The God Behind Calamity

I'd like you to take your Bibles this morning and turn to a little book in the Old Testament, the book of Lamentations. The book of Lamentations. If you would, you follow along as I read Lamentations chapter 3, verse 19 through 42. Lamentations 3, 19-42 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. great is your faithfulness the Lord is my portion says my soul therefore I will hope in him the Lord is good to those who wait for him to the soul who seeks him it is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him.

Let him put his mouth in the dust. There may yet be hope. Let him give his cheeks to the one who strikes and let him be filled with insults. For the Lord will not cast off forever, but though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love, for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. to crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, to subvert a man in his lawsuit the Lord does not approve.

Who has spoken and it came to pass unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven. We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.

Let's pray. Father we come to you now and thank you that we can look into your word Even in the midst of the things that are happening around us we have not been cut off from your word. We have not been cut off from you. In fact, you have promised to be with us no matter what. And so we come to you now to hear you as you speak in your word. Would you please help us to listen?

Help us to remember that this is your voice. that, Father, we have not been cut off from your voice. You speak to us. You speak to us in your word. So give us ears to listen now, we pray, and help us. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Amen. Well, we've been several weeks in the midst of this pandemic, and the death toll keeps mounting. Some say that we've maybe reached the peak and maybe it'll start tapering off. We don't know. Nobody knows. Nobody knows exactly what's going on.

But we do know this. We see death all around us. We're reminded every day. Every day the news tells us about people who are dying. We're reminded every day about what's going on in this pandemic. In fact, there doesn't seem to be anything else happening in the world.

If you go to websites, news websites, it seems like everything is about the coronavirus pandemic. And so it seems we can't escape it. Well, we're going to address it one more Sunday. We're going to address it this Sunday. And I'm not sure what's coming next Sunday. But at least we need to look at this because there seem to be some who are now starting to ask the question, is God behind this?

What are we to think of this? Is God behind this or is he not? And so we want to look at that together. And the way to look at that, I think, is to take a walk this morning with a man who was acquainted with tragedy. A man who was acquainted with horrible things happening. His name is Jeremiah.

Walk with him to the heights overlooking Jerusalem and see all the smoke and destruction and the rubble of the city. all that is left after the Babylonians have swept through, destroying everything in their fury and killing countless thousands of people in their path Walk with him through the streets and see people bleeding amongst the rubble starving for just a crust of bread their children crying in their arms In his own report of this awful scene, he has said this, my eyes fail from weeping. I am in torment within. My heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

They say to their mothers, where is bread and wine? As they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their lives ebb away in their mother's arms. What can I say for you? With what can I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?

Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. In the day of the Lord's anger, no one escaped or survived. But that prophet witnessed in his day is not so different from our own. In fact, we could say it's worse. And so he can be a reliable guide to us about these tragedies that overtake us.

This is no ivory tower theologian. this is the man who wrote this book in light of what he had witnessed in his own city and he just described that for you and so here we have before us in the text I've read some of what he has to say about how we approach how we we look at these things and in this text he reveals the God who is behind that calamity. What does he tell us? Well, the first thing and the main thing that he tells us is you have reason for hope in God.

You have reason for hope in God. Now that does not mean that God expects Christians to be stoics and in the midst of the calamities that overtake us, like we're going through right now, does not expect us to not feel the emotions we're feeling, that we're not immune to the tragedies of life. As Jeremiah looks at the destruction and the pain of his people what does he say What does he say He says my eyes fail for weeping I am tormented within My heart is poured out on the ground.

Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. Why? Because he wept over the condition of his people, especially in this book of Lamentations. Here he is weeping over what has happened to his people. By the way, he's not alone. You know who else wept over the same city for the same reason?

Jesus. The Gospel writer Luke tells us in his 19th chapter, And when Jesus drew near and saw the city, the city of Jerusalem, he wept over it. He wept over it. Here is Jesus weeping. we say of all men Jesus shouldn't weep I mean he's God he's sovereign he knows everything why is he weeping because he's also human and we don't we we should not feel bad about our mourning in the midst of tragedy it goes on to said and Luke says he said would that you speaking to Jerusalem would that you even you had known on this day the things that make for peace but now they are hidden from your eyes for the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground you and your children within you and they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation here's Jesus weeping over the same city which will face an even worse destruction than that which befell Jeremiah in his day.

And Jesus wept. There is no virtue in saying, oh well, we ought to rejoice in everything. Certainly there ought to be rejoicing, but we must see that it is not virtuous to be unmoved by the tragedies and the calamities that overtake us. How many people today, how many people today mourn because of the loss of a loved one? How many are mourning because of someone being sick?

And so they are hopeless, they are fearful, they are anxious. However, that's not where our response ends. That's where most people stay in view of such tragedies, in view of the calamities that overtake us. They remain fearful, hopeless, anxious, and mourning. They don't get past it. Yet God has called us to be a people of hope.

How then can we be hopeful in the calamity that we're experiencing right now? How then can we be different? And again, you've noticed this has been my theme for the last several weeks. How can we be different? How can people who are connected to the Lord Jesus Christ in union with him by faith and who call God their father, how can we be hopeful people?

Well, the first thing to note is this, as we look at our reason for hope in God, hope is not created by denying or minimizing the pain or destruction. hope is not created by denying or minimizing the pain or destruction notice verses 19 through 21 remember my affliction in my wanderings the wormwood and the gall the bitterness and the gall my soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me but this I call to mind and therefore I have hope now no Jeremiah calls this affliction something that is galling something that is bitter, something that is horrible. John Calvin has said this. I love this.

John Calvin said that those who devour their sorrow and do not look to God, kindle the fire that breaks out eventually into fury against God. But that those who remember their infirmity, as Jeremiah does here, those who remember their infirmity and then turn to God will find ground for hope. If you just, as he says, devour your sorrow and don't do anything with it, it may break out in fury against God.

But those who recognize the tragedy, those who remember their infirmity and turn to God will find hope in God. And so what you see here is Jeremiah does not remain in that state. Notice what he says here. My soul continually remembers it and it's bowed down within me. I'm remembering this. I'm recalling this.

But then what does he say He says but this I call to mind He changes his mind He changes his course of thinking And therefore I have hope What does he change to He changes to looking at God and finding his hope in God. And what we find here now, all the way up through verse 39, is a description of God. And so what he does, in this I find hope. I remember who God is.

Yes, the tragedy breaks my heart. The calamity makes me look at the bitterness and the gall of it all. But he doesn't lose hope. Why? Because he turns his attention now to the character of God. The character of the God that's behind all of this.

What does he say about this God? First of all, in verses 22 through 33, he says God is faithful and good. Now, how does he do that? He takes us step by step and kind of builds the case for the faithfulness and goodness of God all the way down through verse 33. How is God faithful and good? First of all, he is just faithful.

He's faithful to his people. He's faithful to all mankind, verses 22 through 24. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him. I will hope in him. All right, what does he say? He's faithful. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end.

You know that God is faithful to all mankind. He is faithful in his love to all people every day. In my own personal reading, I came across this verse in Psalm 119, verse 64. The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love. That is his covenant love. The earth is full of it.

God has been faithful to all mankind every day. This is his common grace. His common grace, that is, he is gracious to all men everywhere, even though they don't deserve it. every day it's expressed in so many things every day it's expressed in just the food we eat every day it expressed in the sunshine we enjoy every day is expressed in the relationships we have we have our even unbelievers have spouses that they love they have children that they adore they have grandchildren that they just have fun with these are all gifts of God to undeserving people his steadfast love is expressed every day to all men even in the midst of this what are people finding? many people, unbelievers as well as believers are finding wow, I really love my family I'm having a good time with my family frankly, you know what, I've got to tell you this I've got to tell you this there's some things about this that I really like I know where I'm going to be every night now I'm going to be home every night right and Jans I know you're out there I'm going to quote Jans Jans is saying dad dad I got to pray that I don't like this too much right I mean that's God's goodness we're finding new ways even in the can you think about this even in the midst of this we're finding new ways of enjoying life that we hadn't had for a long time.

We've slowed down. That's a gift of God's grace, isn't it? We're spending time with the people we want to spend time with. We're not getting pulled in a million different directions. So God is good to all mankind. He's common grace.

He gives good gifts to everybody. But he is particularly faithful to his covenant people. he is particularly faithful to his covenant people the Lord's great love this steadfast love is his covenant love his loyalty you know what the wonders of getting married is because if you're serious about it if you're really serious about it you stand there and you promise to love that person for richer for poorer right in sickness and in health I'm promising that I will stay faithful to you no matter how good things are or how bad they get. Isn't that marvelous?

That is deep, deep love that goes beyond emotions. That's the love that God has for his people. How do I know God going to love me Because I a real lovable person You know that not the case No God going to love you because He promised He would And God never breaks His promise, right? And so He loves you because He promised He would. God's compassions will never fail because He has covenanted to be your, if you're a believer, He's covenanted to be your loyal lover. and he established that by giving us his son that's why romans 8 just resounds with us because it says to us what then shall we say to these things if god is for us who can be against us and then those next two verses he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us now what is he saying gave him up for us as the prophet Isaiah puts it crushed his own son for your iniquities he gave him up for us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us how will he not also with him graciously give us all things and so even in the midst of this I can look to the cross and I can know that God will not stop loving me.

In fact, notice the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, even in a pandemic, even in the destruction of this city. It doesn't cease. And so when we see the death's mount, when we see the quarantine extended, we need to recall the faithful mercies of God that are new every single day. Great is your faithfulness, right? Great is your faithfulness. You remain faithful.

God has not left us. He remains faithful. He is covenanted to love us. And you, as one of God's covenant people, especially need to recall that God's love to you is sure by his covenant. He goes on to, again, emphasize the point that God's covenant, God is good to those who are his, verses 25 to 27. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. The one who hopes or the one who waits is the one who seeks the Lord. That is, he acknowledges. is how greatly he needs his mercy and goes to him when disaster strikes. This is the one who waits for salvation, that is, he waits with a calm and dignified mind.

He's waiting for this deliverance. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, who seek him. Are you seeking him? And as you seek him, do you find that you're waiting patiently for your deliverance? Again, even for good things. We so desperately want to be together.

In my conversations with you over the phone or texting or emailing, many of you have expressed over and over, I cannot wait for us to be together. Don't even let a good thing cause you to be impatient with God's working. Seek him and wait with a calm and dignified mind. How have you responded to all this, right? We all can admit it. I'll admit it, right?

I wish I could do some things. I wish I could see some people right it would be nice it would be nice it's going to be nice when we see one another we can hug one another again isn't it right I mean even shake hands but as we wait we need to do it calm and dignified we need to do it in a way that recognizes that we know that God is good the one who realizes that tragedy and hardship is a yoke that God has placed upon him and that it is good he knows that it's good now Jeremiah is speaking of hardship as that which God uses for our good and you see that in Hebrews 12 do it yeah we need to go there Hebrews 12 I want you to turn there even now if I can I want to dispel a wrong reading of this but we're all very familiar with this passage in Hebrews 12. Verse 5, And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives It is for discipline that you have to endure God is treating you as sons For what son is there whom his father does not discipline If you left without discipline in which all have participated then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we've had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live?

For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them. but he disciplines us for our good that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who've been trained by it. Again, God has brought this into our lives to discipline us.

Now look, here's one thing you need to understand. God is not saying in Hebrews 12 that whenever you do something wrong, God takes you to the woodshed and spanks you. That's not what he's saying. That's not what he's saying. Remember that, okay? If you listened to the last pandemic pondering, I talked about that.

It's not that you do something wrong so God disciplines you. What he's saying here is anytime hardship comes into your life, it's not necessarily meant because you've done something wrong. But anytime you experience hardship, this is God's discipline. Like a father who disciplines his children so they share in his holiness and experience the joy and the peaceful fruit that comes as we're trained by it into righteousness as we grow.

Now listen, so Jeremiah tells us, it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Okay? What yoke is he talking about? The very destruction of the city. It's a good thing to bear that yoke. Alright?

He means it for good. and so when tragedy calamity comes upon the people of god we need to see it as god is working for our good all right always remember this here's another passage in john 15 do you remember the passage where jesus says that god the father is like a gardener who comes along and trims the vine so that what? The fruitful vine. The fruitful vine will bear more.

You may be really doing well and growing and you experience hardship And too many of us look to God and say what am I doing wrong You may not be doing anything wrong but God wants you to be even more fruitful Right Those trimming shears, they don't feel good. Do they? All right. So he says, bear it. It's good to bear the yoke. It's good to bear that yoke.

And so this is a yoke that we've had to bear. But he goes on and talks a little bit more about that. God places that yoke upon you. It's good because he teaches you that God is placing the yoke upon you. And this is how you ought to respond. Verses 28 through 30.

Let him sit alone in silence when it's late on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust. There may yet be hope. Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes and let him be filled with insults. How do you respond? With silence.

What is he saying here? The refusal to complain either to God or to other men. Don't complain when the yoke is on. When the Lord puts the yoke on you, don't complain. And then he says, with his face in the dust. What's that?

Humility. Complete submission. Submit to it. And then, what does he say? Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him. Let him be filled with insults.

The willingness to be treated like a slave. Resignation to it. Notice, it's Jeremiah, the one who has witnessed mass destruction, that says, it is good to bear the yoke in this way. It is good to bear the yoke in this way. You know what? God can bring good out of all this.

Out of all that we're going through. How do I know that? You know that because Jesus bore that yoke. And he bore it silently, humbly, and with resignation. And you know what? Because he did that, it's possible for us. because now we can look and say it is possible for us when you realize who God is.

He wraps up this whole section about God goodness and faithfulness by telling us what God is like verses 31 to 33 For the Lord will not cast off forever but though he cause grief he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love, for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. He is loving and he brings grief temporarily. Temporarily.

You know how you know God is good? Because we know this pandemic isn't going to last forever, do we? It's temporary. It's temporary. God will not cast off forever. And he is not he is not arbitrary he does not take the light in doing it how many of you when you took your children for our children it was we went to the bathroom for their spanking so we didn't do it out in front of everybody but i can't i cannot remember one instance where I took one of my children into the bathroom for a spanking and before I got there I was just rubbing my hands saying man am I gonna love this it's gonna feel so good to really whip my kids now you kids might have thought that we thought that way but that's not the case that is not the case a good parent wouldn't be like that there's no joy in it there's no delight in that and that's what he's saying here in verse 33.

He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. That is, he doesn't do it in a way where he takes delight in it. He's not taking delight in this. All right? He is not taking delight in bringing calamity upon us. This destruction of Jerusalem that Jeremiah saw that he witnessed and the horrors that came as a result, he could say, God did not do this with delight.

He didn't do this with delight, and that's what we need to see. That's what we need to see. You know, I am reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 11. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my I yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

You say, how can you say, God, Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden is light? Because it's better. What Jesus puts upon us as a disciple is better than what you had as an unbeliever. before you wore his yoke. You know what? As a believer, going through all of this that we're going through now is better than if I didn't know him. Right?

You're heavy laden. You're burdened. Come to me. I'll give you rest. And I'll put a yoke on you. But it'll be easy compared to what you have to bear.

So you see, all of this tells us God's not arbitrary. he doesn't take delight in this. In fact, he invites us to rest. Now here's the other thing. He says God is good and faithful. The last thing he mentions about our God is that God is sovereign, beginning in verse 34. To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve.

Who has spoken and it came to pass unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? He's saying here God is sovereign. God is sovereign. The cry goes out, where is God when men are crushed, denied their rights, treated without justice, and are killed arbitrarily?

Verses 34 to 36. Right? Where is God? Where is God? When all this happens. And what he says is, the Lord doesn't approve of these things.

It's not like he, again, does delights in them. Says, I'd love to see those people crushed. No. No. But, he is sovereign. He is still sovereign.

Verses 37 to 39. Who has spoken it and it came to pass unless the Lord has commanded it. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come that good and evil come, is how some translations put it. Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Now note, God replies to any kind of complaining, I am sovereign over all.

I am no spectator in heaven, wringing my hands at the calamities that overtake you. Rather, I am the God who decrees not only the good, but the calamities as well. You know, if you would look it up, look up the April 2nd, and you can do this on the Internet, the April 2nd issue of USA Today, in which USA Today interviewed a number of faith leaders about the coronavirus pandemic.

There's a Muslim there. There's a couple rabbis. And one that caught my attention, of course, who would speak for supposedly evangelical Bible-believing people, a professor from Northwest Nazarene University, in which he says this, Okay? No, God's not behind this. Of course he's not behind this. what a horrible thing to say about God because if that would violate the very loving nature of God a loving God would never do this to people and besides that you know what you know God can't do you know God needs our cooperation in order to accomplish his purposes it's unbelievable now here's what I want to say would you find your hope in a god who needs us to cooperate with his purposes who really doesn't want this to happen but what can he do right what could he do or do you find hope in a god who says yes i did bring this calamity upon you because good and evil come from me these kind of calamities do come from me now i want to tell you where are you going to find hope in this this view or this view what we find right here right and and you will hear this all the time when people say how could a god of love do this well yeah you constructed your idea of love and you trying to jam God in through that Why don you read the revelation that God gives of himself and I tell you God is love and God is sovereign God is love, and he does bring calamity, and it doesn't contradict his nature.

Don't try to make God fit your ideas of what's loving and what's good. Because God has just told us he is faithful and good, right? and then he tells us what? That both good and calamity come because I decree it. This is where our hope is found. In a God who is in control. And then what does he say?

He says at the very end, he says, these calamities ought to remind you of wickedness. It ought to remind you. There are people who say, no, God doesn't judge. God doesn't do these things. But if we would say he does, we would also say, and many people say, is God judging us? That's a good question to ask.

That really is a good question. And God here says, why should a man complain? A man, about the punishment of his sins. Now, what does that mean? Well, look at Luke 13 for a moment. Luke 13. there were some verse 1 okay luke 13 verse 1 again people are asking the same question they were asking the same question in jesus day is this god's judgment listen to what jesus says there were some present at that very time who told him about the galileans whose blood pilot had mingled with their sacrifices.

That means they were offering their sacrifices and Pilate unleashed his people on him and killed them in the process of worship. Now, can you think of anything worse? And he answered them, do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? Right? These particular Galileans were killed in worship. And so what's the thing?

Well, they must have really been bad. otherwise that wouldn't happen he says do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way no I tell you but unless you repent you will all likewise perish or those 18 in whom so Jesus brings up another one Yeah I was reading the paper the other day and here what I saw That those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell, a construction accident, and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all others who lived in Jerusalem? No. I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

What is God saying here? He says, stop looking at other people. Is God judging them? You know what? A friend of mine, his name is Sam Stevens. He works for ACBC.

He and I did something together recently, a webinar. And someone asked the question, do you think this is God's judgment? And I love what Sam says. He says, do you ever notice when people ask that question, they're always asking about those people out there who we happen to not like? That they're the ones that are suffering God's judgment? You hear what Jesus says here?

Stop looking at other people and be reminded. That stuff happened to those people. Far worse is going to befall you if you don't repent. So when someone asks, is this God's judgment? My response is going to be, look, this ought to remind you that man is wicked. And don't think that because some people died, this is God's judgment on them.

You look to yourself. You need to repent. You need to believe in Jesus. Well, what about believers? What about believers? you know what is very helpful is first peter chapter 4 verse 17 through 19 i'll just read a couple of those where peter says for it's time for judgment to begin with the household of god god's already started his last day judgment but he's he's not judging unbelievers he's starting with us right and if it begins with us what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of god right what will be happen if it starts with us what do you think is going to happen to people who don't obey the gospel and he concludes by saying this therefore let those who suffer according to god's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good right so what can we say?

What does Jeremiah tell us here? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? For the unbeliever, I can say to you, some of you may be out there who have not believed, I would say to you, you look at what's happening and you need to take And to say, yes, God's bringing this to remind us of wickedness, that there is judgment for sin.

And for us believers, what does he say? He says judgment starts with the household of God. What's popping up? What is God teaching you through all of this? the bottom line is the bottom line is there's only hope in Jesus there's only hope in Jesus you believe in Jesus and find hope for there is escape from the fury of God when it is finally unleashed you see there is reason for hope in the midst of calamity and it comes in the person and the character of God himself.

That is the only place for our hope. It doesn't come in minimizing what's happened. It doesn't come in saying, Ohio together will make it. That's not where hope comes from. It comes from God, the eternal God, and his character. And so, verses 40 through 42, he says, the reason for hope is God. the second thing he tells us is this because of who god is repent verses 40 through 42 let us test and examine our ways and return to the lord let us lift up our hearts and hands to god in heaven we have transgressed and rebelled and you have not forgiven now jeremiah when he says you have not forgiven, is looking at the nation of Judah as it remained, as it was not faithful to the covenant it had made with God.

And God had not forgiven. He had brought judgment. In the horror of all these events, God calls for a response. He calls for everyone, everyone, everywhere to examine his life. In the horror of what's going on around us, God's voice is calling for repentance. What about you believer Well we know now we know that God has forgiven all our sins past present and future right Judicially he wiped the record clean But as our Father what is he doing He's doing this to expose our heart.

What unpleasant sinful qualities have surfaced as a result of this? Things you hadn't seen before. God's brought this in order to bring those to the surface. You know what people often ask me? Here's what they say. I'm going through a trial.

What's God trying to teach me? I see there's two answers to that. Number one, what does the Bible say he's trying to teach you? James 1, count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various, when various trials come your way because it produces perseverance and faith, right? Romans 5, what is God intending to do? He intends to produce perseverance, character, and hope, right?

You persevere, your character changes, you end up with hope. You know that's what he's trying to do. That's the first thing. What does the Bible say? Here's the second thing. What's popping up?

What's surfacing in your life? That's what God's trying to teach you. Deal with those things. And so, believer, what does the Bible say God's trying to do? He's trying to produce hope in you, right? He's trying to produce a purified faith in you and more dependence on God.

But what's showing up? Are you more irritable? Hmm, right? Are you worried? You weren't worried so much before, but now that your job is gone, right? That's what he wants you to deal with. unbeliever let me say this to you this is just a snapshot a future judgment hell will be a place of torment and it will be a place of utter hopelessness and fear and anxiety we will be experiencing the anybody who is in hell will be tormented with the very sins that are present now.

Can you think about, can you think that way? It'll be a place of utter despair and fear. This is just a snapshot. God's calling you to examine your life and to flee to Christ. So Christian, we have a different framework, a God-given framework by which we can interpret the calamities that overtake us And with that framework looking at the character of God and then examining our own hearts we have to be people of hope And that should be communicated to those around us.

Are you doing that? Are you doing that? And some of you have heard this message, you've never examined your life. You're going through this with a baseless hope. You've never looked to Christ. God calls you today to do that.

He points you to the one who will save you. Look to him. Flee to him. Find refuge in him. For without him all is lost. You may make it through this, but you won't make it through the final judgment that's coming.

Find Jesus in the midst of all of this. Let's pray. Lord of heaven and earth, we thank you that we can with the prophet Jeremiah confess that it is from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come. We can confess to you our faith, our trust in your sovereignty. We can confess to you that we believe that you are good and faithful. And so, Father, help us to find hope, not in minimizing our grief, not in maximizing some baseless reasons for hope, but help us to find our hope in the one being in all the universe who is eternal, who is unchangeable, who is good and faithful and sovereign.

Help us to look for hope in you. Grant that, we pray, for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name, amen. Turn to page 124. Lead on, O King Eternal. Amen Lead on O King eternal the day of march has come And scourging fields of conquest, thy tent shall be our home.

Through days of preparation, thy grace has made us strong. And now, O King eternal, we lift our battle song. Lead on, O King eternal, the sin's tears more shall cease. And holiness shall whisper, the sweet omen of peace. Pour not with sores loud flashing, for all answering draws. With deeds of love and mercy, that heavenly kingdom comes.

Lead on, O King eternal, we follow not with fears. For gladness breaks like morning, where e'er thy face appears. Thy cross is lifted o'er us, returning in His light. The crown awaits the conquest, lead on, O God of might. Sing the doxology together. Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise Him all creatures here below Praise Him above ye heavenly host Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost Amen