Good morning. The elders have once again had to reach to the bench. We're excited at the thought of Pastor Savas coming to us. He begins his work Tuesday after the Sunday he's first here, Tuesday, May 27th. Ecclesiastes 4 says, two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. And so we pray that the expanded West Sand Lake Community Church eldership may be just such a threefold cord in the labors against sin and darkness. Now I had intended to preach a sermon on Luke 13, 23, and then when the handouts were printed, you might have that verse on there, but as Paul intended to go into Asia, God planned another way. And so I begin this sermon with a question. Where will your soul go when it is separated from your body at your death? Many of us have had the sobering experience of seeing a corpse. and it's a sorrowful and a fearful sight. We realize that our interaction with the deceased has at least paused until eternity, and perhaps it has even ended. We're stuck with the apparent control of death and the helplessness of man to counteract it. Yet though death does indeed end our earthly journey through this age, it is not our final, for we are eternal. And there is yet the age to come. Our Creator has made it so. And upon our death, which is the separation of our soul from our body, our souls will immediately go to one of two destinations. God has kept things simple. There are not a multitude of dwelling places for our never-dying souls. There are but two. There is no purgatory. That, like much of Catholicism, is not biblical. The Bible identifies two destinations for the soul. There are but two gates to enter, the narrow and the wide. There are but two ways to walk, the easy and the hard. There are but two crowds to walk with, the few and the many. And there are but two states to die in. You die in your sins, or you die in the Lord. There are but two destinations. Life, ultimately in a new heaven and new earth, or anguish, ultimately in the lake of fire. And this morning, it is my hope that the Spirit of God will reveal to each of us whether we be a good tree with good fruit, or a bad tree with bad fruit. Whether we be a wise builder with a foundation of rock, or a foolish builder with a foundation of sand. Whether we be among the righteous or the wicked. We must not draw the wrong conclusion about our standing before God. The stakes are much too high. And this is quite evident when we consider our text this morning. And the text we will use is Proverbs 10, verse 24. Proverbs 10, 24. In the English Standard Version or even the Legacy Standard Bible, this text reads, what the wicked dreads will come upon him. but the desire of the righteous will be granted. In the New American Standard, it's what the wicked fears will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted. The New King James, the fear of the wicked will come upon him, and the desire of the righteous will be granted. The contemporary English version written for fourth graders, a thought-for-thought version, says, what evil people dread, What evil people dread most will happen to them, but good people will get what they want most. And Young's literal translation, the feared thing of the wicked, it meeteth him, and the desire of the righteous is given. We go over all those versions and we can tell that there's little doubt what this verse is saying. My outline is simple, and I hope that even children here can follow along and maybe repeat the outline in the car on the way home. The sermon has seven parts, and they are these. Who are the wicked? What do they dread? Will their dread come upon them? Then, who are the righteous? What do they desire? And will their desire be granted? And finally, we'll have concluding thoughts to help us answer the question, am I wicked or am I righteous? So with that as your introduction, please bow with me as we seek the face of God in prayer. Father and our God, unless you lead us, we would not go forward. We need your presence. We need your grace. We trust not in the talents of men and the ability to articulate the truth. We trust in your power. your sovereignty, the moving of your Holy Spirit, the intercession of the Son of God. We come before you trusting in these that you might be pleased to allow this sermon to go forth with boldness and power, to the glory of your name, bearing fruit in the hearts of those you've sovereignly gathered. We ask these things in the precious name of Christ Jesus, your Son, our Savior. Please hear us for his sake. Amen. Who are the wicked? Briefly, the wicked are those capable of being called by the gospel, but who do not repent and believe. The wicked are those capable of being called by the gospel, but who do not repent and believe. And if you're a note taker, I will have a PDF of this available online, as long as they're still able to load that up there, so you can rest easy on taking notes. More fully, the wicked are those who do not practice spirit-wrought repentance towards God, and who do not have spirit-wrought faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The wicked are workers of lawlessness, The wicked do not have a true sense of their sin. They do not confess that God's law is true. The wicked do not see their sins as evil. They do not see their sins as dishonoring to their creator. Their sins do not grieve them. The wicked do not hate every false way and are content to let their iniquities have dominion over them. The wicked do not value God's law. They have no desire to keep it with their whole heart. Now regarding Jesus Christ, yes, the wicked may know of him. They may even know him to be the son of God. Perhaps they have even had some warm affections towards him for a time until temptation drove them away. But they do not rest upon him as he is offered in the gospel. The wicked do not fear and own Jesus Christ as their prophet or teacher and renounce their own wisdom. The wicked do not own Jesus Christ as their priest and renounce their own works as acceptable to God. The wicked do not own Jesus Christ as their king and renounce all other allegiances. Who are the wicked? The wicked are those capable of being called by the gospel, but who do not repent and believe. As I described the wicked, I basically used verses all the way along. I didn't give you the references. They would be in the PDF if you need them. Part two of our outline, what do the wicked dread? The wicked dread the punishment of their sins. If you're in Proverbs 10, flip ahead to Proverbs 11 and verse 23. Proverbs 11, verse 23. The desire of the righteous ends only in good. The expectation of the wicked in wrath. The wicked dread the punishment of their sins. The wicked dread God's wrath. And this dread is well-founded. Their misgivings, their disquieting apprehensions are far from groundless. Now, the wicked may try to laugh away their terror. The wicked may try to hide their alarm with diverting amusements. The wicked may try to conceal their anguish of conscience by exhilarating recreations. The wicked may try to call their forebodings superstitious and cowardly, but they know that there's a reality in them. Conscience is in their fears, and God is in their fears. The wicked dread the punishment of their sins, and their dread is well-founded. According to Arthur Pink and no doubt many others, there are more references in the Bible to the anger, fury, and wrath of God than there are to His love and tenderness. God is holy. God is absolutely pure, unstained even by a shadow of sin. And we need to meditate on this often. This needs to sink into our fail and our feeble minds. God is our friend, but He is not our pal. He is not our buddy. Young people, God is not like your gym teacher who lets you call him coach. God is holy. Holiness is his beauty, and it ought to cause us, like John the Apostle, to fall at his feet like a dead man. And because God is holy, he hates all sin, and sin provokes him to anger. Now, you might think that you know plenty of people that live their lives in disobedience to God, and they seem to prosper and thrive. You tell me that God hates sin, but it looks to me like God ignores sin and has hidden his face. Well, I urge you, do not envy or imitate the wicked, for they will wither quickly like the green herb and fade like the grass. I exhort you, do not regard the long-suffering, forbearance, and patience of God as an indication of his apathy and indifference towards sin. That would be a huge mistake. In the 1800s, when the atheist Robert Ingersoll was delivering his lectures against Jesus Christ and against the Bible, he often spoke before large crowds. And at one meeting, he dramatically took out his watch And he said, I'll give God a chance to prove that he exists and that he is almighty. I challenge him to strike me dead within five minutes. And there was silence. The people became uneasy. Some left the hall, unable to take the stress. One woman fainted. And at the end of the allocated time, Ingersoll proclaimed, see, there is no God. I am still very much alive. In a discussion after the lecture, a young man concluded, well, Ingersoll certainly proved something tonight. And the young lady replied to him saying, he did. He showed that even the most defiant sinner cannot exhaust the patience of the Lord in just five minutes. Amen. God is patient and desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. The patience of God is that excellency which causes him to sustain great injuries without immediately avenging himself. Romans 9 asks the question, what if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make his power known, has endured with much patience, vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? Were God to immediately pour out his wrath upon the wicked, then his power of self-restraint would not be so gloriously manifested. as it is when he bears with their wickedness and forbears their punishment. And this he does because he does not wish for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. As the people of God, we ought to bless him for his patience towards us, and warn those who would scorn his long suffering by multiplying their evil deeds and joking in their wickedness. You're in Proverbs, so it's not far to Ecclesiastes. Please flip ahead to Ecclesiastes chapter eight. Ecclesiastes 8, beginning with verse 12. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. King Solomon knows that it will not be well with the wicked, and the wicked know this too. Though they may not acknowledge God, yet their consciences testify to them that he will punish their sins. So where does the Bible say that? Romans 1, a familiar passage. Romans 1 tells us they know that what they're doing is an offense to God. Romans 1 beginning with verse 28. And since they, that is the ungodly, did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, Haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. And then here we have the proof that they know what they're doing. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, They not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. The wicked know that God is holy and that they are worthy of death. They are tossed about like a troubled sea. There is no peace for them now, and there will be no peace for them ahead if they remain in their sins. Their hearts muse on the terrors, and the sounds of dread are in their ears. Their conscience turns pale at the question, if the righteous man is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? What do the wicked dread? The wicked dread an eternity without peace. The wicked dread the punishment of their sins. The wicked dread the wrath of God. Their dread is well-founded. Outline part three. Will the dread of the wicked come upon them? Yes. For most of us, a high percentage of what we dread doesn't happen. Did you go to high school, and you had lockers for your book, and your homework, and your coat, and your lunch, and you made various exchanges at your locker between classes, and you go to class, and about halfway to your class, you say, did I lock my locker? Happened to me a lot. I can be in the shower and forget whether or not I washed my hair. In high school, bad things happen if you forgot to lock your locker. So you're distracted during the entire class. And the bell rings, and you hustle to your locker, and it was locked. Phew. Your dread did not come upon you. No farm animal waste in your locker. For many years, I went to a church with both morning and evening service, attendance required. And in the winter, the evening service was in the dark. And it was possible that during the day, we had candles burning to have a nice ambiance and aroma on your home for the holidays, burning on the piece of furniture. But then on the way to church, you ask yourself, did I leave that candle burning? And you have cats. And they knock things down. And you live in a log cabin, and you have cut holes into your cabin for various reasons, like an exhaust pipe for a new propane stove, or you increase the size of a window, and you burn the chunks of wood, and you found that they burned rather eagerly. And this occurs to you as you settle down for church and enter the sanctuary in quiet expectation, and you ask yourself, will my house burn down? And you're battling wandering thoughts for the whole sermon. And you get home, and the house is there, the candle was out, the cat's asleep. Phew. Your dread did not come upon you. But once in a while, your worst fears are realized. The doctor says it is terminal cancer. Your daughter, suffering from a long-term illness, has not yet arisen from bed for church. and you go to find her and find she passed during the night. When your dread comes upon you, you're overcome with something difficult to describe. You can feel your head warm up. You can feel your heart skip beats. Your mind is racing. Anxiety mechanisms are running amok. Grief phases begin, and it dawns on you your life is never going to be the same. And though you were complaining about your life the day before, you'd do anything to return to that state. Your dread has come upon you. Will the dread of the wicked come upon them? Yes. Our verse says it right in Proverbs 10, 24, what the wicked dreads will come upon him. And Isaiah. Chapter 1, verse 28, but rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. Isaiah 311, woe to the wicked. It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. Isaiah 59, 18, according to their deeds, so he will repay. Wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies. To the coastlands, he will render repayment. Ezekiel 11, 21, but as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord. Now you may say, surely in the end, God will have pity. Please turn to Ezekiel 7. I fear many have this secret hope that God's threats are shallow or hollow He won't really carry them through in the end. In the end, He will have pity, because you think, if I were God, I would have pity. But we're not God. And if we don't allow God to be what He says Himself to be in the Bible, we've created an idol. Ezekiel 7, verse 1, the word of the Lord came to me. And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel, an end. The end has come upon the four corners of the land. Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger upon you. I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know. that I am the Lord. The fears of the wicked will come upon them. By their terrible punishment, they will come to know and confess and bend the knee, confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord. Now, some people wonder, how can a loving God allow bad things to happen to his creatures? And the answer is simple, and we would do well to meditate upon it, and it was the theme of my last sermon. God's highest priority is His glory, not man's comfort. And to bring it closer to home, God's priority, His highest priority, is His glory, not your comfort. Now, that is not the same as saying God is not concerned about your comfort. He is. And when creation was finished, there was nothing but good and comfort. And when God creates the new heavens and the new earth, there will be nothing but good and comfort there. And God loves to share good and comfort with the creatures made in His image. He's generous. However, He's not going to share His glory with another. I am the Lord. That is my name, my glory I give to no other. His highest priority is His glory and not our comfort. And deep down in their being, the wicked know this to be true. The present terrors of the wicked are down payments for the torments that await them. The terrors of wrath that sometimes work in a sinner's conscience are only drops from an infinite ocean. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, the terrible things which God has prepared for those that hate him by rejecting his son and the gospel. Now, there are several incidents in God's word where the fears of the wicked came upon them. In Genesis 11, we had wicked tower builders, and they feared being dispersed over the whole earth. So they build a city, and they build a tower, and the Lord looks upon it and confuses their speech. And what was the end result? They're scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. That which they feared came upon them. King Saul was wicked and he feared God's wrath. In 1 Samuel 28, the Philistines assembled against Israel. And when King Saul, a seasoned veteran warrior, saw their army, he was afraid. And his heart trembled greatly, but God would no longer answer him. So he consults with the witch of Endor. And he summons the spirit of the prophet Samuel to tell him what he should do. And he's informed that the Lord has departed from him and became his enemy. And when he dies in the ensuing battle with his three sons and his armor-bearer, his fears came upon him. Remember, in 1 Kings 22, King Ahab feared that he would die in the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, so he disguised himself as a common soldier. Nevertheless, a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the wicked king of Israel in a joint in his armor. And King Ahab died that evening. His fears came upon him. Remember Jeremiah, how the Jews feared that if they stayed in Israel, they would die by the sword of the Babylonians, by famine and by pestilence. So they fled to Egypt after Jeremiah warned them against going. And once in Egypt, they died by the sword of the Babylonians, by famine and by pestilence. Only a few refugees returned to the land of Judah. Their fears came upon them. And who can forget Belshazzar, Daniel 5? He knew God humbled his father, Nebuchadnezzar. Nevertheless, he exalted himself against the Lord of heaven. He took vessels from the house of God, and he and his nobles and his wives and his concubines drank wine from these vessels, and they praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see nor understand. But the God who had his life breath he did not glorify. And then, When the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of his palace, he saw the back of the hand that did the writing, and his face grew pale. His thoughts alarmed him. His hip joints went slack, and his knees began knocking together. That same night, Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was slain. His fears came upon him. The fears of the wicked will come upon them. Now, a text may come to your mind that makes this somewhat confusing. Psalm 36.1, and I'll have you turn to the next one, but Psalm 36.1 says, transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes. So Paul quotes this text, and I'll have you turn there to Romans 3. He's going to end this section in Romans beginning with verse 9 with that text from Psalm 36. And he says in Romans 3 verse 9, what then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin. As it is written, none is righteous, no, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongue to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood, and their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Well, so what's the truth? Do the wicked fear God or not? And the Bible's answer is yes and no. And that's the kind of answer that irritates those who are determined to find contradictions in the Bible. But the Bible doesn't have any contradictions. It does have a lot of tensions. This is one. The wicked both fear God's wrath. and there is no fear of God before their eyes. Both are true. Now, you may find that bewildering. So allow me to illustrate by pointing out two incidents in my life where opposite perspectives were both held simultaneously and they competed for supremacy. The first incident was when my appendix burst. During those days, I was 41, I think, For many years, I had stomach cramps for as long as I could remember, and in early April of 2001, I had a particularly severe attack. But I was sort of used to dealing with the cramps, and it wasn't a convenient season for seeing a doctor, so I took some over-the-counter drugs. I used a cane to absorb some of the shock as I walked, and relief did sort of follow, and I thought, all right, I kind of got away with this again. But the relief was brief. The bellyache returned. And it brought with it a fever and signs of dehydration. So about 11 days after the onset of increased pain, I went to the ER. That night, I said, Colleen, I think I better go to the ER. It was the middle of the night, and she said, it'll wait till morning. Well, I mean, I had waited that long, so. Now, at this time, on the one hand, I was very hopeful that my trouble was minor and that I was going to be sent home. At times, that perspective prevailed, and I had persuaded myself that my stay in the hospital would be brief. On the other hand, there were times when I had this foreboding that my troubles were serious and that I wasn't going home anytime soon. So I had both real fear and hope in the absence of fear. I also had a two-hour surgery, four drains, and two tubes sticking out of me, and a week's stay in the hospital. But before that, I had both real fear and the absence of fear. This was an occasion where having excess adipose tissue at your waistline was useful. In like fashion, at times, the wicked fear the wrath of God, and at times, they do not fear God. and hope they can sin without consequence. And these thoughts can alternate over a long time or over a short time. In the end, Proverbs 10.24 prevails, and what the wicked fears will come upon him. I have a second incident. I don't like to fly. Though I was an actuary by trade and we are risk managers, I knew the numbers. but I still didn't like getting in a plane and trusting someone else to get me somewhere safely. So I hadn't flown until my son Jason enlisted in the Navy, and he was going to graduate, and there was a ceremony in Lake Michigan outside of Chicago, so of course I had to go. Now, on the one hand, I was very hopeful the travel would be safe, and when I landed in Chicago, the announcer said, the safest part of your journey is now over, and I thought that was cute. So at time, thinking I'd be safe, that perspective prevailed. I persuaded myself I would once again walk on good old terra firma. On the other hand, I had this intermittent foreboding that the travel would be unsafe. And there was an orange alert at that time, and that did not help me. And neither did the turbulence, which I was told, not being a regular flyer, was unusually severe for that flight. So I had both real fear and the absence of fear. At the same time, and in like fashion, at times the wicked fear the wrath of God, and at times they do not fear God, and they hope they can sin without consequence. But Proverbs 10.24 prevails what the wicked fears will come upon them. This brings us to point four, who are the righteous? Briefly, the righteous are those capable of being called by the gospel who repent and believe. More fully, the righteous are those who practice spirit-wrought repentance toward God and who possess spirit-wrought faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The righteous practice the truth. The righteous have a true sense of their sin and confess that God's law is truth. The righteous see their sins as evil and dishonoring to their creator. The sins of the righteous grieve them. The righteous hate every false way. They are not content to let their iniquities have dominion over them. The righteous delight in God's law, and they desire to keep it with all their heart. Regarding Jesus Christ, the righteous receive him and rest upon him as he is offered in the gospel. The righteous own Jesus Christ as their prophet or teacher, renouncing their own wisdom. The righteous own Jesus Christ as their priest, renouncing their own works as acceptable to God. And the righteous own Jesus Christ as their king, renouncing all other allegiances. Who are the righteous? The righteous are those capable of being called by the gospel who repent and believe. Point five, what do they desire? The righteous desire the glory and favor of God and happiness in Him. Please turn to Psalm 73. The righteous, those capable of being called by the gospel who repent and believe by the grace of God, they desire the glory and favor of God and happiness in Him. In Psalm 73, Asaph expresses these perspectives, beginning with verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all your works. the righteous desire, the glory and favor of God, and happiness in Him. How safe we are when this is the desire of our souls. If these desires were left unfulfilled, God our Savior would be thwarted in His plan and stripped of His glory. But these desires are the desires of the Almighty Redeemer of men, and He will accomplish His pleasure because His glory is His highest priority. You align what you want with the glory of God and you're golden. for His glory is His highest priority. So, point six, will the desires of the righteous be granted? And the answer is yes. Again, the verse answers itself, the desire of the righteous will be granted. Isaiah 3.10, tell the righteous it shall be well with them. They shall eat the fruit of their deeds. You're in the Psalms, so flip back to 37. Psalm 37, if you've been turning with me, and we're in 73 with Asaph. In Psalm 37, verses 1 through 6, it says, fret not yourself because of evildoers. Be not envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust in him and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noon day. And then Psalm 145, if you want to flip ahead to there, towards the end of the book of Psalms. Defending our point that the desires of the righteous will be granted, defending it biblically, not just something that we come up with off the top of our head. Psalm 145, 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him. He also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? You shall be satisfied. Do you desire freedom from sin and perfection and holiness? The day is coming when you will see God as he is and shall be like him. Do you desire communion with God? He who sits on the throne will shelter you with his presence. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will eat with him and he with me. The righteous will have communion with God. Do you desire the joy of pure and holy fellowship with the family of the redeemed? You shall be gathered before the throne and before the lamb. clothed in white robes, and a great multitude that no one could number. You desire permanent deliverance from all the sorrows and sufferings of this life. There's coming a day when you will hunger no more, neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike you, nor any scorching heat, for the lamb in the midst of the throne will be our shepherd. He will guide us to springs of living water, and he will wipe away every tear from our eyes. The righteous desire the glory and favor of God and happiness in him. And these desires will be granted. God's word gives us plenty of examples. Consider Zacchaeus. He desired the glory and favor of God and happiness in him. He sought after Jesus Christ in response to the irresistible convicting power and effectual call of the Holy Spirit. Here was an outcast, a hated tax gatherer. He was a man convicted of sin before God. And yet, instead of running and hiding, he desired to see Jesus. And he overcame the obstacles of being a hated tax collector. He overcame the obstacles of the crowd. He overcame the obstacles of his small stature. He was not even concerned with his dignity. He was willing to climb a tree just to see Jesus. And consider how his desire was granted and how he rejoiced. to receive his savior. Consider how he called Jesus Lord and brought forth fruit, meat for repentance. Zacchaeus repented and believed. He was declared righteous in the courtroom of heaven, and his desires were granted. And remember in like manner the desires of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15. These were granted as she sought the favor of God towards her cruelly possessed, her cruelly demon-possessed daughter. And it was done for her as she desired. because the desire of the righteous will be granted. Psalm 112, raise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. Verse six, for the righteous will never be moved. He will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news. His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady. He will not be afraid until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. And verse 10, the wicked man sees it and is angry. He gnashes his teeth and melts away. The desire of the wicked will perish. And so this brings us to the last section of our outline, section seven, concluding thoughts. We have seen that the wicked and the righteous will receive the reward of their chosen path. The wicked, what he fears, through the workings of his conscience. The righteous, what he desires, through faith and a well-grounded hope. While the wicked one lives, he is far from God, and God is angry with him every day. And if the wicked one dies in his sins, he is lost forever. Though the wicked joke in doing wrong in time, the carefree feeling of frivolity and levity flees, and there comes in its place fear, even terror, through stings of conscience. And if the wicked one's fears do not drive them to prayer, repentance, and faith, their fears prove to be well-grounded, for the apprehended destruction will indeed come upon them. The God they provoke will be every wit as terrible as they fathomed him to be, and it shall be as ill with the wicked as they can imagine and fear. Who considers the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you? On the other hand, the righteous, having a good conscience through faith, have no continuous fear, but a well-grounded desire and hope, and practice righteousness until the perfect fulfillment of their desire. These things being the clear teaching of Scripture, we now have occasion to ask ourselves the following question, am I wicked or am I righteous? There may be a few here that know for certainty that they are wicked. I expect there are many here that know for certainty that they are righteous in Jesus Christ. I suspect there are some that sometimes wonder which they are, wicked or righteous. Now, I begin my guidance to help answer this question with dispelling two myths. Remember, we said that the wicked are those who do not repent and believe, and the righteous are those who do repent and believe. The first myth is you may wonder about those who repent but don't believe. Are they wicked or righteous, or is there a third group? But the idea of repentance without faith is a myth. Conviction of sin without faith may be common. Turning from sin to God without true faith in Jesus Christ is impossible. It's impossible to repent and not believe. Both repentance and faith are gifts from God, and he always gives both to his redeemed people. Think of them as a coin. where faith is the heads of the coin and repentance is the tails. Can I give you a coin and give you the heads only? I can't. Or I can't give you the tails only. When God gives one, he gives the other. It's a myth to think that you can repent but not believe. Ben Franklin tried that for a time. And he tried to keep track of all of his virtues and things he did wrong and was sort of trying to pave a path to God by virtue of behaving well but not putting his trust in Jesus Christ. Can't be done. Salvation from the penalty and power of sin can never be a result of works. Myth two, you may wonder about those who believe but do not repent. Are they wicked or are they righteous? Is there a third group of people? And faith without repentance, similarly, is a myth. Wishful thinking. While practicing lawlessness, that may be common. True faith in Jesus Christ without turning from sin toward God is not possible. It's impossible to believe and not repent. Both faith and repentance are gifts from God, and he always gives both to his redeemed people at the same time. We had the coin analogy. How about a candy cane, a red and white candy cane? I can't give you just the white part and not the red part or just the red part and not the white part. They're wrapped around each other. They come together. So if any of you think that Jesus Christ is your savior, but he's not your Lord, you're deceived. Faith without works is dead and saves no one from the penalty and bondage of sin. So a works salvation cannot save you, and there is no such thing as a carnal Christian. These are myths. Dispel them. You either repent and believe and are righteous, or you do neither and are wicked. Well, what are some evidences of being among the righteous? The Bible says you can be identified by your fruit. Do you bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance? Is your life characterized by the deeds of the flesh or the fruit of the spirit? So here it's worth turning to Galatians, a familiar text. Galatians 5, please. Turn to Galatians 5. You're trying to decide, am I righteous or am I wicked? You know repentance and faith is the crux of the answer, and you can't have one without the other. What other types of analysis can you do to answer that question? You go to Galatians 5. You know from the teaching of the Lord that, or from John the Baptist anyway, you have to have fruit in keeping with repentance. And then Galatians 5 lays out some specifics for us, beginning with verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." So if you practice such things, The answer to the question, am I righteous or am I wicked, is you're wicked. If you formerly practice such things but have since been washed and justified and are being sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God, then the fruits of the Spirit will be evident in your life. And that follows in verses 22 and 23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. So, have you crucified the flesh with its passions and desires and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Then you're righteous. If not, you're wicked. And how deplorable and lamentable it is that men, in place of making God their ultimate end and placing their chief happiness in Him, should make their belly or their lusts, or their idols, their God, and place their chief happiness in the gratification of sensual and brutish pleasures, such as the drunkard does in his bottle or box, and the unclean person does in his lover, or the miser does in his wealth, or the ambitious man does in his achievements. We should earnestly implore divine grace to cure this disorder of our hearts and give them a desire for more excellent things. The enjoyment of that which will survive the grave and not perish with the destruction of this world. Another way to examine yourself to see if you are wicked or righteous is found in Malachi. Malachi 3, verses 16 to 18. Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him. That's pretty plain. If you are a servant of God and Jesus Christ, then you are the righteous. If God is your master and Him alone, for no one can serve two masters, then you're righteous. If God is not your master in everything, then He is not your master in anything. So would you know if you are wicked or righteous? Examine yourself and honestly answer the question, do I serve God? And let God's Word direct your self-examination. The Proverbs are very useful here. I'm going to blast through several of them. If you want to know whether you're righteous or not righteous, consider your thoughts. The thoughts of the righteous are just. The counsels of the wicked are deceitful. Consider your countenance. A wicked man puts on a bold face, but the upright gives thought to his ways. Consider your speech. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked bring shame and disgrace. The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. Consider your counsel and your influence on others. One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. Politicians would do well to consider that. Consider your judgment. An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked. Consider your labor. The wicked earns deceptive wages, but the one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward. Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit. Consider your economics. The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives. Consider your attitude towards riches. Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. Consider your contentment. The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want. Consider your compassion. Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. Consider your regard for the poor. A righteous man knows the rights of the poor. A wicked man does not understand such knowledge. There's a lot to consider in the self-examination. Self-examination is a hard business. But rightly answering the question, am I wicked or am I righteous, is crucial, and you dare not draw the wrong conclusion. If you conclude that by biblical examination you are indeed wicked and you fear the punishment your sins deserve, then I urge you to make that fear the foundation of wisdom and improve upon your fear by fleeing the wrath to come. Yes, that fear is a burden. Yes, you have cause to weep and to tremble. Entertainment will not calm your nerves. Sleep will not settle your brains. Tomorrow will be as troublesome as today. Run to Jesus Christ now and look to him who died for sinners and live. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved. Cry out to God for the gifts of faith and repentance. The gospel promises that God will hear you. Before they call, while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The gospel promises that repentance and faith comes, with that comes pardon for your sins. Who is a God like you, Micah says, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance. He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. If you are wicked and fear the punishment your sins deserve, repent and believe in the gospel. But if you're wicked and love to have it so, I pray that God's word would melt your cold heart like a fire and break your hard heart like a hammer and bend it from sin unto God. I warn you, flee the wrath to come. And I plead with you to consider it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Don't deceive yourself. Judgment day is coming and it will be terrifying for the wicked. There'll be no comfort, no escape, though the wicked be a large multitude. In Proverbs, in the King James Version, it talks about the wicked. Even if they join hand in hand, they're not going to go unpunished. There will be no forming a mob and overpowering God. I blow a trumpet and sound an alarm. I urge you to tremble for the day of the Lord is coming. It's coming and it's very near. And a day of wrath is that day. A day of trouble and distress is that day. A day of destruction and desolation is that day. A day of darkness and a day of gloom. There's never been anything like it. God will bring terror on men because they have sinned against him and their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung and all the earth will be devoured for strong is he who carries out his word. The day of the Lord is indeed very awesome, and who can endure it? All that is true, but God says, yet even now, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your heart, not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and he relents over disaster. Repent and believe the gospel. Receive from God the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is freely offered to you by his grace. One last section, finally, and bear with me as I make application to believers. Please do not grow weary in well-doing. You may wonder, why do I bother praying? You pray in part because what the wicked dreads will come upon him, and the desire of the righteous will be granted. You may wonder, why do I bother reading God's word? You read in part because what the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted. You may wonder, why do I bother obeying the Lord? You obey in part because what the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted. Life's stakes are very high. Believers, and particularly the church, hold forth the gospel truth that God is pleased to use for the conversion of men from wickedness to righteousness. Is there anything more important to a man than that he be converted? Consider how important it is then, brethren, that believers let their light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to God the Father who is in heaven. Consider how important it is that a church operates biblically and faithfully. West Sand Lake Community Church must hold forth the truth to a wicked and perverse generation. When unbelievers stop by, our appearance, modestly dressed and well-groomed, tells them we come before God with reverence. Our hymns, fervently sung, demonstrate our joy in the Lord and our desire to glorify Him. Our testimonies, humbly offered, demonstrate that we give glory to God for all of our blessings. Our prayers, poured out in faith, reflect that we believe that God exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. Our cheerful giving shows that we bless God for our increase and trust that he will continue to provide. And our careful attention to the word preached reveals that we believe God's word to be the bread of life without which men perish. The West Sand Lake Community Church is a light upon a hill. Let each do our part using God's gifts and graces that he has given to sustain and promote the light. I urge all of us to do our part. because what the wicked dread will come upon him, and the desire of the righteous will be granted. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, who is sufficient for these things? If we leave here hoping to roll up our sleeves and exercise so that we can do these things apart from your grace and your help and your power and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will fail. We do pray, Father, that you would help us to go forth with a determined face to do that which you command us to do, but knowing that it is you that we need and rely upon to give us the strength to do it. May we not wander far from you any day of the rest of our lives. May we keep short accounts with men and with God. May we take the talents you've given us and bear fruit for your glory. May we have it on our minds often as we look at the wicked that their terrors and dreads and fears will come upon them. that the desire of the righteous will be granted. And may this invigorate us to do that which you have called us to do, and not grow slack or grow weary in well-doing. Father, we do pray that as the Spirit operates in the hearts of those you've gathered in the afterglow of this message, and even in the aftermath and the days ahead, may it be for their spiritual profit. May the wicked that might be here not get any rest until they repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And may those who are your servants, may they be committed to serving you faithfully, doing that which pleases you and does good to their fellow men. These things we ask of you, Father, are beyond our ability, but they're not beyond yours. And we do pray that for your glory, you would answer our prayers. In Jesus' name, amen.