If you would turn with me to
Psalm 89. Psalm 89. Psalm 89 and I'm just going to
read verses 13 through 17. Psalm 89 verse 13. thou hast a mighty arm, strong
is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment
are the habitation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before
thy face. Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice
all the day, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For thou
art the glory of their strength, and in thy favor our horn shall
be exalted. In verse 14 we read, justice
and judgment are the habitation of thy throne. The right verdict
abides at thy throne. That's how you can say it. God
Almighty is right. So just as it says here, God
is the right. That's what the word means. So
the verdict or judgment he gives is right because it is he that
sits on his throne. Then we read, mercy and truth
meet or is seen in his face. Kindness and faithfulness will
be found in the face of God Almighty, that is Jesus Christ who now
sits on his throne of the right verdict with mercy and truth
found in his face. I see from this verse that everyone
will receive justice from God. There's nothing that will be
done for or to anyone that is not done in justice. And I mean
to stop the statement right there. God does not do anything that
is not the right verdict. I, living in this world most
of the time, want to see justice done to my fellow human beings.
I have to say most of the time, because for instance, if one
of you get a speeding ticket because you're speeding, I do
not necessarily want to see justice done for you in that instance.
I would like to see you get off for that offense. But if you're
speeding and you get caught, you are receiving justice when
you get a speeding ticket. That's true. Now in this world,
you may speed and not get caught, but when it comes to God, It
says here that the right verdict abides at his throne. He knows
all things and justice will always be handed out. Some men will
be forever condemned and some will be in glory eternally. In
both cases it will be because justice has been satisfied. Because
God does all things right. Now we know that for those who
will be in glory forever, it is not because of what they have
done that is or will be the cause for them being there. But justice
will have been done if that happens. Some men do not get what they
deserve, but justice is done every single time for an individual.
And that's what I want to look at today, justice and judgment
and mercy and truth. We read in scripture topics like
the Passover. When most people hear this being
said, they get the idea that God is passing over their sin
or overlooking their sin. But they forget the firstborn
had to die for everyone. Either there was a firstborn
that died in their stead or the firstborn in the family died.
God did not let anyone get off without some kind of payment
being made in that by death. There was, is, and always will
be an offense on our part. There is no time that we do not
offend the one who sits on his throne making right verdicts. What do we read in Proverbs,
and you all know this verse, Proverbs 17, 15. He that justifieth
the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are
an abomination to the Lord. God thinks it abomination to
justify someone who is wicked. It is an abomination to him,
so he will not justify a wicked one. The wicked one will die. God thinks it's abomination to
condemn a just one. It is an abomination to him,
so he will condemn a just one. The just one shall live. He makes
the right verdict every single time. No matter what you or I
may think of this or that. God will not wink at sin and
let it go. We often say it like this, God
will not, does not, and has not swept our sins under some rug. God has punished every sin that
his people have committed and shall commit against him. So
much so that they are made right or righteous in his sight. He
has done all things right. What do we read in Proverbs in
several other verses in Proverbs, but Proverbs 11, one says, a
false balance is abomination to the Lord, but a just weight
is his delight. Again in Proverbs 16 and verse
11, a just weight and balance are the Lord's. All the weights
of the bag are his work. God will not do anything that
is out of the way. He will not make any false accusations,
no false judgments, no false verdicts, and no false sentencing. Everything that God weighs things
with are just, even, and right. I know what a lot of folks see
in their imaginary mind is what God does is to let some people
off the hook, so to speak, for something they have done against
Him. But that simply is not true. He cannot do that. He goes against,
it goes against who he is and that because of where he sits.
He sits on his throne. And what abides there is the
right verdict. More from Proverbs, Proverbs
20 verses 10. Diver's weights and diver's measures,
both of them are alike abomination to the Lord. Again in verse 23
of Proverbs 20, divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord
and a false balance is not good. Unequal weights and unequal measures,
they are an abomination unto the Lord. When I think of this
as it pertains to our laws and what happens to those in this
world who have broken laws and they get handed out a punishment
for doing those things. You take two different people
that have committed the same crime, and maybe even in the
same place, but you have two different people who have committed
a crime. One person may get 50 years for it, and the other gets
10 years for the same crime. God does not do this. God's weights
and measures are all eternal. What he judges us all by and
what he punishes all those who have offended him with is always
the same. The indictment God has given.
His holy law has been handed down and it spells out what we
have done and what we have not done. His holy law shows us in
bold, bright brilliance that we have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. We are all judged by the same
weights and measures. And we are all judged and we
have been given the verdict that we are guilty before him. The
sentence is always the same, death. All those who have committed
this crime are sentenced to death. There are no little white lies
with God. Any offense is the same offense
against God, sin. And sin is punishable by death.
Death is always the sentence and that never changes. But we
read of something else in Psalms. Mercy and truth we see in His
face. Justice will always be done.
Always. And I can't help but stress that.
But we read that all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. We know that coming short of
God's glory is punishable by death. We deserve death. But we know not all will die,
because we are told that some have been given eternal life,
that perpetual life that never ends, spoken of in Hebrews. How
can this be? Does God use different weights
and measures and balances for some people? Absolutely not. Here are Proverbs again, Proverbs
21, 18. The wicked shall be a ransom
for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright. I don't know
about you, but something seems not to sound right to me here.
I read this and my first thought is, I'm not reading that right,
or I'm not understanding what that is saying. But God does
not try to trick us in his work. He says what he means, and he
means what he says. He says the wicked shall be a
ransom for the righteous. I know that I've read in God's
word that says, I am wicked. So is this saying that I will
be a ransom? No, not at all. I'm not clean
enough to be a ransom. I have nothing to give for a
ransom. So who is this one who is wicked
that shall be a ransom? We know we read in Psalm 89 that
mercy and truth are found in his face. Mercy, that is compassion
or favor, is seen in the face of God Almighty, the Lord. Jesus
Christ is where we see mercy, but it is mercy that has with
it truth. God will not show us mercy through
lying or pretending to us. He has no unjust weights or balances. They are in fact an abomination
to him. Again, let's go back to Proverbs
21, 18. The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous and the transgressor
for the upright. I know from scripture that this
certainly cannot be me. I certainly fit the bill of being
wicked, but I can in no way pay any ransom. That is a ransom
for myself or a ransom for any other. I cannot do it and no
man born of Adam can do it. Who can this be? The only place
this can come from, the only one this can be is the one who
does the right verdict on his throne and mercy and truth is
found in his face. Jesus Christ is this one. I know people will think, how
can you say this? And I don't want you to think
that there's not a little bit of hesitation when I think on
these things or before I say these things, because I know
the scripture also tells me in 1 Peter 3.18, for Christ also
has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but
quickened by the Spirit. He was a perfect substitute for
sin because he was just. But something had to happen because
God would not condemn or forsake one that is just. He says he
would not. He tells us that he that condemneth
the just is an abomination to the Lord. So if Christ died in
our stead and he did die in the stead of some, but if Christ
died in our stead then he had to be worthy of death. Did he
not die? If he was not worthy of death,
he would not have died. This is not a guessing game.
God tells us in his word, and you all are very familiar with
these, but first of all, Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree. A curse. Jesus Christ in our
stead was that one held in abomination for us. He was fit for condemnation
by his own doing in making himself a curse for us. But that's not all. God did not
stop there. He goes on, and this is no surprise
to this group either, another familiar passage, 2 Corinthians
5.21, for he hath made him sin for us. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God and Him. He made Himself
sin. That just boggles my mind when
I think about that. God made God sin for us. There is an us that God Almighty
loved to the extent that He would be made something He is not,
so that He might be just in doing what He has done. He could not
let a wicked person live. He could not condemn a righteous
man. It is an abomination to him to
do so. But he who knew no sin in being
made sin in the place of those whom he favored or would show
mercy to, he made himself to be the very thing they are and
in doing so made them righteous. I don't know what your thought
of mercy is, but that is sounding a little bit like mercy to me.
This mercy does not come without truth. He is not going to show
mercy by lying about what things are. What did we read in Proverbs
21 18 again? The wicked shall be a ransom
for the righteous and the transgressor for the upright. We know we've
We've read it in Mark 15, 28, and I've got to turn over that
because I just wrote this down, but I want to read that. Mark
15, verse 28. Mark 15, verse 28. Let's just read 26 through 28. And the superscription of his
accusation was written over, the king of the Jews, and with
him they crucified two thieves, the one on his right hand and
the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled
which said, and he was numbered with the transgressors. He was made sin. Therefore he
was made wicked and because he is the spotless lamb of God.
He was able to be a ransom for those who he made righteous He
became the transgressor in his people stayed in my stead and
in doing this made me upright That is mercy and truth God cannot
condemn someone who is righteous, and he cannot acquit someone
who is guilty God says himself he cannot do this Mercy and truth
can only be and only is found in the face of Jesus Christ.
He is the mighty, mighty arm of the Lord. He is strong and
high. He truly does all for his people. He truly has done all for his
people. We are the ones who are by nature
as we are born in Adam, we are guilty sinners before an all-consuming
God. Now I want to say a little bit
more, a little more about where it said he was made a curse and
he was made sin. God said he was made sin. Why
do I need to try to somehow justify God by trying to say he was imputed
our sin? He said he was made sin, so he
was. If God teaches me in glory that
he imputed our sins to Christ, then so be it. But this I know,
because God Almighty says, so in black and white, he was made
sin. The scripture is of no private
interpretation, and God said he was made sin. So guess what? He was. I don't need to make
excuses for God. So let's move on. Where does
this all leave those whom he loves? Psalm 89 15. Blessed is
the people that know the joyful sound, and that is a joyful sound
to me. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. Those whom he loves are blessed
of the blesser. Those whom are his hear that
joyful sound in the gospel that he has been made a curse and
sin for them, and it warms the soul with joy. joy knowing that
the work he has done will put them where he is forever. They joy in his face, knowing
that through his dying, the death of a guilty sinner, he was sanctified
forever, them that love him. And this they do continually
by his power and grace. They walk in the light of his
countenance. They walk by looking to him.
That is their walk, believing Him and what He has done, looking
to Him for what He has done. The righteousness of God without
the law is manifest to them that believe. Jesus Christ the righteous
made a curse and sin. That, my brothers and sisters,
is our hope. Him who is our hope is our defense. He maketh intercession for us
based on what he has done. There is no one that condemns
us. He is our defender and great
shield. What he did was make us righteous
before him. So he is just in calling his
people righteous because he paid for their sin. And he paid with
the same sentence that anyone else who has sinned against God
would have to pay. He died. But he could not behold another
grave, and he was raised, it says, for our justification in
Romans 4, 24 and 25. But for us also to whom it shall
be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for our justification. So what are we to conclude from
this? We conclude from scripture that
God is absolutely and totally just in everything he does and
has done. All men and women will receive
justice. Some because they are getting
exactly what they deserve. Others getting justice because
of another. Because God himself has taken away their sin by dying
for them in their stead on that tree. Their sin never to be seen
again. God making the right verdict
concerning all men. I know men called out to God
to be fair. I've done this before myself.
But if they knew him who is the right verdict dwelling at his
throne, they would not want fairness because it is fair to give men
and women what they deserve. There are those who want a God
who treats them fairly. And I know this kind of thought
because, as I've said, I've had this same kind of thought myself.
Let me ask you, was it fair that Jesus Christ died for a people? Jesus Christ is God. God is the
one offended, yet he died the death of a sinner. That's not
fairness, it's mercy wrought in justice. So some want fairness,
and we'll get it. but others by what he has done
in mercy are made righteous before him, not with unequal or unjust
weights, but with that weight of the judgment of God coming
down on himself. He measured out that punishment,
do me, on Jesus Christ the Lord. That is an equal weight, measured
out with equal measurement in his people's state. Remember
that different weights and measures are an abomination to God. God
deals out justice to everyone, even when it is the Son of God
who was made a curse and sin for us. I like that verse that
Walter pointed out a long time ago, but it's always in the back
of my mind. In wrath, remember mercy. Habakkuk 3. Both are at his throne. Both justice and judgment and
mercy and truth. All are at his throne because
he is all to the believer. He is right so he makes the right
decisions. He is merciful and can be merciful
in truth to who he is and by what he has done. It is all there
at his throne. Turn with me real quick to Romans
3 verses 24 through 26. I'm going to read that. Romans
3, 24, 26. Romans 3 verses 24 through 26,
and this is very familiar to us because we went through these
here recently. Romans 3 verses 24, being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. He is both just, that is what
we read in Psalm 89, He is the right and makes the right decisions,
but He is also the justifier because of what He has done,
because of mercy and truth. He is both mercy and truth. Simply because it pleased Him
to have a people for His name, He was made a curse and sin for
them, so that they might be made the righteousness of God and
Him. I don't want or need a God that is a gentleman, Walker.
What I need is this, verse 14 of Psalm 89. Justice and judgment
are the habitation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before
thy face. Amen. Dear old God, apply these words
to our heart, dear Lord. May it be that you continually
cause us to look to you, dear Lord. Dear Lord, we are but a
small place, but we thank you, dear Lord, that you have allowed
us to proclaim the gospel throughout the whole world, dear Lord. All
these things we ask in Christ's name. Amen.