Sermon #94 Luke
Sermons
Title: A Word From Our God
About
Human Tragedy
Text: Luke
13:1-5
Subject: Understanding
Divine
Date: Sunday
Evening –
Tape # X-44b
Introduction:
On
On
On
Added to the pain
caused by such senseless slaughters is the insinuation by many that these acts
of inexplicable human cruelty were also acts of divine judgment upon those who
died, as though they were sinners above the rest of us.
In the light of
these events, events brought to pass by the wise and good providence of our
heavenly Father, and in the light of the fact that our nation is on the brink
of war with
Luke
13:1-5 There
were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answering said
unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the
Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them,
think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in
Not only are such events as
these, which are so much on our minds as a nation, so alarming that they make
our blood boil, they are horrors that so astound the mind that (try as we may)
we have no ability to explain them. The sudden death which has fallen on the
sons of men baffle human reason. We have, in recent
years, almost come to expect another report of such barbaric deeds every time
we turn on the news or open a newspaper.
Yet, we must not imagine
that such things are new. We must not imagine, as many do, that these things
are the inevitable consequences of our racially and culturally diverse society,
or that they are events beyond the reach of divine wisdom and the control of
divine providence.
Look at the chapter before
us. The Galileans, like those in the terrorists attack
of 9/11, were slaughtered by the senseless rage of a cruel man with the power,
money, and means to commit mass murder. Remember those eighteen upon whom the
tower in Siloam fell were suddenly ushered out into eternity by the crushing
weight of a falling tower.
These events may seem much
less significant to us; but you can be certain they were not less significant
to the families who lost their loved ones, than the events in
Psalms
25:12-14 What
man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he
teach in the way that he shall choose. 13 His soul shall dwell
at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. 14 The secret of the
LORD is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.
It matters not who or what
the instrument may be (Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, street thugs, or desert
thugs), that which takes men, women, and children out of this world is the hand
of our God. It is God and God alone who kills and makes alive as he will.
Sometimes he does so in such a sudden, glaring displays
that the whole world is shocked by his work. I want us to hear the voice of our
God as he roars from heaven, and in hearing, I want us to do two things. First,
a word of caution – we must not be so foolish as to
draw the conclusion of self-righteous religionists about the things we
observe—that that those who are suddenly destroyed are sinners above the rest
of us. And, second, a word of warning – "Except ye repent, ye
shall all likewise perish."
A Word of Caution
I.
First,
I want to give you a word of
caution. We must never assume,
as self-righteous men always do, that those who experience great tragedy and
suffer great loss are being punished for their sins, as though they were
greater sinners than we are.
Such arrogant,
self-righteous assumptions are as inexcusable as the deeds of wicked men by
whom such acts of terror are executed. I say to you, as our Master did to those
who made such a proud assumption, “Suppose ye that those who have
suffered such tragedies are sinners above all the rest of us, because
they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but except
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
·
Without question, God does judge men for sin, visiting the iniquities
of men upon them, their families and their nation.
·
Without question, ours is a nation and a generation under the judgment
of God, judgment we have heaped upon ourselves by willful rebellion.
·
But it is not within the realm of our ability to know when or for whom
sudden death comes by divine judgment.
·
Often God brings death to his people suddenly, unexpectedly, as an act
of great mercy and grace.
Isaiah
57:1-2 The
righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are
taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil
to come. 2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each
one walking in his uprightness.
I know this—For the believer, death is never an act of divine judgment,
an act of God’s anger. The believer’s death is always precious! It is totally
irrelevant how I die, where I die, when I die, or what the instrument of my
death may be. The only thing that matters is that I die “in the Lord.”
·
Redeemed!
·
Forgiven!
·
Justified!
·
Accepted!
Psalms
116:15 Precious
in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
John
14:1-3 Let not
your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my
Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am,
there ye may be also.
2
Corinthians 5:1-9 For we know that if
our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in
this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is
from heaven: 3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not
for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed
up of life. 5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God,
who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 6 Therefore we
are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we
are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We
are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and
to be present with the Lord. 9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
Revelation
14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from
henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and
their works do follow them.
When I have
breathed my final breath
And dropped this robe of
flesh in death,
When my appointed
work is done
And my allotted time is
gone,
Don't stand around my grave
and cry.
I'll not be there. I did not
die.
My Savior came to call me
home,
And I with Him to heav'n
have gone!
Now I am free from sin and
pain;
And with the glorified I
reign!
Don't stand around my grave
and cry.
I'm glorified! I did not
die!
Seated with Jesus on His
throne,
Glorified by what He has
done,
I am a trophy of His grace.
Rejoicing, I behold His
face:
Don't stand around my grave
and cry.
I am with Christ! I did not
die!
My body lies
beneath the clay
Until the
resurrection day.
In that day when Christ
comes again,
Body and soul unite again!
Don't stand around my grave
and cry.
Rejoice with me! I did not
die!
A Word of Warning
II.
Now let me give you again this word
of warning—“Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise persish.”
A. You and I shall soon be cut
off from the earth and ushered into eternity.
B. Are you prepared to die? Am
I?
There is but one way for you
and me to be prepared to die, to meet God in judgment. We must repent. Should
you ask me, “What is repentance?” I would answer briefly that true repentance
involves at least these three things:
1. Holy Spirit Conviction.
John
16:8-11 And when he is come, he will
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of
sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince
of this world is judged.
2. Faith in Christ.
Romans
10:9-10 That if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation.
3. Turning to God.
1
Thessalonians 1:2-10 We give thanks to
God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; 3 Remembering
without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in
our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; 4 Knowing,
brethren beloved, your election of God. 5 For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much
assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. 6 And
ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much
affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: 7 So that ye were ensamples to
all that believe in
Philippians
3:3-14 For we
are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 4 Though I might also have
confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he
might trust in the flesh, I more: 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the
stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as
touching the law, a Pharisee; 6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church;
touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what
things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And
be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but
that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by
faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and
the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If
by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12 Not as
though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.