Holy Truth About Horrific Tragedies, Part 2

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13 is where we're at this evening. We've moved our study of Luke from Sunday morning to Wednesday evening, specifically for the next 11 weeks as we look at God's hope for your home on Sunday mornings.

And as we look at Luke chapter 13, we realize that there is a question posed to our Lord or an interruption of our Lord during one of his sermons and it comes to inform him about a temple calamity that took place.

And so Jesus would answer their question about a temple calamity where Pilate would mingle the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices in the temple. And then Jesus informs them about a tower calamity, a tower there by the Pool of Siloam that fell over and killed 18 different people. And then he reminds them of the true calamity when he says, unless you repent, you will likewise perish. Not that you'll die the same way that those men who were cut up in the temple and their blood was mingled with the sacrifices or that a tower is gonna fall over on you, but there is a certainty of death.

And so Jesus says, unless you repent, you will likewise perish. And that passage of scripture has set the tone for our just staying here for a little bit and looking at what the holy truth is about horrific tragedies. And in the Lord's timetable, he planned at the same time as the 10th anniversary of 9-11 here in the United States. And so we talked a little bit about it last week. We'll finish it this week. Ten years ago, I did a three-part series on terrorism, tragedies, and the truth. When I was all said and done, my daughter, Erin, who was at the time eight, wrote a note to me.

This is what she said. She said, I will always remember what happened in New York City, but I will always know that God knows best. Thank you, God, for doing what you think is good. There is a perspective about tragedies that all of us need to have. It's based off of Psalm 119, 68. God is good, and do us good. The psalmist said that after he had already reiterated, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. There was something about affliction. There was something about adversity.

There was something about difficulty. There was something about hardship that drove the psalmist to keep the Word of God. Which then brought him to the conclusion that God is good and does good. He would later go on in verse 72 of Psalm 119 and say, in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me. So there was something about the affliction. There was something about the adversity. There was something about the turmoil that the psalmist faced that he saw as good. Because it came from a God who's described as good.

There is the truth about tragedies that you need to understand. It is a holy truth and that holy truth comes from a holy God. Jesus in Luke 13, when he's preaching this sermon and interrupted by someone in the crowd, wants to give a biblical perspective to tragedies. So people will understand that time is short. And so we are trying to give you a perspective and giving you ten principles that will help you understand that holy truth amidst horrific tragedies. Now I told you on Sunday that yes, when there is a terrorist attack and people die, when there's a hurricane and hundreds, literally thousands of people die, or a tornado or a volcanic eruption or an earthquake, something of that nature, a plane crash and people die, we take notice.

Yet, we also told you that every week in America 50,000 people die. And we, for the most part, don't even bat an eye. 2.5 million Americans die every year. Never makes the news, unless they're a part of a group of people that are involved in a train crash, a plane crash, a huge car accident, something of that nature, right? And yet, we need to understand the importance of telling people the truth, because all of us, except for the grace of God, will go through life and face some kind of difficulty, tragedy.

Horrific as it may be, maybe more horrific for some than for others, we'll face those things. And what might be horrific for you might not be for somebody else. But if you lose a loved one in a car accident, or there's a situation where they're involved in something that causes them to die, it becomes a tragedy for you. What's the holy truth about that horrific tragedy? What do we need to know about what God's Word says? That's our topic for this evening. Let me review for you the first three points we covered last week.

We'll do them briefly, as briefly as I possibly can, and then we'll cover the next seven for you. That's the plan. That's where we want to go. We want to finish in the next 48 minutes. That's the plan. But, the best laid plans of mice and men go by the wayside sometimes. Anyway, we saw last week that when tragedy happens, it portrays to us the uncertainty of our realm. It portrays to us how uncertain our realm in which we live truly is. We never know when we're going to die. But we are guaranteed of one thing, that we will die, because that's what the Bible says.

It's appointed that the man wants to die after that judgment. And that's why James would say, you know what, those of you who say, today, today, or tomorrow, we're gonna go into the city, and we're gonna do business. He says, you fools. You arrogant ones. You have no guarantee of tomorrow. You only have guarantee of this moment. No guarantee about tomorrow. Because your life is like the grass. It sprouts today, it's gone tomorrow. That's what the psalmist said. And so when someone dies, it really portrays to us how uncertain life really truly is.

We don't know what's going to happen. From one day to the next, only God knows. So, the first truth is that it portrays the uncertainty of our realm.

Number two, it prompts the perplexity of the righteous and the unrighteous alike. It does prompt our perplexity. We sometimes become very perplexed, unless we understand what God is doing. And so we told you last week that when tragedy takes place, we saw where, in Ecclesiastes 3, verse number 14, God does what he does, so man will fear him. He bends that which man has made straight, and he does it, and he does things in such a way that man will learn to fear him. Because God wants man to come to a point of repentance, which is what Luke 13, 1 to 5 is about.

God does what he does, so that man will come to a place of repentance. That's why Jesus says, look, unless you repent, you too will likewise perish.

That is, you will go off into eternity, separated from the living God. You need to repent. We saw also in John chapter 9 that these kind of things happen because God wants to display his glory in his work. We saw in Psalm 107, where God does what he does, so man will demonstrate how helpless he is, and cry out to God. So there is a reason behind all that God is doing, but remember, the why question is never the right question. The who question is always the right question. It's not why, it's who.

Which leads us to our third point, and we covered last week, that when tragedy happens, it pinpoints the sovereignty of the ruler of the universe.

There is somebody in charge. It's not us. It's the Lord God of the universe. We took you through several verses that talk about God's sovereignty, and how he rules over all things. If you've got your Bible, turn back, if you would, to Psalm Isaiah chapter 40, just for a second here.

Isaiah chapter 40. I can't let this go by, because as Israel was experiencing a tragedy, they asked the question, God, what are you doing? And that's what people tend to do. There's something that takes place. It could be catastrophic. It could be horrific. It could be disastrous, and the first thing that pops into our mind is, God, what are you doing?

Have you forgotten about us? Do you not remember that we're your children? Israel asked the question. So verse 27, the Lord says, why do you say, O Jacob, and assert O Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, and the just as do me escapes in notice of my God.

Somehow God has missed out on what's happening with me. Somehow God doesn't know what's happening with me, and the Lord God says, why do you say that?

Why do you say that? And Isaiah points them to the attributes of God. Do you not know, have you not heard, the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might, he increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired.

They will walk and not become weary. He points them to God. Because when tragedies happen, it's not why, it's who. And you need to understand the holy truth surrounding horrific tragedies, and the holy God who controls all things. He points to God as everlasting. He is eternality. He points to God as the Lord, speaking of his power, his perennial power. He points to God as creator, meaning he is the master architect of all events in life, all of them. He is the creator of the ends of the earth. It was A.W.

Tozer who said that no man's religion ever rises higher than his concept of God. We have a weak view of God. Our theology in modern evangelicalism has kind of gone by the wayside. That's because for the most part, most churches don't talk about theology. They don't talk about doctrine. They don't talk about the Lord God of the universe. They talk about all kinds of surface kinds of things, but they don't dive into the theological truths of scripture. So man has come to a weak knowledge of the Lord God of the universe.

So Isaiah points Israel back to the character and nature of God. It was Warren Wearsby who said these words, listen carefully, he says, Look at others, you'll be distressed.

Look at yourself, you'll be depressed. Look at God and you'll be blessed. That's true. You look at others, you'll get distressed.

Look at yourself, you'll get depressed. But if you look at God, you'll be blessed. And that's a biblical perspective and that's the kind of perspective we need to have. He is the everlasting God. He is the Lord. He is the one who is an absolute sovereign control. For he is the master architect of all things. And Isaiah points the people of God back to the character and nature of God. Because if you have a misunderstanding of God and who he is, you won't be able to handle any tragedy that comes your way.

You can't. With God, you can't. You wrap yourself around him, you trust in him, you believe in him. As difficult as it might be, all the circumstances you encounter, you believe in the Lord God of the universe. And so it's important to realize that when horrific tragedies happen, they portray the uncertainty of our realm. They prompt the perplexity of the righteous and the unrighteous alike. But it pinpoints the sovereignty of the rule of the universe. And number four, it punctuates the veracity of revelation.

It punctuates the veracity of revelation. That is, the end is all true. If you think that the earthquakes we have now are bad, just wait. If you think that the storms that we have are bad now, wait to the tribulation period in the book of Revelation. It's horrific. In fact, Revelation 8 says it this way, And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves for the tribulation of the seven angels. Remember there are there are seven seals in the book of Revelation, seven seals that span the seven-year tribulation period.

When the seven seals broken, the seven trumpets blow. And they blow in pretty rapid succession. And then when the seventh trumpet blows, the seven bowls or seven vials are poured out in even a quicker succession. Okay? So the seven seals span the seven-year tribulation. But when you get toward the end, the great and terrible day of the Lord, it gets even worse. And listen to what the book of Revelation says, And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves a sound. The first sounded and there came hail and fire and mixed blood and there they were thrown to the earth and a third of the earth was burned up and a third of the trees were burned up and all the green grass was burned up.

That's pretty devastating. Verse 8, And the second angel sounded and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea.

And a third of the sea became blood and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died.

And a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded and a great star fell from heaven burning like a torch and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters and the name of the star is called Wormwood.

And a third of the waters became Wormwood and many men died from the waters because they were made bitter.

And the fourth angel sounded and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were smitten so that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not shine for a third of it and the night in the same way.

And I looked and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven saying with a loud voice, whoa, whoa, whoa, to those who dwell on the earth. Because of the remaining blast of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound. In other words, if you think this is bad you haven't seen anything yet because you still have three more angels that are yet to sound. And when that third of the remaining angels sounds it is the pouring of the vials in Revelation 16.

Listen to what it says in Revelation 16. The first angel went and poured out his bowl into the earth and it became a lonesome and malignant sore upon the man who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image.

And the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea and it became blood like that of a dead man. And every living thing in the sea died. And the third angel poured out his bowl to the rivers and the springs of waters and they became blood.

And I heard the angel of the water saying, righteous art thou who art and who wast. O holy one because thou didst judge these things. For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets and thou hast given them blood to drink. They deserve it. And I heard the author saying, yes O Lord God, the almighty true and righteous are thy judgments. And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun and it was given it to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with fierce heat. And they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues.

And they did not repent so as to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast. And his kingdom became darkened. And they gnawed their tongues because of pain. And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. And they did not repent of their deeds. In other words, all the catastrophes and disasters that take place in today's world The only truly punctuate the truth the veracity about what will ultimately take place in the book of revelation before the king comes If you think this is bad You haven't seen anything yet Because it's going to get horribly worse Because all that takes place in the book of revelation happens like all things under the design of a sovereign God Who rules the universe?

And you will note As we saw in revelation 16 That even though man was burned scorched He did not repent Even though he was in so much pain because of the malignant sores that covered his body because he took the mark of the beast His pain was so severe. He would chew off the end of his tongue to Redirect the pain from his body to his mouth And yet he still Will not repent So jesus is in luke 13 Yes, we know the tragedy that took place in the temple It was a severe calamity There was a tower that fell 18 souls were killed a tragedy But unless you repent You will likewise perish There's a warning that's there of impending judgment upon man And what happens during horrific tragedies is that there are times in which god punctuates his patience And shows us how patient he is To allow men to continue to live when in all reality man deserves to die right We don't have a right to live.

We only have a right to die Because that's what god said It's appointed of the man to die Because we're sinners the wage of sin is The wage of sin is death That's what we deserve but god is grace and god is mercy and god is love and god is patient and guess what? He lets you live another day. He gives you another breath so that you can breathe That's the wonder of our god He is so good To give you one more day one more opportunity to turn From your sin Number five It provides The identity of our redeemer Do you believe that In the midst of horrific tragedies, here's the holy truth.

You have to understand that it provides for us the identity of our true redeemer Listen to psalm 19 the lord is known By the judgment Which he executes Is that good The lord is known By the judgment in which he executes God is seen clearly in his judgments God is seen clearly in tragedies You know i've seen the book of revelation When it talks about the seven-year tribulation There's a there's a greek word used in in the new testament. It's called Pantocrator It's a it's a word that ascribes the almighty It's used 10 times in the new testament Nine times in the book of revelation One time outside the book of revelation.

Why? Because if you want to know how almighty god is just look at the tribulation. Just look at the end times That gives you the identity of the almighty god of the universe who rules and reigns supreme over everything and everyone That's why jobe said in jobe My ears have heard of thee but now my eyes have seen thee How did jobe get a clear and dear glimpse of god Through the tragedy he experienced And he was the most righteous man on the face of the earth, right But he said in his own words i've heard of thee I've known about thee but now I have finally seen thee With a spiritual eye because you don't see god with the physical eye No man could see god and live so he was able to understand the character and nature of almighty god How how through the horrific tragedy?

That he experienced as a father As a man as a husband he lost it all And Through all that he lost He gained the one thing He would have never had Had he kept everything A glimpse Of the glory of god And that's the holy truth about horrific Tragedies remember in luke chapter 8 when the disciples The bible says in in uh, luke 8 22 And he came about on one of those days that he and his disciples got into a boat and he said to them Let's go over to the other side of the lake They launched out But as they were standing along he fell asleep and a fierce gale of wind descended upon the lake and they began To be swamped and to be in danger And they came to him and woke him up saying master master.

We are perishing And being aroused he rebuked the wind and the surging waves and they stopped and it became calm He said to them, where's your faith? They were fearful and amazed saying to one another who then is this That he commands even the winds and the water and they obey him Who is this man That he speaks And the wind stops He speaks And the waves Are calm Who can do that but god? Nobody Nobody can I know about weather patterns And I mean not a lot. I'm not a weatherman But I understand weather patterns and I understand when we have a santa anna and I understand when we have winds high winds And I live in a wind tunnel out there in fontucky.

Anyway, so I know all about those winds, you know But I also know that it's god who causes the winds to blow Psalm 104 says he causes the mountains to shake God causes earthquakes You can have scientists study earthquake patterns and in all the things that are involved and that makes no difference God causes those things They don't just happen God causes according to psalm 104 volcanoes to erupt You think volcanoes that are dormant for Years and years and years and all of a sudden erupt just do it because they decide to No God's in charge of all that And you know what he never makes a mistake Never makes a mistake When my first wife died a number of years ago now I kept in the fly leaf of my bible a poem That i've read to you before but it serves to do us well at this time It says my father's way may twist twist and turn and my heart may throb and ache but in my soul i'm glad I know He maketh no mistake My cherished plans may go astray.

My hopes may fade away, but still i'll trust my lord to lead for he doth know the way The night be dark and it may seem that day will never break. I'll pin my faith my all in him. He maketh no mistake There's so much now I cannot see my eyesight's far too dim But come what may i'll simply trust and leave it all to him for by and by the mist will lift and plain It all he'll make Through all the way though dark to me. He made not one mistake Can you say that God makes no mistakes God has a perfect plan Things run on his timetable things run according to his schedule He's in complete control I might not understand it.

I might not agree with it. I might not like it But he makes no mistakes Because he's a good god Who causes all things to work together ultimately for good to those of us who love god And they're called according to his purpose, right? He has a plan That's why he could say to those israelites. I know the plans I have for you plans for prosperity Not for your calamity He's talking to them as they they embark on a on a 70-year captivity Because when it's all said and done you will seek me And when you seek me you'll find me When you search for me with all of your heart God had a plan israel Just wasn't going to seek god because he woke up one day and says Yeah, I think i'm gonna see god today He knew they weren't gonna do that So he had to put them in a situation That made them seek him and want him more than life itself He makes not one mistake It's all done perfectly exactly as he's planned.

What a god we serve Number six Horrific tragedies. What's the holy truth? It promises the certainty of the resurrection It promises the certainty Of the resurrection Folks just because you die, that's not it That's just the beginning That's just the beginning of eternity. That's forever This life is not forever The next one that's forever But if you don't rectify In this life your relationship with the living god Then in the next life you will spend eternity without him in a place. The bible calls hell the lake of fire And so it's important that you understand that because there is a resurrection listen to what the bible says in the book of revelation And I saw thrones verse number four chapter 20 and they sat upon them and juggernaut was given to them and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because Of the testimony of jesus and because of the word of god and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image And had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand and they came to life and reigned with christ for a thousand Years, they came to life.

There was a resurrection those Tribulational saints who were martyred who lost their heads because they would not take the mark of the beast they came to life Because he would reign with christ for a thousand years The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed this is The first resurrection blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection Over these the second death has no power But they will be priests of god and of christ and will reign with him for a thousand years The bible speaks of two resurrections the first resurrection and the second resurrection The first resurrection of course is is christ himself who is the first fruits of all those who will be resurrected There is a resurrection of all those of us who who die in the church age those of us who are dead in christ will Rise first and will be caught up with the lord in the air and together.

We will be with him forever And then there's a resurrection of tribulational saints at the end of the tribulation There's a resurrection of old testament saints at the end of that tribulation that they might go into that Millennial kingdom and reign that's all part of the first resurrection.

It has four parts to it Second resurrection only has one part You don't want to be a part of the second resurrection Because the second resurrection is the resurrection of all the unsaved dead First resurrection is the resurrection of all the saved dead Where their souls are united with their bodies and they receive those what the bible calls glorified Bodies and they rule and reign with christ forever But there is a second resurrection That takes place after the thousand years The bible says in revolution 20 these words verse 11 I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it From whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them And I saw the dead the great the small standing before the throne and the books were opened and another book was open Which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds And c gave up the dead which were in it And death and hades gave up the dead which were in them And they were judged every one of them according to their deeds And death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire This is the second death the lake of fire and if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life He was thrown into the lake of fire That is the the second resurrection With the second resurrection you experience what is called the second death That is all those who have died from the very beginning of time to revelation tip 20 verse 11 Are raised all at once C gives up its dead death and hades give up their dead And everybody stands who is unsaved before the throne the great white throne of the lord god of the universe The books are opened What books the books that have kept the record of every man's life?

And their deeds are judged All of them And none of them are able to stand because none of them have righteous deeds they're all unrighteous And they will be thrown into the lake of fire and they will experience a second death And that's why you need to understand the holy truth about horrific tragedies when someone dies That is the beginning Of real life That's the beginning of real life death is a doorway that opens up To the most real thing ever created eternity Whether you're saved or unsaved You live forever The question is only the saved live with god The unsaved live without god And they perish in what is called the lake of fire forever and ever and ever And that's why death is such a tragedy That's why when we say Not to take away from from events that accentuate The patience of god and accentuate the tragedy of man But we say to you that there are 50 000 people that are going to die in america just this week alone Who cares does anybody care If we were to go to channel 7 or channel 4 or fox news or cnn say look 50 000 people are going to die this week.

They go where We want to be there You tell them they're dying in america every day Are they Are the tv cameras there Of course not you can't be in 50 000 different places at once But the point is not that man dies The point is that so many die without christ That's the tragedy Because the bible says everybody's going to die I mean if you're going to tell someone the truth tell them that Hey good to see this morning.

Hey, you're going to die What yeah, you're going to die Maybe not today, but you're going to die. Are you ready to die? Are you ready to see the lord god of the universe? Are you ready to meet your maker? You're going to die That's the reality The tragedy is if you die You don't know christ You will burn forever In the lake of fire That's the tragedy Which leads us to our next point and that's this For seven number seven it proclaims The necessity of repentance The holy truth about horrific tragedies is that it proclaims the necessity of repentance Repentance That's why jesus said unless you repent you will likewise perish Listen to what i'm going to tell you repentance is the most crucial element of the doctrine of soteriology Without repentance there is no salvation There is none God doesn't forgive the unrepentant So if there's no repentance, there's no salvation and all those churches that preach no repentance Are giving people a false assurance about their salvation because they're not going to get saved They're not Because god doesn't just forgive people indiscriminately He only forgives those who repent Forgiveness is conditional It's conditioned on repentance Had the opportunity to speak to the women's bible study on tuesday morning this week To give just an overview of the the book they're doing the tale of two sons about the prodigal son in luke 15 And so I said look just let you know that the parable of the prodigal son is a third of the entire parable Because luke 15 is one big parable in three phases It's a parable about lost things They have the lost sheep had the lost silver and the lost sons Okay The first or the two-thirds of that parable Because it's all one parable There's no break in the parable just goes from one to the other to the other because the first two aspects of two first two phases focus in listen carefully on god's ministry to sinners The parable of lost sons speaks of man's responsibility to a savior the first two-thirds of the parable Deal with god's ministry to sinners.

What's that to seek and to save that which is lost? The parable of the lost sons because they're both lost not just one but both are lost because one is representative of the Tax gatherers and the sinners and the and the prostitutes and the other son is representative of the religious elite the pharisees And that represents man's responsibility to a savior which is to repent and to return To the one who died for him Repentance is so crucial listen carefully Repentance is so crucial That the very first doctrine that jesus preached was repent and believe the gospel So That's how important it is So important that when the apostles were sent out later in the book of mark They had one message the message was that all men Should repent Okay, but we're just getting started because at the very end of the ministry of christ The last charge he gave to his disciples Was what was calmly called the great commission luke 24 So when you go out You preach repentance and remission For the forgiveness of sins So the very first doctrine that jesus preached was about repentance The very first doctrine the disciples preached was about repentance The last thing jesus said to his men was make sure you tell them they got to repent for the repentance remission of sins So when you come to the book of acts the very first sermon peter preaches, how does he conclude he concludes with these words repent and be baptized That's x 228 x 319 repent And be converted Do you think the repentance is a minor doctrine?

Let me tell you it is the major doctrine When it comes to soteriology and understanding salvation And then As paul was ending his ministry with the ephesian elders He told them That he went about testifying to both jew and greek Repentance toward god and faith in the lord.

Jesus christ. That was a summation of his ministry Jesus came He preached repentance He sent his men out to preach repentance He told his men before he left Make sure you preach repentance So peter book of acts Preaches repentance the man Who wrote 13 epistles of the new testament? Summed up his ministry by saying I testified to both jews and greeks You better repent You better repent And then paul's description Of his ministry before a grip on acts 26 he said That he went around telling people that they should repent and do the works appropriate to repentance Is it any wonder That the lord god said in acts 17 30 that man is declaring god is declaring that all men everywhere should what?

Repent you go to churches and preach repentance. You're in a church that preaches heresy It's as simple as that They're not preaching the true gospel They're preaching another gospel a false gospel and gleason says they should be cursed It's as simple as that We need to stop doing the things that we're doing in churches By doing all these drama things and theatrical things and musical things and start telling people the truth about eternity And their destiny and how to get right with god We gotta do that And that that's why the holy truth about horrific tragedies is that it in a nutshell proclaims the necessity of repentance Ezekiel 33 god says I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked But I want you to turn from your ways.

I want you to repent That's what he wants Wants there to be a true True understanding of repentance. That's what luke 15 is all about. It's about man's responsibility to a savior and the whole parable of the lost sons Gives you the principles of what repentance truly looks like in an individual It is so important So crucial And that's the holy truth About her every tragedies number eight It promotes the urgency of rebirth and right living It promotes the urgency of rebirth and right living. You must be born again.

John 3 right? You gotta be born again I mean if nothing nothing promotes the urgency of rebirth and right living as tragedies do Because time is short That's why 2 corinthians 6 says today is the day of salvation That's why hebrews 2 says today. If you hear his voice, you're not hard in your hearts in the day of provocation Today is the day of salvation today and to live righteously That's what the grace of god teaches us. Isn't it titus chapter 2? The grace of god teaches us to do what To deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and live righteously and soberly in this present age I mean if the right if the grace of god teaches anything it teaches that right?

Sure, it does god's grace prompts you To live righteously and then number nine I told you we'd be done tonight Number nine it prescribes responsibility Of the redeemed The holy truth about hervey tragedies It simply prescribes the responsibility of the redeemed. What's that? You better preach the truth You better preach the whole truth and nothing but the truth Amen That's what it's about Preaching the gospel paul would say knowing the terror of the lord we persuade men Faith comes by hearing hearing by word about the christ romans 10 17 So if people are going to get saved we got to preach the gospel That's the mission of the church The church that doesn't have the mission of preaching.

The true gospel is not a true church It's a false church We are here to preach the gospel of jesus christ our lord That's what the church is designed to do read the book of acts Just in case you forget about what church is supposed to be like just read the book of acts Just read it and just a little hint There's no music in the book of acts Just in case you want to know they get they met together what They met together And they talked about the apostle's doctrine fellowship breaking the bread and prayer It wasn't about music I mean, you don't do music And you don't do praise to god, but I swear, you know when you go back to the grassroots of church It wasn't about this emotional high centered around the music It was around the doctrine of jesus christ our lord And the truth of the gospel being spread all through jerusalem and around the world because that's what we're here for Just as a side note I want you to think what is the greatest tragedy?

I mean 6 million jews slaughtered in the holocaust That's tragedy that's horrific But that's not the greatest tragedy The greatest tragedy is when a sinless man Dies for a sinful man That's the world's greatest tragedy That god sent his only son to this earth who lived a perfect sinless life He knew no sin Became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of god in him So The greatest tragedy the world has ever seen the world will ever know Produced the greatest triumph the world will ever experience The cross of christ the greatest tragedy Salvation of sinners the greatest triumph And that's what christ can do our job is to preach that our job to tell people that Because we had to tell the truth And point number 10 The holy truth about horrific tragedies Is that it portends the imminency of his return?

There's one thing that indicates There's one thing that initiates There's one thing that describes That there's one thing that foreshadows The imminency of his return And that's a tragedy surrounding the world He's coming again There's signposts That one day there's going to be a horrific horrific tribulation All leading up to the return of the king And he's going to come again He's going to come again Question is are you ready for his return? When he comes to take his church home, will you be ready will you go?

Will you be left behind Say well if i'm left behind i'll get saved then no, no, you won't read second thessalonians chapter two You won't get saved You'll believe a lie because god will send a delusion to you so that you will believe the lie You will So today's the day of salvation now is the time not tomorrow And we Who know the truth Need to preach the truth Tell people the truth About tragedies tell them about the ultimate tragedy the greatest of all tragedies Where the sinless god became man Never committed a sin Because there was no sin in him He died For them who were filled with sin That they might experience his cleansing righteousness That's the truth we need to tell people You need to make sure they they understand those things That they might follow in the footsteps Of the lord one last thing Things don't just happen to those who love god They're planned By his own dear hand Then molded and shaped in time by his clock things don't just happen They're planned We don't guess on the issues of life We christians just rest in the lord We are directed by a sovereign will in the light of his holy word We who love jesus are walking by faith not seeing one step that's ahead Not doubting one moment what a lot might be But looking to jesus instead We praise our dear savior for loving us so for planning each care of our life Then giving us faith to trust him for all The blessings as well as the strife Things don't just happen to us who love god to us that have taken our stand No matter the lot the course or the price Things just don't happen they're planned.

Do you believe that? I do because that's what god's word teaches you trust the lord Remember psalm 112 verse number seven we started with it last week Those who fear the lord Will never fear The evil that will come their way Because they trust in the lord they take refuge in him I trust that you tonight. Let's pray together father. We thank you for tonight your great word the truth that's there Help us lord to live your truth Help us to preach it without compromise Help us to be strong and all that we believe Help us to truly proclaim that which we know You have given to us your word I pray for every person in this room Those who one day will listen by way of radio or by cd or tape We ask That they would take to heart these principles Believe them apply them And teach them to those who need to know the holy truth about horrific tragedies We pray in jesus name.

Amen