Podcasts about god's justice

Seven times, God makes a critical statement about Israel in the book of Malachi, and each time Israel responds with a challenge to that statement. Here are those statements and Gods answer to Israels objection. God: I have loved you. (1:2) Israel: How have you loved us? (v. 2) Answer: I have chosen Jacob over Esau, remained faithful to Jacob, and will bless the nations through Jacob even though Israel has shown herself to be faithless. (v. 5) God: You despise my name. (1:6) Israel: How have we despised your name? (v. 6b) Answer: Your worship of me is lackadaisical at best. (vv. 7-14) God: You have offered polluted food on my altar because honoring me with your whole life is a weariness. (1:7) Israel: How have we polluted you? (v. 7b) Answer: You offer what is cheap and sick because you do not regard my Name as holy. (vv. 9-14) God: You cover the Lords altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. (2:13) Israel: Why does he not? (v. 14) Answer: You have been faithless to the wife of your youth. (vv. 14-16) God: You have wearied the Lord with your words. (2:17) Israel: How have we wearied Him? (v. 17b) Answer: You have said, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them. Or by asking, Where is the God of justice? (v. 17c) God: You are robbing me. (3:8) Israel: How have we robbed you? (v. 8b) Answer: In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. (vv. 8c-9) God: Your words have been hard against me. (3:13) Israel: How have we spoken against you? (v. 13b) Answer: You have said it is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping His charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape. (vv. 14-15) It is Gods response to Israels fifth objection that we now turn our attention, and it could not be more timely! On October 7, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and murdered babies and children, abducted and raped women before killing them, and gunned down as many Israelis as they were able. Israel is at war, and the death toll of human causalities will continue to rise. China and Russia seem to be moving closer to a formal alliance, and it is not beyond reason that Iran and North Korea may join them. Based on what I read in my Bible, I am not surprised that this is happening, and it would not surprise me if Russia and Iran got involved in what is happening between Israel and Hamas. Now, if you consider what is happening between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict with Israel and Hamas and possibly Iran, and Chinas plans to have its military ready by 2027 to annex Taiwan, what we have is the recipe for a cataclysmic global war. If that were not enough to worry about, represented in this room is a sea of worries (some legitimate and some illegitimate). If you are anxious, if you are bothered, if you are feeling hopeless, if you are tired, or if you are discouraged Malachi 3:1-6 is for you. The problem of Israel and our problem can be traced all the way back to Adam and Eves great sin, there was a type of darkness. After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God drove them out of the beauty of Eden into the despair of the wilderness. Before God forced Adam and Eve outside the place of life and into the place of the curse, He promised them a deliverer who would destroy all that is an enemy of life (Gen. 3:15). Outside the Garden is the place of the curse the wilderness. It is the place of pain, distrust, frustration, thorns and thistles, weariness, sweat, burdens, and death. The Bible says, sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come (Rom. 5:12, 14). In being cast out of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were driven away from the face of God. Gods Justice is Not Deficient (2:17) The people have wearied the Lord. The Message Bible, which is a paraphrase of the Bible, interprets Malachi 2:17 this way: You make God tired with all your talk. I think this is a terrible translation of Malachi 2:17! God does not get tired, he does not need a break, and He does not get frustrated because things do not go His way. Based on the Hebrew word that is used for wearied, for God to be wearied is for Him to be troubled or irritated. Have you ever had to deal with a person whose hypocrisy is so blatant that it is aggravating? Think about what God accused Israel and her priests of in chapter two. They were guilty of breaking their covenant by marrying people who worshiped terrible gods, such as Molech, whose worship included child sacrifice. The men were divorcing the wives of their youth to marry younger women who also worshiped other gods. If anyone was guilty of injustice, it was Israel. Israel has been on the receiving end of nations and people groups who wanted nothing but their destruction. Do you think what is happening today is new? No, what is happening between Israel and Hamas is nothing new, for throughout her history, her story is about a God who rescues and delivers. God liberated Israel from the tyranny of Pharaoh, He saved Israel from Goliath and the Philistines, He delivered His people from the Amorites, He sustained and preserved rebellious Israel through the exiles of Assyria and Babylon. Now, here they are in Jerusalem with a temple and walls by the grace and mercy of God, having demonstrated that they had no real desire to serve and worship Him, and now they have the audacity to question His moral character. Now, this question that Israel asks in 2:17 is different than the kind of lamenting those who love God demonstrate, such as the one we are introduced to in Habakkuk 1:2-3, How long, Lord, have I called for help, And You do not hear? I cry out to You, Violence! Yet You do not save. Why do You make me see disaster, And make me look at destitution? Yes, devastation and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises (NASB). Wow, Habakkuks question could not be more relevant for what we are seeing in our world today! His question is very different than the one Israel asked in Malachi, and it is very different than some of the questions you have been asked, questions like: How can you believe in a good God when there is so much suffering in the world? Or How can God be in control, when the world is so out of control? We tend to measure the justice of God against our own sense of justice. The problem with that is that our sense of justice is only as pure as we are good human beings. The crazy thing is that most Americans (80%) rightly believe that most of the suffering in our world is caused by humans. The bad news is that we have tried all kinds of things to fix ourselves, but only seem to make our situation worse. There are more slaves today than ever before. An increase of over 100 million people faced hunger in 2022, with a total of 783 million people who continue to go hungry in our world today even though there are more than enough food producers to meet the needs of the hungry. With all of our talk about peace, we humans are still the most dangerous species on planet earth. Our problem is as old as the Garden when Adam and Eve bit into the forbidden fruit: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Or, as the prophet Jeremiah put it: The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it (Jer. 17:9; NASB)? I have preached whole sermons on the topic of Gods goodness alone, but I do not have the time to do that here. What I will say is that God is good (Nah. 1:7) because He is Holy (Isa. 6:3). Because God is God, for Him to be good, He must be infinitely good. What does it mean for God to be infinitely good? What it means is that there is absolutely no room or any need for improvement for God. Therefore, if God is infinitely good, then He is equally just! This is why the Psalmist says of our great God: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you (Ps. 89:14). Gods Plan is Redemptive Gods answer to Israels question regarding the justice of God is Malachi 3:1-6. Where is the God of Justice? Oh, He has never left! He has always been with His people. He has been with His people because He is also a God of mercy. When Moses asked to see the face of God, he was permitted to see Him pass by while not being permitted to see His face; when God passed by, this is what Moses heard Him say: The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the childrens children, to the third and the fourth generation. (Exod. 34:6-7) Gods justice was coming, and the people who deserved to experience it first were all of Israel, beginning with her priests who did not regard Gods name as holy. However, the way that He would do it would be in a way where His infinite justice and his infinite mercy will intersect with His infinite holiness and His infinite love. How would He do it? The answer is in the first verse: Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. The One that Israel calls Father (2:10), is the One who will send His messenger. Who is the messenger that will be sent? It was John the Baptist, who is a type of Elijah, who went before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17). Who is the Lord that would, come to his temple? He is someone greater than Elijah or John the Baptist. The Lord whom John was sent to prepare the way for is the One who owns the temple. He is the One spoken of in Jeremiah 23:5-6, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The Lord is our righteousness. The first word in Malachi 3:1 is Behold and it literally means: Here am I. Israel asks: Where is the God of Justice? Gods answers: Here I am! I am sending my messenger before me who will prepare the way for Me to come to my Temple that you have polluted, for when I come, you will call Me: The Lord is our righteousness. Who is this Lord our righteousness? He is the righteous Branch of David! If Israel and the Priests had the sense to ask, they would have asked God: How can Yahweh come as the human descendant of David? This is the question the apostle John answers over 400 years later: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Fathers side, he has made him known. (John 1:618) Jesus is, The Lord our righteousness who came, but the priests and much of Israel did not receive Him. What was the purpose of his coming? Well, Malachi tells us in verses 2-3, But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiners fire and like fullers soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Gods Love is Restorative The story of humanity is one where we cannot help ourselves, for there is no remedy we can create to fix our sin problem. Our story is also Israels story, and the promise of Malachi 3:3 is that God would not and does not abandon impure people like us not because we deserve salvation, but because He is committed to his promise to bless the nations through Israel and the way that he would do it is through the righteous branch of David, namely Jesus the Christ. Through Jesus, a day will come when Israel says, Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel (Mal. 1:5)! Through Jesus, a day is coming when the nations will worship Yahweh: From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations says the Lord (1:11)! How will he do it? Through Jesus, the righteous branch of David, He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring the offerings in righteousness to the Lord (3:3), and when he does, the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord (v. 4). The question begs for an answer; how will he do it? How can He refine out of mercy without the fire of his perfect justice? He would do it and He did do it by entering into our wilderness. Jesus lived the life Israel failed to live and by doing so was the perfect Jew (Heb. 1-2), the sinless and better Priest then Levi (Heb. 3, 5-7), and better than Moses because the covenant He mediates is better than the old (Heb. 8-10). Jesus entered into our wilderness for the purpose of suffering the fire of the Fathers perfect justice on our behalf; the fire fell upon Jesus instead of us. This is why the messenger said of Jesus when he saw him: Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)! The Lamb was crucified and on that cross the wrath of God the Father was satisfied while His perfect justice, mercy, love, grace, and holiness intersected without contradiction. After Jesus died for our sins and was buried, he rose three days later! The refiners fire has come to us for the purpose of redeeming lost sinners. His work continues as His fire continues to remove the dross from our lives! As the author of Hebrews exhorts the Christian, we set our eyes on Him to, run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:1-2). As for the rest of the wilderness and those who refuse to turn to the One who suffered the fire of Gods justice for sin, a judgment awaits and will come: Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. The Lamb of God is coming to bring the fire of Gods justice as the Lion of Judah! Jesus will come as the King of kings and Lord of lords; we are told that when He comes, all of the tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him (Rev. 1:7). You may be tempted to ask: Where is the God of justice? His answer is simply, Here I am, I never left. In the same way God answered Israels question in Malachi 3, He does the same for us in the last book of the Bible: Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Rev. 22:1215) Amen.

Seven times, God makes a critical statement about Israel in the book of Malachi, and each time Israel responds with a challenge to that statement. Here are those statements and Gods answer to Israels objection. God: I have loved you. (1:2) Israel: How have you loved us? (v. 2) Answer: I have chosen Jacob over Esau, remained faithful to Jacob, and will bless the nations through Jacob even though Israel has shown herself to be faithless. (v. 5) God: You despise my name. (1:6) Israel: How have we despised your name? (v. 6b) Answer: Your worship of me is lackadaisical at best. (vv. 7-14) God: You have offered polluted food on my altar because honoring me with your whole life is a weariness. (1:7) Israel: How have we polluted you? (v. 7b) Answer: You offer what is cheap and sick because you do not regard my Name as holy. (vv. 9-14) God: You cover the Lords altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. (2:13) Israel: Why does he not? (v. 14) Answer: You have been faithless to the wife of your youth. (vv. 14-16) God: You have wearied the Lord with your words. (2:17) Israel: How have we wearied Him? (v. 17b) Answer: You have said, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them. Or by asking, Where is the God of justice? (v. 17c) God: You are robbing me. (3:8) Israel: How have we robbed you? (v. 8b) Answer: In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. (vv. 8c-9) God: Your words have been hard against me. (3:13) Israel: How have we spoken against you? (v. 13b) Answer: You have said it is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping His charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape. (vv. 14-15) It is Gods response to Israels fifth objection that we now turn our attention, and it could not be more timely! On October 7, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and murdered babies and children, abducted and raped women before killing them, and gunned down as many Israelis as they were able. Israel is at war, and the death toll of human causalities will continue to rise. China and Russia seem to be moving closer to a formal alliance, and it is not beyond reason that Iran and North Korea may join them. Based on what I read in my Bible, I am not surprised that this is happening, and it would not surprise me if Russia and Iran got involved in what is happening between Israel and Hamas. Now, if you consider what is happening between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict with Israel and Hamas and possibly Iran, and Chinas plans to have its military ready by 2027 to annex Taiwan, what we have is the recipe for a cataclysmic global war. If that were not enough to worry about, represented in this room is a sea of worries (some legitimate and some illegitimate). If you are anxious, if you are bothered, if you are feeling hopeless, if you are tired, or if you are discouraged Malachi 3:1-6 is for you. The problem of Israel and our problem can be traced all the way back to Adam and Eves great sin, there was a type of darkness. After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God drove them out of the beauty of Eden into the despair of the wilderness. Before God forced Adam and Eve outside the place of life and into the place of the curse, He promised them a deliverer who would destroy all that is an enemy of life (Gen. 3:15). Outside the Garden is the place of the curse the wilderness. It is the place of pain, distrust, frustration, thorns and thistles, weariness, sweat, burdens, and death. The Bible says, sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come (Rom. 5:12, 14). In being cast out of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were driven away from the face of God. Gods Justice is Not Deficient (2:17) The people have wearied the Lord. The Message Bible, which is a paraphrase of the Bible, interprets Malachi 2:17 this way: You make God tired with all your talk. I think this is a terrible translation of Malachi 2:17! God does not get tired, he does not need a break, and He does not get frustrated because things do not go His way. Based on the Hebrew word that is used for wearied, for God to be wearied is for Him to be troubled or irritated. Have you ever had to deal with a person whose hypocrisy is so blatant that it is aggravating? Think about what God accused Israel and her priests of in chapter two. They were guilty of breaking their covenant by marrying people who worshiped terrible gods, such as Molech, whose worship included child sacrifice. The men were divorcing the wives of their youth to marry younger women who also worshiped other gods. If anyone was guilty of injustice, it was Israel. Israel has been on the receiving end of nations and people groups who wanted nothing but their destruction. Do you think what is happening today is new? No, what is happening between Israel and Hamas is nothing new, for throughout her history, her story is about a God who rescues and delivers. God liberated Israel from the tyranny of Pharaoh, He saved Israel from Goliath and the Philistines, He delivered His people from the Amorites, He sustained and preserved rebellious Israel through the exiles of Assyria and Babylon. Now, here they are in Jerusalem with a temple and walls by the grace and mercy of God, having demonstrated that they had no real desire to serve and worship Him, and now they have the audacity to question His moral character. Now, this question that Israel asks in 2:17 is different than the kind of lamenting those who love God demonstrate, such as the one we are introduced to in Habakkuk 1:2-3, How long, Lord, have I called for help, And You do not hear? I cry out to You, Violence! Yet You do not save. Why do You make me see disaster, And make me look at destitution? Yes, devastation and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises (NASB). Wow, Habakkuks question could not be more relevant for what we are seeing in our world today! His question is very different than the one Israel asked in Malachi, and it is very different than some of the questions you have been asked, questions like: How can you believe in a good God when there is so much suffering in the world? Or How can God be in control, when the world is so out of control? We tend to measure the justice of God against our own sense of justice. The problem with that is that our sense of justice is only as pure as we are good human beings. The crazy thing is that most Americans (80%) rightly believe that most of the suffering in our world is caused by humans. The bad news is that we have tried all kinds of things to fix ourselves, but only seem to make our situation worse. There are more slaves today than ever before. An increase of over 100 million people faced hunger in 2022, with a total of 783 million people who continue to go hungry in our world today even though there are more than enough food producers to meet the needs of the hungry. With all of our talk about peace, we humans are still the most dangerous species on planet earth. Our problem is as old as the Garden when Adam and Eve bit into the forbidden fruit: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Or, as the prophet Jeremiah put it: The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it (Jer. 17:9; NASB)? I have preached whole sermons on the topic of Gods goodness alone, but I do not have the time to do that here. What I will say is that God is good (Nah. 1:7) because He is Holy (Isa. 6:3). Because God is God, for Him to be good, He must be infinitely good. What does it mean for God to be infinitely good? What it means is that there is absolutely no room or any need for improvement for God. Therefore, if God is infinitely good, then He is equally just! This is why the Psalmist says of our great God: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you (Ps. 89:14). Gods Plan is Redemptive Gods answer to Israels question regarding the justice of God is Malachi 3:1-6. Where is the God of Justice? Oh, He has never left! He has always been with His people. He has been with His people because He is also a God of mercy. When Moses asked to see the face of God, he was permitted to see Him pass by while not being permitted to see His face; when God passed by, this is what Moses heard Him say: The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the childrens children, to the third and the fourth generation. (Exod. 34:6-7) Gods justice was coming, and the people who deserved to experience it first were all of Israel, beginning with her priests who did not regard Gods name as holy. However, the way that He would do it would be in a way where His infinite justice and his infinite mercy will intersect with His infinite holiness and His infinite love. How would He do it? The answer is in the first verse: Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. The One that Israel calls Father (2:10), is the One who will send His messenger. Who is the messenger that will be sent? It was John the Baptist, who is a type of Elijah, who went before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17). Who is the Lord that would, come to his temple? He is someone greater than Elijah or John the Baptist. The Lord whom John was sent to prepare the way for is the One who owns the temple. He is the One spoken of in Jeremiah 23:5-6, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The Lord is our righteousness. The first word in Malachi 3:1 is Behold and it literally means: Here am I. Israel asks: Where is the God of Justice? Gods answers: Here I am! I am sending my messenger before me who will prepare the way for Me to come to my Temple that you have polluted, for when I come, you will call Me: The Lord is our righteousness. Who is this Lord our righteousness? He is the righteous Branch of David! If Israel and the Priests had the sense to ask, they would have asked God: How can Yahweh come as the human descendant of David? This is the question the apostle John answers over 400 years later: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Fathers side, he has made him known. (John 1:618) Jesus is, The Lord our righteousness who came, but the priests and much of Israel did not receive Him. What was the purpose of his coming? Well, Malachi tells us in verses 2-3, But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiners fire and like fullers soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Gods Love is Restorative The story of humanity is one where we cannot help ourselves, for there is no remedy we can create to fix our sin problem. Our story is also Israels story, and the promise of Malachi 3:3 is that God would not and does not abandon impure people like us not because we deserve salvation, but because He is committed to his promise to bless the nations through Israel and the way that he would do it is through the righteous branch of David, namely Jesus the Christ. Through Jesus, a day will come when Israel says, Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel (Mal. 1:5)! Through Jesus, a day is coming when the nations will worship Yahweh: From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations says the Lord (1:11)! How will he do it? Through Jesus, the righteous branch of David, He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring the offerings in righteousness to the Lord (3:3), and when he does, the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord (v. 4). The question begs for an answer; how will he do it? How can He refine out of mercy without the fire of his perfect justice? He would do it and He did do it by entering into our wilderness. Jesus lived the life Israel failed to live and by doing so was the perfect Jew (Heb. 1-2), the sinless and better Priest then Levi (Heb. 3, 5-7), and better than Moses because the covenant He mediates is better than the old (Heb. 8-10). Jesus entered into our wilderness for the purpose of suffering the fire of the Fathers perfect justice on our behalf; the fire fell upon Jesus instead of us. This is why the messenger said of Jesus when he saw him: Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)! The Lamb was crucified and on that cross the wrath of God the Father was satisfied while His perfect justice, mercy, love, grace, and holiness intersected without contradiction. After Jesus died for our sins and was buried, he rose three days later! The refiners fire has come to us for the purpose of redeeming lost sinners. His work continues as His fire continues to remove the dross from our lives! As the author of Hebrews exhorts the Christian, we set our eyes on Him to, run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:1-2). As for the rest of the wilderness and those who refuse to turn to the One who suffered the fire of Gods justice for sin, a judgment awaits and will come: Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. The Lamb of God is coming to bring the fire of Gods justice as the Lion of Judah! Jesus will come as the King of kings and Lord of lords; we are told that when He comes, all of the tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him (Rev. 1:7). You may be tempted to ask: Where is the God of justice? His answer is simply, Here I am, I never left. In the same way God answered Israels question in Malachi 3, He does the same for us in the last book of the Bible: Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Rev. 22:1215) Amen.

In this episode, the discussion continues on the topic of Paul's love for the nation of Israel, his defence of God's character through the magnifying of his attributes, and the focus is on the third attribute: God's justice. The episode also addresses common questions about suffering, the experience of the innocent and the evil, and the perception of God as evil. This follows previous episodes covering God's faithfulness and righteousness.Social:Instagram: @rachelmellema Facebook: “Live with Rachel Podcast” Support the show

Vijay Continues the series on Esther looking at Gods Justice, from Esther 8.1 - 14

Start of the Show - 00:00WSC Question 92 discussion - 05:02History of the Week - 20:56Heresy of the Week - 38:39Questions with the Catechumens - 34:48Send questions to: catechized@gmail.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/catechizedpodTwitter: https://twitter.com/catechizedpodWebsite: catechized.org

6-26-2022 Gospel Project "Gods Justice"

A new MP3 sermon from Bellingham United Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Gods Justice & Mercy Displayed In Christ Subtitle: Belgic Confession Speaker: Ben Davenport Broadcaster: Bellingham United Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 6/19/2022 Length: 40 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Bellingham United Reformed Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Gods Justice & Mercy Displayed In Christ Subtitle: Belgic Confession Speaker: Ben Davenport Broadcaster: Bellingham United Reformed Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 6/19/2022 Length: 40 min.

Dr. Paul Copan is an Christian theologian, analytic philosopher, apologist, and author. He is currently a professor at the Palm Beach Atlantic University and holds the endowed Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics. He has written and edited over 40 books in the area of philosophy of religion, apologetics, theology, and ethics in the Bible. He has contributed a great number of articles to various professional journals and has written many essays for edited books. For six years he served as the president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fullarmourapologetics/message

At the end of chapter 4 we encounter some challenging verses about God hardening Pharaohs heart, God declaring He will kill Pharaohs firstborn son and God also threatening to kill Moses. In this message we consider some of these difficulties and what they reveal about God and His work in our world.

Job ch 8 vs 1-10,20-22 - Carl Atkins - Sunday, February 20, 2022

We see Gods Justice and it is equal and without partiality. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/brooknomsworld/message

Hope in God's Justice.

We need less social justice warriors leading the Church and more Biblically sound teaching. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/foruncommonsense/message

If God is holy, how can man be righteous with God-

A new MP3 sermon from DTBM, International is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Why Nations Die - God's Justice, Patience, & Wrath - USA Beware! Subtitle: Exploring The Book Of Isaiah Speaker: Dr. John Barnett Broadcaster: DTBM, International Event: Sunday Service Date: 7/22/2021 Bible: Isaiah 0 Length: 63 min.

Now that God has pronounced judgment will fall on the Babylonians, Habakkuk begins a taunt-song celebrating God's justice. But what is biblical justice? And how can we draw principles from this text on living justly?

Sermon: 再思神的公義 Rethinking God's Justice Speaker: Rev. Jeremiah Cheung Scripture: Job 8, 18, 25 Translated to English by Bro. Isaac Cheung 沒有選擇權的人人平等是真的公平公義嗎？ 神的公義是在尊重人自由意志之下，神不會干涉我們所作的決定，但神卻讓我們在過程中能認識祂的公義，神的公義不是為審判乃是為拯救，作為神的兒女，當我們實行公義的時候，我們也是為神的慈愛與拯救。 Is there true justice and fairness when there is no freedom of choice? This week, Rev. Jeremiah Cheung reminds us that God will not interfere with the decisions we make for He has given us free will. Instead, God allows us to learn about His justice in the process. As God's children, it is for God's love and salvation that we pursue justice. Discussion questions at https://cbcp.org/blog/2021/07/18/rethinking-gods-justice/ Join a Life Group: https://cbcp.org/lifegroups Find an event: https://cbcp.org/events Learn how to give: https://cbcp.org/giving Website: https://cbcp.org Facebook: https://facebook.com/cbcponline YouTube: https://youtube.com/cbcponline Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cbcponline Instagram: https://instagram.com/cbcponline

Sometimes we are so satisfied in the way that God answers our prayers and brings justice against those who do evil...and sometimes, we don't understand God's ways or His delays at all. We see both of these realities reflected in the Psalms, which genuinely mirror our emotions and feelings so well at times. Today we struggle to understand the justice of God.

Sometimes we are so satisfied in the way that God answers our prayers and brings justice against those who do evil...and sometimes, we don't understand God's ways or His delays at all. We see both of these realities reflected in the Psalms, which genuinely mirror our emotions and feelings so well at times. Today we struggle to understand the justice of God.

Eric Metaxas and Owen Strachan discuss the racism of Critical Race Theory as well as his book Christianity and Wokeness.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are God's justice and mercy mutually exclusive? Dr. Craig also addresses Inclusivism, and the salvation of those with mental illnesses.

Sermon from Vintage Church Pasadena on June 13th, 2021. Pastor Ben Chase.

How is God working in the world today? How can we participate in His work? Join in as Pastor Howard leads us through Isaiah 58:1-10 to take about a rather uncomfortable topic and confrontation with whether or not we are behaving as followers of Christ or perhaps just keeping up appearances on Sundays. It is imperative that we take a hard look at this as it can completely shift our relationship with God and may even miss out on His calling for us. --------------------------- If you have questions or need support and prayer, please email us at hello@lordslovechurch.com or prayer@lordslovechurch.com. We would love to connect further, follow us on Instagram @lordslovechurch Please join us for live service on Zoom, every Sunday at 11:15am PST www.lordslovechurch.com/livestream

Revelation 16 - Rev. Schuyler Schnell, Senior Pastor - Sunday, June 27, 2021

6/20/21 - Dave Prichard - Job 34-35 - God's Justice and Man's Impatience by plantgrowharvest

God's Justice by Hume Ministries

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Bible Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Believers Expect God's Justice Subtitle: We rest in it with Jesus Speaker: John Pittman Hey Broadcaster: Grace Bible Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 6/6/2021 Bible: 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Romans 3:24-26 Length: 58 min.

In 1 Peter 2, the Apostle exhorts believers to follow after the example of Jesus in suffering. He lists a number of Christ's response, finally observing that our Savior committed Himself to Him Who judges righteously.----Thus, Jesus left up to His Father the settling of scores with His persecutors, the setting of all those wrongs right, and the justice of God in punishing Him for the sins of His loved ones, so that they might go free.----And thus, Peter urges believers to suffer in like manner. We are to leave the judgment of our persecutors in the hands of the God Who judges righteously.----We are to rest in the perfect justice of God to set all things right one day, just like our Savior did-----In the Old Testament, there are many examples of this same exhortation- God will exact vengeance against those wicked men who mistreat and persecute His beloved people-----God's sword, He told Moses, would be glittering with the blood of those who murder or enslave His people- One day His people, and all the world besides, will rejoice in that vengeance, and in God's mercy to His land and His people.----The Psalmist also repeatedly pronounces the saints' expectant waiting on the justice of God, and how it will demonstrate once and for all the power of God, and His reward for the righteous.----God will set all things right one day, and like Jesus, we are to wait for God's righteous judgment.----In the New Testament, Paul exhorted the Lord's people to recall that God has reserved vengeance as His exclusive prerogative, but also His promise that He will avenge His people- -I will repay-- saith the Lord-----In 2 Thessalonians, God promises that His wrath will be epic-

God's justice serves to uphold all that is good 1. God's justice serves to uphold the perfection of his creation 2. God's justice serves to uphold the truth of his revelation3. God's justice serves to uphold the eternal joy of his churchTime:AfternoonMinister:Rev. J. VanSpronsenTexts:JudeHeidelberg Catechism: Lord's Day 4

You might have heard it said, or have said, “God is a god of love, He wouldn't do that”. Or, “I don't think we need to talk about judgment because Jesus is love”. Can the Lord judge, discipline, let bad things happen, and still love us? (Job 34) Part 3 of 3

Living Truth Christian Fellowship Podcast

You might have heard it said, or have said, “God is a god of love, He wouldn't do that”. Or, “I don't think we need to talk about judgment because Jesus is love”. Can the Lord judge, discipline, let bad things happen, and still love us? (Job 34) Part 2 of 3

Living Truth Christian Fellowship Podcast

You might have heard it said, or have said, “God is a god of love, He wouldn't do that”. Or, “I don't think we need to talk about judgment because Jesus is love”. Can the Lord judge, discipline, let bad things happen, and still love us? (Job 34) Part 1 of 3

A new MP3 sermon from Calvin Orthodox Presbyterian Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: God's Justice Speaker: Michael L. Babcock Broadcaster: Calvin Orthodox Presbyterian Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 6/6/2021 Bible: Malachi 2:17-3:4 Length: 31 min.

Living Truth Christian Fellowship Podcast

Our sensibilities are often upheaved when we hear about the destruction of an entire city. Did they all deserve that? Wasnt there a better way? The consequence was too severe. And we realize we think too much of ourselves and too little of God. We cant grasp His otherness We misconstrue His holiness. We are unable to grasp His justice. We want God to be against evilbut evil as we define it, not as He does. Equally we misconstrue His grace. We cant understand the depths of our depravity. Lot, who chooses to live in Sodom, offers to trade his daughters and their innocence for the vile purposes of others and who impregnates both of them is called righteous in the New Testament. Again our sensibilities are upheaved. Join us Sunday as we take a look at Gods justice and grace. The notes are attached. See you livestream Sunday.

Our sensibilities are often upheaved when we hear about the destruction of an entire city. Did they all deserve that? Wasnt there a better way? The consequence was too severe. And we realize we think too much of ourselves and too little of God. We cant grasp His otherness We misconstrue His holiness. We are unable to grasp His justice. We want God to be against evilbut evil as we define it, not as He does. Equally we misconstrue His grace. We cant understand the depths of our depravity. Lot, who chooses to live in Sodom, offers to trade his daughters and their innocence for the vile purposes of others and who impregnates both of them is called righteous in the New Testament. Again our sensibilities are upheaved. Join us Sunday as we take a look at Gods justice and grace. The notes are attached. See you livestream Sunday.

Here You Are in Your Sins Without One Plea for Innocence; Would You Rather Plea for God's Justice or Mercy? MESSAGE SUMMARY:  We do not deserve it; but we are able to come to God, in a Personal Relationship with Him, to plea for His Mercy. We are all sinners. As Paul tells us in Romans 9:18: “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.". With God's Justice without His Mercy and His resulting Grace, you would face only eternal death as Justice for your sins. We can never enter God's presence for prayer when we are in our pride with our focus on ourselves. Also, Paul reminds us, in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, that, in your Salvation through God's Grace, Jesus makes us “boast” only in the Grace provided us by God: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'”. We can only enter God's presence when we humble ourselves in Jesus. Humility and penitence before God invite His presence – here I am, Lord; just as I am without one plea; have mercy on me a sinner.   TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Inadequacy. Rather, I will abide in the Lord's Abundance. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Matthew 18:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:29-31; Isaiah 19:22; Psalms 44a:1-13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Jesus Followers Cannot Live their Lives Without Living in the Indwelled Power of the Holy Spirit, but Consequences May Arise", at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

A new MP3 sermon from Grace Bible Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: God's Justice Expected by Christ Subtitle: Jesus patiently trusted in it Speaker: John Pittman Hey Broadcaster: Grace Bible Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/30/2021 Bible: 1 Peter 2:23; Luke 23:46 Length: 42 min.

Peter exhorts believers to bear suffering and persecution after the example of Jesus, Who did not reply in like manner when wicked men reviled Him, and did not threaten those who persecuted and murdered Him.----Peter concludes by explaining Christ's attitude in all this- Jesus committed Himself into the hands of God His Father Who judges in righteousness.----This is a profound observation, that Jesus relied upon, and trusted in, His Father to set all things right, to judge all things in righteousness, to accept Christ's offering for His people's sin, and to vindicate Him and exalt Him in glory.----This reliance by Jesus upon His Father's justice in all things is the great explanation of Christ's calm acceptance of the cruelty that He suffered.----Jesus relied upon the promised justice of God as the complete resolution of all the evil that He suffered.----And so too, Peter insists, ought the saints- This patient resting of Jesus in God's justice is the final part of Christ's example to us in how we ought to behave and respond to suffering and affliction and persecution - by waiting on God our Father's promised righteous justice in Jesus Christ His Son.----Jesus never tried to -set things right- for Himself, leaving that up to His Father's promise to do so.----So too we are to leave the settling of scores and our vindication up to the Lord Jesus when He comes back to judge in righteousness.----Peter no doubt had in mind how Christ on the cross, when the work was finally done, commended His spirit into the hands of His Father.----He lay down His life on the cross as the substitute for His people in God's wrath and judgment, and trusted in His Father to receive it all for us.