Proverbs chapter 18. Proverbs 18. Proverbs 18 verse 5. The scripture
declares it is not good to accept the person of the wicked. To overthrow the righteous in
judgment. It's not good to lift up and
hold honorably. It's not good to magnify. It's
not good to regard, to respect, to pardon
the person of the wicked. Years ago, I was in Franklin,
Tennessee. I know at least part of this
story before. One of the best examples that
I've ever seen. I was in a courtroom. A buddy
of mine, he got a ticket and was going to have to go to court.
He wanted me to just go sit with him. I did. And in the process
of time, The judge was a woman that was well known for, she
was strict, she was tough. I mean she was tough. She was
fair. You had to respect her, she was
fair. Before my buddy's name was called on the docket, had
a woman's name called, and she was close to delivering. I know she had been very close
to delivering. She was very, very, very pregnant. And Judge read the charge. This wasn't
the first time she'd been there. And I remember Judge read it. She said, you've got 15 counts
of hot checks. And I listened to that young
lady start pleading her case. She said, Judge, I know. And
she said, I've gone through some very tough times. And she said,
I'm getting ready to have this baby, and we've had some problems. We've had some physical problems,
medical problems. And she said, I'm trying. I'm
doing the best I can. And the judge looked at her,
and she said, at 5 o'clock today, If these 15 checks are not taken
care of, you'll be in my jail tonight, I thought. Wow. She was fair. She was fair. Like I said, it
wasn't the first time the girl had been there, and the judge
knew it. It is not good to accept the
person of the wicked. Listen to me. Listen to me. God is just. And He will, in
no wise, clear the guilty. You stand before God Almighty.
Listen to me. You stand before God Almighty without having bowed to His Son. You stand before God Almighty
and you open your mouth to plead one thing that you did before
God for acceptance. If you tell God Almighty, and
I've got God's word on that, many will say unto me in that
day, Lord, Lord, we've prophesied your name, cast out the devil.
I never knew you. If you stand before God and try
to plead your free will, Try to plead your works of self-righteousness,
your faithfulness. I'm telling you, God Almighty,
according to His Word, is going to say, depart from me, you workers
of iniquity. I never knew you in grace. You
know He knows them. All souls are mine. It is not good to accept the
person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment. Almighty God is just. Abraham, back in Genesis 18,
I think about that plea for righteousness, fairness. He said in Genesis
18, 23, to 25. Abraham drew near and said, Will
thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Perventure there
be fifty righteous within the city. Wilt thou also destroy
and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous
with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked.
That be far from thee. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Right. God Almighty is going
to do that which is right. It's not good to accept the person
of the wicked. Is there any injustice in this
world today? Well, here again, somebody says,
oh yeah, well, prove it. Prove it. I'll tell you how,
because I'm going to tell you something. Everybody's got an opinion. Psalms
82. Listen to this. Psalm 82 verses 1 and 2 says
this, God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, and he judgeth
among the little g gods. How long will ye judge unjustly
and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Muse upon that. Think upon that. I'm telling you, if there was
justice in this world. You want to know what deterrent
for crime? Justice. Justice. They say, well, it's
not right. It's not right to electrocute
and kill somebody. Oh, you're doing the same thing
that they did. No, you're not. You're being
just. Just. The reason that there's
so much rampant disregard for God Almighty and communities
and people is because there's no justice. But I'm telling you,
God is just. What's the cause of injustice?
Sin. Sin. Psalm 14, 1 to 3. We've read this before. Here's
the reason. The fool has said in his heart, No God. There's no God. They are corrupt. They've done abominable work.
There's none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. They're all gone aside. They're
all together become filthy. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. I tell you, son, God is just
and there's none other. It's not good to accept the person
of the wicked. It's not good. And it's not good
to overthrow the righteous in judgment. Now, the believer knows this thing of himself. He knows
what he is by nature. I quoted this a while ago, but
Romans 7, 18. 724. I know this of myself. There'll be times that I'll be
thinking about this miracle of God's grace and mercy. And I think to myself, Lord, I do. I want to. I think about
that passage of scripture. He that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast him out. Oh, Lord, give me a heart to
come to you. He that cometh and cometh. Lord,
you keep me and I'll be kept. Lord, if you call, I'll come. If you keep, I'll stay. Lord,
if you don't keep me, I'll leave. And I don't want to. Here's what
a believer knows about himself. Romans 7, 18, I know that in
me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Verse 24, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? Let me give you some comfort,
sinner. Let me give you some comfort, wretched sinner. You
that know yourselves to be just that. Christ Jesus came into
this world to save sinners. He said, I didn't come to save
the righteous. If you're righteous in yourself, He didn't come for
you. You die righteous in yourself,
He didn't die for you. But He came to save sinners.
But I know this, it's not good to accept the person of the wicked. By the grace of God, Almighty
God has taught his people what they are. When David took Bathsheba,
God mercifully sent a prophet to him. You know, he told him,
you're the man. You're the man. And David, under
the inspiration of God's Spirit, wrote down Psalm 51. My iniquities
ever before me. A sinner made so by the grace
of God is a precious thing. Old Brother Scott used to say
there's so few of them God made him that way, taught him. You
find a sinner and you'll find one that needs a Savior. You
find a sinner and you'll find one that wants to hear what God
has to say about salvation. You find a sinner and you're
going to find one that wants to cast himself upon God's mercy I'm a sinner, and God is just. And God Almighty must deal with
sin in justice. He must. Well, knowing that it's
not good to accept the person of the wicked, it's not good
to overthrow the righteous in judgment, knowing that I've done
this in my heart, Maybe not before you. I heard, you know, men say, well,
it's just as bad, you know, we're just as bad in thought as we
are in deed. No, you're worse in thought.
You're worse in thought. There's some things that you
won't do outwardly. Because you just don't want to
be exposed. You know, you'll try to restrain
yourself, but there's no restraint in your mind. None. None. You know, you talk about,
you know, lust and everything. There's no restraint in your
mind. And I know Almighty God knows. It's not good. I've done it. Almighty God's going to be faithfully
just. I know that I'm a sinner. Knowing that God's just. Here's
the gospel. Here's the good news of the gospel
of God's grace. Center, Psalm 130 verse 7, let
Israel hope in the Lord. For with the Lord there's mercy. With Him is plenteous redemption. I'm telling you, friend, don't
look to yourself. Look to yourself, you're going
to perish. Look to Him, look to Christ, He that cometh to
me, not He that cometh to anything else. The judge of all the earth, Abraham
said in that pleading to the Lord, you're going to do right,
I know you're going to do right. I know you're not going to cleanse
the guilty, I know you're not going to clear the guilty, I'm
sorry. I know it's not good except the person of the wicked. So
what happened? You know this. I'm going to tell
you something that you've heard and heard and heard. Here's what
it is. The Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary,
by the marvelous power and will and mercy and compassion of God
Almighty, He was made what we are. He was made sin. Bore the guilt. Bore the wickedness. I am this wicked person. And it's not good to accept the
person of the wicked. Not good to pardon him. Not good
to show mercy in himself. What's he gonna do? He gonna
deal with me in substitute. He made him sin. Now this is the most marvelous
thing that has ever entered in to the thought of a man. It's
been taught by the Spirit of God. That Christ was my absolute
substitute. That Marvin Stonick hung on that
cross in Him, crucified with Him, and God Almighty dealt with
me in His Lamb, in His sacrifice, in His Son, and forsook Him. If He would forsake Him being
made sin, what do you think He's going to do to me? If He killed Him, what do you
think He's going to do to me? It's not good to accept the person
of the wicked. And he who knew no sin, here's
the marvel of this thing, he who knew no sin, not in one thought, not in one
desire, not in one act, not in one word, not ever, ever, was
made sin. And Almighty God dealt with him. as he would deal with every one
of his elect in their sin, he dealt with him. And he killed
him. And what he did was right. What
he did was just. When our precious Savior died
at Calvary, he received the just due that was due me. What God Almighty did, He did
one time by one sacrifice. He perfected forever them that
are set apart by God. It's not good to accept the person
of the wicked. And Almighty God forsook His
Son for the sake of His elect, for His honor, for the Lord's
honor, for His glory, for His praise. He did it for my good. And it's not good, lastly, to
overthrow the righteous in judgment. It's not good to overthrow the
Holy One, the Righteous One, the One robed in righteousness Now here's an amazing thing in
closing. As a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ, you're looking at two people. You're looking at two
people. Two people. Number one, I stand
in Adam as one born this way. And you can see me. And in Adam
I possess all the frailties of that old man, that old nature. Unbelief is still here, dishonor before God is still
here. Sin, in which I was born, what
I am, Christ paid for, paid the debt of it, put it away. to the
laws, justice, demand, I don't know anything. But in myself,
I stand before you what you see as one in Adam, but also in Christ. And in Christ, I stand righteous
and holy In Christ, I do not sin. That which is born of God
sinneth not. There's a new man that believes
God in Christ. Now here again, I'll admit, here
again, I'm way over my head here. But according to Scriptures,
In myself, I know that I am not righteous. The scripture tells
me that. There's none righteous. No, not one. But in Christ, chosen
in Him, redeemed by Him, regenerated by His Holy Spirit, sealed by
His Holy Spirit, robed in His righteousness, I stand before
God accepted in the Beloved. There's two men here. A sinner. and a holy, regenerated child
of God. You know what God said? It's
not good to overthrow the righteous in judgment. He bore my guilt. And in Him,
I'm accepted before God Almighty. 1 Corinthians 1.30 says, but
of Him, of God the Father. are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made, is caused to be unto us. He's my wisdom. He's my righteousness. He's my
sanctification, my holiness, my redemption. By God's grace, He will not overthrow. He will not bend away from all
those who in His Son are righteous. One of these days, we're going
to know. We talked about it in the first
service. One of these days, we're going to know. Oh, right now. We prophesy our part with no
see through that glass darkly. But according to His Word, one
day, we'll see Him. One day, He'll reveal all these
things, everything gonna be plain. But we'll never get over the
miracle of His grace. Scripture records in the book
of Revelation, the four and twenty elders, They all cast their crowns
before Him. And they said, this is in heaven.
They said, you're worthy. Here again, I just tell you what
scripture says. You're worthy to receive all
the honor, glory, praise, for thou has redeemed us out of every
kindred, nation, tribe, and tongue. Lord, help us. Help us to believe. Teach us by your grace, for Christ's
sake. Amen.