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Amen. So the title of the sermon this morning is Justice Will Be Served. Justice will be served, and one thing we could see right away is that the Lord desires that justice be served. God is a God of justice and judgment. He's a righteous God. He's a holy God, and He wants people to be judged. He wants people to be punished. He wants people to be delivered from oppressors, and so on and so forth, the rest of that. But the Lord desires justice. I want to talk about this today because of the fact that we look around in our world today and we see so much injustice being done. To us, we could sit back and say, boy, it seems like it's like never before, but the fact is it's always been this way. The Bible says that there's no new thing under the sun. What has been is today as well. There's always been injustice in the world, and there always will be injustice up to a point. When Christ returns and sets up His throne, then justice truly will be served. However, in the meantime, as we look around and we see what's taking place in the world, we might be tempted. It could be possible that we become jaded and start to say, well, does God even care? But the fact is that God does care, and God has put it in the hands of man to dole out justice in the meantime. That's one of the objections you hear a lot from people. They'll say, why does God let this happen? Why does God let that happen? Really, God could turn around and ask us the same question and say, well, why do you let it happen? Why does mankind let that take place? After all, people will say, why does bad things happen to people? Why does He let wicked and evil people do what they do? Well, why are people wicked and evil to begin with? What we need to understand is that God is not to be blamed for the injustice that we see. Most people understand that, but even those that understand that, there's the possibility, there's the potential that even among those that understand, we might become a little disheartened. We might say, well, when is this going to get straightened out? Even so, come Lord Jesus. That's a natural longing. That's something that we want to see happen. I'm here to tell you this morning that one day, justice will be served because the Lord, He is one that desires justice. You're in Micah 6, and I'm going to read from Psalms 82. It says in verse 3, defend the poor and fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and needy, deliver the poor and needy, rid them out of the hand of the wicked. That's God's will. That's God's desire. That's what He's commanded kings. That's what He's commanded rulers. That's what He's put powers in place for, to bear the sword and to punish evildoers. God has set that up. He's given that authority to man and has commanded man to do what? To defend the poor, to defend the fatherless, to deliver them, and to rid them out of the hand of the wicked. Yet today, that doesn't take place as much as we'd like to see it. It could be that we think it's worse than it's ever been just because of the fact it's so much easier to see all the injustice that's going on in the world. There's so much of it taking place now. Whether it's always been that way or not, it's kind of hard to understand to really know. But one thing's for sure, we sure see a lot more of it because of the fact that there is the media outlet. There are the documentaries. There are more avenues to take in that information. It's just being covered more. Whether it's worse or not, I don't know. But one thing is for sure, wicked people have always been oppressing. Wicked people have always been doing evil. There has always been injustice in the world. There always will be as long as we are being ruled by men. There will always be injustice. But one day, justice will be served. We read quotes like Psalms. We read those verses where God is saying, hey, defend the poor and the fatherless. God means that though. He's not just paying lip service. You're not just saying, oh, I know that we should say these things. And of course, we should want people to be delivered from the wicked people and oppressors. No, God means that, and God is going to follow through with that. It's not just some kind of rhetoric. It's not just religious rhetoric. It's something that God is going to follow through with. The Bible says in Proverbs 21, every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord ponder at the hearts to do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. I mean, this is how much God desires that justice would be done in the world, that there would be judgment and justice. It's more important to him than sacrifice and service. Micah 6, where you are, look at verse 6. It says, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings and calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of thee? Now, God, of course, wants sacrifice. He commanded sacrifices to be made, but more important than that, God requires of us what? What does he require of us but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God. Now, we understand the part about walking humbly with thy God, but he also said there to do justly. God wants us to be honest and upright people. God wants us to be people that love justly and love what else? Mercy. Justice is also an opportunity for us to show mercy. If we're going to be a just people, if we're going to dole out justice, it's also a great opportunity for us to be a very merciful people. Go over to Ecclesiastes 12, and when you get in Ecclesiastes, keep something there because we're going to be coming back to Ecclesiastes all the way to the very end of the sermon. But God is somebody who desires that justice be done, that we be a just people, that we be a righteous people, that we should desire justice, and that's not a hard sell. That's not really something you have to argue with people about. Now, people have different ideas about what justice is and isn't these days, but that's a pretty easy sell. Hey, no one really likes to see other people being oppressed or taken advantage of, and God is one that I'm just trying to make the point that God is one who we don't want to get this idea that this isn't important to Him because it is. It's very important to Him. We remember what happened to Samuel or to Saul when he disobeyed. What Samuel said to him, he said that to obey is better than sacrifice. God wants us to do His commandments more than just serve Him and to just offer sacrifices. So, you know, we might seek to do justly in our personal lives, but the fact is that when we look around the world today, we see injustice, we see oppression, we see the poor being downtrodden, and this is nothing new. This is the theme of humanity, and it's just a cycle that's just on repeat. Evil people, you know, get into positions of power, and then they oppress other people, and it's the poor, it's the downtrodden that get it the worst. So, we see that in the world, and we have to do justly in our own lives, but what I want to encourage us today is to count, you know, this is something that's bothering us, you know, and it should. You know, it's kind of hard sometimes in our world because we can get in our little bubbles, you know, especially in this country because oppression, you know, is so far from us. I mean, we see little examples of it here and there, but nothing like what you're seeing in places like Mexico, you know, which is just right over there, you know, where you have cartels that are in the government, you know, that are just running rampant, you know, and are just oppressing people terribly. Like, I mean, there's states in Mexico where entire villages have just been vacated because some, you know, cartel moves in because they want, you know, the lands around it, and then the next thing, you know, you say, well, what's the government doing about it? Look, the cartel is in bed with the government. They're holding hands down there. They, you know, they admit it. You know, I was listening, I was watching a documentary, and this cartel member said, look, the cartel only goes as far as the government lets them. That they, you know, they're just, hey, we're just doing what they let us do because all the profits go right to the highest parts in government down there. It's a very corrupt system. You know, that's nothing new, but, you know, that's just, that's just, we, four, you know, four to six hours, we could be in some pretty dangerous areas of Mexico where people are being oppressed, you know, because of drugs, because of everything else, all the, you know, illegal activity, but we can kind of, even here, being this close, you know, sometimes we kind of get in our little space. We get in our little bubble, and it just seems like it's a million miles away. Look, it's right over there. It's just right across the border. You know, people, you know, are coming over here trying to escape, escape all that, and they've got some horror stories to tell, okay. So, you know, we want to see justice done, but the fact is, is that when we look around, if we do really take the time to look around, we see that it's not being done in a lot of places. A lot of places there is a lot of injustice in the world, and, you know, what are we going to do about it? You know, are we gonna, should we, should we start some kind of a campaign? Should we get involved in politics? You know, that's not going to fix anything. You know, that's the problem, usually. You know, this documentary I was watching, they were talking about the fact that, you know, they had this guy that was running for some mayor, I think, in some state down there. I can't remember the name of it, but then they find out while he's campaigning that he's wanted by the DEA, that he's wanted for being a drug runner, and it's like, it's common practice down there for the, you know, the narcos to put their guy in office, and if you don't play ball in office, you know, they'll just come shoot up your car. I mean, they'll kill judges down there. They'll kill cops, police chiefs, they'll kill whoever they want, right? And so this kind of thing still goes on in the world. This isn't just some abstract idea that I'm up here talking about. You know, people really are being oppressed in places like Mexico, Central America, Africa, all around the world. It's just that we as Americans, we're just kind of in this safe little bubble where we can just entertain ourselves and have our, you know, nice comfortable lives and never even have to think about that if we don't want to. But the fact is that it is out there, and if we do see it, you know what it's going to do? It's going to bother us. That's why a lot of people don't want to think about it. That's why a lot of people don't want to hear this, because they don't want to be bothered with the fact that there really is, you know, suffering taking place in the world through oppression. But if we would take the time to think about it, you know, we'd have to put ourselves in the position where we'd say, well what, you know, what should we do? And here's, you know, you know, sorry for being such a downer this morning, but there really is nothing you can do. That's the most frustrating part. I mean, what are you going to do about the, you know, the people that are being run out of their villages in Mexico? Nothing. There's nothing you're going to do about it. What can you do? I mean, who are we? What are we going to do about it? We're nobody. You know, we'll end up in some mass grave just like the rest of them. So that can be very discouraging, and probably you are right now if you're listening. But here's the thing. What we can do is console ourselves in the fact that God is going to serve justice one day. That justice will be served. That they're not people, wicked people in the world are not going to just get away with it. Look at Ecclesiastes 12, verse 13. He said, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment and every secret thing, whether it be good or it be evil. You know, God is going to judge every secret thing. Every person that they, you know, kidnapped and murdered and buried and made disappear, every oppression that we never heard about, every injustice that went unchecked in the world, God is going to bring it to light. And God is going to punish it far worse than any of us ever could. You know, the worst we could do is put somebody to death, you know, but if that person's unsaved, God's going to send them to hell. And wicked people are not going to get away with it in the world. You say, well, what does that got to do with me? Well, you know, if you ever take the time to actually think about what's really going on in the world, this might help you. If you ever actually take the time to think about what's, you know, all the oppression, all the evil that's being done in this world today, this sermon might actually help you. Say, this isn't for me. Well, maybe you just haven't thought about it enough. Maybe you just haven't thought about what's really going on in this world. You know, this world is not, you know, just some, we're not just on some primrose path to heaven here. It's not like, that's not what it is for everybody. And a lot of people get this, they just look through, look at life through these rose-colored glasses thinking everything's, you know, just fine in the world. Well, it's not. It's not. We live in, you know, the Bible says that, you know, the whole world lieth in wickedness. The whole world lieth in wickedness. You know, present tense right now, the world is lying in wickedness. That in the dark places of the earth, you know, men are doing evil, wicked things. That there's places in this, the whole countries, whole masses of people that are just being oppressed by Satan and his workers. That's what's really going on in the world today. You know, we don't see it here because we're in sunny Arizona, you know, with our, every, on all the benefits and everything that we have by being Americans. And look, I'm grateful for every single one of them. You know, we get mad when they get our order wrong at, you know, Burger King or something like that, you know. But there's, look, people have some, we think that's the great injustice of our lives. You know, the, the Instacart delivery brought me the wrong cold brew, you know, or I didn't order this chocolate milk, and now I have to drink it. You know, that's my big problem here in America, right? And look, we, and we can get pretty comfortable, and we can get pretty, you know, fat and sassy here, thinking that we got it made in the shade, because we do, and we can start to forget about the fact that there is real suffering taking place in this world. And, you know, we being where we are, you know, geographically are, are poised to, you know, make some impact, you know, at least for the souls of the people that live in places like Mexico. I mean, I was looking, I got on, you know, I watched that documentary and I just, I got a burden for the people of Mexico. I just said, man, let's, let's learn the Spanish, let's start the missions trips. You know, we're right, we're literally an hour away from Nogales, like we could be there doing that. You know, there's a huge town, even bigger than that, less than four hours away. I mean, there's a huge country down there where it's very receptive, where people, you know, would get saved, and there's people that, you know, need to hear the gospel, right? Because really, what's, what is the problem down there? Why is it so wicked? It's because, you know, there is no, there is no light, there is no gospel light. You know, it's wicked people that have taken over. But here's the thing, you know, injustice has always existed, and it's not something we should blame God about, you know, because that is the temptation. That is what some people say, and some people do that. They say, well, why would God let that kind of a thing happen? But that's a very foolish thing to say. You know, we should not blame God for the wickedness that man does upon his fellow man. Are you in Ecclesiastes still? If you go over to chapter three, Ecclesiastes chapter three, it says, I'll begin reading in verse 15, that which has been is now, and that which is to be hath already been, and God requireth that which is past. And moreover, I saw under the sun the place of judgment that wickedness was there, and the place of righteousness that iniquity was there. Look, that's a sad state to be in. When you are somebody who has been wronged, when somebody has done evil to you or to your family, and you look to go get justice, and you look there, and what do you see? You see iniquity. You see wickedness. You know, that's not a good position to be in. And look, people all around the world are in that position. You know, Mexico is one example. You know, I was watching this documentary, and there's this group of mothers that just kind of organically formed out of the fact that, you know, their sons, their children just disappeared. They were kidnapped, and they just haven't seen them. And then they start hearing about these mass graves that are being dug. This is like recent. This isn't, this is going on today, okay? Right over here. Mass graves being dug outside of towns. And these mothers, they get together, and they, hey, oh, you're looking for your kid? I'm looking for my kid. And they just footage them going around with these rods, just find, hey, going around these farmlands, looking where it looks like it's been dug up, pushing a rod down the ground, pulling up, seeing if they could smell a body on the on the stick, digging. You know, and then, and they find bodies all the time. They don't always find their kids. One lady found her son, parts of them, and that's all she had. You know, that's what's going on in the world today. And look, these ladies, this is what they said. There's no justice in Mexico. So there's no justice. So well, you found the body. What can you do about it? Nothing. Because when she looked where justice was supposed to be, when she looked to the place of judgment, wickedness was there. Corruption was there. The love of money was there, which is the root of all evil, right? The, she looked at the place of righteousness where, you know, somebody who should have stood up for the fatherless, the oppressed, the widow, somebody should have been there to execute judgment. There was nothing there except wickedness. There was nothing to be found. You know, there's places like that. You could talk about places like the Philippines. You know, that's another, you know, part of the world where, you know, I don't remember, I can't, I don't know how to say their presence name. I don't, can't remember it. But, you know, in the last few years, he put it out there that, hey, if you find a drug dealer or somebody who's using drugs, just go ahead and shoot them. Who remembers, who remembers hearing about that? That would, I'm not making this up. And people just started shooting people. Oh, you're using drugs? It's just the cops just started killing people. And then after it became a big deal, after thousands of people were killed, you know, after thousands of people were put into prisons and just like, like chickens in a coop, just crammed into these, these dank prisons, these dark, cramped, you know, just inhumane prisons, you know, and people started to make a fuss about it. Then they kind of rolled back their policy. And then, but then it turned into, oh, now we're just going to have these secret death squads where just people on unmarked motorbikes are going to pull up in the, in the middle of a busy street, in the middle of the day, just shoot people in the head because they were on a drug watch list. And I'm talking, you say, oh, these are drugs. No, these are poor. These are just people who use drugs, like pot. And look, pot's wicked. Pot's evil. If you smoke pot, you're in sin. You need to knock that off. Bible says you should be sober. Okay. But do you, do I think you should go put a bullet in some pot head because he smoked weed? No. I don't even think, you know, thank God they're not jailing people for smoking a plant anymore. It's still wicked. It's still sin. It's still going to make you lazy and everything else that goes along with that. There's a whole nother sermon right there. But look, that's what's going on in certain parts of the world. People get executed in broad daylight on the street for smoking weed. And you say, oh yeah, here and there. No, this happened in mass. It's still going on. Why? And who's doing it? The police. The cops. Those that are in authority. Those that when they looked to where, you know, the place of judgment, those that are sitting in the place of judgment, they're the ones that are doling out the wickedness in some parts of the world. It's wicked. You say, well, why is that? Why places like Mexico, why does it happen in places there? Why does it happen at all anywhere? You know, why does this take place? Why is it that, you know, people become so corrupt and these type of things happen? Because the Bible says, go to Isaiah 59. The Bible says a wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. He takes a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. It's literally paying that picture of like, takes a gift out of the bosom, like, hey, you know, if you just, you know, pass this law or just look the other way, Senator. Look the other way, Sheriff. Here's a little something for you. What are they doing? They're perverting the ways of judgment. It's all about money. It all comes down to money. Why does Mexico, why does the Mexican government just let the cartels just run rampant? Because they're making money, right? And then you kind of go, well, so what is the solution really? Is it the problem with the Mexican government? I mean, that is a problem. Is a problem with the cartels? Look, they're just running a business, right? At the end of the day, who's the problem with? It's on this side of the border with everybody that's smoking that stuff and snorting that stuff. Everybody that's using all the drugs that are creating the demand. That's the problem. You know, that's the truth of the situation. Doesn't make them any less guilty or culpable in the matter, but look, the point I'm making is this, is that if there's money to be made and lots of money, wicked people are going to take advantage of that. And they don't care who they hurt, who they kill, who they oppress along the way. What villages they have to empty and turn into ghost towns. What families that have lived in places for generations have to be uprooted and flee for their lives and go live and beg or whatever and just be illegal somewhere because they have no other options. You and Isaiah 59, verse 1. We're going to read some scriptures, so stay with me. Isaiah 59, verse 1. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear. So it's not that God doesn't know what's going on. God's not just turning a blind eye. God sees everything that's taking place. Verse 2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. So who's to blame here? It's the people. The ones that are corrupt, the ones that are speaking lies, the ones that have blood on their own fingers, on their own hands. Verse 4. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth. They trust in vanity and speak lies. They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity. Look, there's a lot of injustice in the world, and a lot of people are just more than happy to leave it that way. They like things just the way they are because the people that want to make money are making money, and they've got it made. That's why that none calleth for justice. Look at verse 9. Therefore is judgment far from us. Neither does justice overtake us. We wait for light, but behold obscurity for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We stumble at noonday as in the night. We are in desolate places as dead men. We grope for all the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes. We stumble at noonday as in the night. We are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears and mourn sore like doves. We look for judgment, but there isn't. For salvation, but it is far off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them. In transgressing and lying against the Lord and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood, and judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off. For truth is fallen on the street, and equity cannot enter. That's part of being judged by God is when there's just no justice, no judgment. God takes all that away for the iniquities of people. That's something that we even see in our own country. Wicked people are prospering. Wicked people are doing whatever they want. Perverts and the rest, they're just flaunting their sin, getting away with it. It's getting worse and worse. It won't be long before we're singing the same song when God just says, I'm all for justice. I'm all for judgment. I'd help you out with that, but you know what? You seem to like iniquity. You seem to want to conceive mischief, and He's just going to give us the fruit of our own way. Verse 15, yea, truth faileth, and he that departed from evil maketh himself a prey, and the Lord saw it and displeased him that there was no judgment. So when God looks down and sees a place where there is no judgment, is He happy about that? It says no. It displeased Him that there is no judgment. God is one that wants there to be justice. So when we hear about these things and we see these things, when we maybe even experience them ourselves, we need to understand that it's not God's fault. It's man, because man is wicked. Man is sinful. Man has fallen. He allows these things to happen. You know, we should not blame God for the iniquity that we see taking place in the world, the injustice that's in the world. God desires there to be justice. You know, real quick too, I'll just mention this, is that we understand that God's law, we understand the righteous judgments of God, the commandments, that certain things are to be punished that are going unpunished today, but we're against vigilante justice. We don't promote that. I don't believe that's biblical. In fact, that would be sin for people to take matters into their own hands. Sorry, Texans. I know it's a real Texas thing to do to just go get a rope, but that's not biblical. It might be Texan, but it's not biblical. We should not take matters into our own hands. There has to be a system in place. God gave us a system. I know I could take the time to go to Deuteronomy 19, but if you wanted to turn there and read that on your own, God's system included the city of refuge that certain people who accidentally killed somebody, committed manslaughter, would have a place to flee to to be safe from the avenger of blood. It could be that if something happened by accident, you killed one of my family members, even if it was unintentional, I might think, oh, you did that intentionally, or I just might be upset, and take your own life. Because here's the thing. God's system not only did it... You say, well, so God's not for the death penalty. No, God is a God of justice, and God understands that sometimes when people get killed by another person, it was an accident. Sometimes in that case, that person is innocent. It wasn't intentional. But there was still a punishment involved. They had to live in that particular city. They had to leave their family behind and go live in another city somewhere until the death of the priest. You can read that in Deuteronomy 19. But God's system also, if you read Deuteronomy 19, did include the death penalty. It did include it. People debate today whether or not mass murder should be put to death. They sit there and go, should this serial killer be put to death? They'll try to fight and not... Don't execute him. It's immoral. Well, God's system says, no, kill him. And God says not just to kill the murderer, but also the adulterer, the rapist, the sodomite. There's other people that... We want to debate today in our society about whether or not some serial killer should be put to death. Good luck trying to get the adulterer put to death because you'd have to put a lot of people out at that point. But that's what God's system included. And you might not like that, but that's what the Bible says. And that's God's system of justice. That's how God works things out in His society, if He were running things. And He will be running things one day. Are you in Ecclesiastes still? Go over to chapter 8. Ecclesiastes chapter 8. God is for justice being served. And it's not being served today, but that's not His fault. That's man's fault. God's put it all... There's nothing new here. This book's been around for a long time. And man can pick it up anytime he wants and find out what God's mind is on an issue and figure out how God wants things done. Anytime he wants to pick it up and read it. And if people were serious about it, they could put these things into action. Not us personally, but there has been times, in times past, policy was built upon the Scriptures. You say, well, the death penalty, that seems a little severe. But that's what God said. Genesis 9. Whoso shedeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. That's the Bible. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 11. Because sentence against evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. You say, why is it that these places can get so out of hand, they can get so out of control, to where entire governments just become corrupt? Because of the fact that sentence is not carried out. Because there is no righteous judgment. You know, when you take that light of God's justice out of a place, darkness just moves in. It just fills that void that's there. Evil people will fill a power vacuum. That's what takes place. And look, here's the thing. Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 5. We all understand there's injustice in the world. We all understand that righteousness is not being executed in the world. And if we pay attention to that, if we see that, it might bother us. At least it should. You know, here's the thing. It should definitely bother us, but it shouldn't be something that we marvel at. It shouldn't surprise us. Ecclesiastes chapter 5, look at verse 8. If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter. He's saying, if you look over across the border, and you look into Mexico, and you see people, the poor being oppressed, you see the violent perverting of judgment, which we see in spades down there, and justice and the perverting of judgment just in province, marvel not at the matter. He's saying, don't let that surprise you. Don't just stand there and be shocked. It shouldn't shock us. You know, we just read Ecclesiastes chapter 8. We understand why that kind of thing happens. Because sense is not carried out. It shouldn't surprise us when these dens of iniquity grow and take over entire governments, take over entire countries. Why should we marvel at it? And he's not saying we should just, you know, be cold-hearted, not care. It shouldn't bother us. No, it should definitely bother us. But it's not something that we should sit there and just wonder, you know, well, what are we going to do about it? Because there's really nothing you can do about it. There's just nothing you can do about it. That's probably the most disheartening thing there is. You know, you hear about these things, you see these things taking place, and you just feel powerless. I mean, if the people that it's happening to, they can't do anything about it, how are we supposed to do anything about it? We're thousands of miles away, hundreds of miles away, so far removed from the situation. All we can do is sit back and watch and marvel at it and just say, what's going on? And the potential is that we become very disheartened over it. But what does he end there by saying? He said, don't marvel not at the matter. He's not saying be indifferent, be cold-hearted. You know, they probably deserved it. You know, that's not what he's saying. He's saying, for he that is higher than the highest regardeth. He's saying, don't marvel at it because of the fact that he that is higher than the highest. You know, the president of Mexico, the secretary of defense of Mexico, you know, there's somebody higher than him. The president of the Philippines, you know, Pol Pot, you know, who was running Cambodia and all the millions that died there. Stalin, who was very high, right? He was, he was the minister there. Hitler, all these people, Mao Tae Sung, you know, that in China, who just killed millions of people, oppressed millions and millions of people. You know, you could look at these things and just marvel at them, and it could really get you disheartened. You know, people even get to places where they want to shake their fist at God and say, why did he let that happen? But he's telling us here, look, for he that is higher than the highest regardeth. It's not that God hasn't noticed. God's keeping very close tabs on it. You know, and there's a special place in hell for people like that. There's a special place in hell for the dictator. There's a special place in hell for the oppressor. You know, there are varying degrees of punishment in hell. And, you know, some of the hottest spots are going to be reserved for people like that. And there be higher than they. You know, God sees all of it. You know, that's the only, and really that is supposed to be a source of comfort to us. You know, to us that are just observing it as outsiders. But even if we were people that were going through something like that, if we ever found ourselves in the position where we were under some oppressive regime, you know, we were being oppressed, we weren't having justice met in our own lives in some way, you know, this should be a counsel to us. It would probably be more comforting to us to know, to say, well, you know what, he that is higher than the highest, he regardeth. He knows. God one day is going to, you know, set it right. But here's the thing, is that just give man a free pass to say, well, you know, God will take care of it someday. You know, whatever happens, happens. No, you know, justice is the responsibility of those that are in leadership, those that are rulers. There are supposed to be people who dole out justice and judgment. That's supposed to happen. Go over to Jeremiah chapter 22, Jeremiah chapter number 22. He said in Proverbs 8 15, by me kings reign and princes decree justice. You know, God has set up kings, God has set up princes, God has set up authority, man-made authority to decree justice. You know, that is man's responsibility. That's not just God's responsibility. You know, and sometimes man gets it right. You know, sometimes man does get it right. They have righteous laws. They right wrongs. They punish evildoers. You know, they find out the guilty parties and they are punished. You know, even if that punishment isn't exactly right, at least it's something, you know. But a lot of times, you know, sometimes they get it wrong too, don't they? And they get it, when they get it wrong, they get it wrong bad. They get it wrong big. I mean, you look at Mexico, look at, you know, these other places. You know, that's a pretty big wrong to get wrong. You know, and here's the thing, man's justice is always going to be flawed. You know, it is man's responsibility, but it's always going to be flawed. It's never going to be perfect. And God holds leaders accountable for that. You say, well, it seems like, you know, these people aren't necessarily, these leaders aren't necessarily wicked, but they're not doing what's right or they're doing it wrong. They're flawed. Well, you know what? God's going to hold them accountable too, just like He did in Israel back in Jeremiah's day, chapter 22, where you are in verse 1. Thus saith the Lord, go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word and say, hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou and thy servants and thy people that enter in by these gates. Thus saith the Lord, execute ye judgment and righteousness and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor and do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. So He's saying this to what, who is He saying this to? The king of Judah that sitteth upon the throne of David and the servants and the people that enter in by these gates. He's talking about the leadership, the rulers of Israel and Judah at that time. He's saying, look, don't do these things. Don't shed the blood in this place. Do no violence to the stranger. Verse 4. For if ye do this thing indeed, then there shall enter in by these gates of this house, kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he and his servants and his people. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. What is the Bible showing us? Is that when a nation, when a group of people, when leadership fails to execute righteous judgment, God judges them for that. When they allow these things to take place, when they allow, you know, when they do not deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, when they do violence to the stranger. Look, we do violence to the stranger today. And who's the stranger? The stranger is a foreigner. You know, a stranger is, you know, the immigrant, you know, bringing in the modern vernacular. You know, you've got people in Mexico that are trying to get out of that hellhole and come over here, and they get here, and then they're instantly put in a cage and sent back. And look, I know this is a controversial subject, even amongst Baptists. You know, this is not the mainline Baptist view. They're going to be like, build that wall, brother. Get up there. Keep them out of here. That's what they're going to say. Show me in Scripture. Show me in the Scripture. Where he says here, do no violence to the stranger. You know, and look, they should be subject to the same laws when they get over here like everybody else, right? They shouldn't, you know, and here's the thing. You want to really fix the problem, get rid of the welfare program. That would probably fix a lot of the problem. Maybe they'd stick around where they live and try to do something about what's going on over there. But look, if they flee that place, if they come here, you know, they shouldn't go from violence there to violence here to oppression here. You know, we should be a place of refuge for people like that to come in here and to get away from that thing, that kind of thing, to where innocent blood is being shed. You know, what's the worst they're going to do over here? Well, they don't pay taxes. They pay taxes every time they buy something. It's like, what are you talking about? These illegal immigrants that come over here, they don't pay any taxes except when they buy something. You know, they work jobs. They help you stimulate the economy. It's like, what's the problem, you know? But people, they get all up in arms about it. And look, when we live in a country that's going to do violence to the stranger, and what else? What other other things take place here? When they shed innocent blood in this place, well, we don't do that here. That would never happen here, right? That happens en masse in this country. It's called abortion, folks. And that's murder. The Bible calls that murder, okay? And that happens to the tune of thousands every single day. And then we can start talking about all the wars that we're involved in, where we're just innocent people, just bombing innocent people, killing innocent people. Look, that happens en masse in this country. And the Bible's showing us that God is saying, look, if you allow these things to happen within your gates, He says, look, I'm going to make your house a desolation. He's going to judge you for it. And that is what's coming to this country. Look at verse 11. For thus saith the Lord, touching Shalom, the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place. He shall not return thither anymore. And remember, Josiah, he was the one that began to rule at eight years of age. He found the book of the law when he cleaned out the temple. And God, you know, he found out they were doing everything wrong, and he repented. And God said, look, I'm not going to judge you in your day, but after you, you're all going to be carried away captive. And that's exactly what happens. That's what He's prophesying about his son there. It says in verse 12, But he shall die in the place where I have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. Woe unto him that buildeth houses by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong, that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work. That sayeth I will build me a wide house, and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows, that is sealed with cedar, and painted with vermilion. He's talking about people that are living very decadent lives on the back of other people's labors. You know, slavery, oppression, robbing them, and being corrupt. Okay. Verse 15, Shout thou rain because thou cloth'st thyself in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice? And then it was well with him. He's talking about Josiah. Why was it well with Josiah? Because he read the book of the law. He read God's statutes and commandments, and said, well, let's do this. Let's do this. And then it was well with him. You know, God staved his judgment. God put off his judgment with Josiah. I mean, God was right there. He's ready to just bring the smack down, and Josiah finds that book, and says, whoa, we were doing everything wrong. Gets right, and for a whole generation, God says, holds off. Then he's saying, hey, look, if you do the same thing, I'd hold it off for you too. He said, look, he did that. He did that was right, and you know what? Did well. Verse 16, He judged the cause of the poor and needy, then it was well with him. Was not this to know me, sayeth the Lord? But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence to do it. So what is the source of it all again? What is the source of the violence? What is the source of the oppression? What is the source of the innocent blood? Why do people do it? But for thy covetousness. The love of money truly is the root of all evil. It's the same story. It keeps getting played out over and over again. People become covetous. They want to have them a big house with all the nice things, and if they have to oppress people, if they have to shed innocent blood, if they have to do violence, they're going to go ahead and do it to get what they want. Verse 18, Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Jadiah king of Judah. Thus they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, my brother, or Ah, my sister. They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, Lord, Ah, his glory. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. That's what God did to this guy. He said, look, they're going to carry him out like some dead animal and just throw him in a ditch. And this is the king. He said, no one's going to regard this guy. And that's what God does to wicked people. And that's what's going to happen eventually. God is going to dole out, maybe not in this exact manner, but God is going to dole out justice one day. The Lord is going to execute righteous justice when he reigns. Go over to Jeremiah chapter 23, just a few pages. Jeremiah chapter 23. The Bible says in Psalm 89, Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face. I mean, that is the very definition of God's throne. That is the habitation of his throne. Justice and judgment. God's not just some big softy. He's just going to say, oh, I know you didn't mean anything by it. No, God is going to dole out justice. God is going to dole out judgment. Mercy and truth shall go before thy faith. So is there going to be mercy for people? Sure. But you know what? There's also going to be a lot of truth too. And there's going to be a lot of justice and judgment. First, Jeremiah chapter 23, look at verse five. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord. I will raise unto David a righteous branch and a king shall reign and prosper. Period. Well, that sounds nice. That's Jesus, right? Jesus is going to come back and reign. And it's just going to be peace and love and harmony. You know, it is going to be peace. It is going to be love, but it's going to come because of what? And shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. You know, people are getting away with it now, but they're not going to get away with it forever. Eventually, He is going to come back and reign upon this earth. And there's going to be judgment and justice. And look, we can console ourselves with this knowledge. Now, we might not feel like we need that. This isn't going to help me. I'm not really dealing with this. But maybe one day you will. Or maybe one day if we ever snap out of it a little bit, or if we ever do really look around at what's going on in the world that does begin to grieve us, we can turn to verses like this and be comforted by the fact that we know that one day God is going to repay that vengeance is mine, say it the Lord. But what should we do in the meantime? What should we do? Well, what we should do is we should try to be just in our own lives. Be honest. Be fair. Be upright. Care about truth. Care about righteousness. And care about mercy. There's a lot of judgment. There's a lot of that. But there's also a lot of mercy too, isn't there? We should do these things in our own lives to whatever degree we can and continue to serve God. Don't get jaded. Don't just think, well, nothing matters. And look, people do this all the time. They look around the world and say, the world's just gotten so wicked. I'm just going to go live in a bunker. I'm just going to take my rifles and my bullets and my beans and my batteries, and I'm just going to go live in my bunker. A lot of bees involved. And that's it. And they just think, because the world's just so bad. And look, the world's bad, but it's always been bad. And until Jesus comes, it's always going to be bad. So don't run and hide from it. Do justly in your own life and serve God and continue to serve Him. Go back to Ecclesiastes. You should be keeping something there until the very end. Chapter 8. Continue to serve God with your life. Don't just throw in the towel. Actually, you know what? Go to Matthew 14. We'll go there, and then Ecclesiastes 8, and then we'll be done. I mean, what would Jesus do? That's the question we always ask. What if Jesus was faced with some kind of injustice in His life? Did that ever happen? Yeah. And He took it, and He committed Himself to Him that judges righteously. But even before His crucifixion, Jesus saw injustice in the world. Think about the example of John the Baptist. Matthew 14. Verse 1. At that time Herod Tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. What did he do to his brother Philip's wife, Herodias? What did he do to her? Why did he throw her in prison? Man, was there some kind of molestation? Did he inflict some kind of physical harm? Well, look at verse 4. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. That's the big injustice that happened to Herodias' wife, is somebody just called her out on the carpet. The preacher just got up and said, Look, it's adultery. That's what he said is why it's not lawful for you to have her because she's another man's wife. That's what happened. And that's the big injustice. That's why he gets thrown in prison and has his head cut off. And we're talking about John the Baptist. This is a pretty big injustice. We'll just jump down to verse 10. And he sent and beheaded John in the prison, and his head was brought in a charge and given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mother. That's not the mothers they give if your mother wants. Some bloody head. That's the one she wanted because she's a wicked woman. And his disciples came and took up the body and buried it and went and told Jesus. And when Jesus heard of it, he started a campaign. I mean, he became a social justice warrior. He put his whole ministry on hold, everything he was going to do, and went and sought justice for John the Baptist. Now, don't you think what happened to John the Baptist was pretty unjust? Don't you think that's pretty wicked? Yeah, of course. But you know, Jesus, he just kept right on serving God. Now, it doesn't mean that he wasn't bothered by it. I mean, look what it says happened. He says there, and when Jesus heard of it, verse 13, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart. So obviously, there was a time of mourning. You know, it's like he had to stop, take that news in. There was prayer. And when people heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. So this didn't stop Jesus in his tracks, this injustice that he saw in the world. I'm not saying he didn't feel bad about it. And he went on, and he talked about John the Baptist, how there was not a greater born among women, that he was the greatest. But when that happened, he kept serving God. That's the point I'm trying to make. So we need to follow Jesus' example when we see injustice. And look, we don't just see one guy being beheaded. I mean, we're seeing entire countries come under the sword, you know, figuratively speaking. You know, it's actually coming under like a machete or a machine gun or something like that. That's the literal interpretation. Or, you know, there's just huge amounts of oppression taking place. Just lots of people being oppressed. More than just one man. But should we just stop what we're doing? Just quit serving God? Quit having compassion on people? No, we should have more compassion on people. Jesus saw that. He said, well, I just move with even more compassion for people. I just want to reach even more people. You know, we hear about or see what's going on in Mexico, we shouldn't just say, well, the world's such a hellhole. You know, I'm just going to, you know, go into my little cave and just live out my life by myself in seclusion. You know, we should be moved with compassion to reach out to people that are being oppressed like that with the gospel. Look at Ecclesiastes 8, chapter 8, verse 12. We'll close here. The Bible says in verse 12, though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged. And his days be prolonged. Does that happen today? I mean, we see it all the time. Just they do evil a hundred times, and their days are prolonged. They live long, full lives of just wickedness and oppression and evil. That happens, you know, a hundred times. Yet I surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God. Look, the wicked guy, he doesn't fear God. It's not going to end well for him. He might have a nice long life, but what's the light at the end of the tunnel for him? There's a light there, but it's a flame. It's fire of hell that's burning, and it's actually darkness, right? That's what's reserved for them. You know, that's what's going to come to them, but to them that fear God, you know, we might not do the evil a hundred times. We might even be the ones that are being oppressed by the evil, the bloody, deceitful men. We might even be the ones that are being taken advantage of, but if we fear God and we keep serving Him, we know that it is going to end well before Him if we fear before Him. So, you know, it's perfectly natural to lament the evil that is done to innocent people. You know, I'd be worried about you if you didn't feel that way. You know, if you could hear about these things, you know, if you could see these documentaries like the ones I saw or even know people personally in your own life, I might go through things like this or even yourself. If you could hear about these things and just be callous towards it and have no emotion, you know, I'm a little worried about you. You know, you might be a psychopath, you know, or something like that. You might just be a little, probably not, but you might be a little hard-hearted. You know, we get so desensitized to this, oh, another killing, you know, yep, it happens all the time. I mean, good night when I'm watching that footage last night in that documentary where that guy that gets shot in broad daylight in the Philippines, you know what the most astounding thing was? How many people just stood there and watched him? Hundreds of people. Hundreds. Just kind of stood around and they're just watching him just bleed to death in the street. You know, eventually his family showed up and got him to the hospital and he died there. But why was that? Because they're just all evil people, wicked people? No, because it was commonplace by that point. Well, there's another one. There goes another unmarked vehicle. There goes another unmarked motorcycle with the gunman on it. There goes another death squad down the street. You know, we can get to that place as people. When things get that bad, people can just become, you know, cold-hearted. But naturally, you know, hopefully we all lament the evil that's taking place in the world. We see those type of things, the evil that's being done to innocent people, but you can't get so downtrodden, so down in the dumps about it, you forget to do the greatest work you can do for the sake of justice, which is to get souls saved, to win people to the righteous judge who is going to judge every man, judge every person. So, you know, justice will be served one day. You know, it might be a little bit longer in coming than we might wish it to be, but that's the way it is in the world and all we can really do is just commit ourselves to Him that judges righteously and serve Him in fear before him. Let's go ahead and pray.