Intr: We live in a wrld that is awash with an ever increasing amunt f hrrible tragedies, we just cannt seem t escape any f these. Sandy Hk On the mrning f December 14, 2012 Adam Lanza sht his way in t Sandy Hk Elementary schl and sht 20 Elementry age children and 6 adults, befre taking his wn life. Las Vegas On Octber 1 2017 Stephan Paddck pened fire frm the Mandalay Bay resrt htel in Las Vegas. In 15 mins Paddck killed 59 peple and injured 527 thers. Virgina Tech On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Ch killed 32 and wunded 17 peple n the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, befre taking his wn life. Orland On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29- year-ld security guard, killed 49 peple and wunded 53 thers in an attack inside Pulse nightclub in Orland, Flrida. We hear cuntless stries like this and we can t help but ask why and hw cme. We are verwhelmed by the grief f these situatins and we wnder hw culd Gd allw this t happen. it s nt the way it s suppsed t be. Desn t that describe ur Wrld and, smetimes, ur lives? Injustices are rampant n this planet. Child trafficking thrives in majr natins f the wrld, including the US. Crprate crime makes the headlines weekly, and crime rates in inner cities skyrcket. The wrld mcks and rejects the mrality f the scriptures. Human life seems as dispsable as Styrfam cups. All f this can cause us t ask, When will it stp? When will things be made right? Why desn t Gd d smething abut glbal injustices? The truth is that Gd has given us an Unshakable Prmise that justice will prevail. Tday as we wrap up this sermn series we must cling t this prmise that even ths the wrld seems chatic, and even thugh we dn t understand everything that is ging n, we take refuge in several things frm Gd s wrd. #1 Our Suffering is Real Befre we can g t much farther we have gt t understand that suffering is real. We can all think abut sufferings in ur life that have marked ur jurney. We have lst a jb, r buried a lved ne, sme f us have experienced a health scare, r gne thrugh a bankruptcy, r dealt with lneliness. Smetimes we catch ur selves calling ut t Gd and crying ut t him Hw lng Lrd! r Why me, Lrd! r It s nt fair! Hwever, We are never prmised an easy rad in the wrld. In fact Paul says in the bk f Acts 14:22 we must g thugh many hardships t enter the kingdm f Gd. S if we knw that suffering is real, and that it will always enter ur lives, it desn t make it any easier. There are sme things that we must remember and understand as we face these sufferings head n? Suffering cmes n many levels
Read 2 Crinthians 4:8-9 We are pressed n every side by trubles, but we are nt crushed. We are perplexed, but nt driven t despair. We are hunted dwn, but never abandned by Gd. We get kncked dwn, but we are nt destryed. Suffering has lts f different faces, Paul here tells us that we can expect t be pressed in n every side. He talks abut mental, Physical, Emtinal, and spiritual suffering, each are a unique way that we can suffer. My suffering and hardship may lk different than yurs, that desn t make it any less real r difficult t g thrugh. Suffering shuld never happen alne Read Galatians 6:2 Carry each ther s burdens, and in this way yu will fulfill the law f Christ We as a bdy f believers are nt meant t be a lse band f Lne Rangers. We are meant t be a refuge fr thse suffering. When a member is hurting, the church cmes alngside t help. Why are we as Christians afraid t bring ur burdens t fellw brthers and sisters in Christ? Are we afraid f judgement and chastisement? Suffering enables us t help thers Read 2 Crinthians 1:3-4 Praise be t the Gd and Father f ur Lrd Jesus Christ, the Father f cmpassin and the Gd f all cmfrt, wh cmfrts us in all ur trubles, s that we can cmfrt thse in any truble with the cmfrt we urselves receive frm Gd. When yu ve passed thrugh yur wn fiery trials, and fund Gd t be true t what he says, yu have real help t ffer. Yu have firsthand experience f bth his sustaining grace and his purpseful design. Suffering and Svereignty f Gd, Sme f the greatest ambassadrs f the gspel f Christ are peple wh have gne thrugh the fire f suffering and are able t cme alng side peple. Yur pain has purpse. Suffering is a battlegrund Read Jb 2:9-10 His wife said t him, Are yu still maintaining yur integrity? Curse Gd and die! He replied, Yu are talking like a flish wman. Shall we accept gd frm Gd, and nt truble? Suffering is a battle fr yur sul. The bk f Jb shws us that there are tw
ways t respnd t suffering: cursing Gd, r praising Gd. In ther wrds are yu ging t wallw in it, r get up, dust yurself ff and see Gd in it? Suffering prepares us fr glry Read 2 Crinthians 4:17-18 Fr ur light and mmentary trubles are achieving fr us an eternal glry that far utweighs them all. S we fix ur eyes nt n what is seen, but n what is unseen, since what is seen is temprary, but what is unseen is eternal. This verse is like sandpaper n ur mdern ideas abut suffering. We naturally try t avid all suffering at all csts. Hwever, Gd brings suffering in ur lives fr the sake f ur eternal jy, even glry. D yu use the suffering yu have nw t see Gd at wrk in it? S hw d yu chse t lk at yur suffering? Fr sme, it leads t an abandnment f belief in Gd, but fr many the ppsite is true. Fr many it causes us t seek Gd in a wrld that seems absurd withut him. C.S. Lewis is mst widely knwn fr his authrship f the Chrnicles f Narnia, hwever, he als a great Christian authr. I lve this qute f his: Gd whispers t us in ur pleasures, speaks in ur cnscience, but shuts in ur pain: It is His megaphne t ruse a deaf wrld! #2 Judgement will be Passed Gd being just, prmises that he will ne day judge the earth. Much f wrld histry and human experience shws that the wicked win and the righteus lse but this is nt true. I dn t knw abut yu, but When I think f Judgement Day, I cant help but think f Gd sitting behind a giant elevate judges stand, with me sheepishly standing in frnt f him. Read Psalm 37:27-29 Turn frm evil and d gd; then yu will dwell in the land frever. Fr the Lrd lves the just and will nt frsake his faithful nes. Wrngders will be cmpletely destryed; the ffspring f the wicked will perish. The righteus will inherit the land and dwell in it frever. We have great hpe that Gd will render just verdicts abut all the sins and injustices f all peple. N ne will escape judgement nt even Gd s children. S what will judgement lk like? Gd s judgement f believers is referred t as the judgement seat f Christ. This is a place that we shuld nt fear, as Gd s children there are sme things that we shuld remember abut judgement, there are sme things that will be different frm unbelievers. Believers are nt judged abut their sins, rather their faithfulness t the will f Gd 2 Crinthians 5:10 Fr we must all appear befre the judgment seat f Christ, s that each f us may receive what is due us fr the things dne while in the bdy, whether gd r bad.
Our mtives fr what we have dne will be judged, tested by fire and Gd will burn up everything that was nt f Him. We wn t be punished fr what was nt dne rightly unt the Lrd, it will simply be burned up. It will be as if it never was. Everything that we have ever dne will be laid bare befre the thrne f Gd. This is nt smething that we shuld fear rather lk frward t. Gd will never hld any sin against believers, fr Jesus paid the cmplete penalty at the crss. 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bre ur sins in his bdy n the crss, s that we might die t sins and live fr righteusness; by his wunds yu have been healed. The peace f mind that cmes frm knwing that Jesus has ur back is quite amazing. N matter what we d r the sins frm ur past Jesus has ur back. Think abut the amazing peace f mind that cmes frm the security f this prmise, and that he bre ur sins. Gd s judgement f believers results in reward and hnr. 2 Timthy 4:8 Nw there is in stre fr me the crwn f righteusness, which the Lrd, the righteus Judge, will award t me n that day and nt nly t me, but als t all wh have lnged fr his appearing. Believers, anticipating this judgement, abund in hpe. Gd will make all things right and all things new. The judgement fr the unbelievers is called the Great White Thrne Revelatin 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white thrne and him wh was seated n it. The earth and the heavens fled frm his presence, and there was n place fr them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing befre the thrne, and bks were pened. Anther bk was pened, which is the bk f life. The dead were judged accrding t what they had dne as recrded in the bks. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each persn was judged accrding t what they had dne. Then death and Hades were thrwn int the lake f fire. The lake f fire is the secnd death. Anyne whse name was nt fund written in the bk f life was thrwn int the lake f fire. All the dead will be judged based n what they have dne. 20:12. Standing befre Gd This is nt a trial, the facts are already in, it is a sentencing. A lt f peple think they are ging t tell Gd a thing r tw, hwever this is merely a time t receive yur sentence.
20:12. The dead were judged accrding what they had dne The peple wh are nt listed in the bk f life, are then judged accrding t his wrks. Thse wh refuse t cme t Gd by faith will, by default be judged and cndemned fr their wrks. 20:14-15. He was thrwn int the Lake f Fire. The bible uses 3 wrds t talk abut where the dead will g. Gehenna is ne f thse wrds, its a Greek wrd brrwed frm the Hebrew Valley f Hinnm, a place utside Jerusalem s walls desecrated by Mlech wrship and human sacrifice. It was als a garbage dump where rubbish and refuse were burned, and accrding t traditin it is where the Rmans cremated there dead. The smldering fires and festering wrms f the Valley f Hinnm made it a graphic and effective picture f the fate f the damned. #3 Justice is cming Gd, being just, prmises that he will ne day judge the earth. Much f wrld histry and human experience shws the wicked win and the righteus lse, but this is nt true. We have great hpe that Gd will render just verdicts abut all the sins and injustices f all peple. One will escape judgement, nt even Gd s Children. Isaiah 30:18 Yet the Lrd lngs t be gracius t yu; therefre he will rise up t shw yu cmpassin. Fr the Lrd is a Gd f justice. Blessed are all wh wait fr him! That brings us t ur theme verse fr the day, an unshakable prmise frm Gd. Acts 17:31 Fr he has set a day when he will judge the wrld with justice by the man he has appinted. He has given prf f this t everyne by raising him frm the dead. set means t single ut judge means t render a decisin. This day is cming, n matter hw bleak and hpeless the utlk may be, there will cme a time when Gd will balance the scales and justice will reign. This is nt a ne-time bscure prmise it is a prmise that ccurs ver and ver again. Psalms 98:9 let them sing befre the Lrd, fr he cmes t judge the earth. He will judge the wrld
in righteusness and the peples with equity. Rmans 2:5 But because f yur stubbrnness and yur unrepentant heart, yu are string up wrath against yurself fr the day f Gd s wrath, when his righteus judgment will be revealed. Obadiah 1:15 The day f the Lrd is near fr all natins Isaiah 2:12 The Lrd almighty has a day in stre fr all the prud and lfty, fr ll that is exalted. What is the prmise that yu and I have? What can we lk frward t? After justice has been laid ut, Jhn in his Revelatin gives us a glimpse int what we can expect. Revelatin 21:1-5 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, fr the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was n lnger any sea. I saw the Hly City, the new Jerusalem, cming dwn ut f heaven frm Gd, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed fr her husband. And I heard a lud vice frm the thrne saying, Lk! Gd s dwelling place is nw amng the peple, and he will dwell with them. They will be his peple, and Gd himself will be with them and be their Gd. He will wipe every tear frm their eyes. There will be n mre death r murning r crying r pain, fr the ld rder f things has passed away. He wh was seated n the thrne said, I am making everything new! Then he said, Write this dwn, fr these wrds are trustwrthy and true. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, and all the pain and suffering f this earth will pass away. Cnclusin: The ten Bm family were Dutch Christians wh helped many Jews escape the Nazi Hlcaust f WWII. When their hme was raided after an infrmant tipped ff the Nazis f their activities, the entire family was imprisned. Crrie and her sister were sent t a ntrius Nazi cncentratin camp. She was miraculusly released frm prisn just days after her sister had died there. Listen t ne f her great qutes "Yu can never learn that Christ is all yu need, until Christ is all yu have." The hpe is an eternal hpe even in the face f the st hrrendus evils. We are firmly anchred t a lving and just Gd. Since n ne can take ut Christ away, n ne can take ur hpe away. Maybe yu are the recipient f an injustice. Gd understands and cares. He f all beings knws abut vilent injustice, as he witnessed his wn inncent sn nailed t the crss. Perhaps yu have been unjust (and wh hasn t) knw that yur sins have been paid fr at the crss
By trusting Jesus Christ alne fr salvatin, yu can lk frward t that day when Gd will judge the wrld. S what is the purpse f ur suffering? What is the end benefit r result. It is kind f like me cleaning ut the nse f my ne year ld. This is a 2 man jb, ne t hld the bdy and arms, the ther t perfrm the extractin. There is screaming, whaling, and shuting, this is just frm Mm and Dad. Pr little Madeline feels like her parents are trying t kill her with this actin. What she has n clue abut is that withut ging thrugh this, she wuld be unable t sleep cmfrtably at all. IT is a necessary prcess. Such is the same with ur suffering and Gd, ur pain and suffering has purpse, hwever, there will be justice!