Category: Punishment
Subject: Punishment
Weeping Now, or Laughing Now?
I was asked to speak on a couple of passages in Luke 6 (in August), and while it is on my mind I would like to share with you some thoughts about the 21st and 25th verses. In the latter part of verse 21, our Lord says, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” In the last part of verse 25 the thought is reversed, “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.”
The initial thought I had is that these two principles are very clearly demonstrated in Luke 16. There, we have a contrast between the lives, deaths, and afterlives of a rich man, and a beggar named Lazarus. “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores” (Luke 16:19-21). Continue reading “Weeping Now, or Laughing Now?”
The Consequence of Sin
The prophet Obadiah declared the coming of judgment against Edom because of her sins against “your brother Jacob.” Edom thought herself safe. “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?”’ (3). But, this judgment was inexorable, “‘From there I will bring you down,’ says the Lord” (4).
Why was Edom guilty? Notice the following phrases used in the text. “But you should not have” (12); “Nor should you have” (12); “You should not have” (13); etc., etc., etc.
These phrases indicate the concept of consequence. You should not have… because this is the result! A result they did not desire, and would not appreciate. As Obadiah wrote, “As you have done, it shall be done to you; your reprisal shall return upon your own head” (15).
In conclusion, Obadiah wrote, “Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s” (21).
There is much to be learned here. God’s will is inexorable. What He desires to occur on earth will happen. God’s people will be blessed, and the ungodly will suffer the consequences (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10). Sin always has unpleasant ramifications. From Adam to eternity, God has and will deal with the transgressions of men. To avoid judgment, we “should not” sin against God.
Sermon: Learning Lessons from the Dead
A discussion of Luke 16:19-31 (The Rich man and Lazarus)
Sermon: Uriah – Victim of Treachery
Most discussions of 2 Samuel 11 center of the adultery committed by David and Bathsheba. However, a discussion of the impact David’s sin had upon the husband of Bathsheba reveals some important lessons for us.
The Patternists: “Why has the Lord done so?”
Deuteronomy 29 contains a renewal of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with Israel. The location was the land of Moab, and Moses “called all Israel” to affirm their willingness to keep that covenant. The covenant contained promises of blessings, contingent upon Israel’s faithfulness; but also stated curses, the consequence of disobedience.
Moses stated the reason for this covenant, and the oath of faithfulness they were to make, “so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood; and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart’—as though the drunkard could be included with the sober” (18-19).
Continue reading “The Patternists: “Why has the Lord done so?””
Sermon: The Relationship Between God and Man
Our God is Sovereign and Holy. He requires holiness of us. When we do good, He blesses us. When we choose to do evil, God’s righteous nature requires punishment. But, it is His desire the men be saved, not lost.
Sermon: The Events of Judgment Day
This lesson describes all the things that will happen on the Day that Jesus returns to judge the world.
Sermon: My Will VS Thy Will
God has blessed man with free will. He compels no one to obey Him. His desire is for men to voluntarily come to Him, to worship Him, and obey Him. Men have a choice. However, while all of this is true, it must be understood that the choices men make have consequences.
Sermon: The Consequences of Sin
The sermon describes both the physical and spiritual consequences of sin, using King David as an example and object lesson.
Painful Consequences
One of the many reasons why sin is so popular in our society is that people have been able to convince themselves that such activity can be enjoyed with few consequences.
While certain sins in the past carried with their commission a certain stigma, such is not the case today. Pregnancy outside of marriage, sexual promiscuity, drug use, homosexuality — all are accepted by society, or at the most are looked upon as a mild indiscretion. We witness the famous engaging in bizarre and destructive behavior, and they are continually enabled and excused in their lawbreaking and infidelities. Authority figures in our country, including policemen and educators, often have their hands tied when trying to deal with crime and delinquency. We are a society that defends, rationalizes and enables. Sin is seldom dealt with as God intends — even in the church.
In The News: Stay on Executions Over
Georgia executed killer William Earl Lynd last night, ending a more than seven-month nationwide hiatus on capital punishment prompted by the Supreme Court’s examination of lethal injection.
Lynd’s execution at 7:51 p.m. was the first since the court ruled April 16 that the three-drug protocol most commonly used in executions by states and the federal government did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
The court last night turned down Lynd’s last-minute request for a stay, as the Georgia Supreme Court had earlier in the day. He was executed at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.
Robert Barnes
Washington Post, May 7, 2008
Analysis:
William Earl Lynd was sentenced to death by a jury of his peers because of the heinous nature of the crime he committed. He shot his live in girlfriend, Ginger Moore in the face while high on drugs. After Moore crawled from the house to the porch, he shot her again. He loaded her body into the trunk, then when he heard a noise from the trunk, he opened it and shot her again. After driving across state lines, he buried her, then shot and killed another woman. Since he took her across state lines, he was charged with kidnapping, and these extra circumstances were sufficient to get him the death penalty.
