Good Judgment & Truth

Fred R. Coulter—November 14, 2009

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Why we need good judgment and truth. Looking at the events that have been taking place in the world and in the United States, we ask the question: What's going on? How are these things taking place? When we heard that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was going to be moved from Gitmo to New York City to be tried in a civilian court, everyone knew that this was an insane judgment. In fact, even the commentators said, 'This is the worst judgment that an American president has made.'

You tie all of that on with all of the other things that are happening, and we need to ask the question: What is going on and how is this coming down so fast, especially right on the heels of the terrorist shooting in Fort Hood, Texas. What is going on?

Let's come to Isaiah 25. Let's see what this tells us that is happening to the world. As we're turning there, remember that when Jesus was tempted by Satan the devil, Satan told Him, 'If you will bow down and worship me, I will give you all the nations of the world for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomsoever I will.' So what is happening? Why are these events taking place? Why do we hear the imminent, or however close, bankruptcy of the United States is taking place? As I mentioned in the sermon before this, for every dollar of taxes coming in, the federal government is paying $2.38 out. Think of that! How long can that go on? Why are we so blinded to these things? Why do we hear words from a President that you think mean one thing, but mean another to him? What is going on?

Well, as we've covered before, a lot of this is punishment because of the sins of the people. And the question is: Will fickle Israel repent enough that God will push some of these events off into the future a little further?

Now here in Isaiah 25:7: "And He will destroy in this mountain… [That is, when Christ returns and sets up the Kingdom of God and the government over the world.] …the face of the covering which covers all people, and the veil that is woven over all nations." This agrees with what Rev. 12:9 says that Satan the devil has 'deceived the whole world' and

  • he has done it by lies
  • he has done it by deceit
  • he has done it by the kind of judgments and practices that we see coming out of not only the government in the United States, but the governments in the world.

Let's come back and let's see some things here in the book of Proverbs. What we need to do, and how we need to lead our lives, and how—and we hope—that there will be enough repentance by enough people that will certainly hear. God honors repentance whenever anyone repents. That's doesn't mean it's repentance unto salvation, it just means repentance from their sins. What this is, this is a battle between righteousness and wickedness, between Truth and error, between Truth and lies. There's just a pall of covering that covers most people in the world. There are some few who understand some of the Truths. There are some few who know that things are not going right, but how much leverage and how much power they have to stop it, we don't know.

Proverbs 13:5: "The righteous hates lying, but the wicked one is loathsome and comes to shame…. [Now eventually righteousness will win, but unfortunately, as we have learned in the book of Isaiah, that within the midst of all of this evil going on in the world, there is a small remnant that God is working with, that He is dealing with, that He is concerned about, and they are important to Him.] ...Righteousness guards the one who is upright in the way, but wickedness overthrows the sinner" (vs 5-6).

So that's what we're seeing here in America. It's like we've covered before, as God judges the nation, He weighs in the balance the number of people that are righteous and the number of people that are wicked, and so judges the nations. They're right now hanging in the balance.

  • What will the people do?
  • Will they really change?
  • Will they really repent enough?
  • What is going to happen?
  • Or will the continued correction and elimination of our government continue at this breathtaking speed that we're seeing right before our eyes?

I was reminded this morning, remember years ago when Nikita Khrushchev came to the United Nations, took off his shoe and beat it on the desk and said, 'We will bury you!' And we said when the 'Berlin Wall' fell, 'We buried communism.' But did we? Or is it more coming to the fore than ever before?

Come down here to v 23—here's what happens when things are not done correctly. "…but there is that which is destroyed for lack of judgment." That's what we're seeing

  • lack of judgment in the Congress
  • lack of judgment in the administration
  • lack of judgment by those who are supposed to be the religious teachers
  • lack of judgment in people's lives.

They don't know which end is up. They ran a survey and said, 'Who's the vice president of the United States?' Most of them didn't know and laughed about it. That's the attitude that's out there. So just like it is right now, spending in debt so much, $2.38 to $1 is destroying because there no judgment to stop the deficit spending.

Come to Proverbs 12:17—here's what's going to happen here. "He who speaks Truth shows forth righteousness, but a false witness deceit…. [That's all we seem to hear and see coming out of the government, coming out of the world leaders. Look at the U.N., terrible example.] …There are those who speak like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals. The lips of Truth shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment" (vs 17-19).

Now let's see how long that moment is. Let's see what's going to happen, because just like Hitler said or was it Goebbels, 'The bigger the lie; the more often you repeat it, the more people will believe it. And that which they hear first, is what they believe.' So I forget who said it, but they said this: 'Truth travels at 25 miles an hour. Lies travel at 500 miles an hour.' That's what we see going on today at the speed of light, because it's all digital and recorded. We need to think about what's going on!

Verse 20: "Deceit is in the heart of those who imagine evil… [And we still don't know what's in the heart of those who have won the election with the super majority. We still don't know what's in the heart of those thirty-six czars who have been put in place over the Cabinet members. We're not told.] …but to counselors of peace there is joy?"

Let's come to Proverbs 17—this also tells us an awful lot about politics and judgment, and so forth. Now think about the upcoming trial in New York City. What if you get a radical left-leaning judge who says, 'This man,'—because he would consider water boarding torture—'was tortured. Therefore, all the information he gave you after being tortured is null and void and can't be used as evidence against him.' Remember, he was released from Egyptian prison, because they couldn't convict him though he was their ringleader of the assassination of Anwar Sadat, for signing the peace treaty with Israel. Same man! So anything can happen! Any volunteers to go on the jury? Probably say, 'No, I don't want my home blown up by a suicide bomber. I don't want to be shot on the street.'

Proverbs 17:23: "A wicked man takes a bribe out of the bosom to pervert the ways of justice." Isn't that exactly what is happening with the spending of the money, the deficit spending that is going on.

  • Where is it going?
  • What is happening?
  • How is this being set up in an international banking system?
  • What is going to happen to our economy?
  • What is going to happen to the employment situation?
  • How are these things going to come down?

We don't know.

Proverbs 19:28: "An ungodly witness scorns justice… [Now we could take that at an individual level where we have corrupt prosecutors, corrupt defense attorneys, corrupt officials, corrupt judges. A lot of people are put into prison that shouldn't be there. A lot of people who should be there are not there.] …and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity…. [But notice this concerning judgment]: …Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the backs of fools" (vs 28-29). That's where we are, seeing it happen right before our eyes, needing judgment. We'll talk about righteous judgment. If you don't have the series that we've done on it, Judge Righteous Judgment, by all means write for it, because that tells you what needs to be done.

Isn't it a shame that news gets so bad that you don't even want to watch it. Now that's the height of deceit—isn't it, because you won't know what's going on. There are some few honest men out there who want to do right, you take one of the telecasters on CNN: Lou Dobbs. He resigned, he quit, he said, 'So long, bye-bye, sayonara, I'm gone. I can't speak the truth here anymore. There are too many people after me, so I am not going to take it any longer.' Where he goes, I don't know, but you see there is one man who spoke the truth enough that it would wake people up, who's been eliminated because of the pressure against him. They probably wanted to get rid of him. That's why they put the pressure on him.

Proverbs 28:4: "Those who forsake the law praise the wicked… [That sound like politics? Sound like religion? Yes!] …but those who keep the law contend against them…. [The unfortunate thing is there are so few people who keep the law. There are many who have some values, moral values. And all those moral values have to be based upon the laws of God. So they do contend with them. They do speak the truth, as far as they know the truth. Now they may not know the Truth of God, but at least that's what they intend to do.] …Evil men do not understand justice [judgment]... [They don't understand it. They live in their own narcissistic world and their artificial realism that they create in their own minds is what they are going by. And everybody else takes the back seat.] …but those who seek the LORD understand all things" (vs 4-5). We can see it; we can understand it. We can see what we need to do, we can see how we need to do it, and how important it is that we love God, keep His commandments, love each other, and continue doing the things that we're dong and not let anything deter us.

Let's come to the book of Hosea. So here's what's happened to us. Here's how we started out. Hosea 10:1: "Israel was a luxuriant vine… [Yes, led the world.] …which produced fruit freely…. [And we did. We've done more to bring good to the world, to help people, to lift nations out of war and poverty. We have done more to put down dictators and tyrants than any other nation in the world—luxuriant vine—everyone looked to America, the leader of the world. We had moral standards, we had ethics, as far as the world was concerned. And one ambassador said one time, 'You know the difference between the United States and other nations of the world is this: You have God, you have God in your Constitution and in your laws. Most of the other nations do not. That's why you're blessed.' And now we're turning our backs on it and we're losing those blessings.] …According to the multitude of his fruit, he has increased the altars…. [That means going astray with religious things instead of serving God.] …Accordingly, they have made beautiful images after the goodness of his land." Idolatry!

"Their heart is divided… [That's the first thing that happens. When you have your thoughts divided, and the Bible talks about double-minded person. A double-minded person is one who wants to continue in sin and expect the blessings of God. A double-minded person is one who has enough religion, but when they get in trouble they run to God, but they're far enough into the world that they can avoid Him until they get in trouble. That's double-mindedness, and this is what has happened.] …Their heart is divided; now they shall be guilty. He [God] shall break down their altars, and He shall spoil their images" (v 2). That means we're under God's judgment.

Think about everything that you see in America and Britain and the western world today; that is all because of punishment for leaving God. Our enemies have been sent against us. They have infiltrated us in every area. As far as the radical jihadist, what do they call that, the Islamic fascists, they've infiltrated even Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, the Army, the Navy, the Coast Guard, everything. Will there be any more of the things like was at Fort Hood?

What happens when a person takes citizenship as an American? He is to renounce allegiance to any king, any government, any potentate. If they have allegiance to Mohammed or the pope, or any one above the allegiance to America, then they are the ones who could become problems. And that's how you infiltrate and undermine. So we don't know what's going to happen.

I heard a comment on the radio this morning going up north. A man saying, 'Well, I'm certainly glad that we're not going to put all Muslims in the service under surveillance now, because that would be un-American.' Oh! Really! How many are in there who are un-American in heart and are taking advantage of the things waiting for the day that they can do another thing like the massacre and the terrorist attack at Fort Hood? We don't know.

Verse 4: "They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant." Now we just heard before we started what may happen with the Copenhagen Agreement that is coming up this December. There are many signs which show that this is starting of a world government, actually saying there will be a world government. Well, it's kind of like I said with the mark of the beast when it first came out with the digital angel and I said, 'The mark of the beast is here.' Everyone got all excited. They wondered how soon it would be implemented. I said, 'It'll take years.' Because this will then become very natural in the time that it is accepted by the people. Just like world government. You've got to hear to knock down the barriers that are there. So they're going to hear it, but that's their goal. And it's going to take place because that's what the prophecies of the Bible say because of the deception that covers the whole world like a woven web.

"They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field" (v 4). Meaning, that their judgments are so bad, it's like drinking hemlock. 'Here drink this, it will help you. This will make you strong, this will make you vigorous.' And you drop dead. So that's what it's referring to; it kills everything all around.

Let's come to another minor prophet, Habakkuk. Go forward a little bit, that's just before Zephaniah. Sometimes we don't read these, but there are some very interesting things that are here. Here's what's happened when you have wicked people with other agendas, who are running their own agenda. They don't tell anybody else. They don't tell you what's going on. How many have heard of Ron Paul? All of you have heard of him. What are you told about Ron Paul? 'Well, he's a kook.' He has some ideas which are not good; he has other ones which are good. He's been trying for years to audit the Federal Reserve, which would be a very good idea, because we don't know how much they have and how much they hold a stranglehold against the government. It's not a federal bank. It is an independent international banking system that creates money for the United States Government by lending it to the government on which they must pay interest. What a deal—huh? That's how money's created. So, yes, they'd be willing to have all this debt, because when it comes due they own everything! That's how you enslave people.

Habakkuk 1:1: "The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw." When you watch the news do you feel burdened? I did. I felt burdened. I was watching the report of this decision to send this Sheikh Mohammed to New York City for trial. I don't know how that's going to come out. Then the President didn't have enough courage to stand up and really enunciate it. He gave it to Secretary, Holder, of the Justice Department, then ran off on a trip on Friday. Always do the bad things on Friday, so by Monday they'll forget it. What do you have between Friday and Monday for people to forget? You've got all of the goings out on Friday night, the dances, the cocktail parties, and then you've got basketball, and football and hockey. Then on Saturday you have all of the college games and then on Sunday you have football from ten o'clock in the morning to ten o'clock at night. Then Monday night you have Monday Night Football and by Tuesday you don't even know what's gone on. You may remember the scores, you may remember the outstanding plays, but you don't know what's going on in the world. So it's a burden.

Verse 2—maybe you've felt like this: "O LORD, how long shall I cry and You will not hear?.... [O God, answer, what's going to be done?] …I cry out to You of violence, and You do not save! Why do You show me wickedness, and trouble? For destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention rises up…. [Look at all the difficulties that are there.] …Therefore, the law has become ineffective…" (vs 2-4).

So what do they do? 'When the law becomes ineffective, we'll get rid of that law because no one's keeping it.' Just like they're saying now, 'All the tax money is going down, where are we going to get the revenue?' 'I know what we'll do, we'll legalize marijuana and tax it. Isn't that a great idea? Look at the money we will have!' And further destroy the people. Isn't that true? And even Schwarzenegger is, 'Well, I'm leaning that way.' But with a $25-billion deficit facing the California government again this year, he may lean real hard. But just think what that will do. How can you charge someone for driving drunk under the influence of marijuana if it's legal? Now they tried it in Holland, about destroyed the country. They tried being nice to the Muslims in Holland and in Denmark, and someone makes a remark against Mohammed and they're targeted to be killed.

"Why do you show me wickedness and trouble? For destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention rises up. Therefore the law has become ineffective, and judgment does not always go forth…" (vs 3-4). And you think, how could they judge that? You can see it in many judgments. Look at the case back there in Cleveland, Ohio, where this man was let out of jail. He was a known sex offender, committed rape, and now they found out that he killed eleven women, stuck their bodies in various parts of the house. One woman kept complaining, 'I smell this smell. I don't know where it's coming from. What is this?' So she changed all the plumbing in her house, changed all the toilets in her house. She thought maybe it was coming up out of the sewer, but it was the neighbor who had eleven decomposing bodies stuffed in his house and buried in the ground. Nobody knew anything. How did they let this man go? God says 'Execute him!' Eliminates the problem—right?

As I've said before, what's going to happen when they don't have enough money to take care of those in prison, and they have to let them out? They can't let them stay in prison and starve to death, which some people might think would not be a bad idea. What's the society going to do then? They're going to come out on a rampage and say, 'Hooray! I'm going to come out here and take all that I want.'

  • they're going to kill, they're going to steal
  • they're going to rob
  • they're going to plunder
  • they're going to take.

There will be no jobs, because there will be 25% unemployment at that time. So what's going to happen then? See what happens when there is not the judgment that needs to be? See what happens when there is perversion of judgment?

"Therefore, judgment goes forth perverted…. [Isn't that something?] …'Look among the nations, and behold and be amazed and stunned; for I [God] will work a work in your days which you will not believe, not even if it is declared to you'" (vs 4-5). Not only the work of preaching the Gospel, but the work of letting the evil judgment come on this world and all nations and all people.

Let's look at some things concerning the wicked. This becomes very important, because there are more wicked people than righteous. There are a lot of goodhearted people out there who want to do well. There are a lot of people who think that these things are horrible. But in their own lives, what do they have? They have grievous sins themselves and all of that is added to it.

Let's come to Isaiah 57. See, wickedness has the upper hand today:

  • wickedness in high places
  • wickedness in places of judgment
  • wickedness in the halls of Congress
  • in the state houses.
  • in the homes of individuals.

God sees all of this. God knows what's going on, and people don't know what's wrong with their lives? Where are they going? What's happening to me? They're not satisfied with anything—divorce, remarriage, live-ins, live-outs, homosexuals, lesbians, all of that—and their lives are all upside down and they don't know what's going on. Here's why:

Isaiah 57:20: "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt…. [Good description. Instead of clear, flowing water out of a spring—a type of righteousness—here comes all this dirt; here comes all this muck; here comes all these ruined lives; here comes all the broken emotions and broken lives and broken kids and broken people.] …There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked'" (vs 20-21). Yet, they go here, they go there, they go everywhere, trying to find some peace and they can't find it.

Here's what God says, Isaiah 58, because of this. Here's what we're to do, here's what our lives are to show by what we do and if people ask us questions, we let them know straightforward. If they're not willing to listen, just say, 'Well, look, I'm going to tell you some things that may sound hard to take on the surface, but I'd like you to please listen and maybe this could help you.' But as far as those who are responsible for teaching, this is what we're to do. As I've mentioned before, there are some radio personalities‑‑Mike Savage—and he actually preaches from the Bible from time-to-time, does quite well with it. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and many others who are out there saying, 'This is wrong, that's wrong, this is not right.' Put Glenn Beck in there, too.

Here's what they're doing, Isaiah 58:1: "'Cry aloud, do not spare… [I think the one who's doing that more than ever is Glenn Beck. After he had his operation and he had to stay at home for five days to recuperate, he came back and he said, 'I was ready to explode and lose more of my insides than the appendix that was taken out to hear all of this foolishness going on.' And he said, 'From now on, I don't care what anybody says, I'm going to tell the truth, I'm going to get those who know the truth.' He also has told people, 'You need to return to God and get on your knees and repent and fast.' God is using them in a way to warn. The question is: Where is the Church of God?] …Cry aloud, do not spare, life up your voice like a ram's horn…" Ever heard a ram's horn? Very irritating! What do you want to do when you hear it? You want to plug your ears.

I remember when we were down in Houston we were in the Holiday Inn and right next to us was another group that was meeting. They actually blew the ram's horn, and on that sermon you could hear the ram's horn through the wall, and they didn't stop. So we had to just suspend services, run down to the manager and say, 'Hey, we appreciate the room, but our neighbors are blowing a ram's horn, can you get us another room?' So they sent us down the hall. But they kept that thing going, must have been on and off for two hours. When you hear the ram's horn, you want to get away from it. One thing about a ram's horn, it gets your attention, because it's never on key!

And do what? "'…and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins….'" (v 1). That's why we have Bible answers. That's what we are going to do, and it's going to be dedicated to

  • the Truth of God
  • the Truth of God's Word
  • the Truth of what is happening

We have to not only warn them, but we have to ask them this: Are you a good Catholic? Are you a good Protestant? Were your parents that way? Do you think that you are fine upstanding person? How much of the Bible do you know? What is your life really like? What would you say if you found out that you are doing things contrary to the Word of God? What would you say if you found out that you believed lies? Then we'll show them the lies they have believed.

"'…and the house of Jacob their sins…. [We're religious people. We have more people going to church, but more sins percentage-wise among churchgoers.] …Yet they seek Me daily, and seem eager to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and one that did not forget the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice [judgment] they seem eager to draw near to God…. [But they don't.] …They say [to God] "Why have we fasted, and You do not see? Why have we afflicted our soul and You take no knowledge?" Behold, in the day of your fast you pursue your business and exploit all your workers…. [What do you mean by that?] …Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness; you cannot fast as you do this day, and expect to make your voice to be heard on high'" (vs 1-4).
So the question is: are you religious, but have you repented? That's the question, so then He shows the kind of fast that He wants: one from the heart, one to break the bands of wickedness. Then He says then He would be with them.

Verse 8: "'Then shall your light break out as the dawn, and your health shall spring out quickly; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, "Here I am." If you take the yoke away from among you, the pointing of the finger, and speaking malice; And if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in darkness, and your gloom shall be as the noonday'" (vs 8-10).

And God will be there to restore you. But notice the condition for it. God says what to do, here's the first thing you do. Are you ready for this? If you think you're righteous, if you think you're Christian, if you think that you are a good Catholic and everything is all right between you and God, notice:

Verse 13: "'If… [condition] …you turn your foot away from the Sabbath, from doing your own desires on My Holy Day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the Holy of the LORD, honorable; and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor pursuing your own desires, nor speaking your own words.'"

  • Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to keep the seventh-day Sabbath called Saturday today, as the day to worship God?
  • Even if it's just in your own home?
  • Even if you are all alone and there's no one else?

God sees you and knows you. That's where you have to start. Forsake your other sins, repent of them, God will forgive you, but if you want to get on God's side, here's how you do it. God will never come to your side unless you're on His side first. Most people don't understand that. They want God to come on their side. God's not going to do it! Notice what'll happen. It'll really be something.

Like I told a man who said, 'How will I know that the Sabbath will benefit me?' So I told him this because he had never kept the Sabbath. I said, 'You do this: Keep the Sabbath every week for a month and every week on the Sabbath, study about the Sabbath day. At the end of the month you will know why you need to keep the Sabbath. I'll come back and see you after the fourth Sabbath.' The first thing he said when I met him, he said, 'I understand the Sabbath.' So are you willing to do that?

Notice what will happen then, v 14: "'Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; and I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.'" God has promised blessings, yet your pastor in your church says if you keep the Sabbath you're under a curse! Now who's lying? God or the man in the pulpit? You have to choose what you will do.

(go to the next track)

Now let's come to Psalm 7—this is quite a Psalm. As I was reading it, I thought, boy! this sure describes things today. As we read the Bible and understand the Truth of the Word of God, let's also remember that Solomon wrote, 'That which has been, is what shall be.' So this is true, because Satan is the same, human nature is the same, the cycles of life are the same, the cycles of righteousness and sin are the same. Let's see what God says. God is judging all the time. Whether you keep the laws of God—how you keep them or don't keep them, or sin—everything you do is a judgment of God, just like the law of gravity. Remember what Jesus said, 'Every idle word.' Now how does God do that? Because everything you've ever experienced—thought, or learned, or talked of, or listened to—is right here somewhere in your brain. That can all be recorded on the spirit of man, and what you are is all recorded there.

God is interested in things, God is involved in the world, involved with the angels, involved with His Holy Spirit, involved with the lives of different people at different levels. God knows what's going on, on the earth. We find in Rev, 5 that there are the seven eyes of God, which are the seven spirits of God, that go to and fro through the earth to see who is seeking God, to see what's going on. God knows.

Psalm 7:11: "God is a righteous judge… [Not like people, not like evil men] …a righteous judge, and a God Who has indignation every day…. [against the wicked] …If he does not turn, He will whet His sword… [that means to sharpen it] …He has bent His bow and made it ready. Yea, He has also prepared for Himself weapons of death; He has made His arrows fiery shafts. Behold, he labors with iniquity, and he has conceived mischief, and has brought forth falsehood…. [So God knows when this takes place. God understands that.] (Now the wicked here): …He dug a pit and hollowed it out, and has fallen into the ditch which he made…. [Isn't it true, the wicked get caught in their own traps, they get caught in their own devices?] …His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violence shall come down upon his own crown. I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High" (vs 11-17. So God is there. He knows what's going on.

Let's come back here to Exodus 23. Let's talk about some good judgment here for a little bit. Those of us in the Church ought to be able to make righteous judgment, ought to be able to make good judgment. What have we learned? How do we know? How can we, with the Word of God, understand what is right, what is wrong, and make good judgment? Here's a command for us to follow and it's right here in the Old Testament.

Exodus 23:6: "'You shall not pervert the judgment due to your poor in his cause…. [There's another place which says, 'You shall not favor the rich in his cause.' But you're to handle everything properly and with proper judgment. That's why we did the series, Judge Righteous Judgment.] …Keep far from a false matter…" (vs 6-7). That'll keep you out of a lot of trouble. How many people were involved in a false matter and they didn't even know it?

I thought about that when I saw on television the big auctions that the federal marshals are holding today with Bernie Madoff and his wife's belongings—a whole room of riches and down to little teeny trinkets. They all got ripped off; they all lost everything. But if you kept far from a false matter—and how many times have you heard, 'If it's too good to be true, it's probably not.' Good advice!

"…and do not kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked…. [Yet that's what we hear all the day.] …And you shall take no bribe, for the bribe blinds the wise and perverts the words of the righteous'" (v 8). They are called lobbyists. Yes, indeed! So there are some very good laws there concerning righteousness and goodness and doing what God wants us to do.

Let's come here to Isaiah 30. Again it talks about God's judgment. God's judgment is right. God considers the heart; God considers the circumstances. Even Jesus said, 'He who knows to do right and does it not, he shall be beaten with many stripes. He who does not know right and still does what is wrong, he will be beaten with few stripes.' Isaiah 30, here we talk about the judgment of God. As I mentioned, we're all under the judgment of God all the time. Even Peter acknowledged that. He said, 'Judgment begins with the house of God. If the righteous be saved with much difficulty, where will the sinner and the ungodly be?'

Isaiah 30:18: "And therefore, will the LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you…. [That's if you will repent.] …And therefore, He will be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you, for the LORD is a God of justice… [or judgment] …blessed are all those who wait for Him." Now remember what happened to Saul, when Samuel told him, 'You wait till I come. When I come, we'll offer the offering.' Saul got all impatient, he couldn't wait for the time that Samuel said, so he had to go ahead and give the offerings himself, which he shouldn't have done because he wasn't a priest. And five minutes later Samuel shows up and Samuel says, 'What have you done?' Well, I couldn't wait. I had to get it done now. Lesson: Never force God! He'll work it out in His time. Wait on the Lord; He'll take care of it. Also remember, that you can't tell God what to do anyway. 'Blessed are all those who wait for Him.'

Let's look at Isaiah 42. This is talking about Christ, and put His Spirit in Him, preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles. Now notice His ministry. Stop and think of this: The most important event that happened, the ministry of Jesus Christ, was only three and a half years. Out of all the history of mankind, three and a half years. That's why the prophecy was it would be a short work, but look what came out of it. So that's why we have to trust in God. Notice also concerning what He would not do: He was not a politician, He wasn't seeking votes. That's why the Sadducees and Pharisees and Herodians didn't want Him.

Isaiah 54:2: "'He shall not cry out, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street…. [Yet, He preached everywhere. He didn't do that; He was not harmful.] …A bruised reed He shall not break, and a smoking wick He shall not quench; in truth He shall bring forth justice [judgment]" (vs 2-3). Did He do that? Yes, indeed!

You go through‑‑when was the last time you studied about Christ in the Gospels? Now if you don't have The Harmony of the Gospels, write for it, we'll send it to you no cost. Go through and study what Jesus taught. Go through and look at all the commands that Jesus gave. Go through and see that yes, these prophecies were fulfilled. Look at all the prophecies scattered through the whole Bible about Jesus, and yet His ministry was only three and a half years long. Even something more astounding was John the Baptist, his ministry was only nine months long and he was gone from the scene; yet, he was the greatest of all the prophets.

Now notice, v 4: "'He shall not fail nor be discouraged…" So that's what we need to also realize in times like this. God is not going to fail us. We don't need to be discouraged. I think that one of the best things that happened this week, after hearing all of the oppressive news, was for the Sabbath to come and for us to get our minds on the Bible and get our minds on God and turn off that wicked TV—and it's getting more wicked. Think about God and understand what He has, because the Sabbath is the most important day for us because it is a spiritual event. We have the Spirit of God, God sends His Spirit to be with us. When we read the words of God, Jesus said, 'They are Spirit and they are life.' So we derive things and learn things from the Word of God on the Sabbath day and even in teaching and preaching, we learn and say and do things which encourage us, which help us, which get us through these difficult things. Think what it would be like if you had to go through all of these things and not know about the Sabbath, and not know about God, and not know some of the conclusions that are going to happen to these things, and you're just kind of hung up in the air in all of this desperation and frustration. A lot of people can't handle it.

"'He shall not fail nor be discouraged until He has set justice [judgment] in the earth; and the isles shall wait for His law.'…. [There it is again. One of the most important things is the laws of God. Now notice:] …Thus says the LORD God, He who created the heavens and stretched them out, spreading forth the earth and its offspring; He Who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it" (vs 4-5). Now think about this not only concerning Christ, Who it's talking about, but concerning us because remember what Jesus said: 'You did not choose Me, but I personally have chosen you.' So think about that. God has chosen you.

Verse 6: "'I the LORD have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand, and will keep You, and give You for a covenant of the people, for a Light to the Gentiles…. [That's the whole mission of preaching the Gospel—is it not? Yes, it is!] …To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness out of the prison house'" (vs 6-7).

That's why we have our 'prison ministry.' We have prepared the paperback version of the Bible and all of our paperback books. We give out free to those who are incarcerated. As Dolores said, 'What do you have to hope for while you're in prison?' If you don't have God, if you don't have the Word of God, if you don't have something to help you, what are you going to look to? We've helped a lot of those who are in prison. We don't necessarily intend that they all be converted, but we intend that they may come to know God enough that they will live in a decent, law-abiding way and won't have to go back in jail. So we're happy to do that. Now we have some who are leading pretty successful lives after getting out of jail through the things that we have sent them and the letters that they have sent to us.

There was one man who really got his life squared around by reading the Bible. And the day before he got out of prison, someone stole his haircutting equipment and he had a job all lined up to be a haircutter. So when he got out, he had nothing he could do. So he wrote me and said, 'Can you help me? I need $150 to buy some haircutting equipment.' So I sent it to him. He got his haircutting equipment, he's got his own business, and he was even able to move out of Virginia into North Carolina. So if we can help that way, that's fine. If God deals in their lives and calls them even beyond that, that's wonderful. Let's hope He does. So God is there.

"'I am the LORD; that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to graven images'" (v 8). So if you're a good Catholic, think about that the next time you walk into your cathedral and you think that you're right with God and that God is there; you'd better analyze that a little bit more—or if you're a Buddhist, or if you're a Hindu, or whatever; likewise, with the Protestants. He's not going to give His glory to another. What's another day that both of them worship on? Sunday. God let's us know. He wants us to understand. He wants us to realize what's going on.

Psalm 119 is something that everyone needs to read all the way through, every single verse. This will tell you about the laws of God and why they are important. This will tell you why you need to serve and love God and keep His commandments and His statutes, and so forth. You will notice as you look at this that above each of these eight verse segments there is a Hebrew letter. In the Hebrew alphabet there are twenty-two letters, so there are twenty-two eight-verse segments to Psalm 119. It comes out to the total number of verses of 176 verses. What is astounding about this, this is called 'a song of degrees,' or steps. The choir at the temple, all the Levites, sang this Psalm by memory.

Let's look at the very first verse—Psalm 119—right above it is Aleph, that's A. Next section, Beth; next section Gimel; next section, Daleth. What's interesting about this, the way this is composed is every sentence in Aleph starts out with aleph; every sentence in Beth, starts out with beth; every sentence in Gimel, starts out with gimel, all the way through—not in English, doesn't do it in English. The translation into English is not the same. So don't look at it and say, 'How is that? You say the first word starts out with aleph and in English is starts out with blessed, that's B, that's the second one of the alphabet.' We're going by the Hebrew alphabet.

Let's notice here Psalm 119:1: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD…. [Now if you're a Protestant, you've heard you're cursed. God says you're blessed.] …Blessed are they who keep His testimonies and who seek Him with the whole heart" (vs 1-2). That's an interesting one—isn't it? Let's ask a question: am I wholehearted with God, or do I have split loyalties within my mind and my heart? Because, if you seek Him with a whole heart and love Him with all your heart and mind and soul and being, you're going to find Him.

Now notice: "They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways… [The key is if you love God and keep His commandments, you're not sinning. Amazing!—isn't it?] …You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently…. [But notice he recognizes his own weakness.] …O that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes!.... [Because we have human nature to overcome—don't we? Yes, we do!. We have difficulties that we need to deal with—don't we? Yes, we do! But God is there to help us and keeping His commandments and His statutes and His judgments are the way to go.] …Then I shall not be ashamed when I have respect unto all Your commandments. I will praise You with uprightness of heart when I have learned Your righteous judgments" (vs 3-7)—because righteous judgment is what we are to do.

Verse 65—we'll talk about judgment and knowledge here. We all want this—don't we? "You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word…. [That's why we need to know the Word of God, know the promises of God, understand what He has said.] …Teach me good judgment and knowledge… [Now, how does that come?] …for I have believed Your commandments" (vs 65-66).

  • How can you make good judgment when you don't believe in the Sabbath?

Now you may be able to make some fairly decent judgments.

  • How can you really make good judgments if you have idols?
  • How can you make good judgments when you hear lies from the pulpit?
  • How can you make judgments if you're a corrupt politician?

There are some who, in their own way, are trying to be as honest as they can and if it weren't for them we'd be in total corruption and we would already be rejected and in captivity. There are some who believe in God, who have not really understood the Truth, but what've understood they follow and they do. Without them, society would really be hellhole to try and live in. So God honors all of that in degree. But you see, the way that you do it is that you believe His commandments.

Now notice, why do we have difficulties, v 67: "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept Your word…. [In other words, I've learned the lessons from it. That's what God wants us to do. All of this are various parts of good judgment.] …You are good, and do good; teach me Your statutes…. [But notice the next verse right in the middle of it. What is he confronted with? And when we're through with Sabbath services and when the Sabbath is over tonight, we're going to be confronted with this in the world—aren't we?] …The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep Your precepts with all my heart…. [They're out there doing it.] …Their heart is gross like fat, but I delight in Your law…. [I love that one. Now notice, think about this the next time you have a trial]: …It is good for me that I have been afflicted, so that I might learn Your statutes…. [Notice what this leads to: understanding, truth, judgment.] …The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver" (vs 67-72). You need to understand that, need to realize it.

Now here's another blessing. This is right judgment, right blessings from God, and we can ask this question—v 97: "O how love I Your law!.... [Now if you love the law of God because you know it comes from God who is Lawgiver, and you love the Truth of God, think how great that is. Think how many people really do that! Notice, this is how we are to learn to think.] (That's why he says): …It is my meditation all the day." In other words, the laws and commandments of God, with God's Spirit, and His ways guide you all day long. That's a tremendous promise—isn't it?

This also sets up another conflict when you look at the world and when you deal with other people, because you see all the sins and all the things that they do and you think, 'How can that be?' And yet at one time we were all there, too—isn't that right? Yes, and God called us! So this needs to be exactly what we do. Notice what it will do for you in your judgment. That's why when you watch some of the news and you listen to someone or you hear another preacher and you hear what he says, and you can spot immediately what's wrong. Why?

Verse 98: "Your commandments made me wiser than my enemies, for they… [Your commandments] …are ever with me…. [Why? Because when you know the laws and commandments of God—what is your judgment? You judge everything according to the way of God. This is what they said of the apostles, 'Oh, well, these men, they're from Galilee, hicks from the sticks, who are they to be telling us what to do!'] …I have more understanding than all my teachers… [You don't have to be smart-aleck about it, but if you know the Truth, you know the Truth—isn't that right? If you know what is good, you know what is good—isn't that true? Yes!] …for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients because I keep Your precepts" (vs 98-100).

How much wisdom and understanding is there in the Bible? This is why you hear all the time, 'Study, study, pray, let God's commandments be written in your heart and in your mind and let that guide you, let that lead you, let God's Spirit lead you.' That will lead you into right judgments. All of this has to do with right judgments and what will it do? It will affect your personal behavior first.

Verse 101: "I have held back my feet from every evil way… [Now maybe in the past you went in it, but now you don't.] …so that I might keep Your Word. I have not departed from Your ordinances, for You have taught me…. [Now notice the spiritual savor (if I could put it this way) of understanding the laws and commandments of God this way.] …How sweet are Your words to my taste!.… [Because it says in Psalm 37, 'O taste and see that the Lord is good.' You don't go up and take a chunk out of the Lord, that's the words of God.] …Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding… [Notice, here's why you have frustration in the world]: …therefore I hate every false way" (vs 101-104). That's all a part of good and righteous judgment for us.

Let's come to Proverbs 29. Again I'm going to say if you don't have the series, Judge Righteous Judgment, write in for it and we'll send it to you. Proverbs 29:1: "A man who hardens his neck when reproved shall be suddenly broken—and that without remedy…. [Now here's why you're frustrated with things going on in the world]: …When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people mourn…. [Isn't that what's going on? Yes, indeed, because there's not the judgment; there are lies, lies, lies!] …Whoever loves wisdom rejoices his father, but a companion of harlots wastes his wealth…. [Everybody, especially all politicians, listen up to that. Now notice, here's how it could be turned around, if they would this, but notice how much work it's going to have to take for those who know nothing of God, who need to repent, and won't repent, so it won't happen until Christ returns. But here is the principle]: …The king establishes the land by justice [judgment…[Notice the opposite]: …but he who takes bribes tears it down" (vs 1-4).

The comment was just made that Representative Jefferson who suddenly found $90,000 frozen in his freezer and everyone said, 'Oh, he's taking bribes.' Oh, no, no, no, no, he's an honest man. He finally got convicted and got thirteen years so there is some justice. But there is one caveat to his sentence: no frozen treats!

Let's come to Psalm 99. Here's what we have to look forward to, because Christ is going to return and we are going to share it with Him and help bring justice, judgment, truth, and righteousness to the world, as well as mercy, and kindness, and forgiveness. This is what we are to look forward to, so don't get discouraged and don't get frustrated when you watch the news and watch all of these crooks seemingly get away with it and lie and cheat and speak two different things out of the sides of their mouths and their secret agenda hidden in their mind you never know. God will take care of them. But the way that they can be taken care of is the number of people that repent and return to God, whatever degree they're capable of doing. Beyond that, when Christ returns, here's what's going to happen.

Psalm 99:1: "The LORD reigns… [And we're going to bring righteousness and we're going to bring judgment and we're going to bring peace to the world.] …let the people tremble. He sits between the cherubim; let the earth quake. The LORD is great in Zion, and He is high above all people. Let them praise Your name as great and awesome; Holy is He. The strength of the King also loves justice… [Now we can take this example and use it in our lives and in our families.] …You established uprightness; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob" (vs 1-4). That's what we have to look forward to—isn't that something? Fantastic!

Let's continue on here. Let's come to Psalm 33:1. And with this then, we can: "Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous ones… [That's what we need to do. So whenever you find yourself entrapped in all the things that are going on and you get frustrated and you get depressed and you get down on it, go to God, pray, study, go through the Psalms, go through Psa. 119 all the way through, learn that. Rejoice in the Lord. Be thankful that God is there to help you.] …praise is becoming for the upright…. [Now if you have a musical instrument that you can pray and sing to God, do it.] …Praise the LORD with lyre; sing unto Him with a harp of ten strings…. [I couldn't do either one of them.] …Sing unto Him a new song; play skillfully with shouts of joy, For the Word of the LORD is upright… [Faithful, true, righteous, good.] …and all His works are done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice… [That's why we need to have it in our lives. That's why Jesus said, 'Judge righteous judgment,' because God loves it.] …the earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD" (vs 1-5).

And of course, you can see that on every hand, but just think what it's going to be like when Christ returns. "By the Word of the LORD were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth" (v 6). And then he talks all about the things that he did, how God looks down and:

Verse 10: "The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing… [You could put the word united before nations.] …He frustrates the plans of the people…. [They're not going to work out as they think. Just like Adolph Hitler, 'We will have a Reich which will last a thousand years.' Well, that was shortened to twelve. God took care of it.] …The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations" (vs 10-11).

That's why the Bible is never out of date. That's why all young people need to learn all of us old-fogies were once young like you, and so you need to understand we got this gray hair because of living and learning. You have yet to do it, but run your life the way God says and you'll be blessed and understand that.

Notice v 12: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD… [And this nation was and still is, but under the punishment of God, for their sins.] …and the people He has chosen for His own inheritance. The LORD looks down from heaven; He beholds all the sons of men…. [Think of that! Now how God does all of this, and He has a lot of helpers and angels and the seven spirits, which are the seven eyes, to help Him. But He knows what's going on, on the earth. What did Jesus say? He said, 'If a bird falls to the ground, God knows about it.' He said, 'God knows every hair on your head and it's numbered.' You take it even further, it's also numbered with your own genetic code as a particular creation of God.] …From His dwelling place He looks intently upon all the inhabitants of the earth" (vs 12-14).

God's not way off. God hasn't gone away. He is there, but He's given free choice. He wants to know. 'I've set before you life and death, good and evil.'

  • Will you choose life?
  • Will you choose God's way?
  • Will you choose judgment?
  • What will you choose?

Verse 15: "Together He fashions their hearts alike; He considers all their works…. [remember this, very important.]: …The king… [or that is anyone] …is not saved by a great army; a mighty man is not delivered by much strength…. [Don't look to physical things.] …A horse is a vain thing for safety… [Maybe galloping away and put its foot in one of the holes, break its leg, and you fall off, and it's over with.] …neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope in His lovingkindness… [And notice what He promises to do]: …to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine" (vs 15-19). So don't worry about the things that are ahead. They're going to be difficult, but God is going to deliver us from it.

"Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield, for our heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His Holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in You" (vs 20-22).

I hope this helps strengthen you for the coming week that you can make it to next Friday at sundown and fall over the end of day six into the Sabbath and get your mind back on God the way it needs to be, so you can be uplifted with God's Spirit. We're going to go through some difficult times, but we'll get through every one of them. We'll have troubles and things that will be hard for us handle, but we can handle it, we can do it, and God is with us.

Scriptural References:

  • Isaiah 25:7
  • Proverbs 13:5-6, 23
  • Proverbs 12:17-20
  • Proverbs 17:23
  • Proverbs 19:28-29
  • Proverbs 28:4-5
  • Hosea 10:1-2, 4
  • Habakkuk 1:1-5
  • Isaiah 57:20-21
  • Isaiah 58:1-4, 8-10, 13-14
  • Psalm 7:11-17
  • Exodus 23:6-8
  • Isaiah 30:18
  • Isaiah 42:2-8
  • Psalm 119:1-7, 65-72, 97-104
  • Proverbs 29:1-4
  • Psalm 99:1-4
  • Psalm 33:1-6, 10-22

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

  • Revelation 12:9; 5
  • Psalm 37

Also referenced:

  • Books: Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter
  • Sermon Series: Judge Righteous Judgment

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 12-03-09
Formatted: bo—12-08-09

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