Does God punish people today?

Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would come and help us as we read your word.

And Father, we don't want to just read your word as an academic exercise,

but we ask, Father, that you would help us to understand who we really are,

come to a better self-knowledge of who we are in light of you,

and come to a better knowledge of you in light of who we are.

And we ask that the Holy Spirit would do this this morning,

and we ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.

One of the questions which I have not talked about throughout these five,

this is the fifth week, so the four previous weeks, is a big one.

Does God punish people today?

We've been looking at the Book of Lamentations.

Our Jewish friends would say that it's part of the Tanakh or the Torah.

We as Christians say that it's part of the Old Testament.

And the Book of Lamentations, it's these five linked poems.

Each poem, in a sense, is a separate poem or a class group of poems.

And now we're coming to the fifth one, and it's all dealing with the fact

that it very clearly says that God has punished the people,

that he has punished them because, in fact, they deserve to be punished.

And the punishment is very harsh.

And we've been looking at that, and if you're curious about some of the aspects of that,

and this is the first time you're watching, you can look at the other sermons.

I will retouch a little bit on some of these issues again, but it will be fresh.

But I haven't actually addressed a very important question that many of you probably have,

and I've been wondering if I was going to address it.

Does God still punish today?

Is it just something he did in the past?

Is it changed now that, you know, there was the Old Testament, God is very angry,

but now we have Jesus, it's very different.

Is punishment purely in the future?

Does God punish today?

So we're going to walk towards that question today as we look through.

And the fifth and final poem of the Book of Lamentations will help us to ask that question.

So just before we get to it, hopefully there'll be an image.

You're going to not see me for a second, and you're going to see an image.

And one of the things which is important to understand about reading the Book of Lamentations

is the context, so to speak, of it.

You know, there's a very, very famous part of the Book of Lamentations,

the steadfast love of the Lord never faileth, his mercies never come to an end,

they are new every morning, they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.

And that's from the Book of Lamentations, it's in Chapter 3,

and usually when that quote is seen, you see something very bucolic,

you see a beautiful village or a beautiful farm and full fields or a beautiful cottage,

and everything looks just very, very, very, very prosperous.

But to understand that these five poems were written amidst the ruins of a city,

that's the way to understand it.

So even in Chapter 3, when you have this very, very powerful thing of, you know,

great is your faithfulness, the steadfast love of the Lord never fails,

that's in Chapter 3.

Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, the person's still wrestling with the devastation in the poems

and their pain.

Because, and one of the things is, on one level, we might think this is disappointing,

that the really good part should be the ending,

but it actually is very, very psychologically and emotionally true.

Some of you are dealing with very, very hard things.

Some of us are dealing with very, very hard things this morning.

And it's the ruin of our health, the ruin of our finances,

the ruin of our family, the ruin of our business, whatever it is.

And having, in a sense, a better sense of who God is doesn't necessarily take away the pain.

And that's one of the things which is very rich about this text.

So you see in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, there's movement.

And at the end here, we're going to see this heartfelt prayer for restoration.

But you need to understand that it's almost as if you're sitting amidst the rubble

in the ruins of the city

and continuing to address these things, pouring out your heart to God.

And one of the things which is different about this chapter is this chapter,

all the other chapters are, in a sense,

poems all grouped together around a poetic structure called an acrostic,

which is a geeky type of thing to even say,

and I hope I didn't lose you when I said it.

This is just a prayer.

And it's not an acrostic, but it keeps the same number of verses.

And it's just a prayer.

And so let's see how this book ends, how, in a sense, they pray at the end,

how they pray amidst the ruins.

And it begins like this.

Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us.

Look and see our disgrace.

And just sort of going to pause.

The way this poem is organized, there's this opening plea, threefold plea.

And then there's, from verses 2 to 18, there's just an unpacking of the heart

and an unpacking of the concerns that bother them.

The looking around, the poet looking around at the city

and looking around at the people who are still left in the city

and just pouring out what's actually going on.

And then verses 19 to 22 are sort of the actual final request.

And in the original language, there's these three imperatives.

So it's a very, very intense prayer, which is hard to capture in English.

It says, you know, remember, look, see.

And these are all, it's very, very intense.

And so this person is, the poet is asking this intense thing for God

to just look at what's going on around them.

The poet is going to make his final request at the end,

but this initial request is just see what's going on.

Just look.

We know that these things matter to you,

and we know that it's, I know that it's valid and fair

for me to bring these to your attention.

Just remember is a way, it always implies that God is going to act, by the way,

not that he's forgotten.

It's sort of a formulaic word in the Tanakh,

the Old Testament of calling God to act

based on his character, look and see.

And it's all about the disgrace.

And what does that disgrace mean?

Well, verses 2 to 18 are going to sort of,

rather than trying to describe it by giving a definition of disgrace,

it's going to describe the disgrace within a series of images.

Very powerful image after image after image after image.

It's like a heart dump.

And it goes like this.

Verse 2.

We have become orphans, fatherless.

Our mothers are like widows.

We must pay for the water we drink.

The wood we get must be bought.

Our pursuers are at our necks.

We are weary.

We are given no rest.

At our necks is an image as if there's a,

it's as if somebody's unleashed dogs on them.

And these are attacked dogs that go for the arms or go for the neck,

go for the kill.

And they're at our necks.

They're on us all the time.

The people who are our overlords are very attentive

and very attentive to keeping them under,

keeping us under their heel.

We have given the hand to Egypt and to Assyria to get bread enough.

This is all part of the earlier poem,

how they've gone to these other powers.

And these other powers, which they at first thought would help them,

well, on one level they are sort of helping them,

but they're not really helping them.

They've come in.

You know, it would be a little bit as if you're watching a movie

and an area has been devastated

and some powerful business people come in from, you know,

an area that hasn't been afflicted.

And they come with their arms.

They come with their guards to make sure that nobody can get their bread,

the grain, the staples that we need.

They charge exorbitant prices.

And they use their, they're not so much guards as thugs.

And wherever they go, they keep people down

and they keep themselves rich.

Now, another important thing here, just as a bit of an aside,

before we go any further in reading this.

And I don't know where you are with the Lord when you're watching this,

but this is a very important thing for Christians to notice.

And for those of you who are trying to figure out whether,

what this Christian thing is, it's important for you to notice

that this is something which Christians are called to.

Christians aren't called to be an elite.

We are not called to be over society.

We are not called to be sort of separate

from what happens to the community in the city.

It's not as if God says, listen, you join the church,

you become a Christian, a true Christian,

and you're going to sort of enter a little bubble.

And bad things will happen to Ottawa,

and bad things will happen to Canada,

but bad things won't happen to you.

The economy of Canada can go down the tubes,

but you will still have a good job and be making good money.

The safety of the city can deteriorate,

but you will be safe.

That's not what the Bible says.

The person who's praying here,

and there's lots of our conservative Jewish friends

would say that Jeremiah is the author,

a famous prophet of the Old Testament,

the weeping prophet.

Many Christians would believe,

and I think there's actually a good case

that Jeremiah is the author of this.

But if it is Jeremiah,

he himself wasn't a bad,

I mean, he didn't do all of these things

that brought judgment upon the city,

but he shares in the judgment of the city.

See, it's part of the way that the Bible

slowly but powerfully forms us to understand

that we are to have a heart for our city,

that we are to have a heart for our nation,

that it's a good and proper thing

for Christians to seek public office

and to seek the good of the city,

the good of the province, the good of the land.

It's good for a person to enter into the civil service

or to enter into business,

to seek the good of the city,

the good of the country,

the good of the province.

It is a good thing to do,

that we should have a heart for our city.

The things in our city which are evil

should break our heart.

We should speak against it.

We should pray against it.

The things in our city which are good,

we should celebrate.

But in all things,

we should see that, in a sense,

our final and true home is in heaven,

the new heaven and the new earth.

But our earthly home matters very, very much.

There is no holy land for us.

There is no place that we should go

and let the whole world go to hell, so to speak,

that we are to put down roots where we live

and seek the good of our city.

And it's captured here very powerfully

in all of the our praying,

the us praying throughout the poem.

Verse 7.

Now in verse 7 here,

all of a sudden it's going to sound a little bit

as if it's a very, very Canadian,

contemporary Canadian and North American prayer.

Because one of the things that's kept,

that's very, very true of modern Canada

is virtue signaling repentance.

And by that I mean, you know,

we confess all the terrible things

done to First Nations in the past.

We confess all the terrible things

done to this group or that group

or the racism, et cetera,

all in the past.

And we can look very virtuous.

We can look very pious.

And if I'm offending some of you,

it's the Bible.

I'm not going to apologize for it.

It's just virtue signaling.

There's no real repentance there,

no real accepting of any type of responsibility.

So look what happens in verse 7.

Our fathers sinned and are no more,

and we bear their iniquities.

And we bear their iniquities.

And so this sounds as if

it's just talking about this modern,

it's as if they're now,

has it,

if you've been reading all the way through,

one of the things which is very telling

throughout chapters 1 through 4

is that the poet

is accepting responsibility

for what's happened,

that they themselves have done something

that means that God's punishment

is deserved.

But what,

well, actually,

we're just going to hold this.

This isn't virtue signaling.

It's actually talking about something

very, very important to understand

about the nature of being human

and when human beings do something wrong.

And it's the opposite

of what Canadians do

with virtue signaling.

But we'll come to that

when we get to verse 16.

Verse 8.

Slaves rule over us.

There is none to deliver us

from their hand.

We get our bread

at the peril of our lives

because of the sword

in the wilderness.

Our skin is as hot

as an oven

with the burning heat

of famine.

Women are raped in Zion,

young women

in the towns of Judah.

Princes are hung up

by their hands.

No respect

is shown to the elders.

Young men are compelled

to grind at the mill

and boys stagger

under the loads of wood.

The old men have left

the city gate,

the young men their music.

The joy of our hearts

has ceased,

our dancing

has been turned to mourning.

The crown has fallen

from our head.

Woe to us

for we have sinned.

Now just sort of pause here.

You'll see here once again

the very, very clear recognition

on the poet

that they as a people,

including himself

and him in his own ways,

have sinned

and God's punishment

is just.

Now there's two things

about here to notice

before we go anything further

in the psalm.

The first thing is this.

If I do something

which is very wrong,

in fact does have

repercussions

to my children,

and it might even have

repercussions

to my grandchildren

or my great-grandchildren,

that in fact

we often think of sin

or doing wrong

as a very, very

individualistic act.

But the fact is

that it's never

an individualistic act.

We, you might

or might not accept this,

you might not accept this

if you're not a Christian,

it, everything

which we do

which is wrong

is something

which is in a sense

an offense

or an attack

against God.

But because we human beings

are inextricably

part of the created order

and inextricably

part of a social order,

whenever we do wrong,

the whole utilitarian,

consequentialist,

relativistic understanding

of doing wrong

is just not humanly true

and we see that.

Many of us struggle

with, in fact,

the repercussions

of what our parents

or our grandparents

have done.

We're dealing with a dad

maybe who was

a terrible alcoholic

or who was

exceptionally violent

and broke up the family

that was violent

towards you

and you still bear

the scars of that.

You still hear his voice

in your head

and it's hard

to get over that,

to get around that.

That there was

some type of

maybe terrible

financial ruin

that completely

and utterly affected

your family

and still continues

to affect you

and your grandchildren.

I know that

if I was to have

an affair

and to break up

our marriage

it would have repercussions

not just to myself

and my wife

but to my kids

and to the grandkids.

It would be devastating

to a large number

of people.

It would be devastating

to the congregation.

And so what we see

in chapter,

in verse 7

isn't virtue signaling

saying,

oh yeah,

you know,

our parents

stole this land

and we're really sad

for it.

We continue to live

in the land

which is one of the reasons

why you will never see

in Church of the Messiah

us beginning a service

about how we're on land

that belongs to other people

because,

and if I offend you,

maybe this will cause

a Twitter storm.

People who say that

don't believe it.

They don't give up

their house.

It's virtue signaling.

And it's virtue signaling

with no type of cost.

And what we see here

is this very,

very powerful

empirically true

understanding

of the consequence

of evil.

that the wrong done

in an earlier generation

or generations

continues to have

a consequence

that barrels

for several generations

and that we often experience.

But at the same time,

and they're now,

and they're living with this.

And they're acknowledging this.

And at the same time,

though,

they themselves

have done something wrong.

And the punishment

that they bear

is not just part

of the consequences

of that

which was done

in an earlier generation

by forebearers,

but also something

which they themselves

are responsible for.

In fact,

actually,

one of the things

which is very hard

in this book,

the book of Lamentations,

for us as Canadians

to get our mind around,

and I'm definitely

including myself in this,

is it's very,

very hard

for modern Canadians

to actually confess

wrongdoing.

I find this all the time.

I get validly called out

maybe that I haven't

answered an email

or something like that.

And I start to answer

and in my reflex motion,

I want to start saying,

I want to do this.

I want to say,

I'm really sorry

for not responding

to your email

that came two weeks ago.

I apologize for it.

And then as soon as I say

I apologize for it,

without even having to do it,

I can say,

you know,

but I've been really busy.

But I've been really busy.

I have lots of emails.

I've been dealing

with these really important things.

There was this crisis.

You see what I've done?

I haven't actually apologized.

And the fact of the matter is,

is that one of the things

which is so hard for us

when we read this book

is this,

he acknowledges

and accepts

that he has done wrong.

And at no point in time

in any of the five chapters

is there anything

like what you and I do

all of the time

that's part of the air

that we breathe?

There's no blame shifting.

There's no face-saving stories.

There's no excuses.

There's no smoke being blown

to try to distract you

from what the real issue is.

There's no distracting.

There's no dissembling.

There's no cloaking.

Cloaking means,

well,

I was really doing this

for this very,

very good reason

and I'm really sorry

that you are upset.

Well, once again,

one moment,

I'm doing this

for a good reason.

I'm sorry you're upset.

That's a very common thing as well.

No, no, no,

you lied.

No, you stole.

No, you cheated.

Not, I was intending

something really good

and I really, really,

really mean well

and I'm sorry you're upset.

No, you abused your power.

Don't give me this thing

that you have good motives

that somehow cloaks

what you did

and you're just bothered

that I'm bothered.

No, you abused your power.

There's no cloaking.

There's no whining.

There's no virtue signaling.

And I would like to suggest,

that's one of the reasons

we have a hard time

reading the book,

by the way,

is that none of this happens

and we're not quite sure

what to do with somebody

who just says,

we did wrong.

I did wrong.

Stop.

I mean, period.

No good motives.

Well, we're just,

yeah, yeah, okay,

I know that we were worshipping

all these other gods.

Yeah, I know that we were

sacrificing babies.

Yeah, I know that we practiced

infanticide.

Yeah, I know that we sold

our boys and girls

to be prostitutes.

Yeah, but I was really trying

to find myself

and find God

and I'm really bothered

that you're upset.

that's what we expect

because that's what we do.

And you see,

it might be one of the reasons

why we have so much problems

with relationships,

that so many marriages

end in divorce,

that so many common law partnerships

end in separation

and divorce,

that so many friendships end,

is you see,

we're just so deeply addicted

to not accepting responsibility.

responsibility.

But if you'd actually

have a good relation,

you can't have a good relationship

without accepting responsibility

for the bad that you did.

You see,

the other person

will put up for it

for a while,

but at some point in time

they don't.

Because you see,

when we just use excuses,

when we just use blame shifting,

when we do this

virtue signaling,

when we do all of this stuff,

we're really just trying

to manipulate the other person.

And at some point in time,

the person being manipulated

says,

you know what?

I don't like being manipulated.

I want to have

a good relationship with you.

And I can have

a good relationship with you

if you're always manipulating me.

You know,

you can't actually extend

grace or mercy

if there's no acknowledgement

of wrong.

And that is so much

a part of what it means

to be Canadians today

that is part of the problem

we have

with the Book of Lamentations.

See,

time and time and time

and time again,

the problems we have

with the Book of Lamentations,

if you sit and think about it

for a while,

actually shows

there's a problem in us.

We think

that the Book of Lamentations,

in a sense,

is ammunition

against God

who's on trial.

But if you think about it,

if you really think

about what's going on,

you start to realize

that it's revealing us.

And

if we,

if I,

if I spend

all of my time

trying to manipulate

my kids,

manipulate my wife,

manipulate my grandkids,

never accepting

responsibility,

never accepting

any type of blame,

and it,

it wrecks the relationship.

And if I,

if I do that

with my wife,

how can that ever,

how can I ever possibly do,

how can I ever possibly

be right

if there really is a God

that does exist?

Now,

we've read up until

verse 16.

the last two verses

are very important

to bring this,

the long list

of the disgrace

to a completion,

the pouring out

of their heart

to God.

And then we see

how they pray

in light of all of this.

Verse 17,

for this,

okay,

look at verse 16 again,

the crown has fallen

from our head,

woe to us,

for we have sinned.

For this,

our heart has become sick.

For these things,

our eyes have grown dim.

In other words,

our heart has become sick

because of their sin

and because of their disgrace.

It's both.

It's not an either or.

It's both the disgrace,

which carries its own weight,

and the sin,

which troubles them.

You see,

this is a whole other sermon,

but it's actually part

of the profound wisdom.

I think only,

no system of thought

is as wise as the Bible.

If you actually compare it,

if you look at the options,

because the fact of the matter is,

there is something in us.

There is something in you,

and there is something in me

that does wrong.

Like,

it's just there.

Not all the time,

obviously.

Like,

not all the time.

But,

you know,

but why is it that,

you know,

you have a whole day,

maybe,

you know,

with your best friend

or something like that,

and they've been really kind,

they've been really generous to you,

and then at the end,

I don't know,

maybe it's like washing dishes,

or maybe it's doing some

of their little simple chore,

and you know you should get up

and do something,

but you just sit and be selfish.

Like,

why is it you do that?

Like,

why do I do that?

Like,

there's a type of mystery

to why,

anybody ever chooses evil,

because it's just,

it's just there.

And as that becomes clear to us,

and that's what's going on here,

it's just there.

The sin is just there.

And you've seen that

in the previous weeks,

that even after they've been judged,

there's still these terrible things

that people are doing.

It's just there.

Well,

the Bible describes

why that happens

very powerfully.

It not only describes it

in poems like that,

but it actually,

we'll see in a moment,

gives a bit of a,

of a way to dealing

with the fact

that this makes our hearts sick

when we realize it.

Verse 18,

for Mount Zion,

which lies desolate,

jackals prowl over it.

And it's a very,

very powerful closing image.

Just think,

those of you who watch movies,

if you,

maybe it's an adventure movie

or a fantasy movie

or something like that,

and you have the,

the hero or the heroine

and,

or the group,

and they're,

they're walking along

and off in the distance

they see some ruins

and in the ruins

they see some jackals.

What does that always mean?

It means that if there are

human beings there,

they're hiding.

It means it's a place

of devastation

that might once have been great,

but now is not.

To see the couple of jackals

wandering around

amidst the ruins

creates a very type of

emotional type of response,

a place of danger,

a place of some great evil

that had befallen that place

and those are the final words

of the pouring out

of their hearts.

It begins with,

see our disgrace

and from verses 2 to 18

the disgrace is loaded

with pictures,

powerful images

and this is the final image

of the jackals

amidst the ruins,

which is where the poet lives.

So how does the poet

now turn to talk to God?

Verse 19 through 22

or maybe I'll just,

well, I'll read all four verses

and I'll sort of loop back

and talk about it

and then we'll try to unpack

a little bit about

this particular question

which started the whole sermon,

does God still punish people today?

It goes like this,

verse 19,

but you, O Lord,

reign forever.

Your throne endures

to all generations.

It's very powerful, right?

You have the,

you go from verse 18,

the jackals amidst the ruins,

the ruins where the poet lives.

Verse 19,

the Lord reigns.

Despite the circumstances

that he sees around him,

the Lord reigns.

The Lord has reigned in the past.

He reigns today.

He will reign forever.

But you, O Lord,

reign forever.

Your throne endures

to all generations.

You know,

one of the things

which I often pray about

in my own personal prayers,

especially this last couple of years,

it's been a very important thing

for me to pray

that the Lord continues to reign

in our world.

That the Lord reigns in Canada.

The Lord is sovereign,

maybe is a better way to put it.

And that he only works on his plan A.

He doesn't need plan B,

he doesn't need plan C,

he doesn't need plan D.

Not surprised by what happens

and thinks,

oh dang,

I hadn't taken that into account,

I better change.

He's always only working on plan A.

And so they're often asking,

so Lord,

hold me in the hollow of your hand

and help me to walk with you.

But verse 20,

and here one of the things

you're going to see at the end,

and one of the things to notice

in verses 19, 20, 21, 22,

you're going to see this claim,

the doubt,

the claim, the doubt.

And it's,

to be in doubt is,

to have doubt is to be in two minds,

or at least two minds.

In a sense,

a mind about who God is

and what he's like,

and have some other doubts

about whether he's really like that,

or in this case,

the emotions and the images

are driving the fact

that maybe,

just maybe,

this time has come

that their evil has been so bad

that in fact,

it's irredeemable.

That the evil that they have done,

the evil that he has done,

is so bad that it is irredeemable.

And the Lord is still on his throne,

he does show mercy,

but they have done something

ten steps beyond

which mercy can be shown.

So you go to verse 19 again,

but you, O Lord, reign forever,

your throne endures to all generations.

Why do you forget us forever?

Why do you forsake us

for so many days?

Restore us to yourself, O Lord,

that we may be restored.

Renew our days as of old,

unless you have utterly rejected us

and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

You'll notice here

that it's restore us not to riches,

restore us not to power,

restore us not to perfect health,

but restore us, O Lord, to yourself.

Last week I gave you a bit of an analogy,

and this is something

which you need to also take into account

when you read the book of Lamentations.

It's asking a deeply personal question.

It would be as if, you know,

some evil person came up and said,

George, I'm going to give you an option.

You can, I'm going to take away your house.

I'm going to take away your car.

I'm going to take away your job,

but your marriage will be intact.

Or I'm going to give you a bigger house,

a better car, way more money,

but you're going to lose your marriage.

You're going to lose Louise.

What do you choose?

And if I even pause about that,

then there's a problem.

I mean, I know I would choose my wife.

I would choose the poverty and have my wife.

And we all know that if, in fact,

we could listen in on other people's minds,

another couple,

and, in fact, the woman was thinking,

okay, I think I would take the house and the car,

while the husband's saying,

I think I'd take my wife,

and that became public,

we'd all be on one person's side

and not the other, right?

Because we understand the deep importance

that human beings have

to be with another person,

to be with a person in the covenant of love.

And throughout the entire bigger story of the Bible,

the bigger story of the Bible is a love story,

that God, the triune God,

made human beings not because he had any particular needs

or because he was lonely,

because only Christianity accounts for the fact

that there's not a lonely God,

that we're not a God that's sort of above or below love

and good and evil,

that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

three persons, yet one God,

from all eternity there has been love,

there's been goodness,

there's been beauty,

there's been exchange,

there's been interactions.

And out of the fullness of love,

God creates human beings.

Out of the fullness of God's being,

he creates contingent human beings

made in his own image

who can not only learn to amongst themselves

in some small way model

the eternal love of the Father for the Son

and the Son for the Father

and the Holy Spirit and all,

but also be able to love him.

And that's how God made the entire world.

And then we human beings broke that.

We decided that we would be God.

We wanted to be like God.

We wanted to take God off of his throne

and we wanted to be on that throne.

And in doing that,

we broke our relationship with the source of love,

the source of goodness,

the source of truth,

the source of beauty.

And as soon as we did that,

not only did we break our relationship with God,

but if you go back and you read Genesis 3,

we instantly broke our relationship with ourselves,

our relationship with others,

and our relationship with the creation.

And that's, you see,

why there's just something within us that does wrong,

and yet we are not completely wrong.

Because the image of God

and God's creation within us

was bent but not broken, not effaced.

And God never gave up on his created order.

And even in that early story,

he promises that there will be a day

when he will restore human beings to himself.

He will renew by bringing a way

to have people in him to come back into him,

and that that will come in the future.

And this book of Lamentations is part of that,

setting the riddle, so to speak,

of how could human beings who continue to sin

possibly be restored?

How can God show mercy,

which is not just privilege?

And the Bible as a whole

is part of this larger love story

about how God redeems and restores

people to himself purely and utterly

out of the beauty of grace,

the beauty of mercy.

The beauty of justice is not broken

by the beauty of mercy and of grace,

but that the grace of God illuminates his justice,

and the justice of God illuminates his grace,

and it all becomes real in flesh.

Because, you see, here's the question.

Which I started with.

Does God still punish today?

Well, what we see here is an account

of God having punished in history.

And if you read the New Testament,

if you read the story of Ananias and Sapphira,

it is obvious that even after the death

and resurrection of Jesus,

that God still actually does punish in history.

So is it possible that what's happening to you

might be God's punishment?

Well, I think we can't know for certain.

It might be.

And that's not the answer most of you are wanting to hear.

In fact, it probably creates fears within you.

But it might be.

I mean, I can share with you,

when we walked away from our property

because we wanted to be loyal to Jesus,

and we moved to the Ottawa Little Theatre,

we had to leave our denomination

because our denomination had left the gospel

and was following a false gospel.

And so we, to be true to Jesus,

had to separate from our denomination,

and they came after us,

and eventually we settled out of court

and we walked away from our property.

And for the first two years,

the congregation declined almost by,

well, declined by 40% over the first two years.

Not at first, but over the first two,

two and a half years.

It was a very, very, very hard time

of leadership for me.

And I will confess,

one of the things I kept pointing out in my heart to God

is, God, is it because of some sin in my life

or is it because of some sin in the congregation?

You know, have I stopped preaching your word?

Have I stopped praying?

Are there things which I have done

for which this is coming?

Now, I didn't come to a particular,

I mean, you can never,

you can't, people who go and say,

you know, this is God's judgment,

COVID's God's judgment on Canada,

you can't make those claims.

You're not God, I'm not God.

But on the other hand,

people who say that it definitely isn't,

they're not God either.

It might be.

And in fact, it's a valid type of thing

for a Christian to ask.

Is this because of some sin

that we have been doing,

that I have been doing,

that this is happening to me?

And if it is, Lord,

my cry of my heart was to show me

if this was the case,

that I might repent

and be restored to him.

But while this troubles us a little bit,

it actually points us to something

which is of great hope.

You see, if I tell you

that there's the,

all of the history of the world

is captured in the Bible

and that it's ultimately a love story,

that human beings were made by a God

and then we fell

and then God promised

that he would send a redeemer

and he sends a redeemer

and he makes us right with himself

and we're going to go to a better place

when we die if we're in him.

And you might say,

George, well, that's just a good story,

but it's just a story.

It's just one of many stories.

But the fact of the matter is,

is we have no grounds

to believe that story

or any story.

The fact of the matter is,

is the hard-headed amongst us say,

you try to get as many toys

as you can while you live,

you get sick

and then you die

and that sucks,

but so be it.

At least I'm alive right now

and I'm going to eat

and I'm going to drink

and I'm going to party,

I'm going to consume,

I'm going to try to get as much as I am,

I'm going to forget about the fact

that at the end of the day

it's just the grave.

I'm going to do whatever I can

to have a good time right now

because, you see,

all you are presenting

is a story to comfort people,

a story of a God

that actually isn't there,

there really is a world,

it's just a story, George,

and there's lots of stories.

And if you know what, George,

if that story gives meaning to your life,

that's fine.

For me, a trip to a bar,

a couple of Jack Daniels

with my friends,

that gives me the meaning,

and why should I pick yours over mine?

One of the things

which is so powerful

about the book of Lamentations,

the fact that God's judgment

actually happens in history,

is it points to

the true and greater judgment

that will fall to each human being,

that if, in fact,

God has judged in history,

is judging in history,

and will judge in history,

it points to the true

and greater judgment

that any human being,

every human being,

will be under.

But it also points

to the true and greater

restoration and renewal.

When the book of Lamentations

was written,

the person could just look back

on the Exodus,

he could just look back

on how God used Gideon

to defeat Midian.

He could just look back

at these times

of great things in the past

and wonder if it's going

to happen today.

But what we Christians understand,

and this is why that thing

which sounds so odd to people,

George, why should you

be so concerned

about whether you can actually

know whether Jesus exists?

Why are you so concerned

whether he actually died

on the cross

and rose from the dead?

Well, it's because

it changes the Christian story

from just being one story

amongst many,

the great pumpkin,

the tooth fairy,

Santa Claus, and Jesus.

And it's just one fanciful story

and Santa Claus

and the tooth fairy

please two-year-olds

and for some odd reason

Jesus pleases 22-year-olds

and 52-year-olds

and 62-year-olds.

It changes it from being

just another story

to saying it's not

just another story.

The mercy of God took flesh.

The justice of God

took flesh.

The judgment of God

took flesh.

That in my place

condemned

he stood.

That

the judgment and lamentations

happen in history.

The judgment

that I deserve

which I will only know

in the future

when I die impure before God.

that that judgment

was laid on Jesus.

And my hope

is the real defeat

of death

by Jesus.

This actually happened

in history.

Santa Claus

not in history.

Easter Bunny

not in history.

Tooth Fairy

not in history.

This happens.

Jesus.

And it's only

from that place

to understand

that the doom

that I deserve

fell on him

and the grace

and the love

and the mercy

that I do not deserve

is offered to me.

That the

brokenness

of my relationship

with God

was laid on him

and the purity

of his relationship

with God

was offered to me.

And when I put my hands

in the hands of Jesus

that's what I receive

in this profound exchange

that happened in history

and is available

at every moment

in history.

And that once you put

your hands

in the hands of Jesus

it is the beginning

of a completely

different

eternal destiny.

So you see

it is from that point of view

that I can begin

to try to learn

to acknowledge

that I have done wrong.

Because no amount

of recognizing wrong

in my life

is something

that is going to

shock Jesus.

And it is from that

point of view

of the cross

that I can begin

to understand

that there is

no degree of wrong

that I could ever

possibly do

that was too big

for Jesus to deal with

when he died

upon the cross.

And that's true

of you as well.

And it's from that

particular place

of security

that even if

there are things

by which we are

being punished

that we can call

out to God

that he would restore

that relationship

to us

and calling out

to him

won't take it away

instantly

because our emotions

don't usually

change that quickly

but that he in fact

will hear our prayer

and the longing

of his heart

that all that he is doing

is preparing you

and I for an eternal

weight of glory

and that we can

pour out our heart

to him

that we can pour

out our heart

to him

and that we don't

have to worry

that you know

if anything

particular thing

has happened to us

or it's not

it's

that the final word

about you and me

in Christ

we already know

about the final word

for you and me

when we are

in Christ

because

in my place

condemned

he stood

from there

I can pray

for there

I can look

at the city

and bless it

from there

I can look

at the city

and know

that the city

doesn't get

the final word

about right

and wrong

the city

isn't

if the city

ends

the city

of God

continues

and endures

because God

is still

on his throne

I can pray

for the city

I can pray

for myself

I can pray

for you

I can look

at my sin

I can seek

the true good

of the city

and the true good

for you

anyway

we're coming

to a close

I just want

to encourage you

if you have

never given

your life

to Jesus

there's no better

time than today

to call out to him

to be your savior

and your lord

and to know

that he will

accept it

and receive it

and for all of us

we need to pray

for our city

we need to pray

for our land

is God wanting

to teach us something

and even if it's

completely unrecognized

and unrepentant of

can we at least

for those of us

who are in church

of the Messiah

begin to maybe

see and understand

and pray into it

and continue to seek

the blessing of our city

the blessing of our province

and the blessing of our land

and the blessing of the earth

let's pray

Father we thank you

for the hard truths

that you introduced to us

through the book of Lamentations

the hard truths

about ourselves

and Father

we give you thanks

and praise

that not only do you reveal

the hard truths

about ourselves to us

but because this is

setting forth

or preparing us

to know about Jesus

it's also preparing us

for the beautifully

rock hard

rock solid truths

about your grace

your mercy

your justice

your peace

your truth

your grace

offered to us

in the person of your son

we ask Father

that you would make us

disciples of Jesus

who are gripped by the gospel

learning to live for your glory

and this we ask

in the name of Jesus

Amen