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[0:00] Let's turn now in our Bibles to Psalm 98. As we continue learning about our God, His justice, we come to Psalm 98.

[0:11] Please stand together with me for this reading from God's Holy Word. Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things. His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.

[0:26] The Lord has made His salvation known and revealed His righteousness to the nations. He has remembered His love and His faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

[0:40] Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth. Burst into jubilant song with music. Make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing.

[0:51] With trumpets and with the blast of the ram's horn. Shout for joy before the Lord the King. Let the sea resound and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.

[1:01] Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing together for joy. Let them sing before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

[1:15] Well, why have we spent so many weeks studying the justice of God? It was my intention when we began this series on the attributes of God to spend one week on each attribute.

[1:30] And we started out for a while doing just that. And then we came to His power and took two weeks and came to His sovereignty.

[1:40] And how can you preach on the sovereignty of God in one week? And then to His goodness, three weeks. And now this is the fifth message on the justice of God. And I believe it will be the last.

[1:51] But why five on God's justice? Well, several reasons. First of all, just the sheer amount, the many verses in the Bible on God's justice. It seems to reflect the very importance of this truth in our God's heart.

[2:07] That this is so essential to His own glory that He repeats it over and over. Perhaps it's because we forget it. And men are prone to forget the justice of God. But the Bible is just full.

[2:19] And I have pages and pages of just verses and comments made of the justice of God. The judgment of God. The many verses.

[2:30] But then there's many applications on God's justice, as we saw. This truth ought to make all of us run to Jesus Christ. The only one who's ever satisfied God's justice.

[2:41] And it's only in Him that we ourselves will be justified in that day. We saw how that this doctrine helps us to deal with injustices done to us. That we commit ourselves to Him who judges justly.

[2:54] Rather than taking personal revenge. We saw that we're called ourselves to be just. To live just lives. To act justly. Many different applications.

[3:05] And then there are also many denials in our day of this attribute. Attribute. We are more affected by the air that we breathe than we may realize.

[3:18] And when the prevailing culture around us has distorted the character of God. It behooves us to be very clear as to what the scriptures say about that character of God.

[3:31] We saw how atheists chafe under the idea of a God who's keeping track of our thoughts. And of our words and our actions. And will punish us. Even eternally for our sins against Him.

[3:43] But sadly it's not just atheists that dislike this attribute of God's justice. It's an attribute denied by many in the church of Jesus Christ.

[3:57] The professing Christian. The preacher in the pulpit. The seminary professor. People who believe in God but don't believe what the Bible says about His justice.

[4:09] And so eternal punishments are denied. That's part of God's justice. The sin is so offensive to God that it takes eternity of torment to satisfy God's justice.

[4:21] And they say, oh no, no. God's a loving God. He would never treat sinners that way. Even many evangelical churches claim to believe in the justice of God.

[4:34] But they just don't think it's something that ought to be mentioned much. It's a rare day when you hear a sermon or hear hell mentioned in many, many churches.

[4:45] It's kind of like a dirty family secret that we're really ashamed of. And as the family of God we kind of try to hide this truth about God. We keep it to ourselves.

[4:56] And whenever it comes up, oh, we admit it and we blush and we feel like we owe them an apology. But that's no way to treat our God or His justice.

[5:10] What we have done in the past year, reading through the book of Jeremiah, would be rejected out of hand in many seeker-sensitive churches.

[5:21] We've just taken God's word through the prophet Jeremiah and read it. Because we believe that all scripture is God-breathed and therefore it's profitable for instruction, for rebuking, for correcting, for training us in righteousness, so that the man of God might be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

[5:43] I need all of the scripture to tell me all that I need to know about God. That I might know Him and live before Him in an appropriate way.

[5:54] And so I welcome the input of the book of Jeremiah and of Jonah and Habakkuk and of Paul's books to the epistles and Peter and every book in the Bible.

[6:07] Because it tells me about God. This is the revelation of God Himself to man. This is what I'm like, He says. And I want to know what He is truly like, not what I or what others would like Him to be like.

[6:22] And so we must turn to God from our idols. And sometimes our idols are the idols of the mind, the way we think about God. And we must turn from our thoughts about God to the true and living God and worship and serve Him.

[6:40] So, God is to be worshipped for His justice. That's the first point I'd like to make this morning. God is to be worshipped for His justice, even as we worship Him for His other attributes.

[6:55] His justice is a part of His glory. It's one of His excellencies. It's essential to who He is. As the psalmist, in stirring himself to worship, says to himself, Praise the Lord, all that is within me.

[7:07] Praise His holy name. And God's name stands for all that He is. Just as your name stands for all that you are. When I use your name or someone mentions your name to me, I think not just of letters.

[7:21] I think of you and all that you are. And so, God's name stands for all that He is. And we're to praise His holy name. All that He is is to be praised by all our inmost being.

[7:33] There's no aspect of His character that is not deserving of praise. He is altogether lovely and deserves our praise.

[7:47] That's true of His justice. And when we turn to the Old Testament book of worship, the Psalms, that's precisely what we find. The worshiper in the Old Testament had no problem singing and praising God for His justice.

[8:02] Dozens of texts could be cited. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains. Your justice is like the great deep. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name.

[8:15] Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. Tremble before Him all the earth. Say among the nations, the Lord reigns. He will judge the people with equity. He will judge the world in righteousness and the people with His truth.

[8:31] The King is mighty. He loves justice. Turn with me to Psalm 101. Again, we could quote many texts, but I want you to see this one.

[8:44] The 101st Psalm. The very first verse. David says, I will sing of your love and justice.

[8:55] To you, O Lord, I will sing praise. Now that's the word of David, but it became the hymnal for the whole worshipping people of God in the Old Testament.

[9:07] I will sing of your love and your justice. You see, there's no backwardness, no note of apology here for mentioning God's justice.

[9:17] No sense of shame for bringing it up. It's something David sings about. Right alongside of his love. I sing about your love and your justice.

[9:29] In the same breath, he sings about them both. It would be wrong to praise Him for the one and not for the other. It would be robbing him of the glory due His name. And so throughout the Psalms, God is worshipped for His justice as well as His love and other attributes.

[9:47] And if you would go into heaven this morning, you would find the same is true there. That they're worshipping God for His justice this morning and will be forever and ever.

[10:00] Listen to the roar of the worshipping throng in heaven shouting in Revelation 19, 1 and 2. Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are His judgments.

[10:16] He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of His servants. And then in chapter 15, we hear the song of Moses and of the Lamb.

[10:29] This great song being sung in heaven. Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name?

[10:45] For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. What set them to singing about His justice?

[10:58] The seven last plagues of God's wrath. His judgments. They're worthy of a song. They're being praised in heaven.

[11:10] And when the third angel poured out his bowl of God's wrath upon the earth, the waters turned to blood and the angel in charge of the water said, You are just in these judgments.

[11:21] You who are and who were the Holy One. Because you have so judged. For they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets. And you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.

[11:35] And I heard the altar respond, Yes, Lord God Almighty. True and just are your judgments. Fierce judgments.

[11:46] Frightful judgments to be true. But just judgments. Not one drop above what they deserve.

[11:57] And God is praised for His perfect equity. He's balanced the scales of justice. So in heaven, on earth, God is praised for His justice.

[12:11] But men today have become wiser than God on how to do church. How to make the church grow. How to hold a worship service. How to do evangelism.

[12:22] Worship must now boost people's self-esteem. Worship must now make people feel good about themselves. And above all, it must be fun. And it must be entertaining.

[12:33] You know, I found that reading the judgments of God in the book of Jeremiah was anything but fun. But you know, it's done me good.

[12:46] I'm better off because of it. It's been profitable by it. I have come to know God better. I've come to know what He's pleased with and what displeases Him.

[12:57] I've come to see the inflexibility of His justice. He will not bend His justice. I've come to see that He is a God who exercises kindness, righteousness, and justice on the earth.

[13:10] And that He delights in doing so. Going through surgery is not fun. But sometimes it's necessary. Eating healthy food is not nearly as fun as eating junk food.

[13:26] But it is more profitable to do so. Confession of sin is not fun. But who would deny its absolute necessity?

[13:38] And so this idea that worshiping God must be fun and entertaining has become the scourge, the plague of the church today. God is a righteous judge, a just judge.

[13:50] Let the earth tremble before Him. But people want what their itching ears are after.

[14:01] Pleasing things. And with that as the goal, the reading of the book of Jeremiah, well, that would be out, wouldn't it? That won't entertain.

[14:12] We can't have that. It's rather offensive. So that's out. Stop and think for a minute. What is being done? God's own word is being ruled out of bounds in the worship of God.

[14:27] God's own word is being ruled out of bounds in the name of God. And on the same fun meter, whole attributes of God, like His justice, must be kept hush-hush.

[14:40] As someone not like it and not come back. But since when was getting people to be entertained and come back, the end all of what we do in worship.

[14:56] Whatever happened to the glory of God, to being faithful to men who need to hear the whole counsel of God. You need to hear what God is really like. In Matthew 15, Jesus was preaching.

[15:08] And in his preaching, he applied the law of God from the prophet Isaiah, specifically to the Pharisees in his audience. He stepped on their toes and he meant to.

[15:20] Because they were sinning against God. And he brought the law to expose their sin. Afterwards, the disciples came to him all excited and said, Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?

[15:31] And Jesus didn't say, Oh no, please remind me the next time not to preach on that subject when the Pharisees are around. Because above all, we must not offend them.

[15:42] We must make sure that they want to come back. We can't dare to have our numbers dropping. No, you know what he told his disciples? Every plant that my heavenly father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.

[16:00] Leave them. They are blind guides. No, the truth must not be made to take a back seat.

[16:10] So blind guides remain happy leading people to hell. The worship of God in his justice must not be kept hush hush so that people feel better when they walk out of worship.

[16:24] God is to be worshipped. For his justice. It is a glorious attribute of God.

[16:35] We find it attractive. Worthy of a song. What? Would you rather have a God who, when Hitler is exterminating the Jews, just turns a blind eye and does nothing?

[16:49] Oh, he's a kind God. He's a loving God and he does nothing to men's wickedness. When women are being raped and children are being abused, would you have a God who's just so warm and cuddly that he will do nothing to pay back the rapist, to pay back the abuser?

[17:08] Is that attractive to you? We would rather find our joy in this God of justice who reveals himself as the one who will repay, as the one who will bring the wrongdoer to justice.

[17:26] It's an attribute with many beauties that cause us to worship God for his justice with a song.

[17:37] Now, that's just the first thing I wanted to say this morning from the scriptures. But secondly, we need to see that God's justice is so much a part of his glory that he has set a day to clear up any misunderstandings about it.

[17:51] Right now, God's justice is being slandered. It's being belittled. It's being despised by men. The wicked don't see God's justice falling like a hammer on them after they sin.

[18:05] So they think since God hasn't judged me, he never will. God's justice is a farce. And there are many injustices that occur in the land that never get put right in this lifetime.

[18:20] Many go to the graves being treated unjustly. And so there's a question mark hung above this reality of the justice of God.

[18:33] Is there really this moral policeman? Is there really this just God who is on his judgment seat and who cares what's being done in the universe?

[18:43] Well, God set a day to clear up any misunderstandings about that. It's the day of the Lord. It's the day that the Lord Jesus returns. It's the day of judgment. Notice what Paul says in Romans 2.

[18:55] Romans chapter 2 and verse 5. But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

[19:22] That's the phrase I want us to see this morning. When God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For God will give to each person according to what he has done.

[19:34] Now the word here for revealed is the word that means will be uncovered. It will be laid open. Something that has been veiled, something that has been a bit concealed and covered up will be brought out into the open for all to see.

[19:51] And Paul says that's what's going to happen on the day of Christ's return, the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

[20:05] The justice of God will be revealed. For now, it's a bit concealed. There are still questions out on, is God really that just? He said he would not allow any sin to go unpunished.

[20:17] Wonder if that's true. God set a day to remove any misunderstanding, any doubt. The day of judgment then is all about the justice of God being made clear to all.

[20:36] When you think of the judgment of the day, think about God's justice being made clear to all. It's a day of revelation, a day of pulling back the veil, and men will be wide-eyed and they'll say, wow, can you believe how just God is?

[20:56] We had heard of his justice, but the half has never been told. Now, it's often thought that the purpose of the day of justice is to determine who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.

[21:09] Now, the outcome of the day of judgment will be the sentence that leaves men in hell forever or in heaven forever. But that's not the end-all purpose for the day of judgment.

[21:22] When you think about it, there's already a judgment that happens when a person dies. Immediately. If they have died in Christ, their spirit goes to heaven.

[21:34] To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Today you will be with me in paradise. So right at death, those who die in Christ, there's a judgment that's made and they go to heaven.

[21:47] And those who die in their sins, immediately, their body goes into the grave and their spirit goes to hell. Remember Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus.

[21:58] And Lazarus died and went to paradise. And the rich man also died and in hell he lifted up his eyes in agony. Immediately, you see, there's this judgment at the time of death when each go to their own place.

[22:14] It was said of Judas that he went to his own place. We read it in Acts chapter 1. So that can't be the end-all reason for the day of judgment to determine who should go to heaven and who should go to hell.

[22:28] No, the judgment day has other aims in view, namely the vindication of the justice of God. He said he's too just to let one sin go unpunished.

[22:40] Wonder if it's true. Wonder if that's right. Will it really be that way? And the day of judgment will show that God's justice is vindicated.

[22:50] All doubts will be removed and it will be made clear for all to see. God's judgments, who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, will be made open for all to see the justice of his decisions.

[23:09] Men die now. And they're gone from us and they're off to heaven or to hell, but often we don't know where. We don't know the hearts like God knows the hearts.

[23:21] And so the judgment made at death is somewhat secret and private, isn't it? But the day of judgment is anything but secret and private.

[23:34] For the bodies of all men will be raised from the dead, joined to their spirits that have been in heaven or in hell, now to appear before the judgment seat of Christ. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

[23:48] All the nations will be gathered before him. Matthew 25. I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and books were opened.

[23:59] The sea gave up the dead that were in it and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them. And each person was judged according to what he had done. Revelation 20. The judgment day is a very public event.

[24:13] Everyone will be there. Even the men of Nineveh. Jesus says the men of Nineveh will rise up in the day of judgment and condemn you because they repented at the preaching of Jonah.

[24:28] And a greater than Jonah is here. And Jesus' own generation was not repenting of their sin. It's a public event. There are the men of Nineveh living thousands of years before other people.

[24:43] And yet they're condemning those people because they had great gospel privileges and they didn't use them to turn to Christ from their sins. The Queen of Sheba.

[24:53] There she is. And she's condemning people. I never knew her. But there she is. And she's condemning me. Why? Because I came from a distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And a greater than Solomon has come.

[25:06] And you've not paid attention to his wisdom. A very public event. The books will be opened. And all the verdicts will be the same in the day of judgment as was made at the very death of the individual.

[25:21] There'll be no changes. But now those decisions and judgments will be made public and proven before the universe as being just. The books will be opened and it will be seen what men's deeds were.

[25:35] Their deeds will be seen for what they really were as he will expose the motives that were in men's hearts. And he'll bring to light what's hidden in darkness. And he'll judge men's secrets.

[25:48] Got any secrets? They're going to be drug out of the closet in that day. Brought into the light. They'll be uncovered and laid bare for all to see. A day of great surprises.

[26:01] All the unsolved murder mysteries that you see on television will be solved in that day. Recently in the paper we saw an article on a lady that they've called Madison because her remains were found up on Madison Road some ten years ago.

[26:17] They don't have a clue who she is. So they named her after the road where she was. Her body was found. Her skeleton was found. And the article said there's 50,000 50,000 such unidentified bodies across our country.

[26:36] Every one of them solved. The books opened. Light into the darkness. Everyone found out. This is why she was thrown out of the car along the side of Madison Road.

[26:52] This is the man that did it. This is the situation. And it will be made clear God's justice for the damnation of that individual will be made clear for all to see.

[27:05] The guilty will be charged and undeniable evidence shown. And God's vindication of his justice will be a public event. As the wicked go away into everlasting punishments.

[27:19] None will be complaining of injustice received from God's court. Every mouth will be stopped. Every mouth will be silenced. As every man's guilt will be proven by his life.

[27:35] And all will come away in awe at how just God is. the day of judgment is a day when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

[27:50] The glory of his justice will be made known. The day of vindication of God's justice. He didn't miss a thing.

[28:06] But it's not only a day for the vindication of God's justice. It's also to be a day of vindication of the Son of God. The Lord Jesus Christ. He will be vindicated on that day.

[28:18] His truthfulness will be proven. His claims will be shown publicly to be true and factual. His innocence will be established in court.

[28:30] He will be publicly defended and justice will be served on his behalf. He claimed to be the Son of God. God. And they called him a blasphemer for claiming so.

[28:43] Well, which is he? Is he a liar? Is he a blasphemer? He's coming in his glory with all of his angels with him and he will sit upon his throne in heavenly glory and publicly everyone will see that this is none other than God the Son.

[29:02] He claimed that he would save whoever believed on him. That they would not perish but have everlasting life. And they mocked him on the cross and said he can't even save himself much less others.

[29:18] Well, which is it? In that day it will be seen that yes, he has saved all who believed on him.

[29:28] He said that he would save those from every tribe and language and nation and a fat chance of that. Jesus the Nazarene being worshipped by all the world round.

[29:41] And I saw a multitude that no man could number around the throne from every tribe and language and nation worshipping the Lamb. There's a day of vindication of the Lord Jesus of all his claims.

[29:55] He said he would rise again. And they said all his disciples came at night and stole his body away. He's still a dead false Messiah. Well, which is it?

[30:10] Look, he comes with the clouds and every eye will see him even those who pierced him. He said he would come again and scoffers are laughing.

[30:25] Where is this coming? He promised. Yes, he will come. He will be seen. It's a very public thing you see this day of judgment. It's the public vindication of the Son of God.

[30:40] And justice will be served on Jesus' behalf. The greatest travesty ever committed was the middle cross of Calvary. Never was one more holy, treated more unjustly by men than him.

[30:56] Acts 8.33, in his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Here's the just one being treated unjustly by men. And that's a wrong that has not yet been made right.

[31:11] They slandered his reputation. They lied about him. They said he was in league with Beelzebub. They said the reason he's able to cast out demons is that he has the power of the devil in him himself.

[31:23] They said he was a blasphemer because he claimed equality with God. They said he was a Sabbath breaker because he healed people on the Sabbath. They said he was preaching rebellion and insurrection against Rome because he claimed to be a king.

[31:37] And those charges have not been completely answered. The accusers have not been publicly proven wrong. He was deprived of justice.

[31:50] And so though he had done nothing wrong he was spit upon he was beaten in the face with fists and staff. His back was laid open with whips. The crown of thorns was pounded into his skull.

[32:01] He was stripped naked and nails were pounded through his hands and feet as he died the shameful and painful death of the cross. Cut down in the best of his years.

[32:17] Murdered. The wrongs have not yet been put right my friend. but a day is coming for the public vindication of the Son of God. They gave him a crown of thorns didn't they?

[32:31] Mocking his claim to be king. He's to wear a crown of glory for all to see. They knelt down before him and said hail king of the Jews.

[32:45] Their knees are to fall in prostration before him as they recognize him as the king of kings and the lord of lords in that day. They made his name a curse word.

[32:58] That name that is above every name is to be found on the lips of all men in that great day of public vindication of the lord Jesus Christ.

[33:10] And when we see it oh how it will thrill our hearts. This will be a heaven of joy to the people of God to see our savior vindicated to see him crowned with glory to see him lifted up in praises receiving the honors that he so deserves but that this wicked world has unjustly withheld from him.

[33:32] No more will that be the case and every bone in our resurrected bodies will say this is right. This is just. This is the way it's supposed to be. The lord Jesus Christ vindicated publicly.

[33:46] Not enough that he's vindicated in some private little ceremony. You spit in my face in public. You are to be mine to be vindicated in public you see.

[34:02] The day of judgment a very public event. But not only is the lord Jesus to be vindicated those who suffer with him are to be vindicated. It will be a day of vindication for the son of God and for his people the people of God.

[34:18] Because the righteous have been mistreated all the way from godly able right down to last year Arif and Cathy Kahn over there cut down in Pakistan murdered.

[34:31] And so brothers and sisters do you have wrongs done to you that have not been put right?

[34:43] Get in line with everybody else. There's not a one in this world. This is the way sinners treat sinners unjustly. There's coming a day of public vindication for the people of God.

[34:54] At the head of this line is the lord Jesus Christ himself. Get in behind him. If they've treated him this way they will treat you this way. So get in line. He's been vindicated partially.

[35:06] The father showed when he raised him from the dead what he thought of him. But they even lied about that and said he didn't really rise so there's coming this greater day when he'll be vindicated and all of his people with him we will share in his glory and in that day of vindication we heard of turkey this morning in the adult Sunday school class.

[35:29] The location of those seven churches of Asia Minor. Jesus wrote a letter to the church in Philadelphia and there's not a word of rebuke in it only praise.

[35:40] They had kept the word of the Lord Jesus and had not denied his name and that faithfulness to Jesus word and name brought them persecution from the Jews.

[35:52] But they patiently endured. Here were the Jewish people and they claimed to be the favored people of God. Well, who are the true people of God?

[36:03] That's the question you see. Who are the true people of God? And these Jews says we who have the traditions, we who have the history, the lineage from Abraham, we are the true people of God.

[36:15] Not you followers of the despised Nazarene. He's a blasphemer. He was a false messiah. No followers of him can be the true people of God. And so they despised the Christians.

[36:28] They mistreated them. They slandered them. And under that persecution there was pressure for them to deny the name of Jesus. That's all they had to do. Just come back to their Christless Judaism.

[36:42] End of discussion. End of persecution. And the pressure was on. But they didn't deny the Lord Jesus or his name. What will the judge do when he returns?

[36:54] Listen to Jesus. Revelation 3 9. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan who claim to be Jews though they are not but are liars.

[37:06] I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. In the day when Jesus' glory is made known and he is seen to be God.

[37:22] And the question was who are the people of God? And the Jews who claim to be the synagogue claim to be the people of God but were really Jesus says a synagogue of Satan and despised the Christians as being no people of God but heretics worthy of death.

[37:40] In that day the glorious God the Son will cause these who had slandered his people to come and fall down before them and acknowledge that Jesus Christ has loved them that they are the loved ones of God the very ones they despised and made fun of they will have to acknowledge publicly that they were the true Israel of God the true people of God that were loved by him.

[38:12] Is that what Jesus promised? If you will acknowledge me in this present wicked adulterous generation then I will acknowledge you before my father in heaven on that day and here he is now.

[38:28] Father here I am and the children you have given me these are mine and I have loved them. And every Christian who's ever been ridiculed for following the Lord Jesus and being true to his word will be publicly honored in that day even by those who slandered them.

[38:47] the very justice of God will see to it. Remember wicked Haman and godly Mordecai and Haman despised Mordecai and wanted him dead build a gallows to do the same but in the end he's made to acknowledge the greatness of Mordecai and to honor him.

[39:08] Haman's the one who must robe Mordecai in one of the king's robes. He must put him on a king's horse and he must lead him through the city declaring this is what will be done for the one whom the king loves to honor.

[39:21] The despiser must honor the righteous one. That day will come Jesus promised the church at Philadelphia and every Christian who's ever been ridiculed for following the Lord Jesus and being true to his word will experience the same public vindication.

[39:39] How often are Christians made the laughingstock of jokes? I remember someone running for office years ago and the paper came out.

[39:50] He believes that the axe head floated. In other words, he believed the word of God, believed the miracles of the Bible and they poked fun at him for believing that the axe head floated back in the Old Testament, that story.

[40:07] You Christians believe that everything was just created with the word of God. You don't have your science straight.

[40:18] You're a bunch of bumpkins, uneducated idiots. You believe a flood once covered the whole earth. How foolish. Where would ever such water be found?

[40:30] Where did it all go? You believe that Jesus Christ was no ordinary man, that he was born of a virgin. You believe the miracles. miracles. And we're mocked.

[40:44] And we're mocked for our morality. We believe in no sex outside of marriage. And we're mocked for our standards and what we listen to and what we'll watch.

[40:56] And we have standards that are different from the world and so we're laughed at and we're poked fun at and made the butt of jokes.

[41:09] the Philadelphia church found that it was no easy thing to remain true to the Lord Jesus and his word in their day. And we're finding the same true in our land of freedom today.

[41:21] But the justice of God will see to it that his people are vindicated in the end. Jesus portrays the scene for us in Matthew 25. When he returns and sits on his judgment throne in heavenly glory, he says, all peoples of all nations will be gathered before him for judgment and he'll separate the people into two groups, believers on his right hand and unbelievers on his left.

[41:50] And those on his left will look over and they will see those on his right in his favorite flock and they'll say, there's Mr. So-and-so. Oh, there's that there's that girl.

[42:03] I remember making fun of her for her stand for Christ. And these who ridiculed and looked down their noses at Christians will publicly see them as the people that Jesus loved and then they will hear the king say to them, come, you who are my blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the creation of the world.

[42:32] And no sooner has he said such to them than they will hear the king turn to them and say, depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting torments prepared for the devil and his angels.

[42:46] And they will go away into everlasting torment and the righteous will go away to everlasting life. Very public thing this. Everyone will see. And God's justice will be vindicated and the son of God will be vindicated and all his people will be vindicated with him.

[43:10] Well, this calls for a response. Psalm 98 calls for a response. It calls for the whole world to give a standing ovation to the king of kings.

[43:22] All the earth is to stand and shout for joy to the Lord. They're to burst into jubilant song with music. The whole created order is called to join in.

[43:33] Let the sea resound and everything in it. seen some of the creatures of the sea. Let the sea resound and everything in it.

[43:45] The world and all who live in it, all the peoples who live on the world. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing together for joy.

[43:57] Let them sing before the Lord. Why? What's the cause of this jubilation, this excited joy and praise? Because he comes. He comes to judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

[44:15] You see, this old earth is weary of all the injustice that is being committed upon it. Of all the innocent blood being poured out, the murders, the abortions, all the unjust wars, the violence, the bloodshed that splatters the globe, the cheating, the lying, the stealing, the prejudice, the persecution, the bribery, the suppression of the truth, all the dishonor done to the maker of the earth and to those who were created in his own image.

[44:49] And the weary earth rises with joy to see the Lord Jesus, the just judge, coming to judge the world in justice.

[44:59] at last he's coming. He's going to put everything right. It's cause for joy. It's cause for a song. It's cause for worship. It's Psalm 98.

[45:10] It's found in the worship of God's people. Because he comes to judge. Are you ready, my friend? Are you ready for the exposure of the judgment day?

[45:22] Are you ready to have your secret sins set in the light of his presence? Trying harder won't cut it. Not in that day. No, you no amount of good will remove your bad.

[45:35] You need to get into Christ because there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There alone is their safety in the day of judgment.

[45:47] It's only in Christ that we can rejoice in his justice. It's only in Christ that we can pray, come quickly Lord Jesus, come and put an end to all injustice.

[45:58] Come and receive the glory that is your due. That public vindication where all men see once and for all just how just and right and true you are.

[46:11] Only in Christ can we sing about the justice of God. How can a man sing about the justice of God when the justice of God is God's determination to punish sin wherever it's found?

[46:26] That I will in no wise clear the guilt. How can a man under his sin ever sing about justice? He can't. He can't. We can only sing of God's justice if we're in Christ because Christ has satisfied God's justice.

[46:44] Christ has been punished on the cross for all the sins of his people, for everyone who will take refuge in Christ and run to Jesus and trust in him. He has taken all the punishment that justice demanded.

[46:56] So justice now smiles and asks no more for those who are in Christ. So come to Christ this day. Trust in him. Cast yourself upon him.

[47:07] Put no confidence in the flesh, in any of your religious deeds, in anything good you've ever done. Just come and cast yourself upon the Savior and ask God to save you and to show you mercy for Jesus' sake.

[47:19] and sing with us. Sing with us of the sweet justice of God. Oh, what the justice of God does, it puts a huge exclamation point on the cross of Jesus and it shows us just how precious Jesus is that he would take justice in our behalf.

[47:37] Let's pray. Oh, Lord, we feel that this world is in for a surprise. We feel that so many do not have a clue what is coming, what it is to stand before a just judge and to give an account for all the works done while in the body.

[47:59] We fear that there are those in our own midst that are not ready for that day. Oh, awaken them. How gracious you are not just to come in judgment but to pre-announce your coming, to tell us what is going to happen, to do so to warn us, to flee from the wrath of God, to flee to the Lord Jesus and to find in him the only refuge for sinners.

[48:26] Oh, we do rejoice, Lord, that you are coming to judge the world and that perfect justice will not be able to find one sin in all of your people.

[48:37] How blessed to be covered by the blood in that day, to have all of our sins cast behind your back, put under your blood forgotten, never to be counted against us, remembered against us no more.

[48:52] How blessed we are to have Christ in the gospel. Bring others into the joy of this salvation. Receive then our praise and our worship for such a great Savior.

[49:03] Make us to love him more, to represent him better. Lord, bring in many, many more this world, its living horde, all those across this land, across the world, confront them with the light of the gospel, and bring many to the Savior, even as you've promised to do from every language, nation, and people.

[49:24]  We ask for your own eternal praise. In Jesus' name, Amen.