Pastor Cody Harlow 1 Peter 4:17-19

God's word it tells us this for it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God and if it begins with us what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the Gospel of God and if the righteous is scarcely saved what will become of the ungodly in the center therefore let those who suffer according to God's Will and trust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good let's pray and so Lord we do thank you for this great day we thank you for this time that we get to have to study your word there are so many Believers all around the world that don't live in a nation where they can't gather openly if they do they have to register with the state or things like that even earlier this week God I was reading about Ireland and how they have no prayer zones around hospitals that's just mind-boggling to me I mean at a time when so many people need

Prayer they forbid it God and we know that will lead to judgment and so Lord we thank you for what you've done we thank you for the country that we live in but Lord our hearts are also grieved for the country that we live in Lord this nation what makes it really special is its citizens and Lord there's so many that don't know you and so we plead for our friends for our neighbors for our family members that law can open rebellion and they celebrate sin and they do all these different things God Lord we pray that you would you would spark Revival and Lord if that comes through suffering and judgment then so be it we gladly walk hand in hand with you but Lord if there's any other way we pray that's how it would happen that our children and grandchildren would not have to go through judgment so Lord we intercede for our nation we ask for you to do what only you can do in turning people's hearts back to you Lord we love you Lord we pray for this word today that we are going to study we pray that most of all that we would be secure in Christ and only see Christ in the blood of the Lamb who covers Us thank you Lord in Jesus name amen for it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God now what on Earth does that mean I want you to remember that Peter he has been talking about suffering suffering for the glory of the Lord and Peter he writes that it is time for this judgment to begin at the household of God now that word judgment it's the Greek word crima which means to render a legal decision to give authoritative judgment on an issue it's about God's right and God's authority to pass judgment according to his character and his will

Paul he also uses that word oh sorry guys he uses that word Crema in Romans chapter 11 verses 33-36 it says oh the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his Crema his judgments how inscrutable his ways for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been able 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 to him be glory forever amen and so Paul's example here in Romans is that God's judgments are fearful they are wonderful but they are also a source of delight and a source of worship for the Christian who has been redeemed from the curse of the law remember that Paul he says earlier in Romans he says but the free gift is not like the trespass for if many died through one man's trespass talking about Adam much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many and the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin for the crema judgment for the Judgment following one trespass brought condemnation but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification and so what does Peter mean here that judgment begins at the household of God well the first point if you're taking notes is the purpose the purpose of judgment for Christians within the context of suffering we have acknowledged and we've all have experienced that suffering is never fun it's never Pleasant it's always instructive but we hate going through it whether it's pain whether it's loneliness being despised none of it's things that people look forward to but for Peter he views judgment this judgment which begins at the household of God he views it through the lens of

Hope from verses 12 all the way through verse 19 in this chapter Peter has been alluding to a prophecy in Malachi chapter 3. And we're going to read these verses so that way we can get firmly established I want you to see what Peter is thinking about here he says behold I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his Temple and the messenger of the Covenant and whom you Delight behold he is coming says the Lord of hosts but who can endure the day of his coming who can stand when he appears for he is like a Refiner's Fire and like Fuller soap he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord and so here you have the Lord in his Temple and a people who can't endure his judgments refine like fire and his judgment is for purification do you see these correlations gold it must pass through a fire in order for it to be refined it has to do it do you know what good what burns up as the gold is being refined it's dross it's the yucky stuff it's the stuff that makes that gold impure just like gold has to go through a refining process so must wheat wheat it has to be cut down it has to be bundled up and beaten down so that way it shakes those grains of wheat out of out of those little seed heads but even then it's not just wheat it's got all this chaff that's in there too and so even after that process of the severe beating it's got to be tossed around and then the chaff is blown about by the wind and only then through that example of judgment

Do you are you left with something pure and useful for baking in London in 1666 great fire broke out in that in that City and the bad thing was is that a lot of the homes they were built with wood with straw roofs and covered in tar I mean it just it went up like that you know it was very difficult to save the buildings that were made of stone and iron those barely made it through and if it was if it was if those buildings were saved with such great difficulty with that are made of stone and iron what hope did the buildings made of wood and straw and tar have they didn't have a hope and so it is with every person who does not know Christ what hope do they have this judgment that Peter talks about has really two purposes for a Christian the first purpose is for our cleansing that's the first purpose of judgment it's for our cleansing judgment has a way of causing us to flee to the Lord sometimes my children disobey they do they do they have a way of just disobeying and you know we discipline in our family because we love our children and that's what we do and so we discipline not out of anger or frustration or hate or anything like that we just discipline because we love them and what's interesting is that all of the disciplinary times always end with snuggles they all end with affirmations and love and I'm not the one that goes and grabs them either you know what they do they come running to me after that isn't that what happens with the Lord after he chastises us after he takes us through a time of judgment don't we run to him and cling on to him and saying God don't let me wander ever

Again that's exactly what happens it is for our cleansing the second purpose is for our chastening chastening means to have a humble effect I think of any lion witch and wardrobe fans in here like I just love that film and there's Edmund you know who is deceived by the ice witch you know she's just you know very deceptive and he like gives himself over to her fully I mean she he is just right there he's deceiving people it's a really bad situation but he's redeemed and then he becomes one of the most humble Defenders of Narnia and Aslan he had to go through a very severe judgment and he had to see the cost for his freedom in First Corinthians chapter 11 verse 32 it says but when we are judged by the Lord we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world now many times judgment on sin it does come from the Lord to make us aware of an area of disobedience we may not even realize what we had done isn't that The Narrative of Scripture I mean from the garden all the way through to revelation we see judgment on disobedience whether it's willful or whether it's neglect whether it's an area that we're just completely unaware of don't think that just because you're his child that somehow you're totally exempt from judgment or God's discipline remember that God he disciplines those he loves a third note here even though it's I said there were two there I wanted to eat this in but it's a knot okay the purpose for judgment for Christians is not for our condemnation okay I want to keep going back to that because Romans chapter 8 verses one and two it says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the spirit of life

Has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death so we are no longer condemned we are safe we are secured by the blood of Christ but this judgment first occurs at the household of God now that household of God is an interesting phrase it's an Old Testament phrase used in reference to the temple and we know that as Believers when we enter in to that Covenant with God we become members of Greater Temple as Christians we are the church being built up and unified together for the purpose of the glory of God and the Holy Spirit actually resides within Believers too and if that judgment begins with us what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the Gospel of God the second Point write this down is the outcome of judgment for the Lost the outcome of judgment it is a terrible thing for people to fall into the hands of the Living God what will happen they will suffer a final condemnation in Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 through 15 this is a different judgment event says then I saw a great white throne in him who was Seated on it who is that him that was Seated on it's Jesus Christ from his presence Earth and Sky fled away and no place was found for them I saw the dead Great and Small standing Before the Throne and the books were opened then another book was opened which is The Book of Life and the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done and the Sea gave up the Dead who were in it death and Hades gave up the Dead who were in them and they were judged each one of them according to what they had done then death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire

This is the second death the Lake of Fire and if anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life he was thrown into the Lake of Fire I mean that is a devastating devastating verse a verse is not there to Simply function as a hey I'm not in that group it's that you know people who are in that group and that is their fate that is what will happen to them are you okay with that we've we this should be all of us that is the Fate that Cody deserves and that's the Fate that every single one of us deserves every single man woman and child we've all transgressed God's laws we've all broken God's commands we've all committed idolatry we've all blasphemed we've all cursed we've all lusted we've all lied that is where we belong God he made the universe it's his Universe he makes the laws they're his and the Judgment for those who disobey the Gospel is death not because God lacks lover compassion that's not why the reason why is because he is so good and he is so holy that he cannot be with men who are wicked an evil and Unholy and so God he desires men to be saved he desires it and so he didn't just leave Mankind in their sin and go well I'm just going to leave him no he sent his only begotten son Jesus Christ that's why Jesus came he came so that way he could perfectly obey the law so that way he could keep all the commands so that way he could do all the good works and he was betrayed by sinful men and he was the perfect offering on that cross Jesus Christ was betrayed he was hated

He was cursed he was beaten he was mocked he was pierced he was vilified and he died he died the perfect creator of all things died and he was the only one who didn't deserve the evil that he suffered like judgment begins at the household of God you know why it's because ultimately we deserve something much worse Jesus did not deserve any of it and yet he went he suffered the cross so that he could redeem men he died he drink the full cup of God's Wrath all the way down and he died but on the third day on the third day Jesus Christ he rose again in Victory he rose again defeating death in hell and Satan and all those type of things he rose again so that men like you and I could have life and have it abundantly and now he commands you and now he pleads for you now he tells you to turn from sin and trust in him and follow in his path what will happen to those who do not obey the Gospel well they will suffer the full wrath of God for all eternity and to suffer the full wrath of God for all of eternity is an awful faith and I think if we think of that term wrath of God through a connotation that isn't necessarily Biblical like we think of wrath of God as just this like Angry deity who's just seeking to destroy and just bring down the hammer on any slight offense is that what God does I mean I'm still standing here I deserve to have been spitting a long time ago let me tell you God doesn't just fly off the handle at stuff remember that one of the fruits of the spirit is self-control

He's not a God who Delights in tormenting the lost that's not the God of the Bible either the wrath of God is always good it's always right and it's always holy but even before death God sometimes allows judgment on those who don't know them because God's justice is good and when it when men and women refuse to obey the Gospel and yield themselves over to the Lord then God oftentimes will create conditions in that world which make their lives miserable not so that way they would live in misery but so that way they would look to him for deliverance I mean that's what we see in our nation right it's not like we can all look around and go hey aren't things so much better likewise we can't look back you know 40 years ago and go man this was a great place to be maybe for you but not for others remember that sin always brings forth death it always does the death of a society the death of a people the death of morality you know I've said this before I'll say it again Christ did not die for us to be moral that's moralism and it's it's not true that'll get you to hell just as quickly as sex drugs rock and roll it's Family Worship Sunday I should have watched that but the truth of the matter is that Christ died to make us righteous that's why he died he died to reconcile us to himself and impute to us to give to us his own righteousness that we receive by faith but suffering must happen it must happen it has to happen you know why because no one enters into the kingdom of God without first dying to themselves no one enters the kingdom of God without

First denying themselves taking up their cross and following God and this is a difficult road that we must walk and it leads to an outcome the preacher in Hebrews chapter 12 verses 7 through 8 it says it is for discipline that you have to endure God is treating you as Sons for what son is there whom his father does not discipline if you are left without in which all have participated talk about all believers then you are illegitimate children and not Sons and so we must suffer the judgment and the discipline of the Lord and if you've never suffered for the Lord suffered for the Lord not just suffered okay like everyone's gone through suffering but I mean suffering for the Lord losing a friend for the sake of the Gospel made someone angry by standing up for truth like God's truth God's truth not your own not societies if you never had anything like that happen to you if you never heard endured hardship because of obedience to the Lord if you've never experienced any of those things then examine yourself are you a legitimate child of God do you actually have the hope of the Gospel and if you don't then repent of that and turn to Christ today but what about loss what about the Lost what will happen to them I want you to note that there's a future perspective given there what will become some folks think that since God is all love that God's just going to welcome him into heaven with open arms because God is just love and he doesn't want people to suffer for eternity so he's just going to welcome them in I'm sorry but that totally defeats the reason why Christ came it doesn't Elevate God's goodness it brings it down doesn't magnify his Holiness it makes it

Lower and more palatable for you some people think that God is just going to allow for people just to dissipate and disappear after a certain period of time and eventually all that suffering is just going to end and they'll just go into non-existence we don't see that in Scripture actually in first thesis or second Thessalonians chapter one verses five through nine it says this it is evidence of the righteous Judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering since indeed God considers it just to repay with Affliction those who afflict you and to Grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels and flaming fire inflicting Vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus they will suffer the punishment of Eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the power of His might that should devastate every single one of us Eternal destruction it's the same you word used that word Eternal is the same word used to describe your life in Christ your eternal life this is what is at stake for The Souls of our friends our family members our co-workers our neighbors and every single person on the planet but I do want to take a little a little bypass here and I do want to point to the role of Christ or the work of Christ in judgment because God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance God does not Delight in the death of the Wicked This is why Christ drank the full cup of God's Wrath for every person that would trust in him by faith but Christ doesn't just protect us from that wrath he also is the one who judges us

Jesus said this in John chapter 5 verses 22-27 for the father judges no one that probably shook some of y'all's worlds but has given all judgment to the son that all may honor the son just as they honor the father whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him truly truly I say to you whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life he does not come into judgment but has passed from Death To Life truly truly I say to you an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live for as the father has lived in himself so he is granted the son also to have life in himself and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man and thanks be to God that the same Jesus who bought you who loves you who cares for you who protects you who Shields you who comforts you who guards you who keeps you he also preserves you from the judgment to come finally the hope of Deliverance from condemnation now when I say hope I mean this in the Biblical sense meaning a certainty it doesn't matter who you are where you come what you did what your sin or vices Christ he can redeem you and Save You by his grace if you would just come to him and you would deal with him you ask him ask him go to go to Jesus don't come to me go to Jesus you talk to him you ask him to save you ask him to make you whole you ask him to make you pure that Holy Spirit is way stronger than me you do business with him and you ask him to work in your heart you ask him to work in your mind Jesus he told a parable of some laborers that were in a Vineyard and the owner of this Vineyard he needed some workers and so he went out at the beginning beginning of the

Day and he brought these laborers in and he agreed you know at Daenerys for a day's work and then he went out an hour later and he found a couple more guys he wanted to get this job done and he promised them a Daenerys and on and on throughout the day he went out as time was running out in the day even an hour before closing time he went out and he got a few more workers and he called his Foreman up and he said hey it's time to pay everyone gather them around and pay them from the most recent guy that we hired to the guys who started all day and they worked all day and you know what those guys that worked for only an hour got they got a full Daenerys they got a full day's wage for their work and so the all the way down it went day's wage day's wage day's wage and the so these guys who worked all day they thought we're going to get a little bit more but when they got to them what'd they get they got a Daenerys and they were upset they said well that's unfair it's like what are you talking about I promised you exactly what was given to how is that unfair you know we have the hope and the security that is promised to us we have eternal life in heaven with God through Jesus Christ and therefore Peter he says let those who suffer according to God's Will and trust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good faithful creator the suffering that we suffer it's something that every Christian will go through but entrusting is the key that word in trust it's a banking term used back in the Hellenistic Greece time okay if you were a person and you had some wealth built up what you would do is if you had to travel you would take all of your

Financial resources and you would give it over to a family member or a neighbor or someone who is extremely trustworthy that is your entire life savings and you would entrust all of that to this one person how important do you think character is in that situation I mean you needed you need Integrity who has more Integrity than the Lord who is more fair than God who has more character no one and so we you and I we are called to entrust ourselves even in the midst of the suffering what is more valuable than your soul there is nothing more valuable than that and we are called to entrust the most precious thing that you and I have entrust that to a faithful creator and why does he do that why can we do that it's because of Christ it's because he's already proven himself faithful time and time and time and time and time again this morning we were talking in our community group and if you're not in a community group like repent of that and get plugged into one okay like it's the best thing it's the best thing I tell you and we were talking about trust and control and how we want we want we think that we're creatures of control yet we're not in I mean you look at your past week how many times have you lost control of a situation or things didn't work out the way that you wanted them to it's because you're not in control but we can entrust ourselves to the one who is and that goes for every single person in here if you do not know the Lord God I pray that today is that day that you know him but you know what Christ he never asks us do anything that he didn't do himself I mean by his faithfulness to the will of the father he endured the Judgment of

The cross for our sake Christ on that cross he entrusted himself to the will of the father and he surrendered his life as a sacrifice for us and by his power he took his life up on the third day he rose again and now he invites us to rest in him and therefore we can continue to do good in the midst of so much suffering That Others May see Christ in us and hear the Gospel and thanks be to God for his strength by which he empowers us with his Holy Spirit to endure suffering for his glory and for others to see the hope that is in US head heart hand head I want you to know that judgment begins with us okay we are not exempt from suffering just simply because we're Christians as children we get his strength to endure we get his protection from the coming Wrath we get his rest and his peace in the midst of the trials we get all of those things and we get a future hope heart I want you to believe that God's judgment is for our sanctification judgment doesn't just happen by circumstances or anything like that but God brings it to help us see sin for what it actually is and for us to see God as he actually is in hand I want you to follow Christ's example and I want you to entrust your soul to God while doing good you see suffering isn't the time to isolate yourself or distance yourself or anything like that it's the time to continue in the power of the Lord and to do good so that others would see the hope of Christ in you let's pray and so God we do thank you so much for this day and if there's anyone here that maybe they don't know you as their Lord and Savior I pray that today would be that day I

Pray that they would do business with you God or maybe if they have questions Lord that they would grab a friend grab a neighbor grab me and say I got some questions because I need that hope God I pray that's what happens today in the lives of people help us God as your children Lord that when sufferings and judgment come Lord to endure it well and to encourage one another when we see those judgments taking place when we see suffering in the lives of Christians Lord help us not to alienate ourselves or not want to get too involved but to jump in be a source of strength and encouragement and prayer God we give ourselves to you we ask you Lord that we would just see the total victory that you have given to us in Christ as we stand and we worship together Lord may you be blessed through our lives in Jesus name amen foreign [Music] striving seeds my comforters [Music] In Christ Alone to confles fullness of God in heaven this gift of love and the righteousness is scorned by the ones he came to save till on that cross as Jesus died the wrath of God was satisfied for everything [Music] Light of the World by Darkness up from the great Heroes again and as he stands in victory since curse has lost its grip on me for I am his and it is mine but with a precious blood of Christ [Music] this is [Music] till he returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand no power of hell no power of hell no scheme of man can ever block me from his head till he returns or calls me home here in the power of amen praise praise the Lord amen hey I want you all go ahead and have a seat I want to introduce to you guys Zack and Ivy Malone and so it's been really fun to see these the Lord working in this family over the past I don't know a year you guys have been here almost a year now and so God's just been working they went through the new members class and they said you know we're just ready and he I asked him I said are you gonna come up today he goes I don't know I'm wearing a t-shirt he went this past week with our students to that mission trip had a great time and God's been working in him and Ivy I'm confident of their salvation and what God's been doing and they said they want to make this their Church home and so church if y'all would accept them say Amen all right awesome praise the Lord be sure to hug their neck as they're going out and where's is PJ in here oh there he is you want to pray for us as we just dismissed from here foreign let's pray father thank you so much just for all of the intricate parts of worship that we got to enjoy this morning I pray that as we leave this campus this afternoon that Lord you would not allow it to stop but that our worship would continue throughout this week as we get to serve you in our various capacities and places we commit all these things to you now in your name amen thank you