If you have your Bible this morning, open up to the 5th chapter of the Old Testament book of Zechariah. The book of Zechariah and chapter number 5. If you have a hard time finding Zechariah, just go to the last book of the Old Testament at Malachi and hang a left. And you'll run right into Zechariah. As you look across the landscape today of our world, and even within the Christian world, you see a big question that often gets raised. We've dealt with it here at this church many times. We've dealt with it at this pulpit many times. But I think it's one that needs to continually be dealt with and expounded, and the answer needs to be continually proclaimed, because it's that important. And this question is, since God is so loving, and since God is so good, Why doesn't He do something about all of the evil that's in the present world today? In all of the world, with all of the evil that's going on, why doesn't God do something about it? If He's so good and so loving, people say, then he should do something about the evil. Maybe he's not good, and maybe he's not loving, or maybe he's not all-powerful, they say, since there's evil that exists. And oftentimes it seems that it's the wicked people that prosper the most, sometimes. And this is confusing for people as they see our proclamation of God. And maybe you've heard it phrased this way, a lot of bad things happen to good people. You've heard that before. Maybe you have that question today on your mind. Why do bad things happen to good people? Well, my friend, the Bible proclaims in Romans 3, verses 10 through 18, as we've seen in this pulpit, that there are no such thing as good people. Good people do not exist because there's none good, no, not one. There is none that's good. There's none who understands. There's none who seek after God. We've all turned aside and gone our own way. There is no good people in the world. That's a heavy thought as you think about it because that would include you here today. That would include me. There are no good people. So in light of this, the real question should be not why do bad things happen to good people because they don't exist. We're all bad to one degree or another. The real question should be why do good things happen to bad people? That's the real question. Why does anything good happen to anybody at all? You ever think about that? You've broken God's law here today. We're all sinners, you and me. And the wages of sin is death. One sin equals death. But here we are sitting here this morning, and we're sucking up this oxygen freely. Why does anything good happen to anyone at all? Why do good things happen to bad people is the real issue. And for those who are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, who understand the depth of their sin, and who have looked to Christ for salvation, oftentimes we wonder ourselves, why in the world does it seem that the wicked people in the world who are so bad, oftentimes prosper the most? Why doesn't God do something about the wickedness of man? It's often times these kind of people who are prospering more than those who are following the Lord. A lot of times those that are blessed in the world are those who are sometimes some of the most vile. And it doesn't make sense to us. Especially when we read in the Bible in Psalm 99 verse 9, it says, Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy. The Lord is holy. He's separate from evil. Psalm 5 verse 4 says, For you are not a God who delights in wickedness. Listen, evil may not dwell with you. What did I just say about us? We are not good. We are inherently evil. And evil cannot dwell with God. Verse 5 in Psalm 5 says, 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 men. Notice the Lord does not hate the sin. He hates the sin and the sinner. The Lord's righteous hatred is aimed at the sinner. Not just the sin. Psalm 34, 15-16 says, The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears are toward their cry. The face of the Lord, listen, is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. With these verses in mind, how can we explain the fact that evil is in the world? And evil people seem to be very blessed. It's kind of confusing to us. And it was confusing for a few guys in the Old Testament. In the book of Habakkuk, Habakkuk says in chapter 1 verse 13, to the Lord, you who are of purer eyes than to see evil, and you cannot look at wrong. Your eyes are too pure, Lord, to behold evil in a favorable way, and you can't look upon wrong and evil favorably. And then Habakkuk says, in light of that, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? Habakkuk is asking the Lord this. I know, Lord, my theology teaches me that you are good and that you cannot stand the evil person. The evil cannot dwell with you. So in light of this, Lord, why do you look idly at traitors? Why does the wicked prosper? Habakkuk is saying. How come and how can you look at while the wicked person swallows up the man more righteous than he is? Jeremiah 12, verse 1. Jeremiah had the same complaint. He says, "...Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you." Lord, I know that You're righteous, but I have a complaint. I have a dilemma. I need to know the answer. Yet, I would plead my case before You. I know that You're righteous, but I have to plead my case before You. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Jeremiah says. Why do all who are treacherous thrive? Why do the wicked prosper? The psalmist in Psalm 73 also had this dilemma. The whole chapter of Psalm 73 is regarding this dilemma. In verse 12, I pick it up with, Behold, these are the wicked, always at ease. They increase in riches, the wicked. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. If I had said, I will speak thus, I would have betrayed the generation of your children. I've kept myself pure for nothing, because the wicked are prospering and I'm not. Have I done all of this work for nothing? I feel the need to speak to the Lord and say, why Lord, do the wicked prosper? I can't understand this. But in Psalm 73, at the very next verse, The psalmist says, but when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task. How can I understand this? Verse 17, until I went into the sanctuary of God, and then I discerned their end. It wasn't until the psalmist went to the sanctuary and heard the revelation of God that he began to get a different view towards those who are wicked. He began to get a different view towards himself who suffers while wicked people prosper. He says in verse 18, truly about the wicked, you set them in slippery places. You make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors. Notice here, the psalmist tries to understand the dilemma apart from the Bible, and you're not going to be able to figure it out. Man, by his reason, cannot get to know God in his mind. There is no way to get there from here. It isn't until the psalmist went to the sanctuary and heard the revelation of God spoken to men that he was able to now discern what's really going on and what really is the Lord doing and what the Lord is going to do. It is the Bible who informs us of the truth. When there's things that we don't know, we don't possess all knowledge, we go to the One who possesses all knowledge. And He gives us His revelation here in His Word. And the basic answer is God will come and He will destroy sin. And He will judge sinners. You can title this message this morning, The Certainty of God's Judgment. You can bank on it. The Certainty of God's Judgment. I know how it looks outside of these walls. And some of you may be engaged in that wickedness outside of these walls that are here today. I know how it looks to the Christians who are here. I understand your dilemma when you see the evil that's going on and the favor, apparently, that looks to be of the Lord on it. But it's not until we open up His Word that we understand that you can take this to the bank that God will judge sin. God will judge every single sin, and every single sinner will be judged by God. In Psalm 50 verse 3, Our God comes. He does not keep silence. Before Him is a devouring fire. Around Him a mighty tempest. He's coming with fire surrounding Him, and He's coming to burn down the sinner and the sin. In verse 21 in Psalm 50 it says, These things you have done, and I have been silent, God says. You thought that I was one like yourself. God says, you thought I was like you. That's your problem. That you thought God was like you. But God is holy and separate from sinners and from sin. God says, you thought that I was like you, but now I rebuke you in the day of charge and lay this charge before you. Maybe this morning you're saying, well, you know Brent, I understand what you're saying, but these are all Old Testament passages that deal with this wrathful and heated judgment of the Lord. Surely the New Testament doesn't speak this way. I mean, Jesus has came and He's accepted everyone. And He forgives everyone. Unconditionally. No matter what, Jesus is going to make it alright for every person on the earth. He is correcting this wrathful God of the Old Testament. That's often the way you hear it portrayed. But I want to tell you today that that is untrue, because in the New Testament, 2 Thessalonians 1, verses 7-9, listen to this, When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, inflaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, It is Jesus who's coming back, and it is Jesus who will judge, and who will damn, and who will inflict wrath and vengeance on those who do not know God, and get this, do not obey the gospel. The gospel is not just something to be received, it is something to be obeyed. The command is repent now and believe upon the Gospel immediately. God is not suggesting that you think it over and come to Him and He's begging you to come and believe Him and His Gospel. He is commanding you that you better repent. You better put your faith and trust in Jesus. It's a command. And Jesus is coming to inflict vengeance on those who don't know God and those who don't obey the Gospel. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might. And so with that said, we come to Zechariah chapter number 5. And in Zechariah chapter 5, the prophet of God, Zechariah, is going to deal with the answer to this question. He's going to give us in Zechariah 5, the entire chapter, verses 1-11, some details into the coming judgment of God. What God is going to judge, and who God is going to judge, and how God is going to judge in the future. Zachariah, his name, it actually means literally the Lord remembers. The Lord remembers. And Zachariah began his ministry around 520 BC and he was a contemporary of another Old Testament saint, another book you may be familiar with, Haggai. Zechariah was a contemporary with Haggai. Now at this time in Zechariah, when he's writing, it's towards the end of the Old Testament period, where Israel is coming out of captivity from the judgment they were in, that they disobeyed the Lord, they were put into judgment, and now they're coming out from Babylon, they're coming out from the captivity, they're coming back to their land, finally, and they're beginning to now rebuild the temple. They're about halfway or so finished with the temple. They're starting to rebuild it. And this is about 400 or so years, 500, before Jesus comes. And the Old Testament ends and then there's silence for 400 years. And then all of a sudden someone shows up on the scene, John the Baptist. And he begins to prophesy that the Lord Jesus is coming, that the Messiah is coming. And that's where the New Testament picks up. So we are at the very end of the Old Testament. Israel is coming back into the land and they're beginning to build back the temple. And the Lord is letting them back into the land after they've been dispersed and judged in a temporal way and spread out all over the face of the earth. And so now they're coming back into the land. And Zechariah really is a book that is going to bring hopeful joy to Israel. Zechariah is going to bring some massive promises in the whole book about God's future, about things that God is going to do, about things that are going to happen. And Zechariah really is not here to preach so much judgment necessarily. He's here to bring joy to Israel and to instruct them that, hey, it's going to be good. The future looks bright for us. if we follow the Lord, but that's just it. They again disobeyed, and their hearts fell from the Lord. And they did not continue on in the repentance that it looked like that they had started. And they fall back into the same thing again. When Jesus comes, He finds that the whole thing is desolate just as bad as it ever was before. But Zechariah, even though he's bringing good messages and good news, T, according to Matthew 23, 35, According to Jesus, Zechariah was actually murdered not long after this, between the sanctuary and the altar. Someone in Israel murdered this prophet, just as they did with everyone. Because as it is with any preacher of God's message, who's in line with all the prophets before him, there comes a point when the hatred towards the man of God becomes insurmountable because of what he's saying. There comes a point when preachers begin to be hated for the things that they're saying. The prophets are no different. As Brian told us the other night at the Bible study, the problem with preachers today is that no one wants to kill them. Because they're not preaching the truth as they should. Because the truth is sharp. And the truth of God divides. And it tells people, such as I've told you, that you're a bunch of sinners. That you're wicked and evil. That none is good. Not even one person here. It's the truth that is sharp, but it's the truth that you have to hear to be saved. You must hear the truth. And the bad news has to come before the good news. And Zechariah was in line with the rest of the prophets because he was murdered, Jesus says. He was murdered just like all the rest. Isaiah himself, tradition tells us in Hebrews, explains that there are some who were sawn in two with a saw. Tradition tells us that's Isaiah for the things he had to say. They got him and they sawed him in half and killed him. Zechariah himself was murdered. Jesus condemns Israel, Thou who stonest the prophets who are sent to you. You kill the messengers that are sent to you. And I think, my memory escapes me, but it's in Mark chapter 12, I think, to where there's the parable told of where all of the people come and all of the prophets are coming, and the people of Israel kill every single prophet. And then finally God sends His Son, and what do they do with the Son? They kill Him too. They kill the final prophet of God, the true prophet Himself, Jesus Christ. It's no different. Prophets, as God's men, they are not only His ambassadors bringing peace to the sons of peace, but they are heralds to proclaim war against those who delight in war and persist in their rebellion. God's men are loved and hated for the exact same reason, because they speak the Word of God. To some people, they love the truth of God. There are other people who hate the truth of God. So literally, the prophet, as was said about J.C. Ryle, loved and hated for the same reason. Because of his commitment to, and his explanation of, and his proclamation of the Word of God. To some people, it's good news and it's comforting. To other people, it's bad news and it's convicting. 2 Corinthians 14, 17, Paul says, But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. God spreads the fragrance of Christ everywhere, for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one, a fragrance from death to death. To the other, a fragrance from life to life. To some people, we are an aroma of life to life. To some people, we are an aroma of death to death. Loved by some, hated by others for the exact same reason. Our proclamation of the truth of God's Word. And then Paul says, who is sufficient for these things? Who is sufficient for this? That God would use us to proclaim through us this truth that saves some but damns and judges others. It's the same message that will save is the same message that will judge and damn if rejected. So God's Word literally will accomplish something when it's spoken. That's what Isaiah says in Isaiah 55. The Word will not return void. It always accomplishes something. Whenever you speak the Word of God, you may not see someone saved. Most of the time you won't. You may not see someone repent. You may not see someone that changes their ways. But there is something going on that God's doing. Take it to the bank. Again, the Word says it. God is accomplishing something. To some people, it's judgment. The more truth that people hear and they reject it, the more judgment comes upon that person. I've got to tell you today, as God's messenger, that there is a hotter hell for some than there is for others. It was Jesus Himself that said to the cities as He passed through them, the ones that He spent His time in, doing His miracles in, preaching His Word in, He said, it would be better for Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that city, because they rejected Me. Just by not believing the Gospel, it thrust them into a worse judgment than Sodom and Gomorrah, one of the most vile cities that we know of. And it was not believing the Word of God spoken that brings more judgment. There's a hotter hell for some people than there is for others. It is a dangerous place to be to be sitting in the church pew today. It is a dangerous place. For some, it is good. It is knowledge. It is increasing in growth and holiness unto the Lord because the Lord is using it to sanctify. But to others, it is judgment. Judgment. Judgment. As you sit and hang on to your sin, but resist the truth, it's more judgment for what you heard. More judgment for what you heard. I have to tell you today, please listen close to the message. Please listen to the message of God's Word and understand. But in Zechariah, you come to chapters 1-6. Before we get to chapter 5. Chapters 1-6, in this section, Zechariah is calling Israel to repentance. And there are 8 different visions that are explaining the result of their repentance. In these visions, Zechariah talks about the conquest of Israel's enemies in the future. the final regathering to the land in the future, the cleansing and restoration of Israel in the future, and also the coming Messiah and His Kingdom. Zechariah is filled with references to Jesus Christ. It's all over his book. And then you come to chapters 7 and 8, and Zechariah gives four messages in response to the good news and in light of the temple being rebuilt. Israel starts to question whether the national fast in the morning of the fall of Jerusalem needed to continue. Do we need to continue with this national fast of the fall now that we're here and rebuilding? And Zechariah gives them instruction and gives them four messages to impress upon them the need to live righteously and not to fast hypocritically. He warns them not to fast and not to do things in religion just to be doing them, or just to be earning God's favor, or just to be going through the motions without the heart involved. Zechariah warns the people of this. And in chapters 9-14, Zechariah has two burdens. And basically summed up, the first is the Messiah's rejection at His first coming, and then it's the Messiah's acceptance at His second coming, at the end of Zechariah. A few chapters in, you see the first coming and the rejection. It is actually prophesied in Zechariah. We don't have time to show you, but it's prophesied that Judas would betray him for the amount of silver that he betrayed him with. It is prophesied that the Messiah would be rejected, and then the second coming that the Messiah would be accepted by the nation. So this is futuristic. This is putting the contexts in the future of what's going to happen. And so in the middle of these 8 visions in chapters 1-6, you see visions 5 and 6 answering this question that we have raised. In the midst of all of this blessing, in the midst of all of the things that God's doing for us that are good, what about God's judgment on the wicked? What about God's judgment on those who persist in sin? We understand the blessing on God for us who love the Lord, but what about those who are wicked who persist in sin? Within the nation and also without the nation. What about those who are within Israel that continue in sin? Or those who are outside of Israel that continue in sin? What's going to happen to these? And I want to give you three major points to section out this Scripture. Three points. Number one, God's judgment on the immoral sinner. God's judgment on the immoral sinner. Number two, God's judgment on the iniquitous sin. God's judgment on the iniquitous sin. And number three, God's judgment on the idolatrous system. God's judgment on the idolatrous system. God's going to judge the sinner. He's going to judge the sin. And He's going to judge the system. of the world. So look in Zechariah chapter 5 beginning in verse 1. Zechariah says, And he said to me, What do you see? I answered, I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits. Then he said to me, This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall remain in his house, and consume it, both timber and stones. Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out. And I said, what is it? He said, this is the basket that is going out. And he said, this is their iniquity in all the land. And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket. And he said, this is wickedness. And he thrust her back into the basket and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward. The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork. And they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. Then I said to the angel who talked with me, Where are they taking the basket? He said to me, To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base. In verse number one, you come to God's judgment on the sinner himself, on the immoral sinner himself. Verses one through four. And under this heading, I want to give you three bullet points under the fact that God judges the sinner himself. The first is we see the criteria of God's judgment. How is God going to judge? The criteria of God's judgment. Notice there in verse 1. He says, again, I lifted my eyes, and I saw, and behold, a flying scroll. So Zachariah here sees a vision. And this vision is a scroll flying through the air. And it's a pretty good size scroll too according to the next verse of how big that it is. So what is this scroll? What is Zachariah seeing? What is this scroll? Well, if you'll go back and remember that the Old Testament and the New Testament Scriptures were both written on scrolls. And the scroll would be rolled up onto this block of wood, this piece of wood, and it would roll up the scroll. And when you would read it, as Jesus did, He would unroll the scroll, read from it, roll it back up, and put it away. That's how they read their Bible in the temple. It was written on scrolls rolled up around the wood blocking that would contain it. And here, what this scroll is, is it is basically the Word of God. The criteria for God's judgment is this flying scroll. And the fact that it's flying tells us that it is open. The scroll is unraveled. It is opened up. It's not wrapped around that little wooden thing that would keep it lodged. It is now opened up and it is raveling through the air almost like a flag that's going through the air. And as the wind blows it, you can see the whole scroll is opened up. That's why it's a flying scroll. And it's going all over the face of the earth. Psalm 147.15, the psalmist says about God, He sends out His command to the earth. His word runs swiftly. The word of the Lord fills the whole earth. Whether through general revelation, without the Bible, God reveals Himself through creation, Or in special revelation, with the Bible. God specially reveals certain things about Himself, and it runs. The command of the Lord runs through the whole earth. So, not only was this scroll flying around for all people to read, because it was unwound, but also this scroll was very large, which meant all people could see it and all people could read it. Notice verse 2, And He said to me, What do you see? I answered, I see a flying scroll. Its length is 20 cubits and its width is 10 cubits. This size was massive of this scroll. It is a massive scroll that he sees flying around all over the land and all through the air over the land. And notice it is exactly the same size as the holy place in the tabernacle. It's exactly the same size, which means that this scroll, whatever is the same size as that holy place, indicates possibly that it conforms to divine dimensions. This scroll, another indication that it is the Word of God, it is the Old and New Testament, it is the Bible, it is God's command, it is God's Word, is that it is the same size as the holy place in the tabernacle, meaning that it conforms to the divine dimensions. God has made this scroll the divine standard for how He will judge the world and the wicked. You want to know the criteria for God's judgment? It's going to be the Bible. what the Bible says. The Bible is a very important book to understand what God says is wrong, what God says is right. How to worship God, how not to worship God. Just because you're gathering together and singing songs doesn't mean you're worshiping God. The Bible prescribes that there is a false worship, even doing the right things in the wrong way. the Bible would say is false worship. So the Word of God is very, very important for us to know, for us to understand how God wants to be worshipped, how God demands that we would be saved because we're under His judgment in His world. So His Word, actually, it's not something that comes to us that should be a burden, it should be a delight. Because it frees us from sin. It tells us how to worship and love the true God who made us. We are accountable to this God. Whether you like it or not, He made you. He owns what He makes. We have an accountability relationship with God. And this scroll is the divine standard of how God will judge the world. It's the Bible. Notice in verse 3 it says according to what is on this side and according to what is on that side. This sums up what the Mosaic Law said when it was given. It was written on one side. And it was written on the other side. Another indication that this is the Word of God. This scroll that's flying through the air is the Bible. It's the Word of God. It's the same as what was said about the Mosaic Law. And this symbol is the symbol of the Word of God. In Hebrews 4, 12-13, it says, 4. The Word of God is living and active. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, and it pierces to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and it discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart." The Bible judges the thoughts and intentions of your heart. I have read many books But it is the Bible that's the only book that's ever read me. It is the Bible who speaks to me and shows me the hidden motives of my heart and underlines the hidden sins that motivate the actions that I carry out as a sinner. It discerns the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. And verse 13 in Hebrews 4 says, And no creature is hidden from its sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. It is the scroll that goes over the whole face of the earth and it is to God who we will have to give an account according to His Word. The Bible itself is how we will be judged. In Romans 2, it says that God will judge the sinner according to truth. According to truth. And it is Jesus himself who said in John 17, 17, Your word is truth. It will be the Bible of how we are judged. Jesus also said in John 5, verse 45, Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Talking to the Jews. There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope. It is the Jews who had set their hope on the writings of Moses to try to clean themselves up. And it was actually the very thing that they were using to clean themselves up and try to prop themselves up before God. It was the Word of God that was actually going to judge them. They were using it as a way to earn salvation, and it was the Word of God that was going to judge them to tell them that they were condemned. And Jesus said, I'm not going to judge you. The Bible is going to judge you. The Word of Moses. And so that is the criteria of God's judgment. It's the Bible. It's the scroll. And then secondly, understand the completeness of God's judgment. Not only the criteria, how God's going to judge, but the completeness that God will judge completely inside and outside. Verse 3. He then said to me, this is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. Notice this scroll. He says in verse 3, it is a curse. The Bible pronounces a curse on those who hear it. It is the Bible that pronounces the curse and it goes out, notice, over the whole face of the land. And then it says, everyone who steals, not just the Jew who knows the law, But everyone who steals shall be cleaned out, according to what is on one side. And everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out, according to what is on the other side. This is the curse. It is the scroll. It is the Bible. It is the law of God. Why is the Bible a curse? Why is it a curse that goes out? Because, my friends, if you break the law, you are cursed. And sin is a transgression of the law. It's a violation of God's law. And the Bible says that all sinners will be judged and are under a curse because we have broken God's law. We are lawbreakers. We are criminals in the sight of God. We are criminals. Everyone who has sinned is a criminal in the sight of God. And it is this word that pronounces a curse. So it's not the law of God that is the bad thing because it curses us. It is us who are bad. Because it's us who the word judges. The curse of the Bible brings about the judgment that is due to us. There's the most terrifying news in all of the Bible. It's really simple. And it's the fact that God is good. That is the most terrifying thing in the entire Bible. You might be thinking, well, why is that such a problem? I mean, why is God being good such a problem? I thought that that's what we wanted. The problem is, is that while God is good, we are not. And what does a good God do with you and me? He's going to judge us. It's the curse of His Word that will judge us. It will judge us completely. We are not. Notice it goes out over the face of the whole land. Not just in Israel, but over the whole land. So this is not only Jews with the law, but it's also Gentiles without the law. What about people who've never had a Bible? What about people who've never read God's Word? There's people who die every day on all corners of the earth who've never had a Bible. What about these people? Well, the text here says that everyone who steals, everyone who swears falsely, Romans 2.12, for all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. If you've sinned and you've never had a Bible, you're going to perish even though you've never had a Bible. And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. Everyone who steals, everyone who swears falsely, every single person over the whole land, no matter where you are, who you are, if you've had a Bible, if you've not had a Bible, every single person will be judged. But how can people who've never had a Bible, how can they be held accountable? Well, Romans 2 goes on to answer in verse 14 through 16, for when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, people who don't have the Bible, by nature they do what the law requires. They are a law to themselves. Even though they don't have the law, they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them. On that day, when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." There it is again, the secrets of men will be judged. The secrets of your heart will be exposed. You will be judged. What about people who've never had a Bible? Well, the text tells us that everybody has, by way of standard operating equipment, Brother Kyle would say, it is written on everybody's heart, the knowledge of right and wrong. There is no such thing as an atheist. There is no such thing as a person who does not believe in God. The Bible says that all people know that God exists. In Romans 1.18, they suppress the truth because they love their sin. The atheist can't find God for the same reason the bank robber can't find the police. Why can't the bank robber find the police? He's running. He knows what he's done. He knows the accountability that's coming. And his atheism, so-called, is a smokescreen to keep God from getting in. Everyone has knowledge of God. Everyone knows right from wrong. But it's the people that have the Bible that will be judged more severely because they had a further revelation than people who knew right from wrong but violated it anyway. So sinners are going to be judged. And everybody who's sinned, even those who don't have a Bible, they've sinned. And your conscience bears witness. Your conscience tells you when something is right or wrong. You know when something's wrong. You know when something's right. The Bible doesn't have to tell you. You know it. You have a moral code written right here in the heart. Every single person has this knowledge, and every single person is accountable for violating the knowledge that they have. You'll notice here that two commands are given by Zechariah in talking about this scroll. Stealing is on one side, and swearing falsely is on the other side. Now in the Mosaic Law, or the Ten Commandments, if you want to condense it down, the Ten Commandments, half of those are written on one side of the tablet, and the other half are written on the other side of the tablet. And these two commands, both of them, are the middle command on each side of the law. So by them both being the middle command on each side, representing both faces of the law, the middle command, both of them, what this tells us is it encompasses the entire law. The whole thing is summed up in these two. These two would incorporate all of the others as well. So it's not only those who steal, not only those who swear falsely, but everyone who's ever broken any law whatsoever is accountable for the whole thing, representing the entire Law. The first half of the Ten Commandments deal with your relationship to God. If you'll think about it, the first half deal with how you relate to God. The second half of the Ten Commandments deal with how you relate to other people. And so God is going to judge you based upon the law, the entire law, how you've related to God, how you've related to other people. And the divine standard is perfection. God's standard to avoid judgment. Here it is. Just get this. It's real simple. Just be perfect. Keep the entire thing in thought, word, and deed. You want to avoid what's coming? You have to be perfect. Galatians 3.10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, curse it is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them. If you don't keep the entire law and do it and obey it, you are under a curse. God's standard is perfection. And even though no one is good, and no one can be perfect, God will not lower His standard of holiness for your sake. Because you're not perfect and can't be. God's standard is upheld. It is the standard of perfection. God demands perfection. In James 2 verse 10 it says, Whoever keeps the whole law, but fails at one point, is accountable for the whole thing. Let's say you kept the law perfectly in its entirety, but you told one lie. You're damned forever to hell. If you fell in one point, you're guilty of all of it. Imagine a spurge instead of a chain with ten links in it, the Ten Commandments. And you're hanging on to this chain, and it's attached to something above you, and you're hanging, and below you is a massive pit of fire. How many links would have to break before you would plummet to the fire below? One link, one violation separates you from a holy God. Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. This is not only external that God demands. God demands that you would be perfect internally. It was Jesus who said, you've heard it said, not to murder, but I say to you that the true intent of the law, get this, is not even to hate. If you have hate in your heart, you are a murderer before God. God sees you in his courtroom as a murderer. Imagine if you were picked up on a warrant today from the police department that showed up to your house and said, you're wanted for murder. You're coming with me and you're brought to stand judgment before a holy God. You must say, well, I've never murdered before. I don't know what this is. This is crazy. I've never done this. Jesus said, if you've hated, you're a murderer. and the divine summons is coming to get you. The warrant is coming after you, and you will be brought to stand before the judge at the throne. Everybody who's hated in their heart is a murderer. Jesus also said, you've heard it said, not to commit adultery. But if you've lusted in your heart sexually after another woman, you are an adulterer, much less the action that's been committed. God judges not only the externals, but the internals. And He demands absolute perfection. The criteria is the Word of God. The completeness is everyone who has broken the law at any point in thought, word, or deed. It judges completely. Thirdly, the certainty of God's judgment. Verse 4. The certainty of God's judgment. You see the criteria? You've seen the completeness of it? Now notice the absolute certainty of God's judgment. Verse 4, I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall remain in his house and consume it. Both timber and stones. Notice in verse 4, who is it that sends this out? Who is it that's judging? Who is it that is doing this? I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts. The Lord of armies declares that I am going to judge. God doesn't say, this is going to happen and I'm not going to take part in it so that I can look good over here in your eyes. God says, no, I'm going to judge you. It's me that's going to judge you. It is God, I remind you, who sent the flood upon the land. It is not anybody else. It was not Satan. It was God who sent the flood upon the land in the days of Noah that wiped out the entire earth, except for eight people. It was God who did that. God sent the flood. God judges. It's God who, get this, puts you in hell. It is God who does that. God is the one who judges. He sends it out. It is absolutely certain, declares the Lord. It shall enter the house of the thief. It's going to come in to your personal house. The judgment will come in. The divine summons is coming to get you. The warrant of arrest will pick you up and we will come into the house and apprehend to bring before God. This is the law of God. It comes in and it enters the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall, get this, it will remain in the house and consume it, both timber and stones. It's going to judge everything. It is absolutely certain. In Jude verses 14 and 15 it says, It was also about these that Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His holy ones. to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way. and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. It is the Lord who comes with His angels to judge. It is the Lord of hosts who will send it out. God's judgment is absolutely certain, and God will rid the world of all sinners. He will do it. Secondly, I want you to see not only God's judgment on the sinner, but God's judgment on the sin. God's judgment on the iniquitous sin, verses 5-8. And this is as we move into the second vision of Zechariah. Verse 5, Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is the basket that is going out. And he said, This is their iniquity in all the land. And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket. And he said, This is wickedness. And He thrusts her back into the basket, and thrusts down the leaden weight on its opening. Now notice, this is the present condition of Israel, but it's also a future promise of what's going to happen. Presently God is judging sinners, but also in the future, this is when God rids the world of all sinners in His judgment. Israel was back in the land, but their hearts had become materialistic. They had come back into the land, but their hearts were materialistic by nature. They had picked this up, it seems, from the Babylonian captivity. The Babylonians had rubbed off on Israel. And they come back into the land, and their hearts are impacted by the wickedness around them. You can note it that whoever you run with is who you are going to become. Bad company corrupts good morals. You show me who your friends are and I'm going to tell you who you are or who you will become. Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. And Israel had been impacted by the Babylonians and their materialistic, greedy system. And Israel brought this back into the land in their hearts where God's going to judge. And Zechariah is speaking against this materialism. Israel's days of captivity in Babylon had made this massive impact on them. In Nehemiah 5 and Malachi 3, both of these are written to rebuke Israel of their greed. Greed, economics, materialism, they formulate the final Babylonian system in Revelation chapter 18. So in other words, evil started there with Babylon. Israel is brought out of it. And in Revelation 17 and 18, the city of Babylon will be brought back. And in that Babylon, it is a materialistic, greedy system. That's what our world is today. It is a system devoted to materialism and greed. And it is prompted by the greed of sinners who infiltrate that system and develop it. And that's the system of the world we live in. This is the pride of life. It is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life as John says. Love not the world. And that's what the world is. It is a system of greed. It is a system of selfishness. That's what the world system is. This is why Christians are not to love the world system of materialistic greed. And it will be resurrected one day when it comes back into Babylon there in Revelation 17 and 18. And this basket that he speaks of, where he says, what is this that's going out? And he said, what is it? And he said, this is a basket that is going out in verse 6. This basket is the largest possible measure in this day. It is a large measure. according to what this word means in the Hebrew. And it's enlarged because notice there's a woman sitting in the basket. This is a massive basket in this vision. Like the scroll was really big, the basket here is really big. And it represents a massive measurement. So in verse 6, this is their sin that is in all the land. You're not sinning by the ounce, he says, you're sinning by the basket load. The sin in the land is not just a little bit. It is a basket load of sin that the Lord is going to judge, and the basket and the sin had piled up so much that it was overflowing, as it were, and God contains it in this basket, implying that He's going to judge all of sin and the system of greed. James mentioned this in James 5. Listen to James. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded. Their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your field, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you. And the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. That's the system. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. Materialistic greed will be judged. The sin will be judged. The system that promotes the sinfulness will be judged. You see in verse number 7, there's a woman sitting in this basket. Now, this woman, the text says, is wickedness. It symbolizes the evil of this sin. Now I'm going to try to be careful about the next few words that I say. Because the text says that the woman represents the wickedness of sin. Women are used symbolically in the Bible to speak of religious evil. But I want to encourage you ladies today that the church is also called the Bride of Christ. So this is not a degradation on women. But women are used in the Bible symbolically of religious evil. The church is called the bride of Christ. And the false church, therefore, in Revelation 17 is called a prostitute. If this is a false church today, it is not the bride of Christ, it is the prostitute. There could be another sermon preached on that. Is the church that you're attending or is the church that are out there that are representing the Lord, are they true brides of Christ that uphold the word and holiness and honor? Or are they harlots and prostitutes designed to attract the world? Which one is it? Jesus is coming back to get his bride. He's not coming back to get a harlot that we have dressed up to play like the rest of the nations like Israel did. He's coming back to get his bride and it is the job of the preacher to preach the true word so that the people who are the bride of Christ would be ready. So that the bride would be ready for the day when her husband comes back to get her. That's the job of the preacher. It's to give the people the Word of God. And so the woman here is representing of evil. Representing of religious evil. In the basket. The religious evil system. This is all futuristic judgment that's coming on the land. This materialistic judgment. And this evil who is the woman. And notice in verse 8 that God will close it all up and He will judge every single ounce of sin because He closes that basket. Everything will be judged. Every one of your sins, get this, they will be paid for. Every single sin you've ever committed, it must be paid for. God cannot just sweep sin under the rug. There is no way He can do that. Every single thought that violates God's law by you will be paid for. It must be paid for. God's holiness demands it. He cannot sweep it under the rug. He will punish every sin. Not only the sinner, but the sin itself. Every sin has to be paid for. Notice number three, God's judgment on the idolatrous system. And I've already mentioned it a little bit in talking about the basket. But number three, God's judgment on the idolatrous system. Verse 9-11, Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward. The wind was in their wings, they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between the earth and heaven. Then I said to the angel who talked with me, Where are they taking the basket? And he said to me, To the land of Shanar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base. This word Shanar, as you see here in verse number 11, it's another name for Babylon. It's the same evil world system in the future that's going to be resurrected, but also judged. It is the religious prostitute that will be judged. It's the world system, and religion is incorporated in this. False forms of religion. The final form of the end of the world system will again be Babylon as Revelation 17 and 18 say. And these two women here that are carrying this as wings of a stork, they represent what is believed to be demons. carrying this system to set up this world system. Because listen, it's always demons and Satan that is behind false religion. It is always the wicked one who is behind false Christianity, false worship, false religion. All religions other than true biblical Christianity is a religion of demons. Paul calls them doctrines of demons, false teachings. And this represents the two demons that carry this thing out, and they set it back up again. And one of these days in Revelation 18, you can read it for yourself, God's going to judge the whole system. The whole thing is going to be brought down. So you might be saying here today, what in the world can I do? God's going to judge the sinner. He's going to judge completely. And He's going to judge the entire system itself. He's going to judge the sin. All of it will be judged. God will judge the immoral sinners. He's going to wipe them out. God's going to judge the iniquitous sin and He will wipe it out. God will judge the idolatrous system and He will wipe it out. What can I do? Well, I want you to flip a few pages over in Zechariah. Look at Zechariah chapter 12. In Zechariah chapter 12, you find a vision. And it is a vision of the future coming of the Messiah. And in Zechariah 12 verse 10, notice what the Lord says He's going to do in the future. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that when they look on me, on him whom they've pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn. You see here that there is coming a one who will be pierced. Isaiah 53 says he will be crushed. He will be pierced. He will be rejected. And here in verse 10, God says there's coming a day when I'm going to pour out on the house of Israel grace and please for mercy. I'm going to give grace to Israel in the future. And God's given that same grace right now to sinners. Listen to what they're going to do. So that when they look on me, on Him whom they've pierced, they will mourn for Him. God is saying, they're going to look on Me, on Him whom they've pierced, and mourn for Him. Who is the Him whom they've pierced? What did Israel do with their Messiah? They crucified Him. They pierced Him. He was rejected. He died. They put him on a cross. And God says there's coming a day when they're going to look back on the one that they pierced. They're going to look back on the Messiah that they killed. And they're going to confess Isaiah 53 that says, it was He that was suffering for our sins. He was suffering under God's wrath that's coming on the sinner. It was Jesus who was the substitute for our sins. Jesus Himself was pierced. And when they see this, when they look at Christ as the pierced Messiah, as the crushed Son of God bearing their sin, when they see this, look at what's going to happen. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly. Quite a different attitude than they had when He came the first time. Because the first time they said, we will not have this man rule over us. We will not have this Jesus to be our King. Away with Him. Let Him be crucified. But there's coming a day when because of the Lord's grace, thank God, that they're going to look back on the one that they pierced and realize God was punishing Him for our sins. He was dying for me. He was the One who was the Righteous One. It is the righteous who is the substitute for the unrighteous. It is God who substitutes Himself for sinners. This is the great news of the Gospel. Is that God demands perfection and Jesus was perfect on your behalf. If you will but put your faith in Him and turn from your sin. He was perfect on your behalf. And He was also crushed for the sin that must be paid for. Because remember, every law must be obeyed. And every sin must be punished. And every law was obeyed in Christ. And every sin was punished in Christ. And ladies and gentlemen, if you are with Him, if you are in Him, God sees you as righteous. And He looks at Christ and He sees Him and treats Him as a sinner. because of our sin if we are in Him. This is what He's going to say about Israel. They're going to look at Him and they're going to mourn. And whenever you look to Christ for salvation, it is not a joyful skipping jump into the narrow gate. It is a mourning over the death of what it took to forgive me. It is a mourning over my sin. I am a wretched, wretched man that I am. Who's going to deliver me under this law? It is Christ Jesus, my Lord. I look to Christ and I'm mourning over my sin. And verse 11, on that day, the mourning in Jerusalem will be great. They are going to mourn over their sin. And it will be great as the mourning for Hadid, Ramon, and the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn, each family by itself. The family of the house of David by itself. Their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself, their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Levi by itself, their wives by themselves, and so on and so on. What's he saying? He's saying that in that day, every single person from the top down are going to mourn individually. Salvation doesn't come to groups of people, it comes to individuals. You're singled out by yourself, and you must deal with your sin before a holy God, and you must come to Him by way of Jesus Christ. In chapter 13, on that day, there will be a fountain open for the house of David. Amen. There is a fountain filled with blood. If you are a sinner, you can come and wash your sins away in that fountain. There's a fountain opened up on that day for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness. And notice this, and on that day, declared the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land so that they shall be remembered no more. When God saves you, you know what He does? He cuts out all of your idols, and He places Himself on the throne in your heart, to where He is your desire, now and forevermore. How do you know you're a Christian? Because you truly desire to follow Jesus, and you love Him enough to forsake all, if that's what He has. You love Him and you see Him as the sacrifice that died for your sin. You're stirred by His Spirit and mourning over your sin. You start to hate the sin that you used to love. And you start to love the righteousness that you used to hate. Your loves and hates change when you look at the Christ who bled and died under God's wrath for you. We began with this question, why doesn't the Lord rid the wicked of the earth? I want to tell you, because He did at this very moment, He might rid you of the earth. And He might be waiting for you to repent before He judges you right now. That's the answer. Why does the Lord let the wicked live? Because He's a caring, gracious God who gives the wicked the opportunity to hear the gospel and repent. If you will be here and listen and repent, you will be saved. It's Romans 2, 4-5 that says, Do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Why is God so kind to the wicked? It's because He wants them to repent. He doesn't delight that the wicked would perish. But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you're storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. It is the hardness of your heart that you won't repent. And Psalm 7, 12-13 says, If a man does not repent, God will wed his sword. He has bent and ready his bow. He's prepared for him fiery shafts and deadly weapons. God's bow is drawn and aimed at the sinner if he will not repent. But if you, by the grace of God, will look to Jesus Christ, if you will see Him, if you are in Him today, rejoice for what He has done for you, because He demands that every law be obeyed and every sin be punished, and you have that in Jesus Christ. Well, we've learned in Colossians that Christ is sufficient for all things. Christ is all and in all, and it is in Him that we are made complete. by God. I pray that you will repent today, this moment, because God is extending you kindness by not taking you to hell right now if you are lost. He loves you and He wants to save you, but He will judge you, because His glory is the most important thing. And He will get glory out of every single sinner, either by salvation or by judgment. I pray that you would look to Jesus. Look to the one who is pierced and mourn, and God will save you. Amen? Let's pray. Lord, thank You, God, for this day. Thank You, Lord, for Your Word. Lord, thank You for Jesus, Lord, who is pierced for my transgressions, and He was crushed for my iniquities. Lord, thank You that Jesus bore the sin, Lord, for those who would come to Him, God, who You've done a work in their hearts, Lord, and they see themselves as unrighteous before You, and they tremble under Your Word, Lord, and they come to the Savior who loves them, Lord. I pray, Lord, if there's one today that doesn't know You, if their heart is hard, and if they're impenitent, Lord, and if they will not turn, I pray that You would bring in Your Spirit to change that wicked heart, Lord. Save someone today, Lord. Save someone, even if it's outside of these walls, Lord. Let Your Word and Your Gospel go forth. And Lord, we pray for salvation. Help us, Lord, to take this Word, this Gospel, that You demand perfection, but it's Christ who is perfect on our behalf. It's Christ who suffered every single sin, and by faith alone we are saved, justified, and we will one day be glorified because of Your grace. Lord, thank You for Jesus. Thank You, Lord, that He came and did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but He emptied Himself, and He took the form of a slave, and He was taken to the point of death. Lord, we bow our knee to Him today, Lord, and I pray, Lord, that the knee would bow of the heart that is hard, that it would bow at Jesus Christ, Lord. I pray that You would do that work. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the grace, Lord, that You've given to us. Thank You for the great clarity, Lord, that we can come and discern the end of the wicked, Lord, that You will judge, but that You're patient and You're loving and You extend grace, Lord. I thank You for that. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the people that are here. I pray that they are helped and encouraged. I pray that the lost, Lord, will be saved. It's in Jesus' name that I pray it all. Amen.