Well, tonight we take up an important section here as we read and confessed together in what we believe and, of course, read from Matthew chapter 25 about the doctrine of divine judgment. And that is a very important truth that we have to take time to consider. If I looked over the whole course of my ministry and looked at the proportion of how much I talked at this in relation to the gospel, the good news, the love of God, I'd have to say that clearly giving the good news and the announcement of everything that the Lord has done for us and talking a lot about love is far outweighed talking about justice and judgment. And the hard reality is, is that in our day, this is the truths. These are the truths when it comes to justice and judgment and the judgment that is to come. These are the things that nobody really wants to consider or to talk about. Of course, they have to be approached carefully. They cannot be approached angrily. There's too much of the view of considering the old preachers who would yell and scream at everyone and was angry at everyone and would preach hell angrily at people. And that doesn't get anyone into heaven, does it? It actually infuriates people. Too many movies have pictured preachers that way, so I have good news. I'm not going to yell at you tonight if you thought in Lord's Day 4 I might. That's not what I'm going to do. But the truth be told, that these doctrines, in terms of this first section here of our guilt, can be challenging to preach and to talk about, especially in our day and in our culture. truth be told, this is why the world hates us. Right here. You could talk a lot about how to love one another. They won't care. Talk a lot about grace. They don't care. But talk in this first section with people about sin and about the judgment to come. And now we've got a problem. That is the issue really for people today, because that's where we're labeled as intolerant and hateful and everything that follows. And that's a challenge for the ministry, isn't it? to talk about these things in a way that takes them very seriously and yet is still helpful in helping people to understand so that they see when we talk about these things that we really care about people. That we're not angry at them. That we indeed do love them. And that we don't want to see people face and suffer what the scriptures teach about these things. And so that's why this is important tonight because if anyone is ever going to have any real appreciation of the depths of God's love, the marvelous sacrifice that the Lord made, what he actually had to accomplish, what he actually had to endure, what he actually had to walk, what he actually had to live, you have to have some basic understanding of why he had to come here and do that in the first place. Things have to be pretty bad for the God of heaven and earth. to come down off the throne and rescue. And you see, this is really important tonight then when we consider the justice and the judgment of God. Of course, today in the church and the challenges that we face, this is why love doesn't penetrate anyone anymore. This is why love is just not that amazing anymore. This is why we try to put amazing, you know, back into grace so we can sing amazing grace with real meaning. The reality is that people have lost the greatness of it because they don't have a conception anymore of sin and they don't have a conception anymore of the predicament that they're in and how bad things really are. That's what concerns me in everything that is going on right now. There's no real concern for the most important problem that people have. There's no real concern of what is soon to come. We're worried about fixing America. But what about fixing the human heart? They'll never get it. And it breaks our hearts. And so that's why Lord's Day 4 is so important. Because what it's doing is it's helping us to take seriously what is to come. That we, when we transition into the grace section and understand the gospel, are overwhelmed by the love of God. You can't witness to somebody. You can't evangelize somebody and run up and tell them God loves you and God has a wonderful plan for your life. Why wouldn't you accept him? Why would he accept him? Everything's great in that presentation. And that's why Lord's Day 4 is so important. Now, in the particular Lord's Day that's in front of us, it's helpful to go through this sort of systematically and in a way that helps us to have a flow of thought in this. And it's dealing with the issue of the fairness of God. Is God unjust? We looked at that last time. Is God unjust for this predicament that we are in? And you'll remember last time, did God create man so wicked and perverse? You see there that the authors were very concerned because in any presentation of the Christian message, it's easy to sideline it and to set it aside with the issue of simply blaming God for all of this. And that's why the framers of the Heidelberg were very careful here to answer these important questions. And this question here that comes up, doesn't God do us a great injustice by requiring what he knows we can't do? Pretty important question, isn't it? It's a really important question to think about. Doesn't God do us a great injustice by holding a standard to you, having it preached to you, that he knows you can't keep. Now, whether you know that's another issue. And that's an important question that we have to wrestle with. This was the issue that really ignited the Reformation. This was the issue that troubled Luther so much because he wrestled deeply with this great problem. It haunted Luther because he had a good enough understanding of who he is and he had a good enough understanding of who God is and this terrible predicament then that if God is that holy And God is that just, and he demands absolute and complete perfection. I've got a great problem. I haven't done it. So that's the problem, is that we really don't think about the problem. And that's why the law of God is so important in this regard. The law was not new at Sinai. And I think you'll remember last time that beautiful thing was said in the previous section there, that did God create man like this, so wicked and perverse? And I've always loved to ponder and think about, just for a moment, the beautiful truth there that absolutely not God created him good in his own image. We looked at some of that in true righteousness and holiness. But this is the absolute wonderful truth that happened at creation, that God created him to know him and to love him with all his heart. the summary of the law was right there, the essence of the law in the Garden of Eden. That Adam would love God with all his heart, that he would love his neighbor. And that's an important thing to acknowledge, that as soon as sin entered in, that sinful nature was now propagated at conception to all of his children, to all of us. We looked at, I don't have to teach my children to be sinners. They come out sinners, and they're good at it. they like rolling in the mud. And the mud is sin. That's what we're good at. So sin entered in, and sin caused this whole problem we looked at, original sin, and we looked at the choice that Adam made. And again, that's why here the question helps us with that, that no, God created Adam good, and he created him with this actual ability to love him. It was a good creation. He looked at Adam and he said, he's good. I'm pleased with how I've made him. And if God's pleased, it's a good creation act. He was able to love God. He was able not to sin. And that's what makes what happens so tragic, doesn't it? And I think this is something that we, by and large, have forgotten in our day. The question then is whether God has simply lightened the standard. See, that's how most people think they're going to relate to God on that day. Most people think in this world, and even in large parts of Christianity today, that the way that God relates to us is, hey, I've done my best, and I hope that the good that I've done in this life simply will outweigh the bad. That's the way that they look at the relationship with God. Or they don't see that there's too much wrong with their life. They may realize there's problems, but they don't have this sense of the terrible predicament that they have created and that they are in. But the issue that God hasn't lessened the standard. That standard is important. I often will see the bumper sticker, you know, it says, not perfect, just forgiven. Have you saw that? Would that bother you? I heard the other day, God is not after perfect people. Is that true? Well, I'm far from perfect. That's why I need the perfection of another. But see, the idea behind a lot of these statements, the way that the gospel is presented, is that God has set things aside. God has set the standard aside. And that God just accepts us just as we are. Well, the standard has to be dealt with. The standard has to be kept. And that's what's forgotten in the presentation of the gospel. So this is an important subject. And I think we can prove this. We don't just do this anywhere. We try it. You'll remember years ago, I think it was about 2012 when I'd come here, and I had brought the whole family. My kids were quite young at that time and brought the whole family down to Escondido. And I was going to come and candidate for the call here. And I remember we'd get in the car and we're heading down to Seattle. And I get in a zone there that I didn't know. And all I remember was one of my kids, I can't remember who, said, Dad, there's some really neat lights in the back of the window. Remember that? Remember that story? I said, those aren't neat lights, son. I'm in trouble right now. So we pulled over. And I remember what I distinctively pulled on the side of the road. I even told him I was a pastor hoping I'd get out of this. I remember what the cop said to me. The cop said, do you think, pastor, that your ignorance of the speed limit makes you less guilty of breaking the law? Oh man, that's a really good moment. I got to preach that moment because that's exactly, no, give me the ticket, and he did. I should have submitted it to Escondido is what I should have done. But that was a covenant of works relationship. There was a standard. I broke the law. He didn't have to show me mercy. The standard was broken. And we live like this all the time. We know that's how society works. Now, we may try to change that and alter that, but that's what law is. Law is law. Law says this is wrong. Law says speed limit 25, and I have a choice. And I may go and break that law. But that means I'm a lawbreaker. I may get away with it in this life. But the question is, is does a perfect just judge let anything go? And that's why this is so important. I think we forget that when the law was originally given on Sinai, it was not a good experience for people. I tried to help you to understand that we have certain ways we use the law of God. We're going to be able to look at the third use and the way of gratitude as redeemed people, how we live thankfully before the Lord and the law becomes, because we're not anti-nomians, we're not anti-law. We love the law of God. We cherish the law of God. It reflects God's holy character. We want to live the law of God. We want to do the law of God. But in its first and proper use, that's a scary standard if you don't see your problem. And then if you do, the question is, who are you looking to? And you'll remember when the law was given on Sinai, when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes and the lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled and they stood far off and said to Moses, you speak to us and we will listen, but don't let God speak to us lest we die. Where's that fear anymore? Where's that trembling fear anymore? That I've offended a holy God and that that has left me in the most dangerous position I could ever be in. It's lost. But it doesn't change the reality. God's standard's not gone. The standard is the same. Guess what that standard is? Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything perfectly. This is what he's saying in that. To not do everything written in the book of the law. That was the standard that was announced. God never let it up. God never let it up. And I think you see this in the Sermon on the Mount. Surely it provides us an ethical standard for those who are in the kingdom and for those who should live as a righteous people. There is no doubt. That's not challenging that. But in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave that really strong statement, be perfect for your heavenly Father is perfect. That's not a sliding statement. In other words, that's not a statement of do your best, God will do the rest. And that's how you see Jesus come along with the law. You survey it, and Jesus says, do you think I've come to abolish the law and the prophets? I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill. For I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota or not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. And you better not relax him, because your righteousness needs to be better than that of the most, at least in your eyes, moral and upright and churchy people you think of are the most righteous before God, the Pharisees. You better be better than them. To which they would have all said, oh no. They've memorized 613 of them. Jesus goes on. You've heard that it was said you shall not murder. Whoever murders will be liable to the judgment. I say to you, you got a much bigger problem than that if whoever is angry with his brother is liable for the judgment. And whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. Whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. These aren't suggestions, are they? You've heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery. I've never committed adultery. I've never gone out and committed adultery on my wife. Hold on a second, pastor. I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. That's a sweeping indictment of a standard, isn't it? He's not just taking how they externalize the law. He gets to the spirit of the law, and he goes right to the recesses of the heart and then says, that's where it's broken. For out of the heart proceeds murder, adultery, fornication, theft. I mean, go down the line. In a divorcing culture, whoever divorces his wife, he said, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual morality, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. How many arguments have we had over marriage and divorce in this culture? Jesus is casting oaths, retaliation. I mean, you just go through the Sermon on the Mount, so much so that Machen would read this and say, so is the whole of the discourse. The law of the Sermon on the Mount in itself can produce only despair. Strange indeed is the complacency with which modern man can say that the golden rule and the ethical principles of Jesus are all that they need. In reality, the requirements for entrance into the kingdom of God are what Jesus declares them to be. If they are, we're all undone. We have not attained to the external righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. How are we to attain to the righteousness of the heart which Jesus demands? You hear that? That's how Machen read the Sermon on the Mount. And that's what the Heidelberg's saying to us tonight. That's what the scriptures are saying to us all over the place. There's a standard God has not lessened. There's a standard that God has not set aside. Jesus did this everywhere. Think of the pompous Pharisee who came to him, the lawyer, put him to the test. Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Never a question to ask Jesus. Better question, how do I become saved? Acts 2. Tell me what I need to do. What's written in the law? Says Jesus. How do you read it? What a great question. What do you read in the law? What do you think this is? Do you think they're just suggestions? And he answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind. Your neighbor is yourself. What a great answer. And Jesus said, you've answered correctly. Do this and you'll live. That's what Galatians 3 is saying. Do it and you'll live. That's what's quoted here in the second part of this. Do this and you'll live. And you see, the effect of this then is to help us understand the predicament that we're in. That's what we need today. And if we understand this, praise the Lord, because then you've turned your eyes to Jesus and you've seen the mediator and you've been rescued. But this is what people need today, isn't it? This is what's important for people to understand. This is what makes it a challenge for people to understand. That's why the Spirit must do this work in somebody's heart. But you'll notice here then, if all of this has been, we've robbed ourselves, if Adam robbed himself and all his descendants of these gifts, that leaves us then in a further dangerous predicament, doesn't it? God's just. Maybe we don't talk enough about the justice of God, but I fear we talk about it in all the wrong places today. The culture cries out for justice. And I think it's terribly sad when there's injustice in the culture and in society that a law and a system of law put in place in a place is failing. That's a tragic thing, but that is not our biggest problem. The biggest problem is the injustice of our sin against God. And you'll notice the second question there, will God permit that disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? And the answer to that is God can't. In other words, he's terribly angry with the sin that we are born with as well as our actual sins in life. And that's not a flying off the handle kind of anger. It's a just response to the breaking of the law. A just response to it. We all want a just judge in this life, don't we? I remember sitting at a basketball game years ago, And, you know, I love basketball and I was up there and all of a sudden the refs were really calling the game horribly. And all these guys around me are yelling at the refs and I got into it. You know what I expected from those refs? A perfectly called game. Well, that's hypocrisy, isn't it? I expected a perfectly called game. And everyone was mad in the stands at the bad calls of the ref. And yet with God, we think his standard, it's okay, we let it go. But we expect this justice in society. You could have terrible things happen to you. You could have awful things that would ruin your life, and somebody could kill a loved one, murder a loved one, and you would go into the court, and can you imagine a judge saying, ah, it's okay, let it go. How would you feel about that? You'd be furious. What about a holy, perfect, no sin, nothing profane, dwells in unapproachable light? What about an offense coming before him? We don't think about that. And that's what this question and answer is helping us with tonight, the justice of God, and that we have this problem that's been presented to us, is that we came into this world, and it wasn't learned. Sin wasn't learned just by imitation. Sin was propagated by our first parents right to us, a corrupt human nature, so that we come in conception, born into it, and then we live this whole life, and what we've done our whole life is accumulate and accumulate and accumulate and accumulate sin. That's Romans 2. You treasure up, he says, wrath for yourself for the day of wrath. That's a big treasury of sin that he's talking about. And that's the problem that the scriptures describe of our lives. And here's the problem. God has to answer this. God has to answer this. God has to punish this. isn't great on a curve. God will punish them by a just judgment, both now and in eternity. That's why the ministry is serious, by the way. The Lord says so many comforting things to us in his word, but these are also truths we have to be willing to hear because none of that will matter if we haven't first had the issue of the just judgment of God in our sin addressed. in our lives. On the last day, there's going to be a great white throne judgment. That's what I read in Matthew 25, that books are opened. And there's two books there. I've always been amazed at that. There's the book of life. There's not one deed written in that book, just names, the book of names. All those purchased by the Lamb. And then another book's going to be opened. And in that book is every record of every sin that was ever committed against the majesty of God. And all of it will be laid open and bare for an account. That is scary. And it's meant to be. And you'll notice that what's said here is that God punishes them with a just judgment both now and in eternity. Do you ever look at the world and think what in the world is going on? It's Romans 1. Romans 1 says very clearly, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. For what may be made known of God is manifest to them, for God has shown it to them, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes have been seen by the things which are made. His eternal power and Godhead. And what did they do instead? They suppressed it all. Therefore, what did he do? He gave people over to what they wanted. And what do we see in that? People running into every form of lawlessness in this world. Can you imagine if God gave us what we wanted? That's a judgment. And so in the world, we turn on the news and we see all this sadness and we see all these things happening and we see lawlessness prevailing. And what we're seeing is exactly what is being said here. We don't think about that enough. But that's what's happening. And so the standard is this, this is what's happened. And the final question then tonight is, isn't God also merciful? Yes, he's merciful. But before, we're going to talk about mercy. We need to make sure we understand justice. His justice demands that sin committed against his supreme majesty be punished with the supreme penalty, eternal punishment of body and soul. We have to understand that. That's what Matthew 25 is describing. And that's what Jesus said when he said that there is a place where the fire is not quenched, Whatever hell is, it is a just judgment from God. Now, I don't know if you anticipated a sermon on all of this tonight, but I hope you see how important it is. Because if that is true, and it is true, we can't change the truth of it. Do you see how wonderful it is when he announces to the ends of the earth, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whoever believes in him will not perish. They will not face that judgment. But they will enter and receive everlasting life as a gift freely by grace. Isn't that the best news ever? You'll never see it that great until you've walked through the valley of the shadow of death as looking at our guilt and our misery as this helps us to see. But when you see it, you say, how sweet is the gospel? How great is the love of God? He didn't just set it aside and say, I overlook it. He punished it in his son. He pinned him to the cross. And he poured out all of the wrath we deserved on him so that we become the righteousness of God in him. Best news ever. You'd think the world would say, think about this. He's come down here. He's lived a perfect life. He's died. He's announcing forgiveness to the ends of the earth. Why wouldn't anyone want this? Because these words are spirit and they are life, as John 6 said. And tonight, if you believe the gospel, you are the most blessed person on the face of this earth. You know that? You are the most blessed person on the face of this earth. God loves you and God has answered your misery and God has set you free and you are the happiest of all people in a world that has no answers and is trying to seek for answers to this mess. God has answered you in the righteousness of his son. Let's praise him together tonight in prayer. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, What an unspeakable gift you've given to us. Thank you. Sounds so weak to even say such a thing. But from the depths of our hearts, thank you for your steadfast, covenant, faithful love. For the judgment that you unleash and will unleash on this world and in the final judgment is righteous. And with David, we say you are blameless when you judge and just when you speak. for we deserve it. We're no better than anyone else. This is what we chose too in Adam. And yet you returned love on us. You returned Jesus to us so that we might be a happy people, a blessed people of whom it can be said, now we are righteous before the throne room of God and will stand on that day because of that righteous sacrifice. So we give you all praise and we give you all thanks. You are a faithful Father, but only we pray, O Lord, that in this sad time where we see your just judgments falling on a world in darkness, that you be merciful in this late hour by your Spirit, that the Spirit again would convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, that they might see the beauties of the Savior. In Jesus' name, we pray these things. Amen.