Please turn with me in your copies of God's word to Revelation chapter 19, verses 11 through 21. This evening, as we reflect upon what God's word says about the justice of God, as it's summarized in our catechism in Lord's day four, we turn our attention to this very vivid vision of the judgment of God, of Christ coming to judge the living and the dead. And this part of John's vision in our text cuts a very terrifying image into our minds as we read it. At his first coming, Jesus Christ, who came not to judge but to save, as John says in his gospel, rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey. But in this vision from God, John sees Jesus Christ return to judge the living and the dead, to make war on all his enemies, to achieve final victory as the great conqueror. And he is riding not on a humble donkey, but on a white war horse. As we read this text together this evening, it's important for you to reflect how you would feel if you saw such a sight. How would the enemies of Christ potentially feel at seeing this one day? How would those who he loves feel at this sight? Hear now the word of the Lord. Revelation 19 verse 11 through 21. Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, And the name by which he is called is the word of God. And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. And he will rule them with an iron rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, the Almighty. on His robe and on His thigh, He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who is sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast. and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse. And all the birds were gorged with their flesh. People of God, the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our Lord endures forever. Amen. In this, we see a picture, a terrifying picture of the coming judgment of God against all who would rebel against him and his son, Jesus Christ. This evening, we're turning in our catechism to Lord's Day 4. in which we see this judgment of God summarized. It should be page 204 in the skinny book, the Forms and Prayers book. Lord's day four says this. Question number nine. But doesn't God do man an injustice by requiring in his law that man what man is unable to do? The answer is no. God created man with the ability to keep the law. Man, however, at the instigation of the devil in willful disobedience robbed himself and all his descendants of these gifts. Question number 10, will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? Answer, certainly not. He is terribly angry with the sin we are born with, as well as our actual sins. God will punish them by a just judgment, both now and in our eternity, having declared, cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law. Question number 11, but isn't God also merciful? The answer says, God is certainly merciful, but he is also just. His justice demands that sin committed against his supreme majesty be punished with the supreme penalty, eternal punishment of body and soul. This catechism summarizes all of the word of God on this topic of justice of God. But this Lord's Day, as many of you already know, is within the threefold framework of this catechism. The first Lord's Day, many of us already know the first question and answer, but the second one tells us what you need to know in order to be saved, in order to rest in Jesus Christ. And it lists three things. First, that you must know the depths of your sin and your misery. Second, how you are delivered from this sin and misery. And third, how God would have you respond in gratitude for this deliverance. It is in this first section, which shows us our sin and our misery, in which this Lord's Day is situated, where we see the justice of God cast against our sin. But why do we need to focus on our sin? Why can't we just go straight to deliverance? It's because if we do not appreciate how desperate our need is, will we ever truly value the deliverance that Jesus Christ has purchased for us? We'll be examining this Lord's Day through four points this evening. First, the justice of God, that God is in fact just, and that he is just in these requirements which we fail to keep. Second, that God justly punishes sin both now and in eternity. And third, that God's justice is complete and perfect. And fourth, that God's justice must be satisfied. First, we answer this question of, is God really just? How is it just to require that we do what we cannot do? With our first point that God is in fact just, despite what some might say. Since the fall in the Garden of Eden, all of humanity has been unable to keep God's righteous requirements. not only adding to their debt of sin each day by rebellion against God, but failing to even do what God wills them to do. And yet these requirements remain just because it is man's fault that we are here, that our condition is this way. God is not like the boss who fires a man for not showing up to work because he is ill, because he got into a car accident. No, God is like the boss who fires a man for not showing up to work because he is drunk, because that man knew full well when he had to report to work and what would be expected of him when he came to work. He was fully capable of doing that work until he got himself intoxicated. It is fully just to fire such a worker, is it not? That worker could not at all blame his boss for firing him. So too it is with the Lord in his justice. Our sinful nature, people of God, is not something that happened to humanity, that just came upon us one day. It may feel that way at times, but the root of it all is that Adam and Eve were created very good and fully able to keep God's perfect commands. and to keep them perfectly. And his command to them was so simple. It was not hard. Just do not eat from that tree in the center of the garden. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Fully within their ability to do. And yet, Adam robs himself and all his natural descendants of this God-given ability to completely obey God. That is not God's fault. That cannot be laid at his feet. And the devil in the garden did not force or hypnotize Adam and Eve to eat from the tree which God had forbidden. He could only tempt them, but they were completely willful in their disobedience. They were exiled from communion with God and cursed to suffer death. Adam and Eve were not just acting that day as individuals, but they represented all humanity. They were all humanity. In Adam and Eve, every man and woman on earth sinned against a holy God and received the curse of that, the curse of death, the curse of hell and suffering in this life. All human nature has therefore become sinful. How could two fallen humans give birth to anything other than a corrupted, fallen human being? Boys and girls, picture that you have a pitcher of water, of pure, clear water. If you were to pour the whole salt shaker into that pitcher of water, it would not be worth drinking, would it not? No. How many times could you possibly pour that into a cup and into another cup? How many times would it take for it to become fresh again? You'd never get fresh water out of that pitcher again. You'd have to empty it and start over. But that is not how God has done it with us. We have not been wiped out and replaced by a better humanity. This continual pouring out is why all of us are sinful by nature. We didn't choose this and yet humanity brought this upon ourselves. And that won't change no matter how many generations go on. Some think that every generation people get better. People may learn, people may learn from previous mistakes. They may stop doing certain things, but people of God, we do not truly get better. We are just as sinful as Adam and Eve. This original sin, this doctrine of the Christian Church of Jesus Christ may not fit into our personal idea of what is fair, but it is the reality of our situation and it is just. And God is still just in requiring our obedience, even if we no longer can do this in our own power. Why would God require anything, though, of Adam and Eve? Why? If God is God, why would he need anyone to do anything? It's because God is holy. It's because God is righteous. that he requires these things of Adam and Eve. God is completely just. He is completely holy, and that will never change. There's an important concept that I hope that I can somewhat make you familiar with this evening. It is one we don't often talk about, and that is what we call the simplicity of God. Now, simplicity is not a mean thing to say of God. Some might say mean things about other people and say, oh, he's quite simple, but that is not what we are talking about this evening. Perhaps some of you remember the product Simply Orange Juice and their commercials that they'd have where it's just glistening orange on the tree with little beads of dew. And this guy with the deep voice is telling you that there's no water added, no sugar added, no preservatives added. It's simply orange juice. You see that picture there of it? That's all it is. It's not like orange juice. It's not made with orange juice. It is simply orange juice. Compared to God, we are complex. We have many parts, and they are not all the same. We are not altogether kind. If we say that so-and-so is kind, we do not mean they are completely kind with no time where they fail to be kind, or that they are kind in every single way, but that they generally are a nice person. When we say that God is anything, when God says he is anything, I should say, he simply is that thing. Not just a part of him is that way, not just some of the time he is that way, Not just mostly that way. So when God says that he is just, when he says that he is holy, when he says that he is a loving God, there is no qualifiers attached. There's no strings or fine print. He is simply just. And none of these attributes can conflict with each other or override another. He is equally and simply all of these things. God's holiness is an all or nothing thing. It is not relative. Sin is not tolerated by him and will not be accepted in his presence because he is a holy God. His holiness and his justice go hand in hand. Psalm 5 verses four through six say this of God, for you are not a God who delights in wickedness. Evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes. You hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. And Nahum 1 verse 2 says, The Lord is a jealous and avenging God. The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and keeps wrath for His enemies. Knowing this about our God, is there any wonder, therefore, that He is terribly angered by sin, by wickedness, by evil and corruption in this world and in our own hearts? Both that which we have inherited as original sin and our, what we call actual sins, those we act out in this world ourselves, that we are personally responsible for. God surely is justified in his anger as a holy God against these things. This brings us to our second point this evening. where we see that God not only will one day punish all evil justly with his justice, but in his justice, God punishes sin both now and eternally. God shows this just anger in his punishment of sin by revealing in his word how he punishes sin in the present and will punish it in all of eternity. As we know through the book of Job, we are not so easily able to speculate on all of the things that befall the wicked being so simply God's justice against them. We cannot know that whenever something awful happens to someone that it was because of this thing that we know of. And yet, in the word of God, there's ample evidence that God does punish wickedness, even in this world, even now. Adam and Eve were made to suffer the curses from God and the effects of the fall for their disobedience. Cain did not escape, but was doomed to wander the earth, and the ground would no longer yield its strength to him. Those outside of Noah's ark, outside of his family, did not escape God's just anger, but were drowned in the worldwide flood. Sodom and Gomorrah, these two cities in which there was not even a handful of righteous people within them, did not escape the fire from heaven that was sent on their perversion. The Egyptians did not escape the wrath of God for pursuing and enslaving the Israelites. The Canaanites, like those in Jericho, did not escape the wrath of God against their sinful idolatry. Israel itself did not escape God's wrath for their own idolatry. and sin, but were captured and exiled by Assyria. And Assyria did not escape God's just judgment for what they did to Israel. Judah did not escape the wrath of God for their own idolatry, but were brought away into Babylon in exile. And Babylon, like Assyria, was judged for their cruelty to Judah. We see in the New Testament, Herod did not give God glory when others tried to say that his voice was that of a God. And God struck him down and he was eaten with worms and died. And Annias and Sapphira were struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit. There is so much evidence in the word of God that he does not delay in all of his justice. But even now, justly punishes sin in this world. And though some wicked may seem to go through this whole life in this world and face no hardship, we see plenty of examples in scripture that many do suffer this just wrath of God for their sin now in this life. But whether they do or do not, every wicked man or woman will get what they deserve from God in the eternal punishment of all sin on the day of his judgment. This final day of the judgment of the Lord is coming. This eternal punishment for sin is not something we can skim over this evening in our talk on God's justice. Hell is not just a scary story that corrupt church leaders came up with years and years ago to scare the masses into submission, as critics may say. God himself tells us that hell is a real place. of real eternal spiritual punishment for sin until the day that Christ returns. And those who are damned to hell will be resurrected with indestructible bodies to once again be thrown body and soul into the lake of fire with Satan and his minions. We should keep this reality in our minds when we read in Hebrews, Hebrews 10 verses 30 through 31, For we know Him who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay. And again, the Lord will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. This eternal punishment, people of God, for the temporary, short-term disobediences, even the smallest sin in this world may seem extreme. It may seem overly heavy-handed. compared to the sin that was committed. But this is not how we are to weigh this sin. It is not based on how grievous it is, whether it truly is worthy of all of this punishment. The reason it is worthy of such an awful, awful fate is because it was sin committed against the most holy King of Kings, this majestic Lord and God. the same one who wears many crowns on his head and will one day ride on a pure white war horse. This means that the justice of God is not a thing about tomorrow alone, though that day is coming and it will come soon. The justice of God affects our lives yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If we are not in God's good graces, if we are not in a good relationship, a good status with God, we cannot afford to go through our lives in such a way. For we too might face suffering and the wrath of God here and now. And we certainly will in eternity. God punishes justly for the failure to keep His commandments. But the justice of God, people of God, our third point this evening, God's justice is complete and perfect. We've already stated this somewhat, but it's important that we reflect upon it further. It is truly not an exaggeration to you today when we say that God will punish all sins. This is not an overstatement or a generalization. God says himself, cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law. And in Romans 1 verse 18, he says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. And why wouldn't he? Because there's no incentive for him not to. He is simply and completely just and holy. Humanity was fully created to be fully capable of keeping his requirements. And the law of God is good. It is good for us to keep the law of God. He gave it to us not to suppress us, but for our own good. He owes no one anything and everything belongs to Him. But the thing that you need to know this evening that you cannot forget is why the complete justice of God is something that you have to seriously be concerned about. Even in the most overbearing country that you can, or country that you can imagine, where they have facial recognition cameras on every street corner, and an army of police officers. They will not catch every criminal. They will not stop every crime. They may catch and stop a lot of it, but not all of it. For our human law enforcement officers who enforce law and order in our society can only be in one place at one time, only know what they know is going on, and can only stop those who they have the power to stop. This is not so with God. There is no chance that God will miss anyone who deserves his judgment. He is all powerful, meaning no one can wrestle away from him. He is all present, meaning he is always not too far away to catch anyone. And he's all knowing, meaning that nothing will escape his knowledge, but that he sees every sin. Our legal system is not perfect. And when it works at its best, it's meant to give due process, where there are witnesses, where there are judges, where there is enforcement of the law. But with God, He is the perfect witness. He does not make mistakes. He does not miss anything. He does not need anyone else's Testimony. He is a perfect enforcer. He is a perfect judge. And so his justice too is complete and perfect. In our catechism, this last question of Lord's Day 4 realizes at this point all of these truths. And makes one last desperate appeal to the mercy of God. Saying, surely isn't God also merciful? Will He not let me go out of His mercy? But people of God, our final point is that God's justice must, must be satisfied. Remember earlier, what was said about the simplicity of God and His attributes. God is simply merciful, or simply loving would be a better way to put it. His mercy is an outflowing of his love. He is simply loving, and he is simply just. And yet these two things cannot supersede the other, or rise above the other, or defeat the other. They are in harmony in God's character. This means that the mercy of God cannot be rooted in the overthrow of His justice, in the dismissal or turning aside a blind eye to sin. That sin has to be dealt with. That sin has to be brought to justice for He is a just and holy God. and we cannot do it in our own power. And yet this people of God, this is why the gospel is so sweet. The only comfort we have, only comfort in life and in death is that we belong body and soul in life and in death to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He, he has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has delivered me from the tyranny of the devil. This is what our catechism opens with, is this comfort, that he has fully paid it with his precious blood. Romans 5 verse 19 says this, it says, for as by one man's disobedience, speaking of Adam, the many were made sinners. So by one man's obedience, that being Christ, the many will be made righteous. Because we will be punished for not satisfying the just requirements of God, we have to trust in Jesus Christ to satisfy his justice for us. Many fail to recognize how serious their sin is, how great the cost of our redemption is, and the satisfaction of God's justice for our guilt is. They fail to see that this is so serious. They ask, surely it's not that serious. Surely there must be some other way. but there is no other way. There is no alternative people of God. There is only this, that the Son of God would take on our human nature and be born under the law without sin inherited from Adam and Eve or any sin of his own, obeying the laws of God sinlessly, perfectly, as God requires, and giving his life on the cross under the full wrath of God. for us. By his precious blood, Jesus Christ has satisfied this righteous requirement that God's justice has, and he's fully paid this penalty for our sin. And so, people of God, when we have the mercy shown to us in Jesus Christ, our sins are not just swept under a rug somewhere, but they are pinned to the cross of Jesus Christ. It is with Christ that we were crucified. It is with Christ that we have risen to new life. We were so lost, so lost in our sin and transgression that this great sacrifice was what it took for us to be free. Would God the Father have sent his Son if there was any other way? His beloved Son in which He was well pleased. Would He have sent Him to die, to take on flesh and live a life of suffering on our behalf if there was any other way? We need to see how desperate our situation was. And if we are not in Christ, how desperate it truly still is. Whether for the very first time or not, we need to know and continually remember our sinful and miserable state for us to truly love Jesus Christ, to truly realize what he has done for us. Jesus paid it all once and for all on that cross, but we would be very in the wrong, amiss if we left it there 2,000 years in the past. If it was just a historical event to us. If Christ is no more than a historical figure to us. When the thought of our desperate need for our Savior and His loving sacrifice fades from our minds, so too will this joy of salvation and confidence in Christ alone. It is so easy in that state to stray into the errors of thinking things like, We can only have confidence in our salvation based on how holy our lives are, or begin to rely on our good works to keep us in God's grace, or begin to even think of ourselves as good people, and no longer guard our hearts against indwelling sin, or even make the sacrifice of Christ into some blank check to fund our pet sins that we will not put to death. People of God, do you find it easier to see the sinner around you than the sinner in the mirror? When you face conflict in relationships, do you never fail to see the other person in the wrong and yourself in the right? Do you go through your life as a good person, continually mistreated and cheated by the world of evildoers around you, praying, God, I thank you that I am not like other men. Or do you pray, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Do you realize that you have been saved by grace, not by works, but by this precious blood of Jesus Christ. And ask that the Lord would open your eyes to see the sin in you. And request that your brother forgive you when you wrong him. Be willing to accept correction when you are confronted for how you have hurt others around you. When we realize our sin and our misery, even our continued sinful nature in this time until Christ returns, when we are His, yet still stumble in our sin, we can much more easily recognize when we harm our brother. We can much more quickly ask the Lord for forgiveness. We can much more humbly go to others as well and correct them in their sin. We have to appreciate Christ this evening. And having been purchased by Christ, we're no longer His enemies. We no longer need to be afraid of this terrifying conqueror on a white horse with a robe cloaked in blood. Instead, we can even long for the day when he will return as it speaks of in Revelation. And we will rejoice on that day in the relief of his return as our triumphant Savior. when the wicked who oppress the righteous will be brought to justice, when we ourselves who are tormented by our own sinful desires will be made free from our sinful nature once and for all, when we will be clothed in robes of white. But the blood on his robes in our text this evening have to remind us of his own costly blood, which he shed to pay for our debt and purchase us out of the bondage to sin and the kingdom of the devil, that we would be his servants and his adopted sons and brothers, belonging to the kingdom of Christ and not of darkness. That blood is the blood shed to satisfy the justice of God. God's justice will be satisfied and that blood could either be yours or it could be Christ's. If you are not in Christ, that day will come when it will be your blood that is shed for the satisfaction of God's justice. Let it not be so. but trust alone in Jesus Christ and his blood which was shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Let us pray. Lord God, we thank you that you are just, that it is yours to avenge and not for us to bring vengeance into our own hands. that even those who somehow escape justice, who work through corrupt means to evade capture for their evil works, or those who are never even suspected, never even brought to mind for what they have done, that even they, Lord, will face justice at your hand and not ours. Lord, we pray for our enemies. that your justice would be dealt out, Lord, on those who oppress your church and do not repent, that you would let justice be done. And for those, Lord, who do turn to Christ as we have, we know that it is still not as if justice has not been done. but their sin, like our own, will be paid for by Jesus's blood. It will be satisfied, and that is justice. It is yours to deal and not ours. We thank you for your mercy to sinners like us. In Jesus's name, amen.