Let's look back at 2 Samuel chapter
20. Now, I've entitled this message,
as I said, The Inheritance of the Lord. And I took that title
from this episode where Joab comes upon a city, and then there's
a wise woman who comes out and speaks to him in verse 19, and
she mentions the inheritance of the Lord. But let me just
summarize this chapter for you. Leading up to our text, as you
know, begins with Sheba, the man of Belial, the man of Satan,
the unbelieving, yokeless rebel who stirred up a rebellion against
King David. He took advantage of the division
that was among the people, the ten northern tribes of Israel
and the tribe of Judah. There was a dispute in the last
of chapter 19 and Sheba being lifted up with pride and ambition. He took opportunity to use that
for his own advantage and to stir up rebellion. And it says
here in verse 2, so every man of Israel went up from David. That means they went away from
David. Israel followed Sheba. And it says, he's the son of
Bichri, but the men of Judah clave unto their king from Jordan
even to Jerusalem. This episode with Sheba prefigures
man's natural and constant rebellion against Christ, the King of Kings. By nature, we will not submit
to Christ for salvation, for righteousness. We're rebels by
nature, and that's what Sheba pictures. It's what he prefigures
here. In other words, by nature, we
will not have this man to reign over us. But, thank God, as pictured
in the men of Judah, who claimed unto David. They clung to David
as their king and followed him. And in spiritual matters, this
is a picture of the remnant, the remnant of grace, the elect
of God, the sheep of Christ who follow him. It's a remnant of
Judah here, the family of the king who is their kinsman redeemer. And I thought about Hebrews chapter
2. Let me just read you this passage
beginning at verse 11 of Hebrews 2. because it's so applicable
to us. It says, for both he that sanctified,
that's Christ who set his people apart, and they who are sanctified,
that's his people who are set apart in him and by him, he said
they are both one, united in Christ. For which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren, spiritual family of Christ, the
church, the redeemed of God. And he says this, saying, I will
declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church. Will
I sing praise unto thee? And again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, behold, I and the
children which God hath given me. And we see that picture back
here in Judah, the men of Judah who clave, clung to David. We cling to Christ. And you remember,
as I preached last Sunday evening, how Out of all the mess that
David's in here, in this history, and out of all the confusion
that you can't figure out, and in our day too, in our lives,
it's a simple message, but it's so true, and it's really profound
because it's the message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Out of all this, our only hope is to cling to Christ. Just cling
to Him. Cling to Him as God and man in
one person. Cling to Him as the Lord our
righteousness, our Redeemer, our Kinsman Redeemer, and realize
that He's not ashamed to call sinners like us brethren. That's
an amazing thing. Sometimes I read over that and
we don't stop and think about that. He's not ashamed to call
us brethren. He has every right to be ashamed
if it just considers us. But see, that's talking about
our standing in Him as washed in His blood and clothed in His
righteousness. Salvation is in clinging to and
following Christ. Well, beginning at verse 3, it
says, And David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took
the ten women, his concubines, whom he had left to keep the
house, and he put them in ward. He shut them up in a house, what
that means, and he fed them, but went not in unto them. He
had no relations with them from then on. So they were shut up
unto the day of their death, living in widowhood. These were
the ten concubines that Absalom defiled in his rebellion. They had become ritually unclean
as the result of Absalom's sin, but you have to understand that
it was ultimately the result of David's sin in the beginning,
which that chain reaction, it comes down to consequences of
sin. And I believe the lesson here, you know, people look at
this and they say, well, why is that thrown in here? I believe
that it's a reminder. that sometimes our sins have
negative effects on other people, and the consequences in this
life never stop. Well, you remember how God told
David, he said, the sword will not depart from your household
from then on. And so David is suffering the
consequences of his sin, even in this rebellion of Sheba. That's
part of it. As I said, he had a moment of
peace on his return back to Jerusalem when he met those three men.
He met Shimei and he met Mephibosheth and met Barzillai. But then here comes another division
among the people. Here comes a man who's going
to take advantage of it. And there's no peace on this
earth. And now these 10 concubines that
were connected to David in the eyes of God and how they were
in part of his family, now they're suffering because of Absalom's
sin, ultimately because of David's sin. So that's what I believe
that's about. But then what happens here is
in verse 4 on, now David appoints Amasa. He tells Amasa to assemble
the men of Judah, the army. He's going to go against Sheba
and the men of Israel. You remember Amasa, he was the
one who rebelled against David, who became Absalom's chief captain
of the armies. And after Absalom was defeated,
David took him and put him in Joab's place and made him the
captain of the army, which pictures Christ making enemies his friends. When we were yet enemies, Christ
died for the ungodly, the scripture says. And that's what we were
by nature, enemies of God, enemies of Christ, until he saves us.
God's reconciled to us through the blood of his Son. And when
the Holy Spirit comes and gives us life and brings us to faith
in Christ, we become reconciled to him based on that same ground,
the blood and righteousness of Christ. But he tells Emesa to
assemble the army of Judah within three days, but it took Emesa
longer to do that. It says he tarried here. Now,
we don't know exactly why. He didn't gather the army in
three days. Maybe he was a bad leader. We don't know. Maybe
the men would not follow him because he had a bad reputation
as being in rebellion against David before. We don't know.
But he didn't do it. So David sent out Abishai. You remember Abishai? And he
sent out Abishai and the royal guard, and Joab went with him,
it says. here in these next verses. Well,
look at verse 8. It says, When they were at the
great stone, a great rock which is in Gibeon, a mesa went before
them, and Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto
him. Now, see, this was a girdle, a belt, that indicated who was
the captain of the army. It had been taken from Joab and
given to a mesa. And so Joab's belt was on a mesa. And upon it a girdle with a sword
fastened upon his loins, and the sheath thereof. And as he
went forth, it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou
in health, my brother? Are you well, my brother? And
Joab took Amasa by the beard, with the right hand to kiss him.
This was a friendly form of greeting. But Amasa took no heed to the
sword that was in Joab's hand, so he smote him therewith in
the fifth rib." That means they got him in the heart, stabbed
him in the heart. You see what's happening here.
Joab, are you well, my brother? Give him the greeting of the
kiss and then get him right in the heart with a sword. Says
something about what kind of man Joab is. And he says, shed
out his bowels to the ground, struck him not again, and he
died. So Joab and Abishai, his brother, pursued after Sheba,
the son of Bichri. What a, what a sordid tale. You
know, this, this thing, it just keeps growing, doesn't it? I
mean, it just keeps getting worse and worse in that area. Well,
what happened here, Joab used deception to kill this man. He murdered this man. You know,
this is the fourth, you could say it this way, this is the
fourth murder that Joab committed. He murdered Abner. You could
talk about his part in the murder of Uriah. You see, when David
said, put Uriah up on the front, it was Joab who did that. He
murdered Absalom, and now he murdered Emesa. Now, what Joab
illustrates here is so true of human nature. Here's a man with
great abilities. Here's a man of great reputation,
but he has ambition. And he was very determined of
his own will to get what he wanted. And he acts so as to defend the
king, but he uses evil, unlawful means. I thought about it, it
kind of reminds me of false preachers who come disguised as ministers
of light, coming in the name of the Lord, coming in the name
of the Word of God, claiming to preach the Word of God. But
inwardly, they're wolves in sheep's clothing. They're really ministers
of Satan. Paul dealt with them all through
his ministry, and every gospel minister has. But that's the
kind of man that Joab was. But Joab, what he does, he takes
the army, he and Abishai, and they defeat Sheba. and they bring
them down. Well, Sheba fled. Look at verse
14. He says, He went through all the tribes of Israel unto
Abel and to Beth-me-achah and all the Beorites. Now, some say
that's two small cities together, but they're right together, so
they're called Abel-Beth-me-achah. Let me see if I can pronounce
it again. Abel-Beth-me-achah. See, I'm breaking my own rule
there. I should have just said it with authority and gone on,
and you all thought I didn't know what I was talking about. But
it says, "...and they were gathered together, and they went also
after him." So here's Sheba, he's coming through all these
cities of Israel. And here's Joab and Abishai and
the men after him. It says in verse 15, "...they
came, and they besieged him in Abel of Bethmeacha. And they
cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench. And
all the people that were with Joab battered the wall to throw
it down." They're going to get into this city to get this one
man Sheba, this one rebel. He fled here to this city, took
refuge. The problem is there's no refuge
for Sheba. You see, that's the problem.
He's fleeing here for refuge, but there's no refuge there.
Because, let me tell you something, there's no refuge when you oppose
God's appointed and anointed King. And just like we tell sinners
today, there is absolutely no refuge for any sinner who opposes
Christ, the King of Kings. No refuge for any sinner who
opposes the only Redeemer of sinners, the only mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. You oppose Him, there's no refuge.
Whatever you're going through today, whatever you're experiencing
today, it may be a mountaintop, it may be a valley, there's no
refuge from the wrath of God without Christ and Him crucified
and risen again. So there's no refuge for this
man. But it says that he fled there, and Joab and his men,
they were going to destroy this city. But look at verse 16. Now,
this is interesting. From here to about the end of
the chapter, it says, "...then cried a wise woman out of the
city." Now, here's a woman, a wise woman. And you ladies don't ever
think that the Lord cannot use women to further His cause and
His purpose. Now, it's true, you have specific
orders of authority brought down in the New Testament for the
church. And the man is to be in authority, and women are not
to get up and preach in authority over men. But that doesn't mean
women can't be used of God in a great way. And I want to show
you this here, how this wise woman of Abel Bethmeaca, how
she was used. And we don't even know her name.
Not even named her. But it says she came out and
she cried, Here, here, say, I pray you unto Joab, come near hither
that I may speak with thee. Come here and let me speak with
you. Now why a woman went out, I don't know. Why didn't one
of the men of this city? I don't know. There's nothing
said about it, so don't speculate over it. Please don't come after
the man and say, why do you suppose? Because I got the answer. I don't
know. But this woman, God's using this woman, it says in verse
17, And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art
thou Joab? And he answered, I, literally
see, I, that's what he said, I am he. Then she said unto him,
Hear the words of thine handmaid. She took a posture of humility
before Joab. I'm your handmaid, I'm your servant
now. And he answered, I do hear. And
then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old times,
saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel. And so they
ended the matter." Now, here's this woman. She comes out. Joab's
getting ready to lay siege to the city to get this one-man
Sheba. And this woman comes out, and what she says there in verse
18, they were wont to speak in old times. It would be like she's
saying this. She said, there's an old saying
around here. And here it is. If it's answers
you want, come to Abel and get it straight, this city. In other
words, this is a place that you could depend on the people giving
you the right answers. And she says in verse 19, she
says, I am one of them that are peaceful and faithful in Israel. So I'm among the peaceful and
the faithful in Israel. And she says, Thou seekest to
destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Now, the mother, she's
not referring to herself. Literally, it means this was
a mother's city in Israel. This was a well-known city. And
this old saying that had revolved around this city had a reputation.
So he says, You're going to destroy a city, but not just a city,
a mother's city in Israel, an important city. Why wilt thou
swallow up the inheritance of the Lord? Why are you going to
swallow up? In verse 20, It says, And Joab
answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me that I should
swallow up or destroy. The matter is not so, but a man
of Mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted
up his hand against the king, even against David, and deliver
him only, and I will depart from the city." We want Sheba. And
the woman said, And Joab, behold, his head shall be thrown to thee
over the wall. Some woman, isn't she? We're
going to throw his head. Well, you know, they have to
cut his head off his body before they throw it over the wall.
So there's going to be an execution here. It says, verse 22, then
the woman said unto all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off
the head of Sheba, the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab.
And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every
man to his tent, and Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king."
Now, what a story that is. What a story. What is she doing
here? This wise woman, don't know her
name, don't know anything about her background, other than she
says, I'm one of the peaceable and faithful in Israel. We follow
David. That's what she means by that. We're faithful to the
king. We believe in the king. We trust
in God. who put this man on the throne.
We're not at war with him. This man you're looking for,
he may be at war with the king, but we're not. We love the king.
And we follow him. That's a picture of the people
of God. That's a picture of the elect of God. We trust Christ. You see that? She's actually
saying we're the people of God. We are the inheritance of the
Lord. You remember back over here in Psalm 2 that we read.
It says in verse 11, Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with
trembling. Kiss the Son lest he be angry.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Kiss the Son lest he be angry
and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little."
You see, David's wrath is kindled here by Sheba. And there has
been a great sin in Israel. There has been a great sin and
sin must be punished. Justice must be done. This man
had opposed the king. His army's been defeated, he's
fleeing, but justice must be done. The soul that sinneth must
surely die. How in the world can there be
any help for any of us who sinned against God and rebelled against
God? in our nature, in our fall in Adam, in our ruination in
Adam, and in our nature, and in our sins, and in everything
that we do. How in the world can there be
any refuge from the wrath of God for sinners like us? And
Psalm 2 verse 12 says, Blessed are all they that put their trust
in Him, in Christ. And that's what this woman is
saying here when she says, I'm one of them that are peaceable
and faithful in Israel. Kiss the son lest he be angry.
And then she says, why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of
the Lord? What she's doing here, she's appealing to God's purpose
and God's promise to save his chosen people and to God's justice
in punishing the wicked for their sins. You know, back over there
in Psalm 2, if you remember, up in verse 8, he says, ask of me,
and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. In other
words, the heathen are Christ's inheritance too, God's inheritance.
He owns them, you see. And he's going to do that which
is right towards them. Now, he's going to do that which
is right towards everybody. We'll see that in just a moment.
But this is what she's doing. She's appealing to the purpose
and promise, the very glory of God, to exercise justice where
justice is due. I think about Abraham when I
believe that the two angels and the Lord himself appeared unto
Abraham. about going down into Sodom and destroying that wicked
city. You remember how Abraham said,
if there's 50 righteous, would you spare them? He said, I will.
If there are 40, 20, 30, going all the way down to five, if
there are five righteous, will you spare them? And Abraham made
this statement, Genesis 18 verse 25, that be far from thee to
do after this manner to slay the righteous and the wicked.
and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far
from thee, Lord, shall not the judge of all the earth do right."
That's what this woman, this wise woman of Abel, Beth-Maiaca,
is saying. Won't you do that which is right?
Why would you swallow up? Why would you destroy the inheritance
of the Lord? Now, you know, we often speak
about our inheritance that we receive by virtue of the death
of Christ. And that's a great thing to talk
about, isn't it? It's a comforting thing. It's an exciting thing
to talk about. Peter spoke of it in 1 Peter
1, verse 3, when he said, Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten
us again unto a lively or a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, for you who
Look to Christ. And aren't you glad that the
way he describes this inheritance, it just almost it's mind boggling
because we know ourselves so well. He said it's incorruptible.
That means we didn't earn it. We don't we don't preside over
it and we don't give it. If we had anything to do with
that inheritance, it would not only it wouldn't be incorruptible,
it would be corrupted if we had anything to do with it. And that
inheritance is all the blessings of salvation and eternal life
and glory. that we have in Christ. And he
says that inheritance is undefiled. That means, listen, that shows
us we don't have anything to do with that inheritance, or
it would be defiled. We'd defile it in a second, wouldn't
we? And then he says it faded not
away. It's eternal. And see, if we had anything to
do with it, it wouldn't be eternal. But Christ is Jesus, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He's the eternal I Am. I'm the
Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.
And then he says it's reserved in heaven for us. That means
it's sure. We can't lose it. We can't do anything to lose
that inheritance, that salvation, because it's reserved. We've
got a reservation in heaven. Somebody said, well, what's your
confirmation number? We don't have a number. We have
a name. His name is Jesus Christ, the Lord, our righteousness.
And that's all we have to say. But, you know, Here, what he's
referring to is not the inheritance that we receive by virtue of
the death of Christ, but he's speaking of an inheritance that
God himself has, owns. And you know what his inheritance
is? Think about it now. It's us. It's his church. It's his people. Now, you normally
think of something of an inheritance, you think of something where
you don't earn it. But somebody else earned it, and you get it
by their death. Well, in this sense, what it
is, is he earned it. Christ earned this inheritance. And he earned his people by virtue
of his redemptive work, and he earned the heathen to do with
them as he will according to his justice. It's all his inheritance. He owns it, lot, stock, and barrel.
It's by virtue of the promise of God based on his death, future
at this time. And so this is the inheritance.
Listen to Psalm 33 in verse 12. Let me read you these scriptures.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom
he hath chosen for his own inheritance. And then it says, Remember thy
congregation which thou hast purchased of old, the rod of
thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed, this Mount Zion
wherein thou hast dwelt. That's Psalm 74-2. And then Psalm
94 and verse 14, for the Lord will not cast off his people,
neither will he forsake his inheritance. It's what this woman is saying.
He's saying, why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?
There's three things there, and I want you to turn to Ephesians
chapter 1, and you'll see, we could go to so many scriptures
here, but let's just stay right here in Ephesians 1, because
he gives us everything as an example of what this means. And
out of those Psalms that I read, here's what it's saying. We are
the Lord's inheritance, the redeemed of the Lord, the people of God,
the elect of God. We are the Lord's inheritance
by choice. Now, modern day theology would
say we are the Lord's inheritance by our choice. No, no, no. We're the Lord's inheritance
by His choice. That's election. Look at Ephesians
1. Verse 3, he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places, according as He hath chosen us in Him,
when, before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before Him in love. We're His inheritance
by choice. God chose His people. God chose us. God chose you. God chose me. Why do you suppose
He did that? You have no answer for that,
and I don't either. Other than what the Lord said
in Matthew 11, For so, Father, it seemed good in thy sight.
And you look at yourself, and I look at myself, how in the
world could it have seemed good in his sight to choose me? He
said, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And the world wonders
why in the world, how in the world could he hate Esau? But
his people, his inheritance, we wonder this, how could he
love Jacob? Jacob. I tell you what, from
the human point of view, we would have chosen to be pals with Esau,
not with Jacob. But God does things His way.
He does them in a right way. He does them in a just way. He
does them in a compassionate way, but He does them in His
way. It's His way or no way. That's the way it is. Somebody
says, well, I don't like it that way. I want it my way. That's
what Adam said. That's what brought the whole
human race into ruination. It's God's way or no way. But
think about that inheritance. That's what we are. His by choice. He chose us. Now, His choice
was not arbitrary. It was not a whim. It was not
a dream. It was not a passing fancy. His
choice was a choice with purpose. And the purpose was in Christ.
Look at it again. Verse 4. According as He hath
chosen us in Him. In Christ. There's no election
without Christ. Let me tell you something. Any
claim of election without Christ is nothing more than pride and
boasting. That's right, self-righteousness.
The only way God could choose sinners was in Christ because
His justice has to be satisfied. But another thing, we are His
inheritance by right of adoption. You look at verse 5, he says,
Ephesians 1, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.
There's the reason, the good pleasure of his will. But we're
adopted into his family. When you're adopted, you're chosen,
and you're brought into the family. You're brought into the family,
legally, with everything being taken care of. And this is the
adoption of grace. It's the adoption of love in
Christ. And then thirdly, we're His inheritance by right of redemption. Look at verse 6 of Ephesians
1. To the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath
made us accepted in the Beloved, that's Christ, accepted in Christ,
in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace." We're his inheritance
by redemption, by choice, by adoption, by redemption. All
in Christ. That's what this woman is appealing
to in her relationship and the city's relationship with King
David. Look back in 2 Samuel 20. I am
one of them. Verse 19, that are peaceable
and faithful. We're at peace with David. We're
faithful to David. Just like we who are his eternal
inheritance. We're at peace with God. And
you know why? Because Christ died on the cross
and made peace. Because He was made sin, Christ
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. And when the Holy Spirit came and brought us under
the preaching of the gospel of peace and gave us faith to receive
Him and brought us to repentance, we laid down our swords and our
rebellion against God and we come to Christ. We kiss the Son,
lest He be angry. We trust in Him. We're at peace
with God. And then faithful. We believe
in Christ. The gift of God is faith. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And we believe
in Him, and we rest in Him, and we cling to Him like the men
of Judah clung to David. We cling to Christ. There may
be times in our lives that we lose sight of it. We lose the
joy of it. But God will never let us go.
He'll always be on the throne. He'll always be bringing us back.
Think about it. Joab was moved by her words. And he tells her about Sheba.
He tells her about the rebellion. Remember what she said there
in verse 21. Well, we'll throw his head over the wall to you. Look at verse 22 again. It says,
Then the woman went unto all the people, this is 2 Samuel
20, in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of
Sheba the son of Bichri and cast it out to Joab. He blew a trumpet,
they retired from the city, every man to his ten, and Joab returned
to Jerusalem under the king." You know, the main evidence here
of being safe and secure with the king, or being under the
judgment of wrath from the king, is this, how do you stand with
the king? Sheba was the king's enemy. This
city, as represented in this wife's woman, they were the king's
friend. They were the king's subjects.
How do you stand with Christ? That's the issue, isn't it? How
do you stand with him? The main evidence, either being
blessed of God, or cursed of God, is that how do you stand
with Christ? Paul wrote in Philippians, Chapter
3, he said, Oh, that I may know him, that I may be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of
God, which is by faith. How do we stand with Christ? The wrath of God against the
wicked is real and deserved. Now, you may think this is a
cruel passage. And I want to tell you something, the Bible
is a bloody book in many ways. Number one, it's a bloody book
because it speaks of the blood of Christ. And that's a peace,
peaceable security for all his people. That's a comforting thought,
saved by the blood of the crucified one. But it's a bloody book because
it's full of murder, debauchery, wars, cruelty. And you may look at this and
you may say, well, it's cruel. But here's the thing about it
is, Paul wrote in Romans chapter 118, the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all sin and all unrighteousness and all those
who hold, hold the word in unrighteousness. That's what Sheba got. He should
have followed the king. He should have, instead of stirring
up the rebellion and the division, he should have been one who would
put it down for the king. But you see, God's not going
to let the righteous perish with the wicked. God always judges
according to truth. Let me conclude this message
by reading a portion from Romans chapter 2. I want you to see
this. And incidentally, the last verses
of 2 Samuel 20 is just a listing of how David set up his new government
when he got back on the throne, when he list all those men, because
he set it up anew. But look at Romans chapter 2. God's not going to destroy the
righteous with the wicked. But now, who are the righteous?
Well, they're sinners saved by the grace of God. Made righteous
not by their works, but by the work of Christ on the cross.
The merits of His obedience unto death. Well, what happens to
their sins? Is God going to punish their
sins? Yes, He is, and He did. He did it on the cross. He wasn't
unjust in this. But see, God always judges according
to truth and justice. What happened to this man, Sheba,
was just and righteous. And sparing of the city, this
wise woman, was justice, it was righteous. Look at verse 1 of
chapter 2 of Romans. Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest
another. Now what's he talking about?
wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for
thou judgest doeth the same thing." He's talking about people here
who self-righteously judge others because of their sin. And they
say it like this. Now, this is the type of person
he's talking to. They say it like this. They say, well, well,
I'm saved, but I know that person out there can't be saved because
they're such a great sinner. They deserve God's wrath, but
I don't. Now, that's the kind of person
this is addressed to, who judges that way. That's self-righteous
judgment. He's not forbidding all judgment
there. You know, in John 7, 24, he commanded his disciples to
judge righteous judgment. He said, don't judge by outward
appearance now. Judge righteous judgment. Well, how am I going
to judge righteous judgment? How is that possible? Pick this
book up, read it, study it, and learn it. Judge by the Word of
God. That's what he's saying. That doesn't mean we can know
everybody's heart. No, no. I'm not saying that. But it tells
us this, that any sinner, no matter how he or she appears
to us, seems to us, any sinner who does not believe in and trust
the Lord Jesus Christ for all of salvation, they're under the
wrath of God. Now, do I deserve any better
in myself? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I heard these preachers talking
about the people in Haiti that they were punished because they
made a pact with the devil. Do you hear that? Well, let me
tell you something. Every unbelieving sinner in this
world, whether they live in Haiti or they live in Ashland, Kentucky,
they've made a pact with the devil. Did you know that? Huh? That's right. 2 Corinthians chapter
4 verse 3 tells us. If our gospel be hid, it's hid
to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded
the minds of them that believe not." John 8.44, you're of your
father the devil, and his works you'll do. He's a liar from the
beginning. He would not abide in the truth. Every unbelieving
sinner is right now in a pact with the devil. Not just Haiti,
because they put on funny clothes and paint their faces and dance
around a voodoo doll. I'm talking about even the ones
who go to church and stand in the pulpits who do not preach
and trust the true Christ of this book. They may have packed
with the devil. And here, when we see things
like that, how should we react? Well, what did the Lord say?
Do you suppose they were greater sinners than others? No, sir,
he said, except you likewise repent, you shall also perish. My soul, without Christ, we deserve
nothing but eternal damnation. That's the kind of people that
he's talking about here who are judging unrighteously. He says
in verse 2, but we're sure that the judgment of God is according
to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou
this, O man, that judgeth them which do such things, and doest
the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Look at
verse 16 of Romans 2, talking about a day. When God shall judge
the secrets of men, what are the secrets of men? That's what
you can't know about me. That's what I can't know about
you. You know, there's things about me that you can't really
know. There are things about you I can't really know. But
those are secret things hidden from you. Some of them are hidden
from you and some of them are hidden from me. But God's going
to judge those secrets. And what that's saying is this,
basically, very simply. God's going to judge the reality
of the situation. I can put on a good front to
you, and you can put on a good front to me, and we can go around
here talking about how much we love God, how much we love the
gospel and all that. But God knows the reality. He
knows our hearts. And He's going to judge that
way. And He's going to judge in truth. He's going to judge
in righteousness. And this is what it says, the
secrets of men, listen to it, verse 6, by Jesus Christ. according to my gospel. What
does my gospel say? My gospel says that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. My gospel
says that God is just to save me and keep me and bless me by
his grace through the blood and righteousness of Christ. And
I have no other plea. And I'm just as much in need
or I see myself as more in need of His mercy and grace in Christ
as any of you or anybody else. Even that worst one that you
read in the paper today. The worst sinner that you read
about in the paper this past week or the week. Listen, I feel
like I need the grace of God for me even more. I'm serious. Even more. You see what I'm saying? We've
got to have Christ, or we have nothing. Sheba stood against
the king, and he got his head cut off and thrown over a wall.
And God was just. What those people did in that
city, that was just. Now, did they deserve any better? Not according to their works.
But you see, they followed the king. They trusted in the king. They were loyal to the king.
And that's what we are by God's grace in Christ and him crucified
and risen again. All right.