Look at Luke 13 for a moment.
I've never preached a message from this particular passage
of scripture because, well, I never have looked into it as fully
as I looked into it this week. But let me precede the message
with just a few remarks. Man, who is religious and superstitious
by nature, now everybody's religious, and superstitious by nature.
Whether you find him in Africa, or whether you find him in Russia,
or whether you find him in Mexico, or whether you find him in so-called
enlightened America, natural man is religious by nature, and
he's superstitious by nature. And in his religious, superstitious
nature, he comes up with some unusual ideas. He comes up with
the strangest notion. the strangest notions and one
of these notions is this that when a terrible accident happens
to a person when a terrible accident happens to a person such as sudden
death or crippling accident somebody shakes his head and says well
wonder why God did that wonder why God sent that into that person's
life I guess that person was offending God, or that person
is a great sinner, or God wouldn't have done that to him. Now that's
as old as Job. That idea is as old as Job. That notion is as old as Job.
Just as soon, just as soon as Job experienced all of these
calamities, when his cattle were were all swept away, and his
sheep and oxen were taken away, and all his sons and daughters
were killed, and then he lost his health, and he was nigh unto
death. His three friends came to him,
and what's the first thing they said? Job, what have you been
doing to make God punish you like that? Job, what have you
done to cause God to visit you in judgment? Too many of us connect
accidents with God's judgment and Too many of us connect calamities
with God's punishment Now I'm here to tell you tonight It ain't
so And I've got good authority now look at Luke chapter 13 There
were present at that season verse 1 some that told Christ of the
Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Now, some people came to the
Lord, and they told the Lord that Pilate had sent his soldiers
into the temple, or wherever these Galileans were sacrificing
blood sacrifices to God. These folks were busy worshiping
God, and they were sacrificing to their God. Pilate's soldiers
came in there with their swords and hacked them to pieces and
mingled their own blood with the blood of their animal sacrifices. Now evidently these people who
told Christ that were implying that these Galileans must have
been awful people, awful sinners, for God to visit them with that
kind of judgment and that kind of calamity. For it says in verse
2, And Jesus answering said unto them. And Jesus answering said
unto them. He was answering something that
they were projecting. They were insinuating something
and Christ gave them an answer. And this is what he said. He
knew their thoughts. He said, do you suppose, do you
think for a moment that these Galileans, these that were killed,
these that met with that fatal calamity, these that Pilate slew
and mingled their blood with the blood of the sacrifice, do
you suppose that these people were sinners above all the Galileans
out there because they suffered this humiliation? Because they suffered this calamity,
does that make you think that they were the greatest sinners
of all Galileans? I tell you, N-O. No. That's not it. And then in verse 4, he gave
the example of those upon whom the tower in Siloam fell. The tower fell and killed 18
people, just mashed them to death. And Christ said in verse 4, do
you think that these 18 who were killed by the falling tower were
sinners above all men that dwelt at Jerusalem? Do you think that's
why the tower fell on them? Because they were great sinners
and were offending God and God was punishing them so God obliterated
them or God killed them. I tell you, no. No. Now I want us to look at
two things tonight. First of all, let us take heed
to avoid the conclusion of ignorant people and superstitious people
that teach that accidents are punishments for sin. And in doing
that, the first thing I must note is this. I do not deny that
there have been judgments of God on people for disobedience. God has visited people with judgment
for disobedience. I could give you several examples
of that in the scripture. First of all, there was Uzzah.
You remember when they were bringing the ark back to Jerusalem and
he reached up to assist God and to hold the ark and God slew
him. God struck him dead when he violated
that holy principle and touched the ark. And then there was Nadab
and Abihu. They were bringing the censers,
you know, to burn incense unto the Lord, and there was certain
fire that they would have put in these censers. And Nadab and
Abihu ignored the commandments of God, and they put strange
fire in the censer, and God struck them dead. And then there was
Ananias and Sapphira, whom Peter said lied to the Holy Ghost. and God struck them dead. But
I do deny, and I have good authority for that denial, I have the word
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, I do deny that accidents and
sudden death, which comes upon men and groups of men, come to
them because they have displeased God and because God is punishing
them. The first thing that would destroy
that idea is this, that accidents and unhappy circumstances and
calamities come to the righteous as well as to the wicked. Charles
Spurgeon told one time of a boatload of missionaries who had left
London and were going to the missionary field. And that boatload
of consecrated, dedicated, separated, sacrificing missionaries going
from London to the Missionville met an ill wind and went to the
bottom. Now, we stand and look at a pleasure
boat, Sunday afternoon, the Sabbath day, here's a boatload of men
and women, and they're drinking, and they're carrying on, and
they run into a pier, and the boat sinks, and two or three
of them drown, and somebody says, well, that's the reason they
drowned, is because it was Sunday afternoon, and because they shouldn't
have been out there, and God was punishing them. Is that right?
Why did the missionary boat sink? Why did the missionary boat sink?
If that's the reason these people went down, because God was punishing
them for their sins, why did the missionary boat go down?
Wicked men fall dead on the street, a man walking down the street,
he has no time for God, he has no time for the gospel, and he
falls dead of a heart attack, and somebody says, well, God
struck him down. But here was a faithful minister in England
several years ago, I was reading about just the other day, who
was only in his thirties and got up and announced his text
for Sunday morning and dropped dead in the pulpit of a heart
attack. This man was killed by God's judgment. Why did a preacher
drop dead? Gold and slave seekers perished
in Africa at the hands of vicious natives. but so did the missionaries. And men who came from Spain to
conquer Mexico and to conquer South America perished at the
hands of the Indian, but so did the pilgrims. And if you're going
to make all of these fatalities and accidents and calamities
and hardships to be the hand of God in judgment, how do you
account for the righteous people back in the days of Mary and
Elizabeth and King James who were led to prison, to the rack,
and to the fiery stake for believing on Christ while ungodly men walked
the streets in prosperity? It won't hold water, that's what
Christ is saying. Turn to Psalm 73, listen to this. In Psalm 73, listen to David
as he mourns over this very thing. He says in verse 3 of Psalm 73,
Psalm 73 verse 3, I was envious at the foolish when I saw the
prosperity of the wicked. There was no bans in their death.
Their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other
men, neither are they plagued like other men. Down in verse
13, David says, in verse 12, Behold, these are the ungodly
who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. Why,
he said, verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, I have washed
my hands in innocency, and all the day long have I been plagued
and chastened every morning. How do you account for that?
If accidents and plagues and these things are the visitation
of God as a punishment for sin, how is it that the wicked prosper
and the righteous suffer? And David said, if I say Verse
15, I will speak thus, behold I should offend against the generation
of thy children. When I thought to know this,
when I thought to understand it, it was labor in mine eyes,
it was too painful for me until I went to the sanctuary of God
and then I understood that God does not punish sin in this life
The punishment of sin is in the life to come. David said, I saw
their end. I saw judgment. I saw eternity. I saw damnation. I took my eyes
off the prosperity of the wicked here and I saw their end. I saw where God's going to really
deal with sin. This is not the court of justice. This is the court of mercy. Eternity
is the court of justice. This is not the day of God's
wrath, this is the day of God's grace. The day of God's wrath
is to come. Now here's the second reason
why this idea is foolish. This idea that when a man suddenly
drops dead, or a man is killed in an accident, or a woman, that
God is punishing that person because of some sin, This makes
the providence of God, now listen to it, this makes the providence
of God a very shallow thing. In other words, if every accident
is the result of some sin, why the providence of God is as simple
as 2 plus 2 is 4. This man does something wrong,
God kills him. This man does something right,
God doesn't kill him. It's just as simple as that.
But the scriptures teach us that the providence of God is a great
deep into which the human intellect can never find the bottom. Listen
to Job. In Job over here, chapter 11,
Job said, Can you, by searching, find out God? the providence
of God, can you by searching find out God? Can you find out
the Almighty, why he does what he does to perfection? When it's
as high as the heavens, what can you do? It's deeper than
hell, what can you know? The measure thereof is longer
than the earth and broader than the sea, the providence of God,
the plan of God, the purpose of God. Why did David Brainerd
die at 29, right in the middle of a most fruitful ministry?
Why did Robert Murray MacShane die before his 30th birthday,
one of the greatest preachers that the continent of Europe
ever listened to? Why did Charles Spurgeon, 58
years of age, right in the height of his ministry, when God was
seemingly blessing his ministry all over the world, just suddenly
strike him down? You can't understand the providence
of God by simply saying, well, I know, I've got the answer.
He did something wrong, God killed him. You know, that's sort of
like an illustration I heard one time, suppose Suppose there's
a great performance going on on the stage. Some company is
acting out one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, and there the
performance is going on. You've never read the book. You've
never seen the play. You come in right in the middle
of it, and you come out there for about five minutes, and you
say, well, I know what's going on. I can tell you that. I know
all about it. Somebody would say, that man's a fool. Here
the providence of God and the great purpose of God and the
great plan of God's been going on for thousands of years God
working out the glory of his son and the glory of his kingdom
and the glory of his person from eternity to Eternity and you
drop down here for about 40 years. You've got all the answers Why
it's silly, isn't it? Can you, by searching, find out
God permits good and God permits evil? Look at Isaiah chapter
45. Here's what he says about it.
Isaiah 45 verses 5 through 7. God says, I'm the Lord. There's
none else. There's no God beside me. I girded
thee, though thou hast not known me. that they may know from the
rising of the sun and from the setting of the sun in the west
that there's none beside me. I am the Lord. I form light.
I create darkness. I make peace. I create evil. I, the Lord, do these things."
And he does them according to his own wisdom. And if God Almighty
permits a man to live for 78, 79, 80, 85 years on this earth,
it's according to his purpose and his wisdom and his plan.
And if God sees fit to strike one down in teenage or in the
early 20s, that's his business too. And don't you try to figure
it out by saying two times two equals four, because it's not
that way at all. I'll tell you something else,
this idea, something else it'll do. The third thing, it'll encourage
Phariseeism and self-righteousness. We hear about a man killed in
an accident or some family experiencing great trouble. Here, for example,
Bob McNeil's boy whose mind has been so greatly affected. Or
perhaps my own son who was killed when he was 21 years of age.
Or perhaps some other accident that has come into a home and
somebody says, well, that's God punishing. That's God's judgment. Well, what have you got to say?
It didn't happen to you, so you must be a mighty good man. You
see what that does? What fine, righteous people we
are because everything's going smooth for us. How holy and pure
we must be. I'm good, therefore God's been
good to me. I am righteous, therefore God
has blessed me. I am holy, therefore God has
protected me. Is that the doctrine of God's
Word? No, that's Phariseeism. and that
self-righteousness. Somebody said years ago, it is
God's mercy that we're not all struck dead. It is God's mercy
that we're not all consumed. It is God's mercy that we're
not all cut off. And if there's any good thing
comes to us, we ascribe it to God's grace and God's grace alone,
not to our words. But if we follow the natural
reasoning of this thing that accidents are the visitation
of God in judgment and the punishing of God upon sin, we make little
Pharisees out of ourselves. And that's dangerous. You know
that Charles Haddon Spurgeon, when he was about 25 or 26 years
of age, was recognized as London's greatest
preacher. And the church where he was pastoring
or preaching wouldn't hold the people. There were so many folks
coming to hear that man preach that they couldn't get them in
the building. And so he and his men rented
a large building. I forget how many it seated,
but it was something like 12, 15, 17,000 people. And he was to preach one evening
in this huge auditorium. And they rented it, and it was
packed to the rafters. There were people just crowded
into that huge building. And Mr. Spurgeon got up to preach. And before, after he read his
text, and before he could start his sermon, somebody, somewhere,
out of maliciousness and evil, Somebody somewhere screamed,
fire, the building's on fire. And that 12, 14, 15,000 people all rose and started making
a dive for the exits. Eight people were stomped to
death and hundreds were injured with broken legs and broken backs
and broken arms. Mr. Spurgeon could do nothing
about it, but stand there and try to get the people to calm
down, saying, there is no fire. There is no fire. It nearly killed
him. He stayed in bed for days and
days and days. They thought he would never preach
again. Why did that happen? If we're
going to use this argument, well, it was judgment. It was punishment. The fellows that yelled fire
didn't die. It was the people who came to
worship God that died. The fellows at Yale Fire didn't
get their backs broken, and their legs broken, and their arms broken.
The people who were there worshiping God were the ones who were mutilated. It's a cruel and unkind charge,
and it's born of ignorance, and it's born of superstition, and
it's not of God, and Christ said, I tell you, no! That's what he
said. Now let me point this out. Judgment
and punishment belong not to this world. God will deal with
sin in the world to come. That's what this Bible teaches.
That's what Christ is saying in the next verse we'll go to
in a moment. God must punish sin. God will punish sin. Almighty
God is just and he must deal with sin, but he will not deal
with sin here. Almighty God will deal with sin
at the time he has set apart to deal with sin, the day of
the Lord. He will deal with sin in the
world to come. There has to be another time.
There has to be another day. There has to be another state
in which God will punish sin, and the unrighteous shall receive
the due reward of their deeds. Now, this idea that every calamity
is an act of God in judging and punishing sin, if that's correct,
then there's no sting to sin. There's no sting to sin because
the righteous die as well as the wicked, and the righteous
weep as well as the wicked, and the righteous hurt as well as
the wicked. But the day is coming, God says,
when the cup will be filled or overflowing, their foot shall
slide in due time. And though hand join in hand,
and though armies rise up in wickedness, Almighty God says
their foot shall slide in due time. I am the Lord. Vengeance
is mine. That's what you read while ago
in the study. Vengeance is mine. God will repay. The day is coming
when we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ,
and God's going to deal with sin. Not here, there. Not here. When things, trials, and tribulations
come in your life, that's not God punishing you, that's God
molding you. That's God melting you. That's
God forming you. That's God conforming you to
the image of His Son. That's God revealing your faith. That's God strengthening your
faith. That's God making you a fit vessel
for His glory. That's God fixing you so He can
use you. That's not God punishing you. Christ died for our sins. Christ died for our sins. Now
then, what should be our reaction? Well, listen to the Lord. And
Jesus said they came to Him and said, Lord, you know what happened?
There were some folks in the temple offering animal sacrifices
and pilot soldiers came in there and killed every one of them.
And the Lord said, you think that the Lord did that because
they were more sinful than you are or anybody else? You think
that's why that happened to them? Is that your superstitious idea?
I tell you, no. But I'll tell you this. Listen
to it. I'll tell you, no. But I'll tell
you this. Except you repent. Except you
repent. Except you turn from your sins.
Except you repent and believe on Christ, you shall all likewise
perish. And see if your translations,
you who have amplified versions and Berkeley's and us, see if
it doesn't say this, and be lost eternally. If you don't repent, you're going
to die too. You're going to die just like
the people upon whom the tower in Siloam fell. It fell on them,
but you're going to die too. And you're going to perish and
be lost forever if you don't repent. Death is sure. It is appointed
unto me and wants to die. And really it doesn't matter
how I die. It doesn't matter when I die. It doesn't matter whether a tower
falls on me, or a sword pierces my heart, or a car runs over
me, or I live to be 80 years old and lie down and die with
a heart attack. It doesn't make a bit of difference
how I die. If I don't know Christ, I'm going
to perish. That's what he said. If you don't
repent, you're going to perish and be lost forever and forever. That's the important thing. Death
is sure. And you turn to Job 14. You who
believe the Bible and you who believe God will also believe
this. It says here in Job 14, verse
5, man's days are determined. What difference does it make
if Abraham Lincoln lived to be 40, 50, 60, or 70? He's dead,
ain't he? What difference does it make?
What difference does it make if a man back yonder 2,000 years
ago lived to be 30 or lived to be 90? That was 2,000 years ago. He's dead, isn't he? What does
matter? Where he is now. It doesn't matter
where I spend the little short years that I've got here. It
does matter where I spend eternity. I'll tell you except you repent.
Listen to it. Man's days. Verse 5, Job 14.
Days are determined. The number of his months are
with the Lord. God hath appointed his bounds,
and he cannot pass." Boy, she's set out there somewhere. I don't
know how long Charlie Payne's going to live. He may live to
be 50. He may live to be 60. But I'll
tell you this, he's going to live again somewhere. And it
does matter a whole lot where he lives then, because there's
no discharge in that war. There's no end to that life.
There's no death to stop those days. Those days go on and on
and on and on. And so whether he spends that
time in hell or heaven, it does matter, doesn't it? It does matter. Paul said, for me to live is
Christ, for me to die is gain. I'm in a straight betwixt the
two, having a desire to depart. Let the tower fall on me, I'll
just go to be with the Lord. Let the sword of Pilate or anybody
else pierce my heart, I'll just go to be with the Lord. But Christ
said, except you repent, you're going to perish and be lost eternally. And that's the important thing.
Every man's going to die, and after that, the judgment. If
I die with Christ as my substitute, if I die with Christ as my Redeemer,
if I die with Christ as my Mediator, if I die with Christ as my surety,
if I die with Christ as my King, if I die with Christ as my High
Priest, I shall sing in glory forever and forever. But, oh,
my friends, Death is a terrible experience for that one who does
not know Christ. He may live all his life on this
earth and wear the finest clothes, live in the nicest house, eat
the best food, and he may have never had a calamity. He may
have watched all his children grow to manhood and watch their
children all grow to manhood. and gazed upon his great-grandchildren,
and then quietly slipped out of this life, but there he stands
before a holy God at the judgment. God has never vested him with
any kind of judgment. God has never vested him with
any kind of calamity. And accidents were unknown in
his life, and his life was easy and smooth and enjoyable, and
his life on earth was free from all calamity. But here now, here
he stands, and his sins are read from the
books at God's judgment. And they're read again over and
over. And nobody stands for him, and
no mediator speaks for him, and nobody pleads for him. And there
he stands before the throne of God, and his sins are read, and
no one speaks, and the law of God has been broken, and God
says that law must be honored, and justice must be satisfied,
and there is silence. That man stands there, and he
says, Have mercy!" And Christ said,
I never knew you. I never knew you. But Lord, I
preached in your name. I never knew you. But I prophesied
in your name. I never knew you. Who shall stand
for you? Who shall stand for you? If you
deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father which is
in heaven." Let God's hand in trial, let
God's hand In tribulation, let God's hand in molding and breaking
and crushing be upon us. That's all right. That's all
right. But I'll tell you, I'd rather
have that than let all of this life go through smoothly and
happily and then stand there by myself at the judgment. And
oh, the silence of that eternal time. And Christ said, I never knew
you. I never knew you. And the angels bind him hand
and foot and cast him out into hell. I'll tell you, Christ said,
except you repent, you'll perish and be lost forever. Judgment's
coming. There's payday someday. God dealt
with our sins on the cross, and he'll deal with the rest of them
in judgment. He's sworn to punish sin. Our Father, take the Word
and deal with our hearts. Deliver us from any fear of death
and fear of punishment and fear of condemnation. Give us sweet
peace and rest in our souls. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. My peace I give unto you, not
as the world giveth, give I you, let not your heart be troubled,
and neither let it be afraid." There's no judgment awaiting
the believer. Our sins have been purged, our
sins have been judged in the person of our substitute, the
Lord Jesus. And our Father, we ask Thee not
to remove the thorns which mold us so that we might be used for
Thy glory, but give us the grace to bear them. and give us the
grace to recognize the hand of our God, a loving hand, a kind
hand, a merciful hand, not a hand heavy with punishment and judgment,
not a hand heavy with hate and affliction, but a hand that deals
with us in kindness for our good and for Thy glory. Deliver us
from superstition. Bind us to the Word. Deliver
us from ignorance. And bind us, O God, to Christ. Let us see everything in the
light of our Lord. In His name we pray. Amen. Let's sing number 208. Number
208. Stand, please. Have you been to Jesus for the
cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His
grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood,
in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb. Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb?