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God's Sovereignty · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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From their perception, France is a Christian nation we know much better.
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! Christianity is viewed so often as a political ideology by those in the East.
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! And it's important for us to stop and to consider tragedies.
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So why did we not do it last Sunday?
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When do we allow current events to interrupt our exposition of the Scripture?
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Because, to be quite frank, we could do that on any given Sunday.
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I could sit around during the week and just pay attention to what's being spoken about in social media.
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And pay attention to the current events.
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And there would always be something that would come in and would interrupt working through the Scripture.
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It seems to me that we would tend to address these things in the same way again and again and again,
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as we'll do this morning.
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Just to give you some idea of this, and I'm not belittling the tragedy that happened in France by any stretch of the imagination,
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but just to give you an idea of terrorism.
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What's happened this year?
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Terrorist attacks just this year.
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Interestingly, you can access the Global Terrorism Database.
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Oh, the power of the Internet.
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And find that in January 3rd through January 7th of this year,
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more than 2,000 Nigerians were killed by Boko Haram militants.
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January 25th, more than 67 in the Philippines were killed by Islamic freedom fighters.
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January 30th, another 60 in Pakistan by the Taliban.
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The total just in January was more than 2,355 people worldwide killed by terrorists.
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I've got a whole list of them here.
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I'll give you a couple of other examples.
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These are the big numbered ones.
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February 4th, more than 91 in Cameroon.
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These are all Islamic terrorist groups.
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March 20th, 137 in Yemen.
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April 1st, more than 147 in Kenya.
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June 25th, 146 in Syria.
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June 26th, 70 in Somalia.
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July 1st, 145 in Nigeria.
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July 17th, 180 in Iraq.
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September 20th, 145 in Nigeria.
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October 10th, 102 in Turkey.
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October 31st, 224 in Egypt.
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And I am skipping over even months.
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These are the big numbers, the ones that stand out as you scroll down the list.
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Since the attack on November 13th.
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So beginning that next Saturday, November 14th, up until yesterday, an additional 102 people have died from terrorist attacks.
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So, what causes us to stop?
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What bears enough weight to cause us to stop?
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And I think this Sunday is particularly valuable to do so because this particular attack has really stuck.
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Maybe that's because it's gotten so much media coverage.
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It's probably gotten so much media coverage because France has been an ally of ours.
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Because they're seen as a Western country.
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Because it was an attack, at very least, on the political ideology that Muslims, radical Muslims, attach to Christianity.
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Maybe all these reasons are why.
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I don't really know why.
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But it certainly stuck in our consciousness, hasn't it?
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We stopped and we paid attention.
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It was on every media outlet.
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It was difficult to miss.
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While you may have missed most or all of the ones that I just mentioned, you would have had to go look for those statistics.
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So, here we have this one.
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And I think it's important and valuable for us to consider it together.
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Now, just as a brief side note, the Internet is a pretty amazing tool, isn't it?
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And the Internet has given all of us a voice.
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What an amazing thing that we can put out there on the World Wide Web, what we think about a particular issue.
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But it's also to our detriment that it's given us all a voice, isn't it?
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I read a Gospel Coalition article this week that said that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but not everyone is entitled to their own facts.
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And things fly around on social media so very quickly.
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If you're not on social media, good for you.
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It can be so distracting.
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Beloved, we live in a republic.
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And let me just say, the place to have political debate is not on Facebook.
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Have you ever seen a political debate that was beneficial to anybody on Facebook?
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I haven't.
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Maybe you're more active than I am in these places.
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It's not the place to post the article.
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It's not the place to have the debate.
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It never ends well.
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If you want to be an activist, please do so.
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Call your senator.
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Call your congressman.
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There's a way to do that in a republic.
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Unless you happen to know a congressman so well that he follows your Facebook feed and keeps up with your opinion on a matter.
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Just don't.
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Use it for what it's made for.
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Post pictures of your kids or your dog or your vacation.
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Let's go there and share the happy parts of our lives together.
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I just would strongly suggest to you that you not air your opinions in these matters in this way.
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Have an opinion.
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Have an informed opinion.
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But don't get it out there in that way.
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I want to ask two questions together as we consider the terrorist attack in Paris.
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Number one.
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Number one.
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Where is God in such tragedies?
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Or maybe more rightly, I should ask the question, so we'll ask it this way.
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How is God in such tragedies?
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So number one.
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How is God in such tragedies?
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And number two.
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What is God working to accomplish by allowing such things to happen?
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And you hear me correctly.
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What is God working to accomplish by allowing these things to happen?
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God himself has given us answers to these questions in his holy writ.
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And I will work to show you those answers for your good and for his glory this morning.
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The quote on the front of your bulletin by my favorite person to quote, Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
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He said,
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Oh, to have the word of Christ always dwelling inside of us.
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In the memory never forgotten.
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In the heart always loved.
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In the understanding really grasped.
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With all the powers and passions of the mind fully submitted to its control.
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We have this access to the absolute authority.
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The truth.
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And we can find the answers to these questions together.
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I hope to do so today.
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At least in brief.
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So firstly, how is God in the terror attacks in Paris?
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Here's my answer.
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God is providential in the terror attacks in Paris.
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God is providential.
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He reigns over.
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He is in control as he always is in these times.
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There is nothing that escapes his attention.
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There is nothing outside of his grasp.
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He directs all things for the fulfillment of his purposes.
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Nothing is outside of his purview.
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This is our God.
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God sustains all things.
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I'll invite you to try to keep up with me here.
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Hebrews 1.3 states that Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power.
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God orders all things in creation.
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Job 37.6-13.
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For to the snow, he says, fall on the earth.
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Likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
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He seals up the hand of every man that all men whom he made may know it.
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Then the beasts go into their lairs and remain in their dens.
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From its chamber comes the whirlwind and cold from the scattering winds.
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By the breath of God, ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
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He loads the thick cloud with moisture.
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The clouds scatter his lightning.
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They turn around and around by his guidance to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.
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Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen.
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And this is not a misunderstanding on the part of the writer.
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This is God's inspired word.
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We understand the science behind all of these things, but God still speaks these things and they happen.
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Psalm 148.8 says, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfill his word.
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God orders all things creation.
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He orders the affairs of nations.
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Psalm 22.28.
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For kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.
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Proverbs 21.1.
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The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.
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He turns it wherever he will.
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Acts 17.26.
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And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth,
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having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.
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God has made all of the nations.
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God has decided for how long they will persist.
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God has decided where the boundaries of those nations exist.
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He orders the affairs of the nations.
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He orders the activity of mankind.
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Jeremiah 10.23.
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Jeremiah says, I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
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that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
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Proverbs 16.9.
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The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
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Beloved, this is what the Scripture says about God's providence in this world.
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God is providential in the terror attacks in Paris and every other tragedy that we will walk through in this life.
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Now, some would say of this means that God is providentially in control, that he permitted or that he allowed it to happen.
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But I say to you, and I believe that the Scripture says that he ordained it to happen.
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It's a difficult thing to say.
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That God ordained it to happen.
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And the immediate question that's begged, I hope your mind went there because it means that your mind is rational and it functions.
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Doesn't this make God the source of evil?
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God ordains it to come to pass, then isn't he the very source of it?
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Doesn't it originate with him?
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Is this even possible?
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What we know of the character of God, can he ordain evil to come to pass?
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Things might come to your mind.
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1 John 1.5.
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This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
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That God is perfect.
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He is holy.
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He is righteous.
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Is it possible that God can sin?
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There's a resounding no of an answer to that, but it can be very troubling to our minds.
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And I can only answer the question for you in this way.
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But God ordaining sin does not make him the source of it, but rather God directs, gives direction to the evil of men in order to accomplish his purposes.
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There's stories of this.
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Many stories of Joseph being sold into slavery.
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And Joseph at the end of all of that realizes that all the good that God brought about through his life,
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he says to his brothers, what you intended for evil, God meant for good.
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Let's give another river analogy a try.
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I think the last one I tried really bombed.
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The evil of man, it belongs to us.
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The evil of man is a flowing river, and it is on the move.
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God's providence sets banks on the borders of that river, directs its flow.
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He himself is not the source of the river, but he orders it.
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He channels it so that the river arrives at its appointed destination,
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so that it accomplishes what God set out for it to accomplish.
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And it's challenging to my mind.
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I'd just be entirely honest to you.
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I wish that I could figure all things out in the Scripture,
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all of these apparent paradoxes that appear in the Scripture.
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I want to wrestle them out to their very, very end.
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Every reasonable explanation that I've ever read concerning these types of things
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still seems to come up a bit short for me.
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How is it possible that God ordains the evil, but he's not the source of the evil?
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So, it's a difficult thing to try to wrap our minds around.
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The alternatives are heretical.
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We can't think differently about who God is in this world,
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and so we must wrestle with these types of things.
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It is terrifying to me to think that 130 people could be killed
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over a very short period of time on Friday evening,
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and that God had no part in it, that he was off someplace else,
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that he wasn't paying attention,
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that he wasn't there in the midst of what was happening in that place.
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That caused me to shudder to think that that could even be possible
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if we were to ignore the God of Scripture.
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It's comforting to me to know that he ordained it.
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I hope it's comforting to you to go,
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Oh, this tragedy, this thing that we weep over, right?
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We mourn with those who mourn.
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It's something that God intended to have happen.
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The next question that may come to your mind,
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if God intends these things to happen, if he ordains them to happen,
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is man still responsible for his actions?
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Are these ISIS terrorists responsible for their actions?
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Kind of ironically, they're trying to be responsible for their actions.
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They've come right out and said,
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we did this because it is jihad,
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because of our religious ideologies.
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We did this.
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Our president seems to be trying to take that responsibility away from them.
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They certainly are responsible.
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God will not take that responsibility from them.
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They're fully responsible and accountable for their sin.
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God's providence does not absolve man of his responsibility.
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Let me show you an example of this in the Scripture.
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Turn to the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, chapter 1.
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I'll give you a second to find it while I drink some water.
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Habakkuk, chapter 1.
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This is a very fitting text as we consider the tragedy in France.
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Because the prophet Habakkuk is predicting what's going to come to pass,
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and that is that Israel is going to be judged by a people, a warring people, the Chaldeans.
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Let's see what God has to say, beginning in verse 5.
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Habakkuk, chapter 1, verse 5.
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I'll read down through verse 11.
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This is God speaking.
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Look among the nations and see.
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Wonder and be astounded.
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For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
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This is God saying, I am doing a work.
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For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
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that bitter and hasty nation
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who march through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
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They are dreaded and fearsome.
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Their justice and dignity go forth from themselves,
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meaning it's not existent in them.
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Their horses are swifter than leopards,
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more fierce than the evening wolves.
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Their horsemen press proudly on.
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The horsemen come from afar.
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They fly like an eagle, swift to devour.
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They all come for violence,
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all their faces forward.
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That is, set on that violence.
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They gather captives like sand.
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At kings they scoff,
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and at rulers they laugh.
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They laugh at every fortress,
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for they pile up earth and take it.
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They built these big earth ramps to get into fortresses.
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Then they sweep by like the wind and go on.
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Now, listen to this little phrase that comes next.
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Guilty men,
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whose own might is their God.
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You see that God says,
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I'm raising up the Chaldeans, right?
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I'm giving them this power that they have,
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and that might is their God,
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and they are guilty of this activity.
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Yet, He ordains,
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He orchestrates them to accomplish His purpose.
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In this case,
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that's the judgment of Israel.
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You see it in that text there.
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Now, as I mentioned previously,
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the only alternatives to this perspective
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has been deemed heretical,
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and we would do well to keep ourselves
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from thinking in these ways
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or functioning with these kinds of thoughts
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fueling us.
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There's two.
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Two I just want to point out to you.
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The first is called dualism.
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Dualism states that there's this cosmic war
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between good and evil,
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which I say to you is taking place,
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but that we don't know the outcome of that war.
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That the two are battling.
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Who can know which will win?
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God or Satan?
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This is not the case, beloved.
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God has conquered.
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Jesus Christ has delivered the death blow to Satan.
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Satan's not omniscient.
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He's not omnipotent.
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He's a created being.
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God is the creator.
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Satan is held on a very tight leash by our Lord.
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Those things that he is allowed to do
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are permitted by God.
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The story of Job.
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Job is a righteous man,
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and Satan wants to tempt him,
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and he comes and he asks permission of God to do this.
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Another example of this is found in the temptation,
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the prediction of Peter's denial.
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Turn there with me.
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Luke 22.
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Beginning in verse 31,
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Jesus says to Peter,
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Simon, Simon, behold,
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Satan demanded to have you
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that he might sift you like wheat.
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There's another request made here.
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Satan comes to God and he says,
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give me Peter.
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I'm going to sift him out like wheat.
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Verse 32,
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but I have prayed for you
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that your faith may not fail.
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And when you have turned again,
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right, so he's going to deny Christ,
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but he's going to turn back to Christ.
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The prediction's right here.
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When you have turned again,
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strengthen your brothers.
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Peter said to him,
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Lord, I'm ready to go with you
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both to prison and to death.
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Jesus said, I tell you,
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Peter, the rooster will not crow this day
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until you deny three times that you know me.
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You see it found right there in that text.
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This is not dualism, right?
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Jesus himself says,
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I have prayed and you will turn back to me.
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You will not be conquered by Satan.
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Dualism is a heresy
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and should not be considered.
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We should not say,
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now, was Satan in some way active
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and participating in these attacks?
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I couldn't say.
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I don't know.
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Again, he can't be all places at all times.
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Maybe he was someplace else
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carrying out some greater atrocity.
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Was there some spiritual power at play
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in that activity?
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I would say to you,
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yes, there was.
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But it didn't escape God.
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It didn't conquer him.
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God wasn't pushed back at bay
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so that this thing could happen.
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God ordained that it would.
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The second one is called open theism.
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And there are a lot of people in our day
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that are open theists,
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whether they realize it or not.
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Open theism.
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Also, the heresy.
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Open theism says
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that we are entirely free agents.
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Basically, that we can do
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whatever we want to do.
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And I agree that we have free will.
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It just depends on what you mean by free.
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It's a whole other conversation
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for another time or times, perhaps.
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But it would say that we're totally free
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and God doesn't know
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what will necessarily happen,
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but He knows all possible outcomes
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and He works in response
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to man's activity.
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That's open theism.
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That we're directing our own paths.
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And it's based loosely
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on some responses in the Scripture,
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some places that it's recorded
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as if God changed His mind
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in the Old Testament.
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It's got very shifting ground
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to stand on biblically.
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Most often, it's a work
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of human logic.
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Trying to make sense
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of how it is in this world
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that God can permit
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such things to happen.
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And that would be to say
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that these men freely chose
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and now God steps in
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and He responds.
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Oh, what can I redeem
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out of this situation?
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Look at my people
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doing the wrong thing once again.
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How can I step in
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to the midst of all of that?
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God really goes on trial
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at times like this.
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But God has spoken to us
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from His Word.
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And the next question
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that seems to be begged is then,
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how can a good God
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permit such things to happen?
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Beloved, I would say to you
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that we just have to be
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so careful in our understanding
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of what is good.
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The greatest and the highest good
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that we can possibly have
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is God Himself.
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And how He orchestrates
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all of these things
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to that great end
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is beyond me.
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Maybe a wiser man,
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but I don't think so.
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Paul said in Romans 11,
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33-36,
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all of the depths
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of the riches
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and wisdom
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and knowledge of God.
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How unsearchable
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are His judgments
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and how inscrutable
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or unknowable,
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that's what that means,
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His ways.
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For who has known
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the mind of the Lord
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or who has been
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His counselor
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or who has given
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a gift to Him
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that He might be repaid
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for from Him
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and through Him
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and to Him
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are all things,
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including tragedies,
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terrorist attacks,
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to Him
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be glory forever.
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Amen.
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And Paul gets to
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the higher purpose
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of all things,
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does he not?
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The glory of God.
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God is firstly
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and foremostly,
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that may not be a word,
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concerned with His glory.
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This is what He's seeking out.
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God is God-centered.
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It would be horrible
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for us to be man-centered,
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but we're not God.
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God is the greatest thing,
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the Creator.
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We're all creation
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and we should all rightly
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worship Him.
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So He's working these things
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for that high good
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in some way.
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that we may never comprehend
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on this side of glory.
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And the problem
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with both of us
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is that we don't think
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of good
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in the right way.
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C.S. Lewis wrote
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in the book
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The Problem of Pain,
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We want,
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in fact,
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not so much
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a Father in Heaven
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as a Grandfather
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in Heaven,
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a senile benevolence
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who,
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as they say,
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liked to see young people
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enjoying themselves,
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and whose plan
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for the universe
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was simply
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that it might be
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truly said
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at the end of each day
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a good time
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was had
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by all.
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This is not the God
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of Scripture.
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This God
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ordains all things
26:28
and works all things
26:29
and brings all things
26:30
underneath
26:31
His goodness to us
26:34
that He would
26:35
give Himself
26:37
to us.
26:38
So secondly,
26:42
what is God
26:43
working to accomplish
26:44
by allowing
26:46
the terror attacks
26:47
in Paris?
26:47
His glory,
26:48
and I've said that already,
26:50
primarily,
26:50
I think that's the
26:51
single answer to this,
26:53
and there may be
26:55
a subset
26:55
of other answers.
26:57
As I've said,
26:58
I don't even know
26:58
that I could wrap my mind
26:59
completely around
27:00
those things.
27:02
But He is
27:02
seeking His glory
27:04
in this thing
27:04
specifically
27:05
by calling
27:07
all men
27:08
to repent.
27:11
By calling
27:12
all men
27:13
to repent.
27:15
Let me show you
27:16
another text of Scripture.
27:17
Luke chapter 13.
27:30
I love the Gospels.
27:32
I love the record
27:33
of Jesus'
27:35
conversations.
27:37
I love
27:37
reading passages
27:39
of Scripture
27:40
where you expect,
27:41
having some
27:42
theological
27:44
education
27:45
of my own,
27:46
you would expect
27:47
He would answer
27:48
in a particular way.
27:49
Like, oh,
27:49
I know how Jesus
27:49
is going to answer
27:50
this one.
27:50
And then He answers
27:51
it in a completely
27:51
different way,
27:53
the perfect way.
27:57
Luke chapter 13,
27:58
verse 1.
28:00
There were some
28:01
present at that
28:02
very time
28:02
who told Him
28:03
about the Galileans.
28:05
these would be
28:05
Galilean Jews
28:07
whose blood
28:08
Pilate had mingled
28:10
with their sacrifices.
28:12
And what seems
28:13
to have happened here,
28:14
there's not a lot
28:15
of extra-biblical
28:16
resources that tell us
28:17
much about this.
28:19
Pilate,
28:20
the Roman governor
28:22
over the province,
28:23
was a cruel man
28:24
in so many ways.
28:26
We have a group
28:27
of Galilean Jews
28:28
who are making sacrifices,
28:30
which means this was
28:30
likely at Passover
28:31
because there was
28:32
so much sacrifice
28:33
being done
28:34
that the priests
28:35
couldn't keep up with it.
28:36
So, everyone got involved.
28:37
So, they were actually
28:38
at the temple
28:39
in Jerusalem
28:40
making sacrifice.
28:42
And what's meant
28:42
by this idea
28:43
that Pilate mingled
28:44
their blood
28:45
is that they were
28:46
killed in the temple.
28:48
That they were massacred
28:49
in the temple.
28:49
We don't know how many,
28:51
but Galilean Jews
28:52
were murdered
28:53
by Pilate
28:54
as they were there
28:56
doing the
28:58
quote-unquote
28:59
good activity
28:59
of worship to God,
29:01
giving sacrifice,
29:02
to God.
29:03
They were killed.
29:04
And so, they
29:05
asked this question,
29:08
what about this thing
29:09
that has happened
29:10
and how does Jesus
29:11
answer?
29:13
And he answered them,
29:15
do you think
29:16
that these Galileans
29:18
were worse sinners
29:20
than all the other
29:21
Galileans
29:22
because they suffered
29:23
in this way?
29:25
The Jewish understanding
29:26
of punishment
29:29
in the world
29:30
was that they had
29:31
done something?
29:32
Necessarily,
29:33
these Galileans
29:33
must have sinned
29:34
if this type of a judgment
29:36
was brought on them
29:37
in this world.
29:38
They couldn't have been
29:39
without guilt
29:39
if they were punished
29:41
in this way.
29:42
And Jesus' response
29:42
to them is to say,
29:43
of course they were
29:44
with guilt.
29:44
Just like you're
29:45
with guilt.
29:46
We're all with
29:46
the same guilt.
29:48
Pilate.
29:50
And he goes on
29:51
and he uses
29:51
a natural disaster.
29:55
So, here's Pilate
29:56
probably by the hands
29:58
of soldiers
29:58
murdering Galilean Jews.
30:01
And he says,
30:01
no, I tell you,
30:03
but unless you repent,
30:05
you will all likewise
30:07
perish.
30:09
Or those 18
30:10
on whom the tower
30:12
in Siloam fell
30:13
and killed them,
30:16
do you think
30:16
that they were
30:17
worse offenders
30:18
than all the others
30:20
who lived
30:21
in Jerusalem?
30:22
No.
30:24
I tell you,
30:25
but unless you repent,
30:28
you will all likewise
30:30
perish.
30:32
So, events like this
30:34
that we're discussing
30:35
this morning,
30:36
this terrorist attack
30:37
in Paris, France.
30:39
With these events,
30:40
God makes a cry out
30:42
into the world,
30:43
repent.
30:45
Repent.
30:46
Repent.
30:48
I point out four words
30:49
to you from this passage.
30:53
All.
30:54
No one is exempt.
30:56
No one is exempt
30:58
from the just
31:00
condemnation of God
31:01
for sin.
31:03
Romans 3.10,
31:04
none is righteous.
31:04
No, not one.
31:06
3.23,
31:07
for all has sinned
31:09
and fall short
31:10
of the glory of God.
31:12
Apart from repentance,
31:15
everyone is guilty.
31:18
Equally so,
31:19
those who were murdered
31:21
in France
31:22
and those who did
31:23
the murdering
31:24
in France
31:25
under the just
31:26
condemnation of God
31:27
if they didn't repent.
31:29
And we can't be too sure
31:30
of those victims.
31:32
They're all.
31:34
No one is exempt.
31:35
We're all under this
31:36
condemnation
31:37
apart from
31:38
repentance.
31:40
Did you use the word
31:41
likewise?
31:43
These people didn't
31:43
expect their end
31:45
would come
31:45
in this way
31:46
and neither will you,
31:48
but it will
31:49
come
31:49
and we will
31:51
perish.
31:54
I don't think here
31:55
he's talking about
31:55
a physical death.
31:56
He's not suggesting
31:57
that if you repent,
31:59
you'll have
31:59
eternal life
32:00
here
32:01
in these bodies.
32:03
Not a physical death,
32:04
but I think he's referring
32:05
to a final judgment
32:06
and the eternal punishment
32:08
that comes
32:08
beyond that.
32:09
This is what he means
32:10
by the word
32:11
perish.
32:12
There's another place,
32:13
John 3.16,
32:14
for God so loved the world
32:15
that he gave his only Son
32:16
that whoever believes
32:17
in him
32:18
should not
32:19
perish
32:20
but have
32:21
eternal life.
32:23
And this comes to us
32:24
through repentance.
32:27
Unless you repent,
32:29
that is that you turn
32:30
from your evil
32:30
and you turn
32:31
to God
32:32
and the way
32:32
that this happens
32:33
is through the personal
32:34
work of Jesus Christ.
32:35
Faith in
32:36
Christ.
32:39
This will be
32:39
your end.
32:41
This will be
32:41
their
32:42
end.
32:44
God cries out
32:46
to the world,
32:47
repent.
32:48
This life is fleeting.
32:50
It is short.
32:51
Evil runs rampant.
32:52
I have promised
32:53
to return.
32:53
repent.
32:55
In Luke 11.32,
32:56
Jesus says,
32:57
the men of Nineveh
32:57
will rise up
32:58
at the judgment
32:59
with this generation
33:00
and condemn it.
33:02
For they repented
33:02
at the preaching
33:03
of Jonah
33:04
and behold,
33:05
something greater
33:07
than Jonah
33:08
is here.
33:09
Jesus Christ
33:10
calls us
33:12
to repent.
33:14
Listen to the
33:15
repentance
33:15
of the Ninevites.
33:18
Jonah 3.5-9,
33:20
and the people
33:20
of Nineveh
33:21
believed God.
33:23
Remember,
33:23
Jonah comes
33:24
and preaches
33:24
to them
33:25
and the record
33:26
is that they
33:26
believed God.
33:29
They called
33:29
for a fast
33:30
and put on
33:31
sackcloth.
33:32
This was a common
33:32
sign of repentance
33:33
in the day.
33:34
From the greatest
33:35
of them
33:35
to the least
33:37
of them.
33:38
The word
33:38
reached the king
33:39
of Nineveh
33:39
and he arose
33:40
from his throne,
33:41
removed his robe,
33:43
covered himself
33:43
with sackcloth
33:44
and sat in ashes.
33:45
And he issued
33:47
a proclamation
33:48
and published
33:49
through Nineveh
33:50
by the decree
33:51
of the king
33:52
and his nobles,
33:53
let neither man
33:54
nor beast,
33:55
herd nor flock
33:55
taste anything.
33:57
Let them not feed
33:58
or drink water,
33:59
but let man
33:59
and beast
34:00
be covered
34:00
with sackcloth
34:01
and let them
34:01
call out mightily
34:03
to God.
34:04
Let everyone,
34:05
this is this picture
34:06
of repentance,
34:07
turn from his evil way
34:09
and from the violence
34:10
that is in his hands.
34:12
Who knows?
34:13
God may turn
34:14
and relent
34:15
and turn
34:16
from his fierce anger
34:17
so that we may not
34:19
perish.
34:20
And we know
34:20
if we read on
34:21
that he did in fact
34:22
relent
34:23
from his punishment
34:26
to the Ninevites.
34:29
So where does that
34:30
leave us?
34:31
What does that leave us?
34:32
God's calling out
34:33
in these types
34:34
of activities
34:34
for repentance.
34:38
Well, firstly,
34:39
we need to pray
34:41
for repentance.
34:43
Have you prayed
34:44
one time
34:46
since a week ago
34:47
Friday
34:47
for the repentance
34:49
of the world
34:50
in light
34:51
of this type of thing?
34:53
I would encourage
34:53
you to do so.
34:55
This shock wave
34:56
that has gone
34:57
around the world.
34:58
Don't let it be wasted.
35:00
Life is short.
35:02
It is fleeting.
35:03
It is passing.
35:05
And those who don't
35:06
repent will
35:07
perish.
35:09
This should be
35:10
a very clear reminder
35:11
to us of that.
35:13
A bunch of young people
35:14
enjoying themselves
35:15
at a rock show
35:16
and someone
35:17
opened fires
35:17
inside.
35:20
Never safe
35:21
apart from Christ.
35:24
Pray for repentance.
35:26
Pray
35:26
for the perpetrators
35:29
of such acts
35:31
and those who are
35:32
going to come
35:32
behind them.
35:33
The waves
35:34
of terror
35:35
that we're going
35:35
to experience
35:36
in this world.
35:38
Pray for them
35:39
as well.
35:40
And I know
35:41
that is hard.
35:43
My mind
35:44
and my heart
35:45
immediately goes
35:46
to pray for vindication.
35:48
Vindicate your people.
35:50
Punish and destroy.
35:52
Eternal damnation
35:53
is what they deserve.
35:55
God has been good
35:57
to us
35:58
even though
35:59
we were his enemy.
36:00
They are no more
36:01
his enemy
36:02
than we were.
36:05
The Ninevites
36:05
are a wonderful
36:06
example of this.
36:08
You know why Jonah
36:09
didn't want to go
36:09
to the Ninevites?
36:10
Because the Ninevites
36:11
were wickedly evil
36:13
and had been horrible
36:14
to Israel.
36:16
They were known
36:18
for cutting off
36:19
limbs of their captors,
36:21
for skinning them alive.
36:24
Horrible,
36:25
horrible things.
36:26
Atrocities
36:27
had been delivered
36:28
upon the Israelites.
36:30
Jonah was afraid
36:31
that God would
36:31
actually save them.
36:33
He can't possibly
36:34
go to them.
36:36
pray for ISIS.
36:40
Pray for the radical Muslims
36:42
in the world.
36:43
God is greater
36:44
than their upbringing
36:46
and their ideologies.
36:49
We ought not only pray
36:50
for repentance,
36:52
we should go
36:53
to the world.
36:56
There's so much
36:57
tragic death.
36:59
There's so much
37:01
evil.
37:02
To keep our analogies
37:03
together,
37:04
we call this darkness.
37:05
And we're meant
37:06
to be light
37:07
in those places.
37:08
We're not meant
37:09
to huddle together
37:10
as light
37:11
in a singular spot.
37:12
Hear me say this,
37:14
church.
37:14
The church of Christ
37:15
is gathered together
37:17
in order
37:18
for us
37:19
to go.
37:21
This is the mission
37:21
of the church.
37:23
All the good
37:24
that we do together,
37:25
all the bringing
37:25
of our minds together,
37:27
all the prayers,
37:28
the shifting of our hearts,
37:29
all of those things
37:30
are meant
37:32
for us
37:32
to go.
37:35
And I will say
37:36
this to you,
37:36
I praise God
37:37
for so much
37:38
health
37:39
in this congregation,
37:41
so many good things,
37:43
so many evidences
37:44
of His work,
37:45
but I will say
37:46
to you,
37:46
I cannot say
37:48
this church is healthy
37:49
until this church
37:50
is going.
37:52
Let's go.
37:54
Let's go.
37:55
Let's go.
37:56
People are perishing.
37:58
Let's go to France.
37:59
Let's go to Syria.
38:01
Let's go to Iraq
38:02
and Iran.
38:03
Right?
38:03
These people need
38:04
the gospel
38:04
of Jesus Christ.
38:08
Pray for repentance.
38:10
Go.
38:10
Go to your neighbor.
38:13
Go to your classmate
38:15
and your workmate.
38:18
Let's go.
38:20
God is providential
38:22
in the terror attacks
38:23
in Paris.
38:24
He ordained it
38:25
and other calamity
38:26
in the world
38:27
for the sake of His glory,
38:28
specifically
38:28
by calling all men
38:30
to repent.
38:32
I appreciated
38:33
John Piper
38:34
in an NPR interview
38:35
after the Indian Ocean tsunami
38:38
in 2004.
38:39
You recall,
38:40
that happened
38:40
the day after Christmas
38:42
in 2004.
38:44
So early January 2005,
38:46
he was interviewed
38:47
on NPR
38:47
and he just did
38:48
such a wonderful job
38:49
of honoring God
38:50
in the way
38:51
he explained this.
38:52
But he said,
38:53
and I just want you
38:54
to hold this phrase,
38:56
God is always
38:57
mingling mercy
38:58
and judgment.
39:02
And this is what God
39:03
did on behalf
39:04
of the preacher.
39:07
Ecclesiastes 4,
39:08
1 through 3,
39:09
again I saw
39:10
all the oppressions
39:11
that are done
39:11
under the sun
39:12
and behold
39:13
the tears
39:14
of the oppressed
39:14
and had no one
39:15
to comfort them.
39:17
On the side
39:18
of their oppressors
39:18
there was power
39:19
and there was no one
39:20
to comfort them.
39:22
And I thought
39:23
the dead
39:23
who are already dead
39:24
more fortunate
39:25
than the living
39:25
who are still alive.
39:27
But better than both
39:28
is he
39:29
who has not yet been
39:31
and has not seen
39:32
the evil deeds
39:33
that are under
39:34
the sun.
39:35
You hear just
39:35
the defeat
39:36
in the writing
39:38
of the preacher.
39:40
Oh, meaningless.
39:42
Meaningless.
39:43
Look at all
39:44
of the evil.
39:45
It would be better
39:45
not to be alive.
39:47
It would be better
39:48
to be already dead
39:50
and to witness
39:51
the evil
39:51
of this day.
39:53
But by the time
39:54
he gets
39:54
to Ecclesiastes 12
39:56
in his summary
39:57
God has moved
39:59
his heart
40:00
and he says
40:00
the end of the matter
40:01
all has been heard.
40:03
Fear God
40:04
and keep
40:05
his commandments
40:06
for this is the whole
40:08
duty of men.
40:10
Let's pray.