God's Sovereignty

From their perception, France is a Christian nation we know much better.

! Christianity is viewed so often as a political ideology by those in the East.

! And it's important for us to stop and to consider tragedies.

So why did we not do it last Sunday?

When do we allow current events to interrupt our exposition of the Scripture?

Because, to be quite frank, we could do that on any given Sunday.

I could sit around during the week and just pay attention to what's being spoken about in social media.

And pay attention to the current events.

And there would always be something that would come in and would interrupt working through the Scripture.

It seems to me that we would tend to address these things in the same way again and again and again,

as we'll do this morning.

Just to give you some idea of this, and I'm not belittling the tragedy that happened in France by any stretch of the imagination,

but just to give you an idea of terrorism.

What's happened this year?

Terrorist attacks just this year.

Interestingly, you can access the Global Terrorism Database.

Oh, the power of the Internet.

And find that in January 3rd through January 7th of this year,

more than 2,000 Nigerians were killed by Boko Haram militants.

January 25th, more than 67 in the Philippines were killed by Islamic freedom fighters.

January 30th, another 60 in Pakistan by the Taliban.

The total just in January was more than 2,355 people worldwide killed by terrorists.

I've got a whole list of them here.

I'll give you a couple of other examples.

These are the big numbered ones.

February 4th, more than 91 in Cameroon.

These are all Islamic terrorist groups.

March 20th, 137 in Yemen.

April 1st, more than 147 in Kenya.

June 25th, 146 in Syria.

June 26th, 70 in Somalia.

July 1st, 145 in Nigeria.

July 17th, 180 in Iraq.

September 20th, 145 in Nigeria.

October 10th, 102 in Turkey.

October 31st, 224 in Egypt.

And I am skipping over even months.

These are the big numbers, the ones that stand out as you scroll down the list.

Since the attack on November 13th.

So beginning that next Saturday, November 14th, up until yesterday, an additional 102 people have died from terrorist attacks.

So, what causes us to stop?

What bears enough weight to cause us to stop?

And I think this Sunday is particularly valuable to do so because this particular attack has really stuck.

Maybe that's because it's gotten so much media coverage.

It's probably gotten so much media coverage because France has been an ally of ours.

Because they're seen as a Western country.

Because it was an attack, at very least, on the political ideology that Muslims, radical Muslims, attach to Christianity.

Maybe all these reasons are why.

I don't really know why.

But it certainly stuck in our consciousness, hasn't it?

We stopped and we paid attention.

It was on every media outlet.

It was difficult to miss.

While you may have missed most or all of the ones that I just mentioned, you would have had to go look for those statistics.

So, here we have this one.

And I think it's important and valuable for us to consider it together.

Now, just as a brief side note, the Internet is a pretty amazing tool, isn't it?

And the Internet has given all of us a voice.

What an amazing thing that we can put out there on the World Wide Web, what we think about a particular issue.

But it's also to our detriment that it's given us all a voice, isn't it?

I read a Gospel Coalition article this week that said that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but not everyone is entitled to their own facts.

And things fly around on social media so very quickly.

If you're not on social media, good for you.

It can be so distracting.

Beloved, we live in a republic.

And let me just say, the place to have political debate is not on Facebook.

Have you ever seen a political debate that was beneficial to anybody on Facebook?

I haven't.

Maybe you're more active than I am in these places.

It's not the place to post the article.

It's not the place to have the debate.

It never ends well.

If you want to be an activist, please do so.

Call your senator.

Call your congressman.

There's a way to do that in a republic.

Unless you happen to know a congressman so well that he follows your Facebook feed and keeps up with your opinion on a matter.

Just don't.

Use it for what it's made for.

Post pictures of your kids or your dog or your vacation.

Let's go there and share the happy parts of our lives together.

I just would strongly suggest to you that you not air your opinions in these matters in this way.

Have an opinion.

Have an informed opinion.

But don't get it out there in that way.

I want to ask two questions together as we consider the terrorist attack in Paris.

Number one.

Number one.

Where is God in such tragedies?

Or maybe more rightly, I should ask the question, so we'll ask it this way.

How is God in such tragedies?

So number one.

How is God in such tragedies?

And number two.

What is God working to accomplish by allowing such things to happen?

And you hear me correctly.

What is God working to accomplish by allowing these things to happen?

God himself has given us answers to these questions in his holy writ.

And I will work to show you those answers for your good and for his glory this morning.

The quote on the front of your bulletin by my favorite person to quote, Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

He said,

Oh, to have the word of Christ always dwelling inside of us.

In the memory never forgotten.

In the heart always loved.

In the understanding really grasped.

With all the powers and passions of the mind fully submitted to its control.

We have this access to the absolute authority.

The truth.

And we can find the answers to these questions together.

I hope to do so today.

At least in brief.

So firstly, how is God in the terror attacks in Paris?

Here's my answer.

God is providential in the terror attacks in Paris.

God is providential.

He reigns over.

He is in control as he always is in these times.

There is nothing that escapes his attention.

There is nothing outside of his grasp.

He directs all things for the fulfillment of his purposes.

Nothing is outside of his purview.

This is our God.

God sustains all things.

I'll invite you to try to keep up with me here.

Hebrews 1.3 states that Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power.

God orders all things in creation.

Job 37.6-13.

For to the snow, he says, fall on the earth.

Likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.

He seals up the hand of every man that all men whom he made may know it.

Then the beasts go into their lairs and remain in their dens.

From its chamber comes the whirlwind and cold from the scattering winds.

By the breath of God, ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.

He loads the thick cloud with moisture.

The clouds scatter his lightning.

They turn around and around by his guidance to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.

Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen.

And this is not a misunderstanding on the part of the writer.

This is God's inspired word.

We understand the science behind all of these things, but God still speaks these things and they happen.

Psalm 148.8 says, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfill his word.

God orders all things creation.

He orders the affairs of nations.

Psalm 22.28.

For kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.

Proverbs 21.1.

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.

He turns it wherever he will.

Acts 17.26.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth,

having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.

God has made all of the nations.

God has decided for how long they will persist.

God has decided where the boundaries of those nations exist.

He orders the affairs of the nations.

He orders the activity of mankind.

Jeremiah 10.23.

Jeremiah says, I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,

that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

Proverbs 16.9.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Beloved, this is what the Scripture says about God's providence in this world.

God is providential in the terror attacks in Paris and every other tragedy that we will walk through in this life.

Now, some would say of this means that God is providentially in control, that he permitted or that he allowed it to happen.

But I say to you, and I believe that the Scripture says that he ordained it to happen.

It's a difficult thing to say.

That God ordained it to happen.

And the immediate question that's begged, I hope your mind went there because it means that your mind is rational and it functions.

Doesn't this make God the source of evil?

God ordains it to come to pass, then isn't he the very source of it?

Doesn't it originate with him?

Is this even possible?

What we know of the character of God, can he ordain evil to come to pass?

Things might come to your mind.

1 John 1.5.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

That God is perfect.

He is holy.

He is righteous.

Is it possible that God can sin?

There's a resounding no of an answer to that, but it can be very troubling to our minds.

And I can only answer the question for you in this way.

But God ordaining sin does not make him the source of it, but rather God directs, gives direction to the evil of men in order to accomplish his purposes.

There's stories of this.

Many stories of Joseph being sold into slavery.

And Joseph at the end of all of that realizes that all the good that God brought about through his life,

he says to his brothers, what you intended for evil, God meant for good.

Let's give another river analogy a try.

I think the last one I tried really bombed.

The evil of man, it belongs to us.

The evil of man is a flowing river, and it is on the move.

God's providence sets banks on the borders of that river, directs its flow.

He himself is not the source of the river, but he orders it.

He channels it so that the river arrives at its appointed destination,

so that it accomplishes what God set out for it to accomplish.

And it's challenging to my mind.

I'd just be entirely honest to you.

I wish that I could figure all things out in the Scripture,

all of these apparent paradoxes that appear in the Scripture.

I want to wrestle them out to their very, very end.

Every reasonable explanation that I've ever read concerning these types of things

still seems to come up a bit short for me.

How is it possible that God ordains the evil, but he's not the source of the evil?

So, it's a difficult thing to try to wrap our minds around.

The alternatives are heretical.

We can't think differently about who God is in this world,

and so we must wrestle with these types of things.

It is terrifying to me to think that 130 people could be killed

over a very short period of time on Friday evening,

and that God had no part in it, that he was off someplace else,

that he wasn't paying attention,

that he wasn't there in the midst of what was happening in that place.

That caused me to shudder to think that that could even be possible

if we were to ignore the God of Scripture.

It's comforting to me to know that he ordained it.

I hope it's comforting to you to go,

Oh, this tragedy, this thing that we weep over, right?

We mourn with those who mourn.

It's something that God intended to have happen.

The next question that may come to your mind,

if God intends these things to happen, if he ordains them to happen,

is man still responsible for his actions?

Are these ISIS terrorists responsible for their actions?

Kind of ironically, they're trying to be responsible for their actions.

They've come right out and said,

we did this because it is jihad,

because of our religious ideologies.

We did this.

Our president seems to be trying to take that responsibility away from them.

They certainly are responsible.

God will not take that responsibility from them.

They're fully responsible and accountable for their sin.

God's providence does not absolve man of his responsibility.

Let me show you an example of this in the Scripture.

Turn to the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, chapter 1.

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

I'll give you a second to find it while I drink some water.

Habakkuk, chapter 1.

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

This is a very fitting text as we consider the tragedy in France.

Because the prophet Habakkuk is predicting what's going to come to pass,

and that is that Israel is going to be judged by a people, a warring people, the Chaldeans.

Let's see what God has to say, beginning in verse 5.

Habakkuk, chapter 1, verse 5.

Habakkuk 1:5

I'll read down through verse 11.

This is God speaking.

Look among the nations and see.

Wonder and be astounded.

For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.

This is God saying, I am doing a work.

For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,

that bitter and hasty nation

who march through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.

They are dreaded and fearsome.

Their justice and dignity go forth from themselves,

meaning it's not existent in them.

Their horses are swifter than leopards,

more fierce than the evening wolves.

Their horsemen press proudly on.

The horsemen come from afar.

They fly like an eagle, swift to devour.

They all come for violence,

all their faces forward.

That is, set on that violence.

They gather captives like sand.

At kings they scoff,

and at rulers they laugh.

They laugh at every fortress,

for they pile up earth and take it.

They built these big earth ramps to get into fortresses.

Then they sweep by like the wind and go on.

Now, listen to this little phrase that comes next.

Guilty men,

whose own might is their God.

You see that God says,

I'm raising up the Chaldeans, right?

I'm giving them this power that they have,

and that might is their God,

and they are guilty of this activity.

Yet, He ordains,

He orchestrates them to accomplish His purpose.

In this case,

that's the judgment of Israel.

You see it in that text there.

Now, as I mentioned previously,

the only alternatives to this perspective

has been deemed heretical,

and we would do well to keep ourselves

from thinking in these ways

or functioning with these kinds of thoughts

fueling us.

There's two.

Two I just want to point out to you.

The first is called dualism.

Dualism states that there's this cosmic war

between good and evil,

which I say to you is taking place,

but that we don't know the outcome of that war.

That the two are battling.

Who can know which will win?

God or Satan?

This is not the case, beloved.

God has conquered.

Jesus Christ has delivered the death blow to Satan.

Satan's not omniscient.

He's not omnipotent.

He's a created being.

God is the creator.

Satan is held on a very tight leash by our Lord.

Those things that he is allowed to do

are permitted by God.

The story of Job.

Job is a righteous man,

and Satan wants to tempt him,

and he comes and he asks permission of God to do this.

Another example of this is found in the temptation,

the prediction of Peter's denial.

Turn there with me.

Luke 22.

Beginning in verse 31,

Jesus says to Peter,

Simon, Simon, behold,

Satan demanded to have you

that he might sift you like wheat.

There's another request made here.

Satan comes to God and he says,

give me Peter.

I'm going to sift him out like wheat.

Verse 32,

but I have prayed for you

that your faith may not fail.

And when you have turned again,

right, so he's going to deny Christ,

but he's going to turn back to Christ.

The prediction's right here.

When you have turned again,

strengthen your brothers.

Peter said to him,

Lord, I'm ready to go with you

both to prison and to death.

Jesus said, I tell you,

Peter, the rooster will not crow this day

until you deny three times that you know me.

You see it found right there in that text.

This is not dualism, right?

Jesus himself says,

I have prayed and you will turn back to me.

You will not be conquered by Satan.

Dualism is a heresy

and should not be considered.

We should not say,

now, was Satan in some way active

and participating in these attacks?

I couldn't say.

I don't know.

Again, he can't be all places at all times.

Maybe he was someplace else

carrying out some greater atrocity.

Was there some spiritual power at play

in that activity?

I would say to you,

yes, there was.

But it didn't escape God.

It didn't conquer him.

God wasn't pushed back at bay

so that this thing could happen.

God ordained that it would.

The second one is called open theism.

And there are a lot of people in our day

that are open theists,

whether they realize it or not.

Open theism.

Also, the heresy.

Open theism says

that we are entirely free agents.

Basically, that we can do

whatever we want to do.

And I agree that we have free will.

It just depends on what you mean by free.

It's a whole other conversation

for another time or times, perhaps.

But it would say that we're totally free

and God doesn't know

what will necessarily happen,

but He knows all possible outcomes

and He works in response

to man's activity.

That's open theism.

That we're directing our own paths.

And it's based loosely

on some responses in the Scripture,

some places that it's recorded

as if God changed His mind

in the Old Testament.

It's got very shifting ground

to stand on biblically.

Most often, it's a work

of human logic.

Trying to make sense

of how it is in this world

that God can permit

such things to happen.

And that would be to say

that these men freely chose

and now God steps in

and He responds.

Oh, what can I redeem

out of this situation?

Look at my people

doing the wrong thing once again.

How can I step in

to the midst of all of that?

God really goes on trial

at times like this.

But God has spoken to us

from His Word.

And the next question

that seems to be begged is then,

how can a good God

permit such things to happen?

Beloved, I would say to you

that we just have to be

so careful in our understanding

of what is good.

The greatest and the highest good

that we can possibly have

is God Himself.

And how He orchestrates

all of these things

to that great end

is beyond me.

Maybe a wiser man,

but I don't think so.

Paul said in Romans 11,

33-36,

all of the depths

of the riches

and wisdom

and knowledge of God.

How unsearchable

are His judgments

and how inscrutable

or unknowable,

that's what that means,

His ways.

For who has known

the mind of the Lord

or who has been

His counselor

or who has given

a gift to Him

that He might be repaid

for from Him

and through Him

and to Him

are all things,

including tragedies,

terrorist attacks,

to Him

be glory forever.

Amen.

And Paul gets to

the higher purpose

of all things,

does he not?

The glory of God.

God is firstly

and foremostly,

that may not be a word,

concerned with His glory.

This is what He's seeking out.

God is God-centered.

It would be horrible

for us to be man-centered,

but we're not God.

God is the greatest thing,

the Creator.

We're all creation

and we should all rightly

worship Him.

So He's working these things

for that high good

in some way.

that we may never comprehend

on this side of glory.

And the problem

with both of us

is that we don't think

of good

in the right way.

C.S. Lewis wrote

in the book

The Problem of Pain,

We want,

in fact,

not so much

a Father in Heaven

as a Grandfather

in Heaven,

a senile benevolence

who,

as they say,

liked to see young people

enjoying themselves,

and whose plan

for the universe

was simply

that it might be

truly said

at the end of each day

a good time

was had

by all.

This is not the God

of Scripture.

This God

ordains all things

and works all things

and brings all things

underneath

His goodness to us

that He would

give Himself

to us.

So secondly,

what is God

working to accomplish

by allowing

the terror attacks

in Paris?

His glory,

and I've said that already,

primarily,

I think that's the

single answer to this,

and there may be

a subset

of other answers.

As I've said,

I don't even know

that I could wrap my mind

completely around

those things.

But He is

seeking His glory

in this thing

specifically

by calling

all men

to repent.

By calling

all men

to repent.

Let me show you

another text of Scripture.

Luke chapter 13.

Luke 13 · chapter mention

I love the Gospels.

I love the record

of Jesus'

conversations.

I love

reading passages

of Scripture

where you expect,

having some

theological

education

of my own,

you would expect

He would answer

in a particular way.

Like, oh,

I know how Jesus

is going to answer

this one.

And then He answers

it in a completely

different way,

the perfect way.

Luke chapter 13,

Luke 13:1

verse 1.

There were some

present at that

very time

who told Him

about the Galileans.

these would be

Galilean Jews

whose blood

Pilate had mingled

with their sacrifices.

And what seems

to have happened here,

there's not a lot

of extra-biblical

resources that tell us

much about this.

Pilate,

the Roman governor

over the province,

was a cruel man

in so many ways.

We have a group

of Galilean Jews

who are making sacrifices,

which means this was

likely at Passover

because there was

so much sacrifice

being done

that the priests

couldn't keep up with it.

So, everyone got involved.

So, they were actually

at the temple

in Jerusalem

making sacrifice.

And what's meant

by this idea

that Pilate mingled

their blood

is that they were

killed in the temple.

That they were massacred

in the temple.

We don't know how many,

but Galilean Jews

were murdered

by Pilate

as they were there

doing the

quote-unquote

good activity

of worship to God,

giving sacrifice,

to God.

They were killed.

And so, they

asked this question,

what about this thing

that has happened

and how does Jesus

answer?

And he answered them,

do you think

that these Galileans

were worse sinners

than all the other

Galileans

because they suffered

in this way?

The Jewish understanding

of punishment

in the world

was that they had

done something?

Necessarily,

these Galileans

must have sinned

if this type of a judgment

was brought on them

in this world.

They couldn't have been

without guilt

if they were punished

in this way.

And Jesus' response

to them is to say,

of course they were

with guilt.

Just like you're

with guilt.

We're all with

the same guilt.

Pilate.

And he goes on

and he uses

a natural disaster.

So, here's Pilate

probably by the hands

of soldiers

murdering Galilean Jews.

And he says,

no, I tell you,

but unless you repent,

you will all likewise

perish.

Or those 18

on whom the tower

in Siloam fell

and killed them,

do you think

that they were

worse offenders

than all the others

who lived

in Jerusalem?

No.

I tell you,

but unless you repent,

you will all likewise

perish.

So, events like this

that we're discussing

this morning,

this terrorist attack

in Paris, France.

With these events,

God makes a cry out

into the world,

repent.

Repent.

Repent.

I point out four words

to you from this passage.

All.

No one is exempt.

No one is exempt

from the just

condemnation of God

for sin.

Romans 3.10,

none is righteous.

No, not one.

3.23,

for all has sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

Apart from repentance,

everyone is guilty.

Equally so,

those who were murdered

in France

and those who did

the murdering

in France

under the just

condemnation of God

if they didn't repent.

And we can't be too sure

of those victims.

They're all.

No one is exempt.

We're all under this

condemnation

apart from

repentance.

Did you use the word

likewise?

These people didn't

expect their end

would come

in this way

and neither will you,

but it will

come

and we will

perish.

I don't think here

he's talking about

a physical death.

He's not suggesting

that if you repent,

you'll have

eternal life

here

in these bodies.

Not a physical death,

but I think he's referring

to a final judgment

and the eternal punishment

that comes

beyond that.

This is what he means

by the word

perish.

There's another place,

John 3.16,

for God so loved the world

that he gave his only Son

that whoever believes

in him

should not

perish

but have

eternal life.

And this comes to us

through repentance.

Unless you repent,

that is that you turn

from your evil

and you turn

to God

and the way

that this happens

is through the personal

work of Jesus Christ.

Faith in

Christ.

This will be

your end.

This will be

their

end.

God cries out

to the world,

repent.

This life is fleeting.

It is short.

Evil runs rampant.

I have promised

to return.

repent.

In Luke 11.32,

Jesus says,

the men of Nineveh

will rise up

at the judgment

with this generation

and condemn it.

For they repented

at the preaching

of Jonah

and behold,

something greater

than Jonah

is here.

Jesus Christ

calls us

to repent.

Listen to the

repentance

of the Ninevites.

Jonah 3.5-9,

and the people

of Nineveh

believed God.

Remember,

Jonah comes

and preaches

to them

and the record

is that they

believed God.

They called

for a fast

and put on

sackcloth.

This was a common

sign of repentance

in the day.

From the greatest

of them

to the least

of them.

The word

reached the king

of Nineveh

and he arose

from his throne,

removed his robe,

covered himself

with sackcloth

and sat in ashes.

And he issued

a proclamation

and published

through Nineveh

by the decree

of the king

and his nobles,

let neither man

nor beast,

herd nor flock

taste anything.

Let them not feed

or drink water,

but let man

and beast

be covered

with sackcloth

and let them

call out mightily

to God.

Let everyone,

this is this picture

of repentance,

turn from his evil way

and from the violence

that is in his hands.

Who knows?

God may turn

and relent

and turn

from his fierce anger

so that we may not

perish.

And we know

if we read on

that he did in fact

relent

from his punishment

to the Ninevites.

So where does that

leave us?

What does that leave us?

God's calling out

in these types

of activities

for repentance.

Well, firstly,

we need to pray

for repentance.

Have you prayed

one time

since a week ago

Friday

for the repentance

of the world

in light

of this type of thing?

I would encourage

you to do so.

This shock wave

that has gone

around the world.

Don't let it be wasted.

Life is short.

It is fleeting.

It is passing.

And those who don't

repent will

perish.

This should be

a very clear reminder

to us of that.

A bunch of young people

enjoying themselves

at a rock show

and someone

opened fires

inside.

Never safe

apart from Christ.

Pray for repentance.

Pray

for the perpetrators

of such acts

and those who are

going to come

behind them.

The waves

of terror

that we're going

to experience

in this world.

Pray for them

as well.

And I know

that is hard.

My mind

and my heart

immediately goes

to pray for vindication.

Vindicate your people.

Punish and destroy.

Eternal damnation

is what they deserve.

God has been good

to us

even though

we were his enemy.

They are no more

his enemy

than we were.

The Ninevites

are a wonderful

example of this.

You know why Jonah

didn't want to go

to the Ninevites?

Because the Ninevites

were wickedly evil

and had been horrible

to Israel.

They were known

for cutting off

limbs of their captors,

for skinning them alive.

Horrible,

horrible things.

Atrocities

had been delivered

upon the Israelites.

Jonah was afraid

that God would

actually save them.

He can't possibly

go to them.

pray for ISIS.

Pray for the radical Muslims

in the world.

God is greater

than their upbringing

and their ideologies.

We ought not only pray

for repentance,

we should go

to the world.

There's so much

tragic death.

There's so much

evil.

To keep our analogies

together,

we call this darkness.

And we're meant

to be light

in those places.

We're not meant

to huddle together

as light

in a singular spot.

Hear me say this,

church.

The church of Christ

is gathered together

in order

for us

to go.

This is the mission

of the church.

All the good

that we do together,

all the bringing

of our minds together,

all the prayers,

the shifting of our hearts,

all of those things

are meant

for us

to go.

And I will say

this to you,

I praise God

for so much

health

in this congregation,

so many good things,

so many evidences

of His work,

but I will say

to you,

I cannot say

this church is healthy

until this church

is going.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Let's go.

People are perishing.

Let's go to France.

Let's go to Syria.

Let's go to Iraq

and Iran.

Right?

These people need

the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

Pray for repentance.

Go.

Go to your neighbor.

Go to your classmate

and your workmate.

Let's go.

God is providential

in the terror attacks

in Paris.

He ordained it

and other calamity

in the world

for the sake of His glory,

specifically

by calling all men

to repent.

I appreciated

John Piper

in an NPR interview

after the Indian Ocean tsunami

in 2004.

You recall,

that happened

the day after Christmas

in 2004.

So early January 2005,

he was interviewed

on NPR

and he just did

such a wonderful job

of honoring God

in the way

he explained this.

But he said,

and I just want you

to hold this phrase,

God is always

mingling mercy

and judgment.

And this is what God

did on behalf

of the preacher.

Ecclesiastes 4,

1 through 3,

again I saw

all the oppressions

that are done

under the sun

and behold

the tears

of the oppressed

and had no one

to comfort them.

On the side

of their oppressors

there was power

and there was no one

to comfort them.

And I thought

the dead

who are already dead

more fortunate

than the living

who are still alive.

But better than both

is he

who has not yet been

and has not seen

the evil deeds

that are under

the sun.

You hear just

the defeat

in the writing

of the preacher.

Oh, meaningless.

Meaningless.

Look at all

of the evil.

It would be better

not to be alive.

It would be better

to be already dead

and to witness

the evil

of this day.

But by the time

he gets

to Ecclesiastes 12

in his summary

God has moved

his heart

and he says

the end of the matter

all has been heard.

Fear God

and keep

his commandments

for this is the whole

duty of men.

Let's pray.