It Will Be Terrible
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An article on NPR claims that we have become "the Impatient Nation." We want quick answers to complex problems. The article puts it this way:
We: Speed date. Eat fast food. Use the self-checkout lines in grocery stores. Try the "one weekend" diet. Pay extra for overnight shipping. Honk when the light turns green. Thrive or dive on quarterly earnings reports. Speak in half sentences. Start things but don't fin ...We cut corners, take shortcuts. We txt. Clamor for more safety in the skies, then complain when security takes too long—and is inconvenient.
We clammer for instant gratification and better lifestyles and all the while there is something coming that is real and it will be terrible. We spend lots of time and money doing all that we can to make our lives better and more shall we say livable. And all the while there is something coming that is real and it will be terrible. We continue in our nation to be disillusioned in thinking that having to wait and be patient is one of our greatest problems, and all the while something way worse is on its way. Disillusionment along with the continued lies permeate our nation giving people a false hope a false message … and that great and all, but the scriptures say, “What will You do when the end comes.” Ok Shane I know you are talking about Judgement, but really? Are You for real? How do you know? Lots of smart people say no. Lots of the influential say there will be no judgement. Even people with large churches and successful ministries say there will be no judgement. How do you know. I don’t follow the word of the Elite. I follow the Words of the living God.
For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.
And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead.
but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
And I could go on and on and on.
But not only do we have the promise from the word of God that judgement is real, its coming and it will be terrible. We have a biblical inspired history that when God says that He is gonna judge He does and when He did it was real and it was terrible. And so today we would ignore the reality of judgement to our own peril. I preach today so that we will no longer be deceived and be disillusioned today. Just how terrible will it be? Lets take a look.
“If thieves came at night and robbed you
(what a disaster awaits you!),
they would not take everything.
Those who harvest grapes
always leave a few for the poor.
But your enemies will wipe you out completely!
Every nook and cranny of Edom
will be searched and looted.
Every treasure will be found and taken.
“All your allies will turn against you.
They will help to chase you from your land.
They will promise you peace
while plotting to deceive and destroy you.
Your trusted friends will set traps for you,
and you won’t even know about it.
The grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever.
Devestation
Betrayal
Salvation
The first thing we will look at today is how devastating the judgement of God will be. The second thing we will see is the betrayal we will experience when judgement comes. And finally, we will see the gift that the Lord has given to bring the reality that we can indeed be saved from this.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to ignore the reality of judgement it is the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the scriptures that will cause us to see and fear the horrors of judgement and at the same time the beauty of the salvation brought to us by Christ and Christ alone.
I. Devestation
- You will have no hope at all.
A. The illustrations given in the judgement went from the lofty heights of eagles to the shadows of night of thieves. This a vivid picture of how devastating their destruction is gonna be. The first one is the picture of robbery. Now when it comes to robberies in general the limitation comes down to only what the robbers can carry. Even if they got a huge bag to carry, for the most part it will not include everything.
B. Recently we were robbed here at the church and with all the gear we got here in the worship center, to take it all would have been difficult for our thief. He eventually got caught, and the camera shots we got of him was he took our keyboard and that took both hands to take that one thing. He could have taken more but thats all he could carry.
C. The picture here is the utter devastation of the destruction that is coming from the living God is that of taking everything. Even thieves will leave things behind. In other words, you will be better off if you have been robbed. Another thing of note in this first verse is the side note… (Oh what a disaster it will be) Oh my oh my this is gonna be so bad. Its gonna be so bad that there is even a break in to underscore how bad this is gonna be. There is what we would call a robbery and what we would call a robbery. All the Lord can do is shake His head. But it continues.
D. And in your case the harvesters are gonna do something that they are not supposed to do. They are gonna pick up everything. Your enemies are gonna wipe you out completely as if their thirst cannot be satisfied. They are supposed to leave some behind. It is a command even.
It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.
E. You will be so devastated by a devastator who cannot be satisfied. You will have nothing. Every crack and crevice will be searched. You will not be able to hide anything, they will uncover your hiding places your secret places… rebuild I don’t think so. You will have nothing to rebuild with. You had hope because you are in the mountains and high in the sky, not only will you be beaten, you will have nothing left. You went from having false hopes to no hope at all. There is the point… You will have no hope at all.
F. And what of our false hopes today. See today we are deceived in thinking that there are things we can do and methods of how to live to escape the judgement of God. The formulas, the moving standards, the diminishing standards of God’s law all of these things we put our hope in. I may not be perfect, but i’m at least not as bad as those murderers and cheaters out there. Sure I may not be a good person, but God knows what’s really in my heart. We are good, your a good person, God wont condemn someone like you. God is not like that. Those horrible people is who God is gonna judge. Sure I have broken a lot of commands, but I have not broken the big ones. Those people broke way more than me. Your Good. This is the false hope. You will not be able to satisfy the righteousness and holiness of the Holy Holy Holy God. You think you will be able to sneak something, hide something, not possible. But Im a good person. Im ok. No you are not.
For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.
G. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Yes we cannot do it ourselves and many have come to our aide and siad that they were gonna help us. But when the time comes… where are they?
II. Betrayal
- Betrayal on the horizon and you don’t even know it.
A. Man thats the worst kind. And God shows us how they would be defeated on their highest of heights. They will be betrayed by their allies. You trusted in others instead of trusting in God and now look at what you have. You have made friends with these nations. You have a peace treaty with them. You have shared with they your bread, your food from your table. They are close friends. They are trusted.
These are those who say that they are your friends. They say they got your back. We got you covered.
B. And all the while they are planning to help your enemies when they come against you. And all the while they are plotting to deceive you and to destroy you. And all the while they are setting traps for you. There is almost a sense that they might have survived if they did not trust these people. By believing these people you have come undone.
C. Man betrayal is awful. Many of us have had to experience betrayal. From experience I can say that we all tend to have our Judas. Jesus was betrayed by one so close. It is the worst. How awful it is to have one say they got your back and they don’t. One who promises to protect your heart and they don’t. Being betrayed by one who calls you a friend. Many examples.
D. There are so many in this world telling you they have your back. So many in this world telling you they got your best interest in mind. Many telling you that they will be there when you really need them. Many telling you to trust them. Many looking for a place in your trust group, those you bring to your table, those in your circle of trust. Many of them already have it in their plan to jack you. So many people victims of traps, setups, schemes. Many in the church trying to deceive you, defending you, protecting you, lying to you and when destruction comes they are no where to be found.
E. One tv healing evangelist got in trouble for telling an individual not to use their money to by medication… stop taking your meds and sow that money into my ministry and God will heal you. Then that individual died and the evangelist said it was his fault he did not have enough faith. When the actual act is the best display of faith there is. So many trusting their para church ministry of choice when they have no accountability to anyone.
You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.
F. And in the end they will betray you. So many out to get you. So many trying to appear to be your friend but in the end they just want what you can do for um. They got your money, they got you home, they got your family, they got your future, they got your dreams… and boom they are gone. I have talked privately to many of these guys. Thats the goal.
G. And the betrayal come because like the Edomites, we trust in the word and promises of people and not the word and promises given to us by the living God. Edom trusted their allies instead of the Word and covenant of the living God. They trusted their own efforts trusted their friends to have their back but to no avail. Will that be us in the end? We will live life not listening and trusting in the lies and in the end we got nothing and our friends betray us. And we stand empty with no help before the living God. Judgement is coming, it is real, and it will be terrible.
III. Salvation
- Jesus came to seek and save.
A. But why not. Do we not want justice? Don’t we want the right thing to be done? Thats kinda the problem isn’t it. It means all of us. Yes. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous no not one. There is no one on earth who always does good and never sins. We are all by nature children of wrath. We all like sheep have gone astray. Ok Shane… we are sinners, we have fallen short, and judgement is coming. Is there any hope at all. Yes. This is not false hope… it comes from the Bible.
B. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus cam into this world to save sinners. He came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost.
C. And the promises continue. All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your hearts that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. Believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God and you will have life in his name. Confess your sins and he will be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
D. In Christ we will not have nothing… we will have more than we could ever ask or imagine. In Christ we have a friend who sticks closer than a brother and who’s promises are indeed yes and amen.
