Welcome to Family Worship Radio, hosted by Lee Dodd, where we dig into the Bible and other great books, just as we would in a family worship setting. You can utilize this podcast as the content of your family worship, or simply use it as an aid in your preparation. Let's get started. Welcome to another episode of Family Worship Radio. We pick back up in our study of Proverbs chapter 3, and we will finish out chapter 3 in this episode, covering verses 31 through 35. I will read Sacred Scripture now. Do not envy a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways. For the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are his confidence. The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Toward the scorners He is scornful, but to the humble He gives favor. The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace. Quite a passage before us today, and I think we could summarize it with the phrase, justice for the wicked. It is true that not a single unconverted wicked man will escape the justice of God. The scorner will one day be scorned by God. The unjust will one day know justice, God's justice. The man of violence will one day suffer under the wrath of God. These are realities, and the Scripture is full of such warnings and admonitions. For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. And why is this? It is so fearful because the Lord's justice is so exact, so precise. There is not a single sin that goes unnoticed by our God who is all-seeing. There is never a wrong decision recorded in the courts of heaven, for our God is perfectly wise and perfectly just. He can do no wrong and, with exact precision, will judge every sinner, punishing them no more than they deserve, yet punishing them no less than they deserve. To read a phrase like, the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, is a scary phrase indeed. And yet this is not poetry, this is the Word of God. What a warning to us all. Children, little boy, little girl, mother, father, we must turn from sin. We must confess it and forsake it if we are to obtain mercy. while the wicked will be destroyed from the earth, while the wicked will suffer justice for their evil deeds. It is only the righteous that do not receive justice. It is the righteous that will inherit honor, according to the text. It is the humble to whom God gives favor. You see, the righteous know not justice, because Jesus Christ knew justice in their place. What a gospel theme! The wrath of God that was due me as a wicked sinner was poured out on Jesus Christ. Somebody must suffer. God's justice must be satisfied. But in the case of every believer, we rejoice today because Jesus Christ satisfied the wrath of God on our behalf. He took that anger, He took that punishment, He took the penalty of sin upon Himself and suffered the death that I should have died, suffered under the wrath of God that I should have suffered under. And yet apart from Jesus Christ, The sinner bears it himself for all eternity. Think in the Bible of instances like Haman with Mordecai. We find this account in the book of Esther. And Haman ruthlessly plots against the Jews, ruthlessly plots against Mordecai. He would wipe out the people of Israel. He even has gallows built upon which he plans, in premeditated evil, to hang Mordecai, to kill him there. And yet, God turns Haman's plans on their head. It is an utter reversal of fortune, and Haman will hang on the very gallows that he built in an effort to hang Mordecai. This is God's justice. Again, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. Let us feel the warning deeply, and let us look to Jesus Christ, for such warnings in the Bible are intended to drive us to the cross, where we can find redemption and the forgiveness of sins, and a Savior waiting, willing to embrace us in His arms. That concludes our study today. Thank you for listening to Family Worship Radio. God bless you.