WEBVTT 00:00:00.839 --> 00:00:03.339 Hello, you're listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:06.440 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:08.960 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:11.380 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:14.160 Son, and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.260 and joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 00:00:16.260 --> 00:00:18.719 a .m. in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:21.960 can find us online at secondcitychurch .org and 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:24.480 on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. We hope 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:29.339 you enjoy this sermon. God bless. Lord, I pray 00:00:29.339 --> 00:00:33.179 you to open to our minds and to our hearts this 00:00:33.179 --> 00:00:36.079 passage, that we would see the goodness of a 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:41.420 God who judges all, who looks over all. God, 00:00:41.500 --> 00:00:46.079 I pray, knowing that the idea of your divine 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:51.740 judgment unsettles us at times. I pray, Lord, 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:55.159 that it would also give us great hope. Lord, 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:57.280 we commit this time to you, and we ask that the 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:59.420 words of my mouth, the meditations of our hearts, 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:01.780 would be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our 00:01:01.780 --> 00:01:06.299 rock and our Redeemer. Amen. All right. I think 00:01:06.299 --> 00:01:09.519 it's rather uncontroversial to say that there 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:14.640 is no shortage of injustice in the world. Far 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:18.239 from it. It's actually not just maybe that there's 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:21.079 no shortage of it, that it just seems to abound. 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:25.379 The world seems chock full of it. And of course, 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:28.579 it's not hard to think of different cases of 00:01:28.579 --> 00:01:32.629 the world. We could, I could recount for you 00:01:32.629 --> 00:01:35.709 some of the history in our own city of redlining 00:01:35.709 --> 00:01:40.310 and cities throughout our country during the 00:01:40.310 --> 00:01:42.870 Jim Crow area and how that has continued to have 00:01:42.870 --> 00:01:46.150 effect in the lives of so many throughout our 00:01:46.150 --> 00:01:50.209 own land. We could consider human trafficking 00:01:50.209 --> 00:01:53.650 here in central Pennsylvania or Los Angeles or 00:01:53.650 --> 00:01:56.769 the boroughs of New York or all throughout the 00:01:56.769 --> 00:02:00.849 world. We could think of the forced labor that 00:02:00.849 --> 00:02:04.870 happened during much of colonization, the Spanish 00:02:04.870 --> 00:02:09.110 and Comedian of the Americas or what they did 00:02:09.110 --> 00:02:12.310 in what is now the Philippines. I mean, the examples 00:02:12.310 --> 00:02:15.210 can just kind of abound. We can think of famous 00:02:15.210 --> 00:02:20.389 court cases of injustice. You can think, of course, 00:02:20.610 --> 00:02:23.610 maybe of the Central Park Five, but we could 00:02:23.610 --> 00:02:26.389 go on and on with court cases. We can think of 00:02:26.460 --> 00:02:30.180 Massive racial injustices, apartheid in South 00:02:30.180 --> 00:02:34.419 Africa, the transatlantic slave trade. We can 00:02:34.419 --> 00:02:38.120 think of the genocides in Rwanda or Cambodia. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:41.340 We can think of the Armenian genocide and so 00:02:41.340 --> 00:02:43.740 many Christians, 1 .5 million Christians killed 00:02:43.740 --> 00:02:46.840 during World War I by the Ottoman Empire. And 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:50.900 of course, we can talk about the Jews under the 00:02:50.900 --> 00:02:53.479 Nazis, the six million or so that were killed. 00:02:55.180 --> 00:02:57.180 But what's the difference of these things just 00:02:57.180 --> 00:03:01.000 don't happen overnight? It's not just the case 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:03.800 that societies at large kind of commit injustices, 00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:06.120 though that often ends up sometimes happening. 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:09.379 But it's often the case that one individual or 00:03:09.379 --> 00:03:12.780 one ruler or one authority or one judge acts 00:03:12.780 --> 00:03:20.219 unjustly and perpetuates injustice. It's not 00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:22.439 the case that all of a sudden Hitler appeared. 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:27.900 He was existing within a structure that had a 00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:30.039 history to it Let me tell you at least one of 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:33.099 the examples that people kind of said well Much 00:03:33.099 --> 00:03:35.780 of what happened in this case kind of led structurally 00:03:35.780 --> 00:03:38.379 to what happened under the Third Reich many of 00:03:38.379 --> 00:03:41.960 you may know of the Dreyfus affair Alfred Dreyfus 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:46.580 in his case. He was a he was an affluent and 00:03:48.109 --> 00:03:51.250 rather deeply patriotic Frenchman living in Alsace, 00:03:51.310 --> 00:03:53.949 which at the time you may know that sort of northeastern 00:03:53.949 --> 00:03:56.449 part of France sort of went between the French 00:03:56.449 --> 00:03:58.629 and the Germans, but he was a French military 00:03:58.629 --> 00:04:03.939 officer and And he had, by all means, sort of 00:04:03.939 --> 00:04:06.000 assimilated into French life. And so some people 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.159 actually that were sort of known anti -Semitics 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.539 thought, well, if we can show that he didn't, 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:13.860 can't it be said maybe that all the Jews can't 00:04:13.860 --> 00:04:17.500 assimilate into French life? So Dreyfus was accused 00:04:17.500 --> 00:04:21.899 and he was convicted of treason and more specifically 00:04:21.899 --> 00:04:27.480 of selling military secrets to the Germans. He 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:30.839 denied the charges, his family protested, all 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:35.160 of the rest. And actually this is where it sort 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:38.139 of parallels both what developed in Germany over 00:04:38.139 --> 00:04:39.740 the next few decades, and actually in some ways 00:04:39.740 --> 00:04:42.360 you could say our own time, the mass media took 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:48.839 over as it was in the 1890s. And the mobs rallied. 00:04:48.899 --> 00:04:51.439 In fact, we know that there were mobs that were 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:55.220 rallying in French cities, crying out in 1894. 00:04:55.910 --> 00:04:59.670 death to the Jews in light of the Alfred Dreyfus 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:04.269 case. In fact, one person that I read said that 00:05:04.269 --> 00:05:06.569 you could literally just kind of divide the French 00:05:06.569 --> 00:05:10.629 population between the pro -Dreyfus and the anti 00:05:10.629 --> 00:05:14.129 -Dreyfus, which was to say the pro -Jewish people 00:05:14.129 --> 00:05:18.550 and the anti -Jewish people. What seemed clear 00:05:18.550 --> 00:05:21.629 to many was this was a case of gross injustice, 00:05:21.990 --> 00:05:26.060 of covering up evidence. and largely for the 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:29.180 sake of the Jews being blamed. So Dreyfus was 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:31.620 court -martialed because somebody supposedly 00:05:31.620 --> 00:05:35.839 found in sort of the trash bin near him what 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:39.360 was supposedly evidence for this selling of secrets 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:41.459 to the German military. He was court -martialed. 00:05:41.459 --> 00:05:44.180 He was tried. He was not allowed to see the evidence. 00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:47.560 He wasn't allowed to speak on his behalf. And 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:51.980 he was sentenced to life in a felony colony in 00:05:51.980 --> 00:05:56.339 French Guiana on an island called Devil's Island. 00:05:58.019 --> 00:06:01.980 Probably not the greatest place to live. Not 00:06:01.980 --> 00:06:03.639 only was he sent there, but he was sentenced 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:07.540 to solitary confinement there. As if to teach 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:10.100 anyone else who may do something similar, this 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:14.040 will be your fate. Well, there was a good deal 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:16.639 of outcry against this, of course, because it 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:20.550 seemed rigged. Where was the evidence? Where 00:06:20.550 --> 00:06:23.569 was the just trial? And one of the most famous 00:06:23.569 --> 00:06:25.629 people that sought to uncover this injustice 00:06:25.629 --> 00:06:28.389 was the great French novelist and journalist 00:06:28.389 --> 00:06:31.689 Emile Zola. And so Emile Zola actually wrote 00:06:31.689 --> 00:06:34.449 a letter that appeared on the front cover of 00:06:34.449 --> 00:06:36.670 one of the most widely spread French newspapers 00:06:36.670 --> 00:06:39.930 at the time. It was addressed to the French president. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:44.139 And that letter is called Jacuz, I accuse. And 00:06:44.139 --> 00:06:46.680 he lists at the end, Jacuz so and so and so and 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:48.660 so and so and so. And how he was just saying, 00:06:48.660 --> 00:06:52.420 this is a rigged deal. This is injustice grossly 00:06:52.420 --> 00:06:58.680 administered. Well, after writing that, Emile 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:03.439 Zola was accused himself and he was put on trial 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:07.660 for libel. I'm gonna get back to that trial. 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:14.220 I want us to consider Psalm 82, because in many 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:17.399 ways Psalm 82 actually mirrors in some ways a 00:07:17.399 --> 00:07:21.220 courtroom setting. And I want us to look at this 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:24.339 Psalm by considering the judged, who's being 00:07:24.339 --> 00:07:29.680 judged, what the judgment is, and then the jurisdiction 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:32.779 of God, all right? Y 'all got that? Three J's? 00:07:35.980 --> 00:07:38.680 It's a Presbyterian minister thing. Presbyterian 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:41.879 pastors named Peter do three J's. So the judge 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:45.079 first. And if you open up your Bible to Psalm 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:49.879 82, this is how Psalm 82 begins. God has taken 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:54.439 his place in the divine council in the midst 00:07:54.439 --> 00:07:59.079 of the gods. He holds judgment. So he's got the 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:01.379 divine council there and there's these gods and 00:08:01.379 --> 00:08:05.500 he's the one who's holding judgment. So who are 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:12.100 the judged? Well, the word there is the Elohim, 00:08:13.339 --> 00:08:23.500 which is rightly translated gods. What? Isn't 00:08:23.500 --> 00:08:27.139 there just one true God? What is this stuff? 00:08:27.899 --> 00:08:31.420 What's it saying? I mean, you're right. Okay, 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:33.700 let me give you some examples. Isaiah 45 says, 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:37.059 I am the Lord and there's no other. Besides me, 00:08:37.059 --> 00:08:42.000 there's no God. Sounds pretty clear. 1st Timothy 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.580 2 .5 says there's one God, one mediator between 00:08:44.580 --> 00:08:49.179 God and man. In our Lord Jesus' own words, he's 00:08:49.179 --> 00:08:52.539 sort of echoing the famous Shema of Deuteronomy 00:08:52.539 --> 00:08:55.019 6, the great confession of Jewish faith that 00:08:55.019 --> 00:08:59.559 Jesus says is true. He's affirming in Luke chapter 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:01.779 10 and Mark chapter 12 when he says, hero Israel, 00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:07.000 the Lord, our God, the Lord is one. These all 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:09.080 sound pretty clear. So what is happening? Who's 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:13.019 being judged here, right? This council that is 00:09:13.019 --> 00:09:15.039 before God who's doing the judging and it says 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:20.759 it's the gods. Well, as you might imagine, scholars 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:24.200 are divided on this. Let me give you two of the 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:27.320 main sort of tier. And the first one and the 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:29.580 most historic kind of understanding of this, 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:32.899 of who's being judged here is human judges. which 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:35.720 is say, human rulers, humans that can affect 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:38.200 the world about them, who can decide the fate 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:43.960 of another. And it might sound odd to us, of 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:46.460 course, to call a human a God, it kind of, it 00:09:46.460 --> 00:09:49.419 does. But there's examples of this in the Bible, 00:09:49.539 --> 00:09:53.840 actually, Exodus 21, and that's part of Israel's 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:56.600 civil law. And there's actually a case where 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:58.580 it says, okay, if this thing happens, you need 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:02.889 to go to... And it actually refers to gods as 00:10:02.889 --> 00:10:05.149 human judges, or sorry, human judges as gods. 00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:08.830 You need to go to these small G gods to determine 00:10:08.830 --> 00:10:15.110 this case. Exodus 22, 28 says, you shall not 00:10:15.110 --> 00:10:17.990 revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. 00:10:18.129 --> 00:10:19.669 A lot of people think of those as a synonymous 00:10:19.669 --> 00:10:22.610 thing. It's saying, don't revile God, which is 00:10:22.610 --> 00:10:24.289 a way of also thinking of the rulers of your 00:10:24.289 --> 00:10:25.929 people. So the rulers can be considered kind 00:10:25.929 --> 00:10:31.000 of like a god. And even if that isn't synonymous 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:33.200 in that text, you can see how there's this god 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:35.539 -like function that rulers have. They actually 00:10:35.539 --> 00:10:38.620 sort of set up things for other people. They 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:41.139 speak and actually somebody has to follow them. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.440 They're judging and they're deciding the fate 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:49.440 of the world in a way. And probably the strongest 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:51.559 argument actually to understand these gods here 00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:54.200 as human judges or human rulers or human people 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:56.940 that are over others that have an effect in the 00:10:56.940 --> 00:11:00.799 world is that Jesus actually in John chapter 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:04.320 10, which Nicole read for us, he directly quotes 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.960 this text when he's speaking to the religious 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:10.320 rulers. He's saying, you know, God even said 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:12.860 over essentially you all your gods, why are you 00:11:12.860 --> 00:11:14.919 getting mad at me for the idea of blasphemy? 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:16.759 It's kind of part of his argument that's going 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:22.250 on there. So, The thing about this, okay, it's 00:11:22.250 --> 00:11:26.889 true that to a degree, human judges, human rulers, 00:11:27.450 --> 00:11:30.309 human authorities have a God -like function in 00:11:30.309 --> 00:11:33.250 the world, which is to say they work on the world 00:11:33.250 --> 00:11:37.129 for its fate, right? There's a way in which they 00:11:37.129 --> 00:11:39.610 speak and something comes into being in the world, 00:11:40.230 --> 00:11:43.970 directs the life of another. We could think back 00:11:43.970 --> 00:11:46.970 about the redlining. How has that affected the 00:11:46.970 --> 00:11:49.429 world to come, right? It's happening in effect 00:11:49.429 --> 00:11:53.289 on the world. and how it comes about. And we 00:11:53.289 --> 00:11:56.889 can think about this sort of on a more sort of 00:11:56.889 --> 00:12:00.629 local setting too. We've been praying for, I've 00:12:00.629 --> 00:12:03.610 been praying for you teachers and you who are 00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:06.690 in education, administrators. You know your effect, 00:12:06.870 --> 00:12:09.330 actually part of the great probably thing that 00:12:09.330 --> 00:12:13.370 enlivens your work is you know I can affect the 00:12:13.370 --> 00:12:20.309 future of a student. And you can. For good. or 00:12:20.309 --> 00:12:23.710 for ill. You can build them up. You can tear 00:12:23.710 --> 00:12:27.649 them down. Parents, you know this. In the authority 00:12:27.649 --> 00:12:31.470 kind of way that you interact with your children, 00:12:31.649 --> 00:12:36.470 you sort of direct their life in a way. You kind 00:12:36.470 --> 00:12:39.450 of set them up on a certain trajectory or not. 00:12:41.909 --> 00:12:45.909 Think, of course, of the human judge. Think of 00:12:45.909 --> 00:12:51.000 how an entire life can be taken. by the judgment 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:57.740 that they give. Think of human rulers. Think 00:12:57.740 --> 00:13:02.980 about how much you care about who gets elected 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:06.679 to what office. Think of how many millions, hundreds 00:13:06.679 --> 00:13:09.759 of millions of dollars go into election campaigns. 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:13.500 And think about how you wake up after election 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:18.460 either elated or dejected. Why do you do that? 00:13:18.570 --> 00:13:21.169 Because you know to an extent the people that 00:13:21.169 --> 00:13:26.950 have power affect the world about you. We know 00:13:26.950 --> 00:13:29.149 how significant human judges and human rulers 00:13:29.149 --> 00:13:35.129 and those with authority have. And judges and 00:13:35.129 --> 00:13:39.049 rulers, and frankly, you and I, because we all 00:13:39.049 --> 00:13:42.070 have a degree of authority, though some of us 00:13:42.070 --> 00:13:47.529 a smaller degree, have an opportunity or not 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:52.080 to reflect the great judge, the one true and 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:56.799 living God. So speaking of Jewish judges, one 00:13:56.799 --> 00:13:59.820 commentator said, they were sons of the highest 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:02.659 called by his name, bearing his image, exercising 00:14:02.659 --> 00:14:06.059 his authority, charged to execute his will. And 00:14:06.059 --> 00:14:08.580 they ought to have been in their measure, in 00:14:08.580 --> 00:14:11.080 their measure, his living representatives. And 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:12.539 that could be said actually about every single 00:14:12.539 --> 00:14:17.299 human, charged to do his will. bearing his image, 00:14:17.500 --> 00:14:21.480 exercising his authority in their measure, his 00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:23.460 living responsibilities. And so it's in this 00:14:23.460 --> 00:14:26.299 sense that this human judge idea comes that you 00:14:26.299 --> 00:14:30.840 can be called gods. But of course, that's not 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:33.299 the only reason, or that's not the only sort 00:14:33.299 --> 00:14:35.240 of way this is understood. The other main way 00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:38.440 this is understood is as sort of minor deities 00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:41.500 or spiritual beings. And this has gained some 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:43.120 more traction recently, if you're kind of like 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.039 into historical theology and its development. 00:14:46.470 --> 00:14:48.110 Probably over the last hundred years, this has 00:14:48.110 --> 00:14:51.649 gained some more popularity. And this is taking 00:14:51.649 --> 00:14:57.029 this idea of Elohim here, gods, to be sort of 00:14:57.029 --> 00:14:59.950 minor, minor deities, spiritual beings, maybe 00:14:59.950 --> 00:15:03.169 like angels or demons. They're spiritual beings 00:15:03.169 --> 00:15:05.029 that have a sway in the world. And actually, 00:15:05.129 --> 00:15:07.669 again, you've heard this kind of argument from 00:15:07.669 --> 00:15:09.830 Ephesians chapter six, which Nicole read for 00:15:09.830 --> 00:15:11.429 us, right? They're the principalities and powers 00:15:11.429 --> 00:15:16.110 of the world, or as six four says, We do not 00:15:16.110 --> 00:15:18.590 wrestle against flesh and blood, but against 00:15:18.590 --> 00:15:20.269 the rulers, against the authorities, against 00:15:20.269 --> 00:15:23.330 the cosmic powers over this present darkness, 00:15:23.649 --> 00:15:26.830 against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly 00:15:26.830 --> 00:15:29.169 places. And so you can see there's an argument 00:15:29.169 --> 00:15:32.309 to be made here too, right? Oh, maybe this is, 00:15:32.370 --> 00:15:34.730 maybe there are rulers and principalities and 00:15:34.730 --> 00:15:37.149 powers. And this, of course, pushes against our 00:15:37.149 --> 00:15:39.250 modern sensibilities, but there's this spiritual 00:15:39.250 --> 00:15:41.370 reality that is existing beyond us that actually 00:15:41.370 --> 00:15:46.919 has an effect. on our world. And Isaiah, again, 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:49.379 Isaiah 24 says, the Lord will punish the powers 00:15:49.379 --> 00:15:52.919 in the heaven. And so there is this idea that 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:55.460 in the heavens above, there is certain powers. 00:15:57.159 --> 00:15:59.779 This doesn't take it away from the responsibility 00:15:59.779 --> 00:16:01.679 of humans, but it does say that there's more 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:08.580 at play than we might see. So which is it? I 00:16:08.580 --> 00:16:11.240 wonder what you think? Which is it? Human judges? 00:16:11.950 --> 00:16:15.690 some sort of spiritual divine, sub -divine being? 00:16:17.129 --> 00:16:20.210 The gods, human judges, human authorities, are 00:16:20.210 --> 00:16:24.509 they a spiritual ruler? They'll be judged? You 00:16:24.509 --> 00:16:31.250 know what? I don't know. I don't know what the 00:16:31.250 --> 00:16:34.929 answer is. I think I lean towards human judges 00:16:34.929 --> 00:16:37.190 in part because of how Jesus uses that, but I 00:16:37.190 --> 00:16:40.179 don't know. And I actually think that there's 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:43.220 maybe something there which might be the point. 00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:49.139 Either seems possible, but the point remains 00:16:49.139 --> 00:16:54.700 that God is judging those who have authority 00:16:54.700 --> 00:16:58.100 and rule, who judge the world about them, who 00:16:58.100 --> 00:17:01.460 have sway in how the world progresses, the fate 00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:05.000 of the world. God is calling them to account 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.509 for what they do. So the judges. What's the judgment? 00:17:10.089 --> 00:17:11.589 Okay. Well, again, in some ways we can break 00:17:11.589 --> 00:17:13.869 this into two sections. Now it's not two interpretations, 00:17:13.910 --> 00:17:16.910 but two sections. And one first is God's, and 00:17:16.910 --> 00:17:18.569 then one is sort of the author of the psalm. 00:17:18.589 --> 00:17:22.849 So first verses two to three. It says, this is 00:17:22.849 --> 00:17:25.410 God speaking. That's what most all believe. How 00:17:25.410 --> 00:17:30.029 long will you judge unjustly? This is God's judgment 00:17:30.029 --> 00:17:33.470 that he's holding. And show partiality to the 00:17:33.470 --> 00:17:37.289 wicked. Give justice to the weak and the fatherless 00:17:37.289 --> 00:17:39.690 maintain the right of the afflicted and the death 00:17:39.690 --> 00:17:42.509 to rescue the weak and the needy Deliver them 00:17:42.509 --> 00:17:45.890 from the hand of the wicked So that's sort of 00:17:45.890 --> 00:17:50.710 God's judgment And here's the here's the author 00:17:50.710 --> 00:17:54.549 most likely of the psalm responding also verse 00:17:54.549 --> 00:17:57.869 four. Sorry verse five They have neither knowledge 00:17:57.869 --> 00:17:59.869 nor understanding they walk about in darkness 00:17:59.869 --> 00:18:04.059 all the foundations of the earth are shaken What's 00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:07.599 the judgment? Well, it's more of an indictment. 00:18:09.019 --> 00:18:11.640 The judgment that God gives to these judges and 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:13.460 rulers, whether on earth or in the spiritual 00:18:13.460 --> 00:18:17.480 realm, is that they have not cared for those 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:22.839 among them. I think about this. How long will 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:26.880 you judge unjustly? Show partiality to the wicked. 00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:29.880 God says, give justice to the weak and fatherless, 00:18:29.940 --> 00:18:31.599 maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute, 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:35.180 rescue the weak and the needy, deliver them from 00:18:35.180 --> 00:18:37.660 the hand of the wicked. He's saying you have 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:44.740 not done so. Injustice is running rampant. God's 00:18:44.740 --> 00:18:53.009 judgment is an indictment. And then the psalmist 00:18:53.009 --> 00:18:55.150 himself says they don't have knowledge, they 00:18:55.150 --> 00:18:57.130 don't have understanding, they walk in darkness. 00:18:57.150 --> 00:18:59.029 And because of this, the foundations of the earth 00:18:59.029 --> 00:19:02.190 seem to be shaking. We all feel unsettled. The 00:19:02.190 --> 00:19:06.730 world is not right. Which is to say, it's really 00:19:06.730 --> 00:19:08.990 kind of an interesting thing that you first have 00:19:08.990 --> 00:19:11.630 God's indictment and then you have the human 00:19:11.630 --> 00:19:16.329 response. Which is to say that if you are angry 00:19:16.329 --> 00:19:23.029 at injustice, God joins you in that. So is God. 00:19:24.210 --> 00:19:26.230 If you look around the world, you see the poor 00:19:26.230 --> 00:19:29.750 being taken advantage of, the hope of the needy 00:19:29.750 --> 00:19:32.230 being forgotten, as one of our prayers says, 00:19:33.609 --> 00:19:37.630 the fatherless being overlooked. If you look 00:19:37.630 --> 00:19:40.130 at that and you long for the day when that will 00:19:40.130 --> 00:19:42.569 no longer be the case, in a way, so does God. 00:19:43.710 --> 00:19:46.190 That's part of what's happening here. God's response 00:19:46.190 --> 00:19:48.849 to this God's judgment and this human response, 00:19:48.930 --> 00:19:53.559 that the foundations seem to be shaken. If you 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:56.240 consider the plight of children who are abused 00:19:56.240 --> 00:20:01.059 or abandoned and misused, and that causes your 00:20:01.059 --> 00:20:06.240 blood to boil, this text says that God also is 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:11.819 angry at such a thing. If you consider how often 00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:15.720 those in authority abuse it, which is so common 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:20.359 in the church, outside the church, in the civil 00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:26.180 realm, all over, So is God. He is outraged by 00:20:26.180 --> 00:20:29.839 such a thing. The judgment that God gives as 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:32.759 he calls the rulers to account is an indictment 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:37.599 that they have actually not sought justice. They 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:39.640 have not sought the wellbeing of those under 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:42.099 their care. Martin Luther, the great Protestant 00:20:42.099 --> 00:20:45.180 reformer, he wrote this of these verses. He says, 00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:50.750 these three verses, meaning two to four, Indeed 00:20:50.750 --> 00:20:53.269 the whole psalm, these three verses, actually 00:20:53.269 --> 00:20:56.329 let's just take the whole psalm. Every prince 00:20:56.329 --> 00:20:58.950 should have painted on the wall of his chamber, 00:20:59.410 --> 00:21:02.589 and you think art you should put up in your dorm, 00:21:02.930 --> 00:21:04.509 like some of y 'all are moving into your dorms, 00:21:04.589 --> 00:21:06.769 you're like, what art should I put up? He's like, 00:21:06.789 --> 00:21:10.970 you know, art and people should put up on the 00:21:10.970 --> 00:21:14.190 wall, these words, write them up there. But he 00:21:14.190 --> 00:21:15.430 goes beyond that. He says, every prince should 00:21:15.430 --> 00:21:16.789 have this painted on the wall of his chamber, 00:21:17.170 --> 00:21:19.940 on his bed, They're like, well, how should I 00:21:19.940 --> 00:21:23.319 design the sheets on my bed? Let's print out 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:27.259 Psalm 82. Over his table, you're like, oh, let's 00:21:27.259 --> 00:21:31.119 put a, what do table runners should I buy? Let's 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:35.859 buy one with Psalm 82 all over it. And on his 00:21:35.859 --> 00:21:42.000 garments. You know, all over. It's like all over, 00:21:42.539 --> 00:21:45.680 the rulers need to know that they will be held 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:49.730 accountable. That God is looking at what they 00:21:49.730 --> 00:21:53.269 do, how they're affecting the world, and He is 00:21:53.269 --> 00:22:00.329 going to judge. Every ruler should know that 00:22:00.329 --> 00:22:04.410 he will give an account to God, an account for 00:22:04.410 --> 00:22:11.970 how he did or did not act justly and love mercy 00:22:11.970 --> 00:22:17.859 and walk humbly before God. and for the sake 00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:21.039 of the people under his care. And I think that 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:22.640 leads to the third part, okay? So I've talked 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:25.480 about like who's being judged, what the judgment 00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:28.420 is. And then the third thing, what's the jurisdiction 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:33.140 of God? Which is very clear. And I think it's 00:22:33.140 --> 00:22:38.980 actually clear if you take the ambiguity of God's 00:22:38.980 --> 00:22:42.140 seriously and you don't land necessarily. Is 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:47.140 it human judges? Is it spiritual beings? Maybe 00:22:47.140 --> 00:22:51.960 the point is there is no end to God's jurisdiction. 00:22:54.119 --> 00:22:58.599 Maybe he's actually over it all and cares for 00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:06.599 it all. So continuing verse six, I said, which 00:23:06.599 --> 00:23:09.680 most believe this is again God speaking, you 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:13.859 are God's. Sons of the Most High, all of you. 00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:16.740 Nevertheless, like men, you shall die and fall 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:20.500 like any prince. Arise, O God, judge the earth. 00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:23.160 We shall inherit all the nations. And again, 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:28.339 two things. First thing, these rulers are not 00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:33.079 gods. Sorry. These rulers are not God, right? 00:23:33.099 --> 00:23:36.039 It actually says they're gods. They aren't God. 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:38.680 And oddly enough, this text is actually another 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:41.140 one of the ones that people go, well, maybe this 00:23:41.140 --> 00:23:42.819 is referring to spiritual beings. Maybe it's 00:23:42.819 --> 00:23:45.200 referring to human beings. Part of the argument 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:47.940 for the human side is like man, you shall die. 00:23:49.259 --> 00:23:51.619 But again, it does say Elohim and they're like, 00:23:51.619 --> 00:23:57.099 oh, what's this? Here's the point. They may be 00:23:57.099 --> 00:23:59.500 gods. They may have real effect in the world. 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:03.779 They may be able to judge to a degree, but they 00:24:03.779 --> 00:24:13.759 are not God. And think of this again. This is 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:15.599 key, I think, for our own understanding of our 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:23.400 own authority. Fathers, mothers, you will do 00:24:23.400 --> 00:24:26.299 well to remember that you are not the God over 00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:33.180 your children. You are under the true God, and 00:24:33.180 --> 00:24:35.400 you will give an account for how you trained 00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:37.579 your children, how you encouraged them, how you 00:24:37.579 --> 00:24:41.710 spoke to them. Right, we have certain degrees 00:24:41.710 --> 00:24:43.930 of authority you who work so many of you work 00:24:43.930 --> 00:24:48.490 you have jobs You will give an account to God 00:24:48.490 --> 00:24:53.029 who judges all You know the authority that we 00:24:53.029 --> 00:24:56.369 have is a is a authority under the great authority, 00:24:56.390 --> 00:24:58.849 which is the point of the Ecclesiastes passage 00:24:58.849 --> 00:25:04.390 These rulers are not God and they will give an 00:25:04.390 --> 00:25:08.130 account They will give an account That's the 00:25:08.130 --> 00:25:12.000 first thing there The rulers are not God and 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:15.140 neither are we. The second thing, though, is 00:25:15.140 --> 00:25:17.819 that God's jurisdiction really is over all things. 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:22.180 And again, this is why I kind of love the ambiguity 00:25:22.180 --> 00:25:27.119 of verse one. But verse eight, it ends, arise, 00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:32.720 O God, judge the earth. He's not saying judge 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:39.019 the king's... The the judges of Israel Judge 00:25:39.019 --> 00:25:41.279 Babylon and Assyria, you know, we've been looking 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:44.900 at some exilic Psalms. He's saying judge it all 00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:47.859 Arise with God judge the earth for you shall 00:25:47.859 --> 00:25:51.980 inherit some of the nations Doesn't say that 00:25:51.980 --> 00:25:55.940 does it says all the nations? The jurisdiction 00:25:55.940 --> 00:25:59.440 of God is over all things His care is for it 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.039 all he desires justice be brought to all of the 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:06.410 world There is no end to the jurisdiction of 00:26:06.410 --> 00:26:11.470 God. He will judge the earth, not just Israel 00:26:11.470 --> 00:26:14.569 or apartheid South Africa or the Third Reich 00:26:14.569 --> 00:26:17.970 or whatever you want it to be, but all of it. 00:26:18.809 --> 00:26:20.650 And he will inherit the earth, which is to say 00:26:20.650 --> 00:26:24.750 he will have it all. This is something I read 00:26:24.750 --> 00:26:28.769 interesting this week. Psalm 82 is used in one 00:26:28.769 --> 00:26:31.990 of the great Eastern Orthodox liturgies, particularly 00:26:31.990 --> 00:26:37.279 of the Paschal Vigil. And how it's used is this, 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:41.799 is after each reading of each verse, the whole 00:26:41.799 --> 00:26:44.519 congregation would sing the very last verse, 00:26:44.700 --> 00:26:47.680 arise O God, judge the earth for you shall inherit 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:51.279 all the nations. So after each verse, the whole, 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:56.019 everybody on the night before Easter says those 00:26:56.019 --> 00:26:58.240 lines, that very last line after each verse, 00:26:58.539 --> 00:27:01.460 arise O God, arise O God, judge the earth for 00:27:01.460 --> 00:27:05.900 you shall inherit all the nations. And that happens 00:27:05.900 --> 00:27:09.839 on the night of Holy Saturday, which is to say 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:14.079 it's sandwiched between Good Friday and the reality 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:18.019 of the cross, the weight of sin, the destructive 00:27:18.019 --> 00:27:22.299 nature of injustice and sin, and the empty tomb, 00:27:23.380 --> 00:27:28.059 which is to say the hope of God. That the effects 00:27:28.059 --> 00:27:30.759 of sin and its destruction, the death which comes 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:35.099 about because of sin, The injustice of the world 00:27:35.099 --> 00:27:39.839 will not have the final say, even as they are 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:42.779 remembering and celebrating Christ in the tomb. 00:27:45.140 --> 00:27:48.220 It's sung declaring that the judgment of God 00:27:48.220 --> 00:27:54.720 that happened on Good Friday and his rule through 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:57.880 Easter Sunday and the empty tomb will come about. 00:28:00.779 --> 00:28:03.180 God's judgment on the cross and the resurrection 00:28:03.180 --> 00:28:07.099 is not just a forensic judgment, though it is 00:28:07.099 --> 00:28:11.079 that. It is also the vindication of a righteous 00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:14.460 God saying, I'm going to bring my righteousness 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:18.180 to the world. I'm going to judge those who perpetuate 00:28:18.180 --> 00:28:22.019 sin in the world. It will be judged. And there's 00:28:22.019 --> 00:28:25.559 a greater story. He judges Satan's sin and death. 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:28.859 He judges the principalities and powers. He judges 00:28:28.859 --> 00:28:34.140 earthly rulers on the cross. And he invites those 00:28:34.140 --> 00:28:37.799 who look to the cross to see that there is hope 00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:42.859 beyond it to the empty tomb. That's what they're 00:28:42.859 --> 00:28:45.740 remembering as they sing this, as they recount 00:28:45.740 --> 00:28:49.240 this on Holy Saturday. But let me get back to 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:54.099 the Dreyfus affair, as it is often called. So 00:28:54.099 --> 00:28:57.970 I left with Emile Zola's trial, right? he had 00:28:57.970 --> 00:29:01.490 written that famous letter, Jacuz, and he'd been 00:29:01.490 --> 00:29:03.410 called to trial for libel. And a lot of people 00:29:03.410 --> 00:29:06.529 think actually Zola was actually hoping to do 00:29:06.529 --> 00:29:08.569 that in a way because he was trying to raise 00:29:08.569 --> 00:29:10.930 awareness to the injustice that was happening 00:29:10.930 --> 00:29:14.309 and how antisemitism was being widespread throughout 00:29:14.309 --> 00:29:18.430 France through this Dreyfus affair. And so he 00:29:18.430 --> 00:29:25.430 goes to trial and he's standing there in the 00:29:25.430 --> 00:29:28.009 court and And he was told he's not allowed to 00:29:28.009 --> 00:29:30.569 speak. He's not allowed to bring evidence. He's 00:29:30.569 --> 00:29:33.769 not allowed to to have any testimony from anyone. 00:29:34.329 --> 00:29:37.690 And what I read in a number of cases is that 00:29:37.690 --> 00:29:40.950 what the what the judge kept telling, in fact, 00:29:40.970 --> 00:29:45.549 the judge kept yelling at Zola was this case 00:29:45.549 --> 00:29:51.029 is closed. Stop trying to reopen it. We've decided 00:29:51.029 --> 00:29:58.400 this man's case is closed. And I guess in the 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:01.259 middle of this judge yelling this, Zola stands 00:30:01.259 --> 00:30:05.579 up and he points to a mural of a crucifix, Jesus 00:30:05.579 --> 00:30:10.119 hanging on a cross. And he says, there was another 00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:16.079 case that was closed. And what he was doing was 00:30:16.079 --> 00:30:20.200 he was saying, you know, the Romans and the religious 00:30:20.200 --> 00:30:25.380 leaders took their power and they sought to suppress 00:30:25.380 --> 00:30:28.940 someone. In fact, what they did was they even 00:30:28.940 --> 00:30:32.839 closed him up into a tomb with a big old stone 00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:38.359 behind it, thinking, we've done it. And he's 00:30:38.359 --> 00:30:41.480 saying there was a case that was so unjust in 00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:46.420 the world. And yet the justice of God prevailed. 00:30:46.900 --> 00:30:49.480 Jesus should not have died a sinner's death. 00:30:50.140 --> 00:30:54.160 He was unjustly condemned. And the justice of 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:57.079 God prevailed so that Jesus himself conquers 00:30:57.079 --> 00:30:59.680 Satan's sin and death and brings an end to this 00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:04.299 idea that injustice can get away with it. And 00:31:04.299 --> 00:31:09.599 here's what happened to Emil Zola. They didn't 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:13.420 buy it. He actually fled to England. He had to 00:31:13.420 --> 00:31:15.769 leave the country. He was going to be in prison, 00:31:15.809 --> 00:31:17.529 one of the most famous writers of the time in 00:31:17.529 --> 00:31:21.670 France. So he fled to England. But what happened 00:31:21.670 --> 00:31:23.769 actually right after that is that they decided 00:31:23.769 --> 00:31:27.630 to reopen up the Dreyfus case. And a year later, 00:31:27.829 --> 00:31:31.650 Alpha Dreyfus was brought back from Devil's Island. 00:31:33.710 --> 00:31:37.210 Now, not initially, actually, it wasn't for five 00:31:37.210 --> 00:31:40.470 more years that his case was really retried fully 00:31:40.470 --> 00:31:44.480 and he was vindicated. It actually wasn't for 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:47.059 seven more years that he was reinstated as a 00:31:47.059 --> 00:31:49.819 lieutenant colonel in the French army. But it 00:31:49.819 --> 00:31:53.559 was that turning point. The turning point when 00:31:53.559 --> 00:31:57.160 Emile Zola said there was a case that was closed. 00:31:58.200 --> 00:32:02.640 And that case was the greatest instance of injustice 00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:05.920 where the righteous died for the unrighteous 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:09.019 and the unjust judges thought they were going 00:32:09.019 --> 00:32:12.250 to get away with it. They thought they could 00:32:12.250 --> 00:32:16.029 get away with injustice, and God will not allow 00:32:16.029 --> 00:32:22.910 it. Friends, that is good news. I mean, in a 00:32:22.910 --> 00:32:26.190 world that is chock full of injustice, in a world 00:32:26.190 --> 00:32:28.890 where it's not hard to think of different ways 00:32:28.890 --> 00:32:34.230 that all of us live unjust lives, it is good 00:32:34.230 --> 00:32:38.109 news to know that God does not turn a blind eye 00:32:38.109 --> 00:32:46.039 to any of it. Also, if this jurisdiction of God 00:32:46.039 --> 00:32:50.160 is over all things, the truth is that we will 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:55.019 all give an account. And the question of the 00:32:55.019 --> 00:32:58.460 scriptures is, will you give an account of how 00:32:58.460 --> 00:33:03.140 Christ died for your sin, for the injustice that 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:10.279 you perpetuate? Will you rest on Him? as the 00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:13.400 great judge, yes, but also as the one who paid 00:33:13.400 --> 00:33:19.099 the penalty for your sin, or will you not? It's 00:33:19.099 --> 00:33:21.839 good news to know that God says, there is no 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:28.059 injustice of which I will not judge justly. No 00:33:28.059 --> 00:33:34.079 case is finally closed until I close it. But 00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:37.900 also it begs the question, where will you be 00:33:37.900 --> 00:33:41.440 on the judgment? Will you be clinging to Christ? 00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:46.519 Will you be saying, I don't need the righteousness 00:33:46.519 --> 00:33:51.220 of God for me. I'll continue in my unjust sin. 00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:56.519 Thank you very much. Where will you stand at 00:33:56.519 --> 00:33:58.819 the judgment when the jurisdiction of God is 00:33:58.819 --> 00:34:05.220 over all things? Let me pray for us. God, we're 00:34:05.220 --> 00:34:09.389 thankful that your word speaks to so much. We're 00:34:09.389 --> 00:34:12.210 even thankful to a degree when it speaks in a 00:34:12.210 --> 00:34:14.230 way that is beyond our understanding because 00:34:14.230 --> 00:34:18.690 it humbles us. God, would you bring your justice 00:34:18.690 --> 00:34:20.690 to bear in this world? Would we be agents of 00:34:20.690 --> 00:34:29.590 it? Would we walk justly? Walk humbly? Would 00:34:29.590 --> 00:34:36.239 we love mercy? God, would we be those who exercise 00:34:36.239 --> 00:34:38.400 the authority that you give us for the well -being 00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:41.320 of those under our care? Would we guard our speech? 00:34:42.579 --> 00:34:44.659 Would we use it to build up and not to tear down? 00:34:45.780 --> 00:34:49.659 Would we love others as you love us? And God, 00:34:49.659 --> 00:34:53.179 would we cling to the cross of Christ who takes 00:34:53.179 --> 00:34:56.380 on Satan's sin and death and takes our sin upon 00:34:56.380 --> 00:35:00.590 himself that we might receive the judgment of 00:35:00.590 --> 00:35:02.590 God, not for what we did, but for the righteousness 00:35:02.590 --> 00:35:07.570 of Christ. Please do this, Lord. Teach us these 00:35:07.570 --> 00:35:12.090 things. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening 00:35:12.090 --> 00:35:14.869 to Second City Sermons podcast. We hope this 00:35:14.869 --> 00:35:16.849 sermon has encouraged you to worship God and 00:35:16.849 --> 00:35:19.710 to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please consider 00:35:19.710 --> 00:35:22.130 subscribing to this podcast and joining us in 00:35:22.130 --> 00:35:25.280 person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us 00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:28.639 online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Instagram, 00:35:28.920 --> 00:35:31.300 Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. 00:35:31.699 --> 00:35:32.239 God bless.