I invite your attention back
to Revelation 22 and verse 11. Our Lord, through the messenger,
has finished this revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
that's what it is. It's not a revelation of prophecy and things to come
and things that will be, though those things are involved. is
a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and his operation in the
church in many and various different ways, revealed by seven different
visions of John in the Isle of Patmos. And in this last verse he says
forth the beauty and the wonder of the fact that when we get
to glory, it's gonna be a wonderful thing. No more tears, no more
sorrow. Joy and peace everywhere. But
he also sets forth a warning here in these last words. The warning is this, as men stand
before God, as they have left this world, is exactly how they're
going to be forever. That simple. No last chance efforts. No appeals. You stand before the bar of holy
justice. And what you are when you stand there before God is
how you will be forever. The word's it this way. He that
is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he which is filthy,
let him be filthy still. And he that is righteous, Let
him be righteous still, and he that is holy, let him be holy
still, forever. That's what that word still means.
Many years ago, a dear brother of mine once told me he was speaking
to a funeral director. That funeral director told the
preacher, you know, I've never buried a lost man. I've never
buried a lost man, because when it comes to funeral time, and
you know it just by listening to people talk, Some serial killer
or serial pedophile dies or gets killed and their mama says, well,
he's looking down on us from heaven. No, he's not. No, he's
not. Those words were facetious, but
his words had a ring of truth to them. But it seems when it
comes to death, and especially what follows, that men and women
particularly, if they have been under the onslaught of the preaching
of the lie that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for
your life, I find it very easy to speak of the departed in terms
of eternal bliss, no matter how they lived in this world. Many will not be allowed into
glory who boast that they should be in glory. In Matthew 7, many
shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, Haven't we prophesied
in thy name, preached in thy name? Haven't we done many mighty
wonders, built schools in foreign places and hospitals and such?
Haven't we cast out devils, the demons of alcohol and drugs?
Haven't we fixed people's lives? Our Lord will look them square
in the face. And he said, all those works that you've done
are iniquity. Depart from me ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. Old Scott Richardson
said once that pretty much a man dies like he lives. A man dies like he lives. I know
that people want their loved ones to be at peace when they
die. I want all mine to be at peace. But generally speaking
the human character is hopeful. We tend to hold on hope with
great tenacity and on a natural level. This is not an uncommonly
trait. I'd rather be around hopeful people than around those who
live under a dark cloud all the time, to be honest with you.
More often than not, natural hope is merely a coping mechanism.
It falls more into the category of wishful thinking than a true
hope. Because a hope, as the Bible
declares, that a true hope, a spiritual hope, is a grounded hope, one
that is based on God-given faith and revelation. Spiritual hope
has nothing to do with wishful thinking, A spiritual hope is
confidence and assurance in Jesus Christ and what he has accomplished
on Calvary's tree. That's where a real hope is,
an expectation. The believer knows that what
God says is so, and that however God says a thing is, that's the
way that thing is, not how we might perceive it to be. God
says a thing, and it's so. Some people put great stock in
deathbed confessions or professions, holding that a person, even if
he is a profligate all his life, still has a chance at his dying
moment of making things right with God. There are at least
two things wrong with that thinking. First, salvation is not by chance.
And secondly, men have no capability in and of themselves to make
things right with God, you simply don't have it in you. Religion, generally speaking,
has opted for the idea of extreme unction, so that they call in
a priest or a preacher to the bed of the dying to pray for
the dying and hope that the man of the cloth might carry some
weight in the matters of eternity. He doesn't. Those who hold to death-bed confessions
or extreme unction generally employ the story of the thief
on the cross as an example of one who in the throes of demise
calls out for mercy and was heard that very day Christ was with
Christ in paradise. We as believers should never
be guilty of discounting this possibility. I hope it happens
more than I think it happens. I hope it happens. We should
never take some kind of sinister pleasure in someone's hope, even
if it's unfounded. There is the account of a thief
in scripture, but we remember it's the only one. That's a deathbed
confession, the only one. Why is that? There's one so no
man would despair. But there's only one so no man
would presume. Our text is a clear statement
that there is no alteration of things at the end of time, when
time is done. There comes a day when the prophecy
is sealed. That's what he says in verse
10. When all possibility of change is gone forever, from that moment
and for all eternity, what is will always be as it has been. There is no limbo. no purgatory,
where money and prayers and good deeds can purchase a pardon for
the eternally damned. The prophecy is sealed and no
change will ever be forthcoming. The wise preacher Solomon wrote
in Ecclesiastes, when a tree falls in the forest, that's where
it lays. Ecclesiastes 11.3. Whatever your
standing, and this is all that matters in the world, my friends,
Whatever your standing before God is when you die, it will
be the exact same standing forever. The exact same standing. Our
symbol of justice is the Lady Justice is a woman with scales
in her hand and a blindfold over her eyes. We call our system
of laws blind justice. And in our natural realm, we
know that that is a wish more than a reality. Justice in our
world is contingent upon one's financial estate and mitigating
circumstances often govern the application of it. In our world,
though we would like to think differently, the poor often do
not get the same justice as those who have a lot of money and could
hire a good lawyer. And that's just a fact of life.
but we are human beings after all and everything we do is sin
so that's pretty much a sinful thing too however in the court
of God at the holy bar of justice at the heavenly bar of justice
there is true and unflinching blind justice at that bar no
legal chicanery no extenuating circumstances, no Perry Mason
moments will be allowed in evidence and there's no possibility of
appealing your situation. There justice will be fast and
fair and administered without mercy and without grace. There's no mercy and no grace
at the bar of God's justice. Mercy and grace are things that
God does in time, not at the judgment. The angel of justice
speaks of men and women in four ways in this passage of scripture.
Described, and that pretty much describes everybody as they will
stand before God in judgment. Each of these four categories
is a state of being. It's not an earned place. It's
not a place of merit. It's a state of being. Justice
before God is not about what you did or did not do or might
not do. It's not about intentions, whether
good or bad. It's not about what you want
to do or don't want to do. Justice addresses what you are.
What you are. Justice does not address sins.
It addresses sin. It does not address corrupt actions,
it addresses corruption. It does not address righteous
actions or holy deed, it addresses righteousness and holiness before
Almighty God. Justice speaks in the first words
that he uttered are these, he that is unjust, let him be unjust
still. He that is unjust, Let him be
unjust still. The unjust will stand as such
and will never be different forever. They'll always be unjust. The
unjust, what are they? They are the unjustified. The unjustified. If you are without
Christ this morning, when this day comes, you will remain so
forever. Not gonna be any change. You're unjust and therefore rightfully
condemned to an eternal place fitting your estate, fitting
what you are. You cannot defend yourself nor will you be accounted
that privilege. Unjust is what you are and ever
shall be. That's the Word of God. That's
the Word of God. The state of being referred to
as unjust means that you will be justly condemned in yourself. No one will stand for you. No
one will stand with you. There will be no advocate to
plead your cause. You are unjust and that is all
you will ever be. If you die unjust. That's all
you'll ever be. Unjustified. You have transgressed
every law of God since birth according to scripture. where
you were born in sin and conceived in iniquity, came forth from
the womb as soon as you were born, speaking lies? By nature,
you're a God-hater. The natural mind is enmity against
God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
We are all together become filthy. We are all together become unclean.
There is none good, no not one. There is none righteous upon
the face of the earth. Poison is upon our lips, lies
are upon our tongue, and there's no fear of God in our eyes. This
is the description of humanity, unjust humanity. And if that's how you end up,
that's where you're going to be. Maybe you think, well, maybe
I have some time left and I'll make some kind of silly decision.
Remember this very seriously. You don't see anything else this
morning. Salvation is not by your decision. It's by God's
decision. It's according to God's will
and God's purpose and God's sovereign character. That's how salvation
comes and no other way. Men and women have rejected the
gospel that's been preached throughout the world. You turn your back
on the day of grace. Why have you done so? You've
done so because of what you are, by nature. You're unjust. Unjust. So God says, let him
that is unjust be unjust still. Then he describes again another
characteristic of fallen humanity. He that is filthy, let him be
filthy still. No one likes to consider themselves
as filthy. That's why we all took a bath
this morning, put on our perfume, cover our stench, and made up
our hair, and try to look as good as we can. Because we don't
want anybody to think we're filthy. It just don't sound right. The word kind of declares an
unkemptness, or being stained. The word seems so prejudicial. The word intimates a foul stitch,
however. The word abomination actually
has to do with human passing gas, and we find that word often
in scripture. But the word imitates a foul stench, and this is true
of the filthy one. Our Lord said in Psalm 14, as
repeated in Romans chapter 3 by Paul the Apostle, he said he
looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, and he saw that
they were all together become filthy. And the word there is
stinking. Why are they stinking? Well,
they lived their life as a maggot on a dunghill. You can't hardly
expect anything else from them but a foul stitch in the nostrils
of God. But that stitch does not always
apply just to folks who say, well, I never was a maggot on
a dunghill. I've always been a good person.
Our Lord said, if you say you're holier than thou or someone else,
then you have a foul stitch in God's nose. Filthy. As unpleasant as it is, it is
none less so. If you have not the Lord Jesus
Christ, you are filthy. Your very best deeds are filthy. Isaiah was a prophet of God,
prophesied for 120 years for several different kings. In Isaiah chapter 54, he looked
at his righteousness, his good works, his good deeds. Now he
had prophesied. He was called of God. He was
a man of God. And he said, all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. Filthy rags. That word is kinder
in English than it is in the Hebrew language. It's filthy,
menstruous rags. Why is that so important? If
you read the law of God, a woman during her menses was cast out
of the camp. Everything she sat upon was washed
and she had to have an atonement to come back to camp. And that's
why women down through the ages have called it a curse. The curse. Because it was a curse. Was it women at some kind of
fault? No, it was a picture. God used
women to represent the universal estate of mankind. all our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. When a woman has her menses,
if the egg does not attach to the inside of her womb, then
the inside of the womb is sloughed off. Why? Because there's no
life there. See, if there was life there,
there would be, that blood supply would supply that life. So he says our righteousnesses
are as dead things And our righteousnesses, our righteousnesses are a curse
that must be atoned for. One man said the first thing
you need to repent of when you repent is your righteousness.
Because that's what keeps you away from God. It's your greatest
sin. Self-righteousness, born of unbelief. All our righteousness, you're
filthy. If you're filthy, it's because you're unrighteous. You're
accounted as a pig in the wallow in scripture, as a dog returning
to its own vomit. You may have salt to bathe in
the fountain of religious works and free will, and though you
wash your hands in snow water, they never be so white. God yet
pledges you a ditch and soils your clothing. No one can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean. Who can do that? The Bible says
not one. Does God bring a clean thing
out of an unclean when he saves a man? No, he makes him new.
It's a new creation. That old creation ain't nothing
works with God. Nothing works with God. Death
will not change you. Will not change you. Death will
not remove your filth. Eternity will not exacerbate
or will only exacerbate your filth and your lust. He that
is filthy, let him be filthy still. Now I ask you, have you even
considered this? I know we got a world that draws
our mind in 10,000 different directions. I know that. My mind
is often drawn off what it needs to be concentrating on every
day of every hour. Have you considered this? You're going to meet God. Not
the God of religion, the God of the Bible. God who's too holy,
before whom, before his eyes, the sun, the moon, and stars
are not pure in his sight, much less man than is worm that is
born of woman. Is this how you want to be forever?
Filthy, unjust. If you die filthy, you'll remain
so. Nothing can cleanse you here but the blood of Christ. If He
makes you clean, you will be clean every whit, Scripture says. You and I stand at the bar of
justice exactly as we are. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. He that is filthy, let him be
filthy still. This house is going to end up for some. This house
is going to end up. At this inflexible bar of justice,
the angel declares this also. He that is righteous, Let him
be righteous still. And we know it can't be our own
righteousness that he's talking about because Isaiah has already
told us that our righteousnesses are his filthy rags. Again, he
reminded that this declaration does not concern what you have
done or what you do. It's a state of being. There
is not a just man on earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Righteousness.
Righteousness is an essential thing. To be righteous is one
thing. But to be righteousness is another
thing. It's another thing. Righteousness
is a state of being. A state of being. It is not personal
righteousness. It is the imputed righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in truth what Christ has
been made to be for you. If you're a child of God. If
God has given you faith to believe His Son. And if you believe His
Son, you believe what the Bible says about His Son. Now if you
say you believe in his son, but you discount what the Bible says
about his son, then you don't believe his son. Just mark it
down. You're still an unbeliever. It's
that simple. Scripture says, of God, of the
people of God, of God are you in Jesus Christ, who of God is
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
He doesn't say he makes us wise. He doesn't even say he makes
us righteous. Doesn't say he makes us live
holy. Says we are the essential things
here before God. And this is the wonder of the
salvation that is by grace alone, by mercy alone, through faith
alone, according to the word of God alone. This is what's
unique and wonderful about that. You and I know, you and I know
that we are not righteous. You and I know that we aren't
wise, we're fools. You and I know that about ourselves.
You and I know that we're not holy. But God who has saved his
people by grace, that is the unmerited favor of God. God chose
to save you, chose and call you and make you holy by your association
with Jesus Christ. He looked at you and the world
says, hey, ain't nothing to that guy. God says, what are you talking
about? That's righteousness. And you
say righteous? That's righteousness. You want
to know what righteousness is? You look at a sinner saved by
grace. That's what God's talking about. There's holiness. There's
wisdom. There's sanctification. There's
redemption. That's what redemption is. That's
what righteousness is. That's what holiness is. You
children of God. Why? Because God has made Christ
to be that to you. None of that was earned or gained
by your own doing. It is imputed. That means charged
to your account. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God. If you die righteous, you will
be righteous for all eternity. That's why he said, let him be
righteous. Let him's righteous be righteous to you. Your righteousness
will neither increase nor decrease. You'll be righteous still. If
you are righteous, it is because Christ is your righteous. The
name by which he shall be called is the Lord our righteousness,
says Jeremiah 23 six. And then Jeremiah 33, 19 says,
the name by which she shall be called is the Lord our righteousness. That speaks of his church, his
body, his sheep, his bride, his fold, his elect, his chosen. That's who it speaks of. God
has graced you with faith to reckon that Christ is your righteousness.
I know this to be the case because God has plainly revealed to me
and to every one of his children that their righteousness is nothing.
So they see their righteousness can only be Jesus Christ. It can't be anything else I've
done. It can't be anything else. It's not personal merit. It is
a state of being righteous before God. A state of being righteous
before God or righteousness before God. And if you die this way,
you'll remain this way forever. You'll remain this way forever.
He did it righteously. Let Him be righteous to you.
justice demands that your righteousness receive the reward of righteousness
what is the reward? let it be righteous still and
it says he that is holy let it be holy still if you stand before
this bar in a state of holiness you will be in that state for
eternity what does holiness mean? what is it? I know if you've
been around religion like I have all of my life you know that
you have You have plenty of definitions of what holiness is. People have
an idea. I grew up believing if you didn't
drink and chew and smoke, you was holy. And also, I was a Southern
Baptist back then, so if you didn't dance, you was holy also. But that's what they told us.
That'll make you good and holy before God, not doing these things.
I had some friends and neighbors who belonged to a religion that's
called the holy religion, holiness religion. And all the men dressed
like used car salesmen and all the women looked like used cars. They all wore black, black stockings,
black shoes. They all had their hair wound
up in a bun and never cut it. walked around with no makeup
and her head hung down and they said this is being holy and you
know people get that idea kind of thing you know because when
preachers a lot of times when they talk about holiness they kind of lower
the temper of their voice they kind of bring their voice down
a notch so they can sound more sincere you know they don't say
holiness they say holiness and people automatically begin to
shiver in their seats what is holiness? it's Jesus Christ He hath made him to be unto us,
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, that's holiness. Holiness, let
him that's holy be holy still. You're not accounted holy because
you do holy things, you don't do holy things without sin. You
refrain from unholy things, that doesn't make you holy. I think
of Adam, he didn't have any TV not to watch. He didn't have
any cigarettes not to smoke. He didn't have any dope not to
take. He didn't have any bars not to hang out in. He didn't
have any brothels not to go to. How in the world was he ever
a sinner? It's in you. It's not in a bottle
or a box or a thing. It's in your heart. Your heart
of hearts. Our Lord said, what goes in a
man's body don't even mess him up, don't defile it. Not before
God, it's what comes out of his heart. There are murders and
thieveries, the evil eye, covetousness, all these things come from the
heart and they make you defiled. But if you're holy by the work
of Jesus Christ, as Christ is your sanctification, If you die
that way, you'll be that way forever. Holy. Is there a difference
between righteousness and holiness? Yes, righteousness is a legal
standing. It's a legal standing, a state
of guiltlessness before the law of God. The law alone can declare
you righteous, and then only because the law has been satisfied
concerning your guilt. See, the law's got to set you
free. Now, we are not under the law. as children of God. We are under
grace. We are not under the law in any
way, shape, or form. We are dead to the law and the
law is dead to us according to the Word of God. However, in
order for you to be set free, the law must declare you guiltless. Now how in the world can that
be done? Well, the law is against you. The Lord said the ordinance
is against us. The law is against you and it
defines what you are The law's not put up there as a way to
live. The law's put up there so if
you transgress it, it'll punish you. That's all the law does.
It's all it's designed to do. That's all it does. But the law
says to you who are born into this world, as you are born into
this world, the law says the soul that sinneth, it shall die. that's the penalty so how in
the world as being born as a sinner can I stand before the law of
God and the law say no problem here the only way for that to happen
is me to die the only way and I either die
in my person as payment for the penalty of my sin Or someone
has died my death for me. When Jesus Christ hung on Calvary
Street, after men had done the worst they could do, and after
God had poured his wrath on him in those three hours of darkness,
his final words was, it is finished. The word there is taleo, perfect.
It's perfect. And then he gave up the ghost. That means he died. Why? If our
sins were, the penalty of our sins was punished all in that
three hours of darkness, why didn't that take care of it?
Because the law demands death. It demands it. God's law says
the soul that sinneth, it shall die. So you got to die in yourself
or in the substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, one or the other.
And when Jesus Christ died, That death was accounted for every
one of His people. It was accounted as their death.
So on the record, if you are a child of God this morning,
you are dead. Isn't that what Paul said in
Colossians chapter 1? We are dead and our life is hid
with Christ in God. The law said it's dead. So the
law says, well, punishment has been made. I'm satisfied. I've
been satisfied. Death, I've got my death. And
the sinner under grace goes free. The sinner under grace goes free. It's a legal thing. The law says,
let him go. I find no fault in him because
the thing I required has been paid. It's been paid. Law can only declare you righteous,
and that only because the law has been satisfied concerning
your guilt, because Christ in the just penalty for your guilt
has been fully paid. Holiness, however, is a personal
standing before God. Not a legal standing, but a personal
standing before God. It's not personally attained,
but it is a personal standing. It speaks to likeness of God,
and fellowship with God, and oneness with God, reconciliation
to God. The Lord said, be ye holy, for
I am holy. And with Christ's holy garments
on, we're as holy as God's dear Son. Christ, our sanctification,
our holiness affords us the privilege of familial relationship with
the God who created everything. the holy and righteous, thrice
holy God. We have an affiliation with Him,
a personal affiliation. We cry, Abba, Father, Papa, Papa,
because we have the Spirit of adoption. The Spirit bears witness
with our spirit that we're sons of God, and the blood of Christ
gives us the joy of fellowship with the Father and the Son.
Here it is, my friend. Try to be as clear as I can be.
I'm never as clear as Scripture, How you die, how you meet God
is how you'll be forever. That's as simple as that. It's
how you're gonna be forever. The prophet said, seek the Lord
while he may be found. Call on him while he is needy. Let him that is unjust be unjust
to you. Let him that is filthy be filthy
still. Let him that is righteous be
righteous still. And let him that be holy be holy
still. Father bless us through our understanding. We pray in
Christ's name.