Ungodly Shall Not Stand

Connection to What Precedes: Fact, Conclusion, Reason

0:00 The psalm of the psalm not so, or as some of the translators have it, the ungodly, not so, not so. And so we have this strong contrast between the blessed man, and as we saw last week, there is no neutral ground. Either

0:45 we are blessed men and women, fellows and girls, walking in this path of blessedness, or we are the ungodly, and there is no neutrality. There are only two kinds of people recognized in this psalm and in the entirety of Holy Scripture, blessed people and cursed people, sons of Adam and sons of God, those in a state of spiritual death, those in a state of spiritual life. Now, in unfolding this negative contrast, we noticed last week that verse 4 sets before us a fact, the ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. So we have a statement of fact.

1:30 Verse 5, we have a conclusion drawn from that fact. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. And in verse 6, we have a reason why these facts and conclusions are so. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The Present Contrast Leads to Future Destiny

1:55 Now, as we focus upon verse 5 this evening, will you notice with me in the first place its connection with what has preceded? Not only is there a radical difference in the present character and condition of the righteous and the wicked, here we have the contrast between a planted tree and driven chaff. All that the tree denotes and connotes concerning stability, fruitfulness, permanence, just the opposite is indicated by the concept of chaff, that which is unstable and useless and worthless and driven by the slightest zephyr. Now the psalmist not only gives us this contrast in character and in condition in the present,

2:48 but now in verse 5 he's going to show us the contrast in the future destiny. And the wicked and the righteous are not only contrasted in present character and in condition, but also in future destiny, and so the psalmist sets this before us. Why has he done this? Well, if his thinking is parallel with the thinking of the rest of Scripture, and we should assume it is since one Holy Spirit has inspired all the writers, this is his reason.

3:23 He has set before us in a very beautiful way a description of the blessed man. He has, as it were, sought to bait us unto the way of blessedness by this beautiful and positive description of the righteous man being like a planted, fruitful, non-withering tree. And he holds before us that description that men who are not in the way of blessedness, seeing such a beautiful description, might have their hearts filled with holy jealousy to say, oh, I must have this, I must know this, I must become a blessed man, a blessed woman. In other words, everything that is said in the first three verses,

God Uses Both Promises and Threats to Move Men

4:10 except for the powerful blinding work of the devil, would be enough to make every man, woman, boy or girl in this building say, I'm not going to rest until I'm that kind of a person. I want to be a blessed man. I want to be a blessed woman. But the power of sin and the devil being what they are, Many times the most beautiful descriptions in a positive nature are utterly insufficient to bait men to seek the way of blessedness.

4:42 And so God not only baits us as it were and seeks to create holy jealousy by positive descriptions of blessedness. But as the psalmist does here, there are times when God seeks to get behind us and drive us with the terrors of ungodliness. If we will not be drawn with the beauty of godliness, God in His grace and in the overtures of mercy will seek to drive us with the terrors of ungodliness. And this principle is found throughout the entirety of Holy Scripture.

5:20 Remember our Lord Jesus on one occasion said, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. There's positive baiting. There are also times when he said, Ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the judgment of hell? Be not afraid of those that kill the body, but fear him who can cast both soul and body into hell.

5:51 We see it in the life of John the Baptist. Behold the Lamb of God. He baits them by this beautiful display of the Lamb of God. And if they will not be drawn, he then says, Who hath warned you to flee the wrath to come?

6:07 He seeks to drive them with the terrors of judgment.

6:12 And the terrible connection with what follows is simply this. It will not be baited by the blessings of godliness, nor driven by the fear of ungodliness there's nothing left for God to do but to damn us.

6:32 And I tell you, beloved, this text is one of the most sobering that I've had to preach on for a long time. Some of you have been able to sit through the first three verses and still not be convinced that the only thing worthwhile in life is for you to pursue that way of blessedness until you know you're in it. And if you know you're in it, to pursue with holy vengeance and violence all the blessedness that God has stored up for you in Christ. And I'm coming near the end of the psalm, and as I do, I recognize this terrible principle that we now run the risk if the blessedness has failed to bait you and the terrible curses fail to drive you.

7:17 there's nothing left for God to do but to judge.

7:25 Now this is not only true in the life of the sinner, it's true in the life of the saint.

7:30 That which should motivate us as the people of God should be love for Christ and the positive joy of communion with Him. But there are times when we are motivated by the terrors of God for the apostle himself said, knowing therefore the fear of the Lord we persuade men. He said, I buffet my body lest in preaching to others I myself should be a dakimos, reprobate, cut off.

7:56 Sometimes he says, that which drives me on is I want to know him, positive. Other times he said, that which drives me on is I want to escape the pit, negative. In the life of a sinner, in the life of a saint, we cannot escape this combination of motivation set before us in Holy Scripture. So much then with the connection of verse 5 with what precedes it and what follows.

The Source of the Psalmist's Conclusion: Revelation and Conscience

8:21 Now will you consider with me the text itself. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteousness. In the first place, let us consider what is the source of this conclusion. We stated earlier that verse 4 was a statement of fact.

8:44 The ungodly are not so, but are like chap. Verse 5 is a conclusion drawn from that fact. Therefore, in the light of the fact, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. And I ask the question, David, if David wrote this psalm, where did you get your materials to draw such a conclusion?

9:07 What do you know about the world to come? What do you know for sure about judgment? Where is your information coming from, David? And of course the answer is obvious to anyone who has any cursory acquaintance with Holy Scripture The only way you and I can know anything about the world to come is either to go there make some observations and come back and report or for the God who knows all things to tell us And since you and I don't have the privilege of living two or three or the proverbial nine lives of the cat, in which we can go into the world that lies beyond death and the grave, make some observations and conclusions and come back and make a report.

9:49 The only way you and I will know anything about that which lies one moment beyond the last heartbeat is if God in mercy tells us. And blessed be his name, he has told us. By type and shadow and hint and declaration here and preset there until in Jesus Christ the scripture says, God hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel and has fully displayed what lies beyond the grave. But not only does David have as the source of his information divine revelation in an absolute sense, but that testimony of divine revelation found in Holy Scripture is confirmed by the testimony of the conscience of every man.

10:38 Will you turn for a moment to Romans chapter 1? And this is where I want to appeal to the conscience of every fellow or girl, man or woman in this building tonight as well. Here the apostle is dealing with the sinful state of men who have had no access to special revelation, that is, the scriptures either of the Old or the New Testament. All they have for their light and knowledge of God is what they can see in the world about them and in themselves.

11:11 And yet of these people, Paul can say in Romans 1 and verse 32, Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. He says that these people who have no access to special revelation know something of the righteous judgment of God and a judgment which brings death to evildoers. How do they know that?

11:48 Well, he gives us further understanding of this in chapter 2 and verses 14 and 15. For when the Gentiles which have not the law, that is no written special revelation, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law to themselves which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. You see, the voice of conscience is God's preview of the day of judgment. no man ever imposed a conscience upon himself

12:33 in fact from his first awareness of the presence of conscience he does everything to stifle and eradicate this pesky little fellow from his head and his heart and the very fact that when you as a little boy or a little girl consciously did something wrong and were smitten with the sense of wrongdoing that you instinctively knew deserved some kind of judgment you knew that that source of condemnation was outside of yourself. That that sense of guilt came because you were accountable to the one who put that little monitor within your mind and your heart. And I appeal to every boy, girl, man or woman in this building tonight not to seek to lie to yourself

13:20 that your conscience affirms the fact of verse 5 that there is a day of judgment coming. And every time conscience has either squealed or peeped or hollered, God has been saying, judgment is coming. Judgment is coming. Judgment is coming.

The Meaning of 'Shall Not Stand': Not Endure, Not Merely Appear

13:43 So much then for the source of the psalmist conclusion. Based upon divine revelation and the confirming testimony of human conscience, Now what is the substance of his conclusion? Will you notice it is twofold. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, number one.

14:03 And number two, sinners, implied, shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous. They shall not stand in the judgment. He has declared that there is a judgment to come in which every man's character and work shall be truly and perfectly discerned, and in the light of that discovery, his destiny determined for eternity. A day of judgment is coming in which men shall be truly and fully discerned, and in the light of that discovery, destiny shall be fixed for eternity.

14:47 Now, when the psalmist says, they shall not stand in the judgment, is he saying that they will not appear before God in judgment? I remember one of the teenagers asked me this in our earlier studies, he said, now, it seems to say that they're not going to stand in the judgment. Does that mean that they will not stand before God to be judged? No, not at all.

15:12 This phrase, shall not stand in the judgment, means they shall not abide or endure the day of God's judgment. How do we know that's true? Not simply because I say it, but because Scripture puts that meaning on the word again and again. Will you look with me at a few references which indicate that the word stand is used in this sense not of being absent from something, but of being unable to abide and resist something.

15:43 In the book of Joshua, we have the record in those early chapters of the entrance into the land of Canaan. You'll remember how that they turned back before the little town of Ai because Achan had sinned in the conquest of Jericho. Joshua is praying, and God comes to him and says, Now you've prayed long enough. Sins in the camp.

16:07 Prayer is no substitute for repentance. so Joshua get to work and ferret out the iniquity. In the process of this, God says to Joshua in Joshua chapter 7 and verse 11, Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken of the accursed thing and have also stolen and dissembled, and they have put it even among their own stuff.

16:35 Therefore, the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but the opposite of standing is this, turned their backs before their enemies. Now, they stood before them in a physical sense. When the men of Ai came out, the men of Israel stood before them in battle, but they did not stand before them. They turned away in defeat.

17:00 Obviously, then, the meaning of the word stand means to abide or endure and come away unscathed by the encounter. Turn, please, back to the Psalms as we try to find several other verses which indicate the meaning of this word stand. In Psalm 20, verses 7 and 8, we have another excellent passage to show the meaning in a contrast. Psalm 20, verses 7 and 8, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

17:41 They are brought down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright. You see here the concept again that defeat is to fail to stand, to be a victor is to stand. Then I could quote other passages from the Psalms. Psalm 130 in verse 3.

18:03 That verse ought to be fresh in the minds of many of you. Mr. Starrett preached on this several weeks ago. O Lord, if thou shouldst mark iniquity, who could stand?

18:14 Who could endure? Who could abide before this God? Who would not be crushed in defeat and overcome by divine justice? Again, this same thought of the word stand.

18:27 know that men will appear before God in judgment is made clear from every area of Holy Scripture in particular. And you ought to be familiar with the three great chapters of judgment in the New Testament. Matthew 25, the sheep and the goats parable of judgment. John chapter 5 the declaration by the Lord Jesus that all that are in the grave shall come forth They that have done good to the resurrection of life they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation And Revelation chapter 20 verses 10 through 15 where he says that the sea gives up the dead that are in it and death and hell deliver up the dead that are in them.

19:09 And they stand before that great white throne and the face of him from whom earth and heaven flee away and the books are opened and judgment follows. So this statement, they shall not stand in judgment, comes to its fullest expression in a passage such as Revelation 6. And I want you to turn to that now. I have skipped over other passages.

19:34 If any of you are taking notes, you might want to add Nahum 1, 5 through 8. Nahum 1, 5 through 8. Malachi 3, 2. Malachi 3, 2.

Revelation 6: Who Shall Be Able to Stand?

19:48 Now will you notice this excellent commentary from Holy Scripture on what the psalmist is talking about in verse 5 of Psalm 1. What does it mean they shall not stand in the judgment? We have seen that the word stand means to endure, to abide unscathed. We read in Revelation chapter 6 and beginning with verse 12.

20:13 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. And the stars of heaven fell upon the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. The heaven departed as a scroll, and is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

20:46 And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the cheap captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand?

21:20 The ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. All who have been indifferent to God's way of blessedness, All who have sought blessedness in another way other than the way of God, vital union with Him through Christ, setting our feet in the way of His precepts, refusing the counsel of ungodliness, refusing the path of the wicked, refusing the stance of the scarner, absorbed in the Lord and His Word, His precepts, His promises, His glory, His will, His person. All who have been indifferent to that way.

22:03 all who have sought blessedness in another way, none of them shall stand in the day of judgment. Will the mighty be able to oppose the sentence of God by his might? Will the wise be able to construct some clever escape? Will the rich be able to bribe the judge?

22:26 Will the cunning be able to scheme their way out of judgment? Will the unbeliever who is mocked at the reality of hell in judgment be able to change the facts when he is made to feel and experience that which he denied as being true? And now listen to me, dear young people, fellows and girls. With the privilege of the ministry of a Christian church in a Christian home, you who have resisted the prickings of your conscience you've withstood the overtures of God's grace despised the day of salvation made light of the Savior's wounds

23:11 made light of His servants' pleas whether it has been Sunday school teacher mom or dad or pastor made light of the Spirit's wooings Oh, may God thunder these words into your heart, that whereas the description of godliness in a positive way has not baited you to cry out to God to work in you that you might be blessed, may these words get behind you and drive you and blast you loose from your carelessness. Who shall be able to stand? Oh, young man, young woman, will you be able to stand when you come into the presence of that God and of His Christ who will be the judge and see the very one who has been preached to you

23:58 and then in that day see Him as the one whose blood you've despised, whose claims you have rejected?

24:08 I say to some of you, dear adults, what will you do to stand in that day when the overtures of mercy have been refused, when the pleadings and yearnings of praying husband or praying wife have been trampled underfoot, you sought to pursue your own way of blessedness,

24:32 the ungodly shall not stand in the day of judgment.

24:40 They shall not stand. But when the judge issues the sentence as recorded in the 25th of Matthew and says, Depart from me, ye cursed! Some of the most sobering words of Scripture follow, And these shall go away into everlasting punishment. When the judge says, Depart!

25:04 The mighty man has no might to withstand omnipotence. the wise man has no wisdom to wheel his way out of the sentence and the writs no way to bribe and the cunning no way to skeeve and the proud no way to boast himself around judgment. All who are not in the way of blessedness shall not stand in the day of judgment. Then in addition to this the psalmist says nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Sinners Shall Not Stand in the Congregation of the Righteous

25:42 You see, here on earth, there are some ungodly and wicked who do stand in the congregation of the righteous. They are able to abide in the presence of searching preaching, of the prayers of God's people, mother, dad, loved one, husband, wife. Here on earth they stand, they sit, they may even pray and work together in the congregation of the righteous. Oh, they are not refusing the counsel of ungodliness.

26:15 They have just enough Christianity to keep them within the circle of the professing church. Oh, they are not living in such a way of gross immorality or unbelief that they can be disciplined by the church. you can't find anything really wrong with them enough to discipline them and exclude them from the congregation of the righteous.

26:36 But they're not fitting the description of verses 1 to 3. No holy warfare with the world, the flesh, and the devil. No seeking to meditate in the law of God day and night, have every department of life brought under the discipline of Holy Scripture. No living faith in Christ.

26:53 No vital union with Him. And so now they stand in the congregation of the righteous because the Lord Jesus himself said the wheat and the tares will grow together until the harvest. The gospel that brings in both good fish and bad fish until the hour of separation on the shore of eternity. Oh yes, our Lord says that in the congregation of the righteous now, the wicked do stand.

27:22 and if there's anything that makes a servant of God feel helpless and make him sob with him is that he knows he has no power to play God and separate the good fish from the bad but the one who has both the knowledge and the power to do so has pledged in the day of judgment that he will for not only does he declare the wicked shall not stand in the judgment their individual relationship before God, that they should be rooted out of the congregation of the righteous. For in that day, according to Matthew 24, 31, the Lord Jesus will send forth his angels to gather his elect, his true ones, out of the four corners of the earth.

28:12 Then the scripture says they shall be brought home into his presence and in that day no unregenerate unjustified unsanctified man woman fellow or girl should be able to stand in the congregation of the righteous You remember in one instance our Lord told the parable of some who in that day will say, But Lord, did we not eat and drink in your presence? And he will say, Depart from me, I never knew you. You may have sat at the table of God with God's people.

28:43 It makes no difference. You may have been where the table of his word has been spread from week to week in a family devotions. It makes no difference if you are not the blessed person described in verses 1 to 3. You are the ungodly who will not stand in that day.

29:02 And so that day will be a day of surprising discovery.

29:08 A day of surprising discovery. For the Lord Jesus said, Many will say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, in thy name done many wonderful works? Beloved, this is serious business.

29:26 Any of you think I'm concerned and preaching with earnestness because that's part of pulpit effect? May God have mercy on you. This is serious business. That's going to be a terrible day of surprising discovery.

29:41 For here I look upon you as a mixed congregation, but in that day there will be a pure congregation. No ungodly man or woman, fellow girl, will stand in that congregation. A day of surprising discovery. A day of fixed distinction.

30:01 Notice, the righteous, the wicked. It's the congregation of the righteous. Those who have an objective imputed righteousness in repentance and faith, they have laid hold of Christ as their only hope of mercy and being born of the Spirit. They have infused into them a principle of righteousness, and so there is imparted experimental righteousness.

30:30 They are those, as we saw this morning, who seek to be confirmed in holiness of heart, unblameable in a holiness that will stand the scrutiny of the eye of God. And in this day when there is such a blurring of distinction, and in the visible church where the lines many times are blurred and indistinct, in that day it will be the sheep on the right hand, the boots on the left hand, and no evolutionary process by which there are half sheep or half boats. standing in the middle.

31:10 Which are you? Sheep? Boat? Righteous?

31:17 Unrighteous? The day of judgment will find you one or the other.

A Day of Surprising Discovery, Fixed Distinction, and Final Division

31:22 So not only will it be a day of surprising discovery, but a fixed distinction, and a day of final division. For we read in the 25th of Matthew in that day, these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into everlasting life. And in this sobering text there's a tremendously blessed word for those who form the congregation of the righteous who by the grace of God have been put in the way of blessedness who have embraced the Lord Jesus as their righteousness and are seeking to walk in this description refusing the counsel of ungodliness refusing to identify with sinners

32:08 in their way of rebellion refusing to take the part of a skeptic and a smart aleck with regard to the truth of God but a humble disciple of Christ.

32:20 If fellowship now in the congregation of God's people with all of our indwelling sin and the presence of hypocrisy and shams can at times be raised to such height and bliss that we say, Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing. What's it going to be like when the congregation is unmixed with any but the righteous and the righteous are unmixed with sin? Isn't that a blessed hope to have? To stand in the congregation of the righteous when all the wicked are rooted out.

32:58 We can't conceive what it would be like, Can we? Can you?

33:06 And yet even as our hearts rejoice, I know what some of you are thinking. Ah, yes, but what about that husband of mine, that wife, that son, that daughter? And so on the one hand, it not only brings joy to the heart of a Christian, but where we have loved ones and friends and where I as an under-shepherd of God have in this assembly some about whom I have serious questions, serious doubts. because I do not see those positive evidences that you are moving on in the way of blessedness.

33:36 This makes one's heart heavy, because that's going to be the day of final division.

33:44 Then the damned shall experience all that they dreaded in their sober moments, and the righteous shall experience all that they've longed for in their holy moments. young people children adults has the spirit of God set before you the simple and yet sobering truth of verse 5 tonight this conclusion based upon divine revelation with its two pronged emphasis the wicked shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous?

Closing Appeal: Are You in Christ?

34:28 If so, I trust that you'll not rest until you know that you're in that company of the congregation of the righteous. Well, then imputed righteousness not your own. You can say that Jesus Christ is your only one, that nothing in your hands you bring simply to his cross you cling, foul you to the fountain fly, crying, wash me, Savior, or I die. And with the evidence of experimental righteousness, through union with Christ and by the Spirit, pressing on in the way of blessedness and godliness.

35:10 If the positive description is failed to cause you to see that nothing matters in life but getting in the way of blessedness, It is my earnest prayer that the terrible threat of this verse may get behind you and drive you relentlessly until you flee the wrath to come. And dear child of God, I would say to you by way of application, if you've been brought into the way of blessedness by the grace of God, how your heart should be forever thankful that you are as a brand plucked from the burning. why is it that you will stand in the day of judgment?

35:55 Only one reason. If you can say with Wesley, Bold shall I stand in thy great day, for who ought to my charge shall lay, fully absolved from these I am, from sin and fear and death and shame. On what basis? on the basis of the first stanza of that hymn, Jesus, thy blood in righteousness, my beauty are my glorious dress, midst flaming worlds in these arrayed with joy, shall I lift up my head.

36:38 I shall stand in that day, for I shall be hidden in the wounds and righteousness of the judge, and I can no more be judged than he can judge himself. Are you in Christ? That's the issue. Are you in Christ? If so, then he has put you in the way of blessedness. And the first three verses are true of you. If you're not in Christ, then the first three verses are not true of you.

37:07 You are an ungodly, wicked sinner with all your politeness and with all of your culture and education and influence of your Christian home. For there is no neutrality. And may God woo you with the blessedness and drive you with the threats until you stand in the congregation of the righteous. God willing next week we'll consider now the reason that lies behind all of this for the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish let us pray