God. And our God, according to
the book of Hebrews, is a consuming fire. And we don't want anything
to do with God's judgment. But the justice, the justice
That the Lord Jesus Christ satisfied when that sleeping sword was
brought out by God almighty and pierced through the soul of his
son to satisfy God's. You see justice is when the law is satisfied.
God satisfied everything necessary to make. God propitious has been
fulfilled. Awake, O sword, and smite the
shepherd. Pierce him through. The man, the man who is my fellow. Now the word fellow is not a
word that we use much today in this sense, but it means a relation. a relation, a companion. And
Robert, you read it from Philippians. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. And the Lord Jesus Christ was
not robbing from the glory of his father by claiming deity
himself. He was the fellow of God. He
said, when Thomas asked him, he said, show us the father and
it sufficeth us. And what the Lord say, Thomas,
have you not known that if you've seen me, you've seen the father?
For I and the father are one. He is my fellow. And God Almighty,
the God-man was pierced through with the sword of God's justice
so that judgment, they're still in Isaiah chapter 9, when is
this fire that cannot be compared to even the war of battle and
the bloodiness of that? To establish it. To establish
it. You see that in verse 7? With
judgment and justice from henceforth forever and forever the zeal
of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The zeal of God's holy
fury was poured out on Calvary's cross and he performed judgment
and justice. And he's satisfied. It's the only thing he's satisfied
with. Judgment never satisfies God. Don't think, well, you know,
I've suffered the consequences of that sin, somehow that puts
that sin away. No, that may be judgment, but
it's not justice. God requires justice. And only once, only once was
the sword of God's justice brought out. It was a sleeping sword.
And God took it in his own hand and he slew his son. And he said,
now, now, the shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep has
been slain. His blood has been shed. He who
is my fellow, he whom I made in the likeness of sinful flesh,
born of a woman, born after the law, the God-man, Has suffered
the full fury of God's wrath that cannot be compared to all
the judgments of God on every soul of every generation. The Lord Jesus Christ bore something
so horrible. We cannot. Cannot begin to understand
it. But to believe it. And to know
that that act When the sword of God's justice was drawn out
from its hiding place and was wakened and was wet with the
blood of Christ, that that act is the only act that God is pleased
with. It's the only act that God's
satisfied with. What can take away my sins? What
can take away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious
is that flow that made me white as snow. Awake, O sword, God says. Smite the shepherd, pierce him
through. It's the only thing God's satisfied
with. The death of the wicked, He's
not pleased with. Judgment of hell is forever because God's
justice is not satisfied. One single time, one single time
in the history of the world and in the history of eternity was
justice satisfied. Once once only. Are we satisfied? With that. Which God is satisfied? Army. That's faith. Faith is faith is saying truth,
Lord. Truth Lord. Daniel chapter 9
verse 26, the Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself,
for his people. The sword of God's wrath cut
off the Lord Jesus Christ. No amount of works, no amount
of sacrifice, no amount of anything that you and I can do will satisfy
justice. We've all felt the heavy hand
to some degree of God's judgments. And the world has suffered the
judgments of God many times over. But justice only once. That's why when the
Lord Jesus Christ cried on Calvary's cross and said, I thirst. Why was he so thirsty? Because
the coal, the hot coal of God's justice was on his lips and the
world had nothing to give him for his thirst, but vinegar and
gall. And the truth is that if one
coal of God's justice was dropped into the oceans of this world,
it would dry them up every drop and remain undiminished in its
heat. Remain undiminished. Nothing
can satisfy the justice of God. Nothing. Except Christ. He's the only one that ever did
it. Awake, O sword, smite the shepherd. Against the shepherd and against
the man that is my fellow, smite the shepherd, the sheep
will scatter, and they did. But I know where everyone I'm
scattered to. What did Peter, what did the
Lord Jesus Christ tell Mary at the tomb? Tell my disciples and
Peter, I know where he's at. I know exactly where he's at.
He's shameful, he's high now because he was scattered when
the shepherd was smitten. He was scattered and he's ashamed
of the way he was scattered. He denied me with cursing, but
you tell him that I've risen. And the Lord went, met with Peter,
didn't he? He knows wherever one of his
little ones are. He carries his little sheep, brings them back
into his bosom. Why? Because he has satisfied
God's justice. The judgment of God is not justice. The sleeping sword had to be
woken, and it was. And it smote the shepherd. And
only then, only then is God satisfied. Takes works out of the equation,
doesn't it? It's the only way that God could
be just and justify the ungodly, by smiting the shepherd with
the sword of his justice. What burdens the Lord Jesus Christ
bore is beyond our, well, I don't even know what else to say about
that. Turn to me in your Bibles, please,
to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah chapter 53. What does? How does God describe
his word? The sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. What does the sword of God's
spirit do? It reveals to God's people how the shepherd was smitten
in order to satisfy justice. That's what it does. These are
they which testify of me. Everything in this book is pointing
us, the sword of the Spirit, that flaming sword of God, which
is able to divide us under and expose the thoughts and the intents
of the heart, reveal to us the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the same
flaming sword that God stationed at the east gate of the Garden
of Eden. And that sword was a flaming
sword, and it was the sword of God's justice. Now it kept Adam
out of the garden so that they could die and have the hope of eternal life,
but it does something else to us. It points to the tree of
life. That sword points to the tree of life. Eat of that tree,
because that's the only place where justice is served. You have your bibles open to
Isaiah chapter 53. Who have believed our report
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? The arm of God is the Lord Jesus
Christ himself, and he must be revealed. And the unbelievers
not going to believe it. Why? Because they think they
can satisfy God's justice by themselves. For he, the Lord Jesus Christ,
shall grow up before him, the Father, as a tender plant and
as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire
him. His visage was not as a man. when he hung their own Calvary's
cross, a physical picture of the spiritual agony that he was
experiencing as the full fury of God's justice was being poured
out on him. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it
were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Surely, surely, surely, surely,
he bore, he hath borne. Now Isaiah, Isaiah's writing
in the 7th century B.C. and he uses past tense. He hath
borne. He's the lamb that was slain
before the foundation of the world. This is the justice of
God. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him smitten, afflicted,
stricken of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are, are, are, are healed. You see the word stripes is in
plural in our English language, but in the original Hebrew, it's
actually a singular word. And it means to be wounded. It's not just the stripes that
they put on his back. It's the wound that God wounded
him with when he pierced him through with that sleeping sword. Awake, O sword. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way. The Lord hath laid on
him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter and as a sheep before shears his dumb soul. He opened
not his mouth. Why didn't he open his mouth?
because he was bearing the guilt and the shame of our sin and
willingly suffering the wrath of God's justice. Willingly. He couldn't complain. and he
couldn't defend. All he had to do was be silent
and suffer the full wrath of God's holy justice. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgressions
of my people was he stricken. He made his grave with the wicked.
And with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord,
the father, to bruise him. He, the father, hath put him,
the son, to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, and he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see, the father shall see, the travail of the
son's soul. What that travail was is greater,
is greater, infinitely greater than all the horrors of every
soul in hell for all eternity. How do we know that? Because
when God saw the travail of his soul, he was satisfied and he's
not satisfied with any of the judgments. But when he saw the
travail of his soul, he was satisfied. For by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify." Justify, the only way to be justified
is for justice to be served. The judgment of God does not
justify, only the justice of God does. He shall bear their iniquities. Awake, O sword. A sword was hidden behind the
ephah, wrapped in a cloth in the high priest's house until
it was brought out. And there was none like that
sword. And God wedded. In the precious blood of his
son. And God said now. And only now. Am I satisfied? I've seen the
travail of his soul. The shepherd has been pierced. And though the sheep scattered.
Though they scattered. And we do. All we like sheep
have gone astray, each into his own way. And there is a way that
seems right unto man, but in the end, that way leads to death.
What is the way that seems right unto man? That I ought to be
able to satisfy God's justice somehow. That's the way that
seems right to me. I can do something to satisfy
the justice of God, to make up for... No, you can't. Justice was only served once that sword was only woken once. Now the Lord is gathering his
lambs and he's bringing them to bow
to that glorious truth. and to worship that glorious
savior who was the only one able to satisfy God's justice. Only
one. When I see his blood, I'll pass
by you. All can take away my sins. We
sing that hymn again. We sang it Wednesday night. Can
we sing it this morning? That's it, let's do. We can sing that
hymn acapella. What's the 212, I think? 212.
Just remain seated, we're gonna have the Lord's table. I wanna
sing that hymn. What can take away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon, this I seek, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Naught of good that I have done. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Nothing. Nothing. That's good news. Because if
it's something other than that, I don't find any comfort, any
assurance. God has declared to us that He's
satisfied with the blood of Christ. The reason He's satisfied is
because His body, though bearing our sins, was Himself without
sin. He was pierced through, Daniel
says, not for himself, for his people. He drank the bitter dregs
of our sin. That's one of the reasons. God
was satisfied because of his holy sacrifice. See, no sacrifice
that we make is holy, but his was, his was. And that's what
this bread represents, the unleavened, sinless life and obedience. He was obedient. When we think
about the obedience, we think about the perfect life of Christ.
But that passage you read, Robert, from Philippians, he was obedient
even unto death, even the death of the cross. You see, his death
was part of his obedience. He had to die to be fully obedient,
and he did. And he alone satisfied justice. He said, as often as you do this,
do it in remembrance of me. Nothing but the blood. That's
such a simple hymn. That may be my favorite gospel
hymn. So clear and repetitive and God-honoring and sinner-humbling. Nothing, nothing, nothing but
the blood of Jesus. As often as you do this, do it
in remembrance of me. All God's people said, Amen. Amen. Let's stand together. Caleb, would you lead us in prayer,
please, brother? the sword of justice being satisfied
through the person of Jesus Christ.