I don't want to bail you all,
but I'm kind of glad I'm in here after hearing all that out there. I send greetings from Sovereign
Grace Chapel. And since Walker's not here,
I'm claiming that glass of water. But thank you all for the stay
that we have. Susan, thank you for taking care
of that. You know, it's always nice. very
close to getting here and close to everything around there if
we need anything, so I do appreciate it. And it's my privilege to
be up here that I can proclaim his name. I don't deserve it,
but I am thankful that he gives me the ability to stand up here
and do this. I have a text. But I want to
say something first. Say a few things first before
I get to it. That's not fair. Ever heard someone
say that? Have you ever said that? I have. Many times. Many times. Fairness. I looked up fairness to see what
it meant. Here's what fairness means. Marked
by impartiality and honesty. free from self-interest, prejudice,
or favoritism, conforming with the established rules. That is
the meaning of fair in Webster's Dictionary. Man is not interested
in fairness, although we spout it off all the time. And I'm
talking about myself. Now, specifically, I'm talking
to you about man toward man. in what man calls fairness. With
man, fairness depends on who you are talking to. Just like
anyone else, man comes up with, and I mean individuals come up
with their own definition of what is fair. And they apply
that to those things that affect them. What is fair when it comes
to someone's child getting playing time? It depends on which parents
you're talking to. I've been there. Have you been
there? What is fair when it comes to
someone getting a speeding ticket when several vehicles were all
speeding at the same time? It depends on which driver you're
talking to. Mainly the one that actually
got caught. Man has a problem. He doesn't know what fairness
is. and he doesn't really care what fairness is. Man is only
concerned with his brand of fairness and that fairness is whatever
it is that benefits him positively. We hold up things as fairness
when in fact they are not fair at all. We cannot learn fairness
from this world. We have to go to scripture when
we really want to know what fairness is. Now don't get me wrong. I like things to be fair in this
world, as much as they possibly can. But we will never have fairness
when it comes to man toward man. We certainly, when it comes to
man toward God, are not treating God fairly. Nor do we really
want to want fairness from him. We don't want God to be marked
by impartiality and honesty. free from self-interest, prejudice,
or favoritism, or conforming with the established rules. This
is not my text, but turn with me to Ezekiel 14. Ezekiel 14. And I'm going to read verses
1 through 8. Ezekiel 14. Ezekiel 14. Then came certain of the elders
of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their
idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their
iniquity before their face. Should I be inquired of at all
of them? Therefore speak unto them, and
say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Every man of the house
of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and put up
the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to
the prophet, I the Lord will answer him that cometh according
to the multitude of his idols, that I may take the house of
Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me
through their idols. Therefore say unto the house
of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Repent, and turn yourselves
from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of
Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth
himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and
putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face,
and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning me, I, the
Lord, will answer him by myself. And I will set my face against
that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut
him off from the midst of my people, and ye shall know that
I am the Lord." We set up our iniquity as a stumbling
block. We all do it because we all have
iniquity. There is no concern for fairness
in the heart of men. Man might say he wants things
to be fair, but man is a liar. I am a liar. My heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked, and it causes me to set
up iniquity before me as a stumbling block. so that I cannot see who
God is. I want to say right now, God
will be fair to every single human being born of Adam. There
will not be anything done by God that is not done in this
way, right here, marked by impartiality and honesty, free from self-interest,
prejudice, or favoritism, conforming with the established rules. God
still conforms to His established rules even for those He favors. Now turn with me to my text,
Psalms 89. Psalm 89. Psalm 89, 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." Here's where I want to concentrate at. or 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 that justice
and judgment are the habitation of thy throne. The right verdict
abides at his throne. That's how you can say it. God
Almighty is right. So just as it says here, God
is the right. So the verdict or judgment he
gives is right because it is he that sits on his throne. He
has the established rules. Then we read, mercy and truth
meet, for 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 will be nothing done for
or to anyone that is not done in justice. That is when it comes
to God towards man. 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.
And I have to say most of the time, because for instance, if
one of you get a speeding ticket because you were speeding, I
don't necessarily want to see justice done for you in that
instance. I would like to see you get off for that offense
and not have to pay that fine. But if you do get off, it will
not be because the police officer is fair or just. Because if you
were speeding and they did not give you a ticket, then he is
not being fair or just. He isn't going by the rules.
But if you're speeding and you get caught, you are receiving
justice when you get a speeding ticket. Now in this world, you
may speed and not get caught. The police may never know that
you broke the law. 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
forever be 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
and He will be fair to every individual that has ever been
born of that. I just want to say that the better
word to use is justice rather than fairness. Although the meaning
of fairness I just read could be used. There's wording there
that could be argued that it doesn't necessarily jive with
the scripture when it talks about justice. So I'm okay with that
if somebody has that argument. So we should just use the word
just or justice. God will be just always. Now we know that for those who
will be in glory forever, it's not because of what they have
done. That will be the cause of 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,
mercy and truth. How can God be just with man
who is a sinner and set up his iniquity as a stumbling block?
How? We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God, and the just thing that happens because
we have sinned is that we must eternally die. So how is it that
God can be just? 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, and that payment was 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 did we read? We put our
iniquity before us as a stumbling stone. We think that our iniquities
are what will get us by, so to speak. But even our righteousnesses,
even if you put them all together, they are filthy rags in God's
sight. God is not just going to let
our sin go. 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. It goes against conforming to
his established rules. It also says God thinks it abomination
to condemn a just one. It is an abomination to him,
so he will not condemn a just one. that just one shall live. He makes the right verdict every
single time, no matter what you or I may think of this fact. God will not wink at sin and
let it go. With God, it's not like this.
Oh, you sin? Oh, that's okay. It's okay. We often say it like this, God
will not, does not, and has not just 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 made righteousness in his
sight. He has done all things right. What do we read in Proverbs in
several verses here? I'm going to read two here. Proverbs
11, 1. A false balance is abomination to the Lord, but a just weight
is his delight. Proverbs 16, 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 are
things weighed that are just, even, and right. I know what
a lot of folks see in their imaginary mind is what God does look like,
like this. They see God as letting 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. 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. He will be fair. More from Proverbs,
Proverbs 20, 10. Diver's weights and diver's measures,
both of them are a like abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 20, 23. Diverse weights are an abomination
unto the Lord, and the 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, you know, broken
laws and they get handed out a punishment for doing these
things. You take two different people who have committed the
same crime, and maybe even in the same place, but you have
two different people who have committed the same crime. One
person gets 50 years for it, and the other gets 10 years for
it. This is unequal weights and measures. God does not do this. God's weights and measures are
all equal. 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 of the war. The sentence
is always the same, death. All those who have committed
this crime are sentenced to death. There is 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. So mercy and truth. Justice will
always be done. Always. 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 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, the wicked, the wicked
shall be a ransom for the righteous and the transgressor for the
upright. I don't know about you, but something
seems to not 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's saying. But God does not try to trick
us in his word. He says what he means and he
means what he says. He says the wicked shall be a
ransom for the righteous. I know what I read in God's word
and it says I am wicked. It is manifest daily in what
I think. Just the thought of a thing is
sin. What does Christ tell us in Matthew 15, 19? For out of
the heart proceed evil thoughts. I know most people do not think
they have evil thoughts. But God, Jesus Christ, says what
comes out of our heart is evil thoughts. But that's not all. It comes out on us sometimes.
Maybe in what we say or do. But what does it go on to say?
Murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. What did Christ say to the Pharisees
in Matthew 5, 28? But I say unto you that whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart. Actually doing the deed is worse
than just thinking it. But when it comes to God, just
the thought of a thing makes you guilty before him. So is it saying in Proverbs there
that I will be a ransom or that I will be a ransom for someone
else? No, not at all. I'm not clean
enough to be a ransom. I have nothing to give for a
ransom. So who is it that 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 and 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 anyone else. 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 I'm not a little bit hesitant when I think on
these things, or before I say these things, because I know
the scripture tells me in 1 Peter 3, 18, for Christ also hath 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 son, 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
this passage, 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. I did not
stop there. Sometimes people will outright
tell you that they disagree with you. But then other times they
will use other excuses and talk about people. I know Earl, you
know, sometimes people, because they just didn't want a hearing,
they would talk about his looks. And he would say, you always
look mad. And Earl was like, I was born with this face. I
can't do nothing about it. And same thing with Walker. I
know he has a granddaughter who actually said, why is Pappy always
mean or mad when he's preaching and stuff? But Walker has also
had people talk to him about how he preaches. They don't want
to hear him because he's always mad. That's the way they take
it when he's preaching. really the way it was with Don,
but I remember fondly when Don used to say, I learned to whisper
in a sawmill. I just loved hearing him say
that. And I'm not sure if this was because, you know, I don't
know what the context was when he was saying this, so it may
have not been somebody saying something about how he preached
and what he sounded like. But I learned to whisper in a
library, okay? So I'm not a Don. But it does
not matter how you say it. When it's read, it says the same
thing every time. He goes on, and this is no surprise
to this group either, but 2 Corinthians 5.21, let me read it with a psalm
whisper. For he hath made him sin for us who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now let me read
it with a library whisper. hath made him sin for us. Who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
and me? Sounds the same to me, no matter
which way you read it. What about you? He made himself
sin. That just boggles my mind when
I think about it. 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 and he could not condemn a righteous
man. It is an abomination to him to do so. But he who knew
no sin, and being made sin in the place of those whom he favored,
or would show mercy to, he made himself to be the very thing
that they are, and in doing so made them righteous in him. I don't know what your thought
of mercy is, but that's starting to sound like a little bit of
mercy to me. This mercy does not come without
proof. He is not going to show mercy
by lying about what things are. What did we read in Proverbs
21, 18? The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous and the transgressor
for the upright. 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 whom he made
righteous. He became the transgressor in
his people's stead, in my stead, and in doing this made me righteous. 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
is only found in the face of Jesus Christ. He is the 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 were born in Adam, we are guilty sinners before an all-consuming
God. I want to say something a little
more about it, saying 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. I have found nowhere in scripture
where God actually says he imputed our sin to him. It does, however,
say he was made sin. It does not insinuate that God
imputed sin to him, but it does say he was made sin. The Spirit
of God was pleased to give it to us this way. Why do we need
to fear men and try to water it down for God? Just say what
it says, and that's it. The word impute is used in Scripture. And let me give you an example
of one. Turn with me to Romans 4. Romans 4, and I'm going to read
verses 20 through 22. And this is talking about Abraham
here. It says, verse 20, He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he
had promised he was able also to perform. and therefore it
was imputed to him for righteousness." So it's talking about Abraham
hearing that God had given faith, which he had, and it says, and
therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. The word for
imputed means the following, to take an inventory. Most of
the time in my time in the workforce, I've worked in a manufacturing
environment. And once a year we would always
have come around to a time where we called inventory time or physical
inventory is what we'd call it. What would happen is folks would
start counting the inventory. If they came to a location for
a particular item and nothing was there, Do you think they
put a 10 on the inventory sheet just because they wanted 10 of
those to be there? No, a big zero goes there on
the inventory sheet or whatever amount was there. If I put a
10 in there when there's nothing there, you know what that is?
Divers, weights, and measures. It is an abomination to God.
You only count something being there because it is there. 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. I'm not up here to interpret
what God's Word says. Nowhere in Scripture does God
tell His sent preachers to interpret what His Word says. Do you know
that? It tells us to give the sense
thereof. Say what it's saying, and this
we do by comparing Scripture with Scripture. Here a little,
there a little. We say it and we leave it where
it is. We do not try to add to it or
take away from it. 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. So where does this all leave
us? Those whom he loves. Psalm 89,
15. Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound 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. 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 guilt of a guilty
sinner, that he has 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,
make a curse and sin. That, my brothers and sisters,
is our hope. That is mercy and truth. 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 because he is our defender and great shield. What he did
made us righteous before him. So he is just in calling his
people righteous because he paid for their sin. And he paid for
it with the same sentence that anyone else who has sinned against
God would have paid for it. He died, but he could not behold
no other grave, and he was raised, it says, for our justification. Romans 4, 24 and 25 we read,
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 all 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're getting
exactly what they deserve. Others getting justice because
of another. Because God himself has taken
away their sin by dying on that tree in their state. Their sin
never to be seen again. God making the right verdict
concerning all men. I know men call out to God to
be fair. I've done this before myself.
But if they knew Him who is the right verdict dwelling in His
throne, they would not want fairness. Because the fair thing for God
to do is to give men and women what they deserve, death. There are those who want a God
who treats them fairly. And I know of this kind of thought,
because as I've said, I've had the same thought before myself.
Let me ask you this. 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 may want fairness and
will get it, but others, by what He has done in mercy, are made
righteous before Him, not with unequal weights or unjust balances,
but with that weight of the judgment of God coming down on Him. He
measured out that punishment due me, on Jesus Christ our 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 just always sticks
in the back of my mind. In wrath, remember mercy. Go back at three. 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, and I'll end just after this, but
Romans 3. Romans 3, verses 24-26, I want
to read that. Romans 3, verses 24-26. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be of 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. He is both mercy and truth. Simply because it pleased him
to have a people for his name. So he was made a curse and sin
for them so that they might be made the righteousness of God
in him. Psalms 89-14, justice and judgment
are the habitation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before
thy face. The only thing left to say is,
Amen. So be it. Thank you.