 Amen. Romans chapter 1, keep your place there. We'll go over there in a few minutes. But this morning we're going to answer a question that a lot of people have, maybe saved people and unsaved people have on this question as they see things happening around them in the world. And this question is, is why bad things happen to good people? A lot of people have this question in their mind, why God would allow, you know, you see wicked things on the news and just terrible things happening in our world. And a lot of people think, why would God allow these things to happen to good people, people that don't deserve to have those things happen to them. So I'm going to answer that question from the Bible for you this morning. I'm reminded of a time that I was out soul-winning in Sacramento three or four years ago. And it was kind of an odd situation because I actually got separated from the group. We were in a larger group of five or six people. And I think I was in a group of three and I kind of went off and found somebody walking on the street and let my other two partners knock the doors. And I found somebody walking on the street and I got separated from the group. I mean, it was kind of a maze of a neighborhood and the group, I guess they thought I could handle myself and they just kind of went off without me. I got done talking to this person and my group was gone. So I figured I'll just go back to the car and wait for somebody back at the car. I saw right by the car in the vehicles where we parked, there was a lady sitting on her porch with her two kids. And so I went up and I gave her an invitation. And I ended up having a conversation with this lady because this question of why good things happen to bad people can actually be a stumbling block for people. They actually, for them believing the gospel. And that was the case with this lady. She apparently had had something bad happen to some child that she knew or there was a wicked person that heard a child that she knew. She didn't say who the child was, but it was someone that she loved. And she was asking this question, you know, as I stood in her, you know, at her door with the Bible, you know, why would God, why if there's a God and you have this message from God, why would God allow these things to happen? So I didn't preach the gospel to this lady because she wasn't ready for it. Instead, I went through Romans chapter one with this lady and I explained to her why things happen. Basically this, I preached to her the sermon that I'm going to preach to you. And the thing is, in order to understand the answer to this question, you have to believe and you have to understand some hard truths in the Bible in order to answer the question of why bad things happen to good people. So let's look at it this morning and I explained to this lady and I hope that I removed that stumbling block from that lady, but I also hope that, you know, you understand that by believing the hard truths in the Bible, we actually bring people closer to God. We actually bring people closer to believing the truth of God's word. And people have hang-ups on things. So if you have someone that's willing to listen when you're out soul-winning and you can remove some stumbling blocks from in front of them, take the time to do so, you know, in your soul- because look, not everybody's just going to receive the gospel the first time they hear it. So the first thing is this, look at Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three. So we're looking at the question today of why bad things happen to good people. The first thing, and this is a prerequisite, let's just get this one out of the way, but look at Romans three and chapter 12. You're going to want to keep a place in Romans. We're going to be all over Romans this morning. But look at Romans three and verse number 12. The Bible says they're all gone out of the way. They're all together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. So the first thing in why bad things happen to good people is this, there is no good people, the Bible says. The Bible says there is no good people. So we first need to understand our spiritual condition as people, as everybody in the world. But then you could say, okay, well, what about, you know, the innocent people and children and things like that? So I get that, okay? But I just wanted to get that out of the way that there is really no good people out there. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But look, how about like an innocent person, somebody that was innocent, that didn't deserve to get murdered, for example. You know, somebody that just had a random act of violence committed on them, why does that happen? And in order to understand that, we need to understand evil. We need to understand how evil people, you know, become evil people, okay? God does not create, you know, an evil wicked person like we read in Romans one. So let's look at this and let's reverse engineer, go back to Romans chapter one, let's reverse engineer the evil person this morning. So we can understand how this happens. I'm talking about the serial killers, the child molesters, just the worst possible thing could happen that you see out in the world today. Look at Romans chapter one and look at verse number 28. Romans chapter one and verse number 28. Let's reverse engineer this type of person and see how it actually comes about. Verse number 28 says, even as they did not like to retain God and their knowledge, now this is important that you understand this phrase right here, because it says that they did not want to retain God in their knowledge, meaning they knew about it and they didn't want to retain it or they didn't want to keep it in their knowledge. God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. This means not natural, not normal, not, you know, not convenient. It says natural and unnatural many times in Romans chapter one, being filled with all this fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiteers, haters of God, despiteful, proud boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, meaning they can't be trusted. They just will break any deal. They'll say anything without what? Without natural affection, implacable, meaning they just can't be satisfied. They'll never be satisfied, unmerciful. So this right here is the evil person in Romans chapter one. We just read all these things and we'll go and we'll look at, you know, more detail on these items that are listed here and what God says about these items in verses 29, 30 and 31, a few minutes, but this is the evil person. So what did they do to become evil? Let's walk it backwards in Romans chapter one. Verse number 28 gives us the last thing that they did. They did not like to retain God. So they knew God, they did not like to retain Him. Go back to verse number 25. Before that, they actually, they changed, so they changed the truth of God into a lie, it says in verse number 25. So these people, it's not like they never knew who God was. It's not like they never knew what God's word was. It's that they changed God's word. They changed what God says, they changed who He was and then they worshiped and served the creature more than the creator. Look at verse 23. They changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man. So they changed God. They took God as He was presented to them and they changed it into an image into a false version of God. Look, this is what you're starting, this is what you see in churches today. This is what you see happening in churches today. And this is how it begins with people. Churches today, they teach a God that is not in the Bible. They teach a God that just has no judgment, that just has no wrath. They teach a God that is just loving and accepting of everybody and everything. And that is not God. If you are preaching from the pulpit in a church and you are presenting God as accepting of everything, of loving of everything, you are changing who God is to people. That is what you're doing. And that is what was one of the first things that happened with this person in verse 20. Now look at verse 21. And here we have the proof right here. So in order to change something, in order to not retain something, you had to have it in the first place. You had to know about it in the first place. But in verse 21 it tells us they knew God. They knew God. They didn't know them. They certainly weren't saved. But they knew of God. And Romans 2.15 tells us that everyone knows of God because he has written his law in their hearts. They knew God, but guess what? They knew him, but they glorified him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. So verse 21 is the beginning of it all, where they knew God, they had that law in their heart, but they didn't give him credit for any of it. They didn't give him credit for any of it. They were unthankful to God and they just became all about themselves. They became all about vain, meaning just feeding their own desires and their own thoughts and then their heart was darkened from there. And then of course they just started changing God. And then at the very end, they just completely forgot about him. They didn't retain him, they just let him go. And the Bible says at that point, God gave them over to a reprobate mind or rejected mind. They forgot him all together. It wasn't more thankful to him anymore. They just forgot about him all together. And then the Bible says at the end of Romans chapter one that they actually, so it's not that they never, you know, it's not that they forgot that he was God. It's just they even started to hate him. They're haters of God, the Bible says. And you will find that going out soul winning. You will find that. You will find doors that you go to where people are simply angry that you're there with the Bible in your hand before you say a word. You will see that. Look, if you want to see this in practice, if you want to see this in the world, you need to become a soul winner and you will see it firsthand. Guaranteed. So this is what has happened and this is where the evil person comes from. I mean, think about it. Think about it from God's perspective. So, you know, God gave them over. He gave them up in Romans chapter one. But they started it. They were unthankful. They changed him. They changed him into a creature. They changed him into a false God. All these things. I mean, and you think about, well, maybe God shouldn't have given him up. But here's the thing. Is it even possible to have a relationship with someone like this? Think about God's perspective here. Somebody that has done these things to you. Think about a husband and a wife. Think about a relationship, husbands. Think about a relationship with your wife. Would it be possible? Would it be possible to have a relationship with someone that has treated you this way? That doesn't recognize you. That doesn't want to think about you. That changes who you are. It forgets about you. That hates you. Could you even have a relationship with someone like that? What kind of, I mean, these are irreconcilable differences if there ever was any. Turn to Genesis chapter three. And here's the thing. Unless God took control of us, this is bound to happen. Unless God just completely erased free will, this is bound to happen. Because guess what? God wants us to listen to him and to follow him freely. And that is very clear in the Bible. At the very beginning, look at Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three. Unless God wants us to come to him, to listen to him, to obey him freely of our own free will. Unless he just took control of us and made us robots, the other side of this spectrum is inevitable. Look at Genesis chapter three in verse number one. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. This is of course Satan, you know, talking to Eve through the serpent. And he said unto the woman, Yay, hath God said, ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden. So here we have someone that is opposing God's will. And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ye shall not eat of it. Neither shall ye touch it lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die. So look, look at verse number three. He says, you shall not eat of it. This is the same language that you're gonna see in Romans constantly. It says you should not do these things. You should not. You should do this. You should not do that. God says the same thing in Genesis chapter three in verse number three. She says, God said, ye shall not eat of it. He didn't say it's not possible to eat of it. He didn't say to her, you can't if you tried. So here we have God telling them, you shouldn't do this because this will happen. And turn to Deuteronomy chapter 30. God didn't say it's not possible. Now we have an opposing will coming in and saying God's lying. God didn't say that. And then we of course know what happens. She was able to physically eat of the fruit of that tree. And she did, but it went against God's will. Look at Deuteronomy chapter three. So the point being is, God gave the choice. He gave the direction, but he left the choice open to Adam and Eve. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 30 in verse number 19. The Bible says, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death. This is the same thing as Genesis chapter three. God says, if you eat of that tree, you will die. What's the direction that he gave? And here the Bible is saying therefore choose life that both you and thy seed may live. Here you have a choice. Again, Deuteronomy chapter 30 is saying, you have a choice between following God and life and not following God and death. Look folks, this world is a battle. It's really a battle of three wills. Turn to second Timothy chapter two. Second Timothy chapter two. You have, you know, you have man's will. You have God's will and you have Satan's will in this world. It's really a battle of three wills. Look at second Timothy chapter two. Look at verse number 24. So you have God's will. You have our will as men. And then you have Satan's will, which is opposing God. Look at second Timothy chapter two in verse number 24. The Bible says, and the servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men. App to teach patient in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. If God, paraventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth, acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will, at the devil's will. So the devil has a will that is opposing what God is telling us to do. And then here we are in the middle and we should choose God's will, but many times we don't. We choose Satan's will. Look at Romans chapter eight. If you've kept your place in Romans. Romans chapter eight in verse number six. Look at Romans chapter eight in verse number six. Look, man's will and what we choose to do is all about what this life is about. Look at Romans chapter eight in verse number six. For to be carnally minded, carnally minded is to do with your flesh or what Satan is tempting you to do. You basically, it's you choosing Satan's will. That's to be carnally minded and it's death. And that's what God told us from the beginning. You choose my will as life, Satan's will go against me and it's death. To be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually minded for us to choose God's will is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God. This is saying listening to Satan, going with Satan's will is making you an enemy of God. For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they are into the flesh cannot please God. So we have man's will, God's will and Satan's will. So God did not create robots. God gives us free will but we must accept both sides of free will. And the other side, the extreme other spectrum of free will is Romans chapter one. Somebody that knew God, that just went against the conscience, went against the law in their heart and just completely rejected all of it and then God rejected them and you just get this wicked person that just becomes unnatural and implacable and unmerciful because God gave them up. Because God gave them up. Turn to 1 John chapter five. So we see where evil people come from. It's the opposite of the choosing God. It's those that chose death and God gave them up. But you say, okay, but why? Why doesn't God intervene? Okay, there's evil people out there but an evil person comes along and wants to do evil to someone. Why doesn't God just stop it? Why doesn't God intervene in the case of somebody innocent being murdered or a child being harmed by some sick reprobate? Why would God allow that? Look at 1 John chapter five. Let's look at that question next. Why does God allow the bad things to happen from the evil people? We see where the evil people come from. Look at 1 John chapter five in verse number 16. The Bible says, There is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray for it. So the only reason I read you this verse is just to say that God did give us a law. God did give us very specific laws to handle evil people. He gave us very specific laws because not all sin is equal. This is another huge problem with churches today. Saying, oh, you know, just unnatural perversion, just whatever, it's just a sin. Like, you know, you stealing a stapler from work. You know, there's no difference but this is a problem because we're not, by doing that, we're not following God's law because God gave us very, look, it's ridiculous how specific the instructions are in the Bible. I mean, you sit there and you read it. I mean, we'll look at it, but look, here's the thing. Murder, rape, adultery, sodomy, incest, other perversions, even, I mean, even rebellious teenagers against their parents. These were things that are all sins unto death in the Bible. And God gave us specific directions. I mean, aren't there teenagers that commit murder and terrible crimes today? I mean, isn't that something that happens like all the time today? I mean, the Bible actually says that this is the government's main job is to take care of this thing and God gave us a blueprint for it. Turn to Leviticus. Actually, turn to Exodus chapter 20. Turn to Exodus chapter 20. Let's look at some, let's look at the law a little bit. Let's look at God's law. I understand that, you know, we don't, I mean, we'll see how far away from this we are today, but let's look at God's law. Here's a complicated verse. Exodus 20, verse number 13, thou shalt not kill. And it's interesting because if you look at, you know, verse 13, verse thou shalt not kill, that's murder, verse 14, and even verse 16, thou shalt not bear false witness. If you're bearing false witness against somebody and it could cost them their life, we just looked at this Wednesday night, but these things are all punishable with capital punishment in the Bible. All these things. But we don't do this today. Look at Exodus or Leviticus chapter 20. Leviticus chapter 20. Look at how detailed God had to get in the Bible. Whenever I read this, I'm just like, it is ridiculous that God had to like look at mankind and say, you know, I have to make a rule for these things because they're gonna do it. I mean, it's crazy. I mean, for us to put this on God, but he told us, look, look at Leviticus chapter 20. Look at verse number nine. For everyone that curses his father or mother, shall surely be put to death. Cursing your parents is punishable by death. Verse number 10, a man that committed adultery with another man's wife, adultery, punishable by death. Look at verse 11. And the man that lieth with his father's wife and uncovered his father's nakedness. Same thing, I mean, now we go into like incessual relationships. Verse number 13, if a man will also lie with mankind, this is homosexuality. Look at verse number 14. If a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. If a man, look at verse 15. If a man lie with a beast, God had to make a rule about this. Can you imagine? These are all things that are punishable by death in the Bible. This is what God is saying. He's like, this is the law. This is what you're gonna have to do. He's to manage people. Can you imagine? He has to go through and then you just look at, you just look at the rest of the verses and just much more rules on incest and all these disgusting unnatural perverted things. And God, I mean, can you imagine? God had to literally make a rule that you can't lie with an animal because this is what will happen when people are turned over to this. Deuteronomy chapter 22 talks about, you know, a man that forces a woman talking about rape is punishable by death. Exodus chapter 21, Deuteronomy chapter 24 talks about stealing men and forcing them into servitude. Slavery, you know, what we would look at as slavery in the Western world was punishable by death in the Bible. Look, this is the government's main job but do they do this today? Do they even come closest? We don't even punish murderers today. I mean, the one that is like the most simple to understand just like if you murder somebody, you should, you know, be executed. But look, even that, I mean, people's, you know, even states that do say that they punish with capital punishment, they people sit on death row for 20 years. Look, it is not happening today. But the point is, this is the government's job to keep this evil in check. And it's not happening. So what do we think is gonna happen? We're not listening, folks. Do you know, let me read this. Do you know that it's estimated? It's estimated that 1% of the population is a psychopath. Meaning 1% of the population is a Romans one person. Meaning they have no conscience. Meaning they have, what you say is, and look, if you listen to what I'm saying, you will recognize these people. That means, I mean, if you know more than 100 people, which I think most people know more than 100 people, you know at least one psychopath. So the point is, there is, but you say, this doesn't mean that 1% of the population is an axe murderer. What this means is that 1%, one out of 100 people, they have the potential to do that. And many people won't because they're just afraid of the consequences. Many psychopaths are actually in corporate America. They actually do, that's where I've met most of them. Because you'll find people that will just do anything. They'll do anything to get to the top. And look, they're not gonna go out and they're not gonna kill people because they're too concerned about themselves. They don't wanna get in trouble. They don't wanna get put in prison or whatever. They just wanna use this fact that they have no ethics. They have no version of right and wrong. They don't care what's right. They don't care what's wrong. And they're gonna use that to climb that ladder as fast as they can. And for many of them, it works. So you can recognize these people if you look for people that just don't seem to care about right and wrong at all. They don't seem to have a conscience about who they hurt, who they don't. And it's usually just for their own vein, their own vein imaginations to further themselves. Look at Romans chapter 13. But look, the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us, so look, 1% of the population, I completely believe it. It's totally true because I've met several of these people. And look, they're not axe murderers. You think psychopath and you think of a movie or something like that. But the point is, they're just people that no longer have a conscience. They've seared their conscience. They have no version of right and wrong. They just don't care. They don't care. It's only about their vein imaginations, what they wanna do. Look at Romans. And the only thing keeping those people in check is consequences to themselves personally. Because they're vein in their imaginations, but they're also vein in the fact that, so if we had a government that just punished nothing, which thank God we don't, this would get way worse. But this is the road we're heading down, folks. This is the road we're heading down. Look at Romans 13 in verse number three. This is why I don't trust the government right here. This is why I don't trust the government because the one thing that they're supposed to be doing they're not doing. They do everything else, but the one thing that they're supposed to be doing they don't doing for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. This is what they're supposed to do. Just keep in mind, by the way, keep in mind, don't forget the context of who wrote this letter. Of course it's written by the Holy Spirit, but Paul wrote this letter to who? To the Romans. That was a wicked society. That was a wicked government. This Roman government was the one that would end up killing him. This Roman government was just corrupt in immorality, in perversion. They ended up persecuting the Christians just a few years after this was written like some of the worst persecution in history. Look at verse three that do that which is good and now shall that praise of the same. For he is a minister to God, to thee for good. But if that will do that which is evil, be afraid. For he bears not the sword in vain, but is a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. This is God's ordination of government. If God ordains government to punish evil, that's what government's for. It's not to tell you what to do, what to put in your body. It's not to steal all your labor. It's not to just oppress you. It's to punish evil. That's what government is for. This is why I don't trust the government today because they're not doing what they're supposed to do and they're doing all these things that they shouldn't have anything to do with. So why would I trust them? They're not even punishing murder to the tune of 60 million unborn children. They have no credibility from the Christian perspective. So this is the second reason that bad things happen to good people. First of all, evil exists. And the second reason is our government does not punish evil as it should. That's the second reason. So evil grows. Evil spreads. And look, turn to Romans chapter eight, again in Romans, Romans chapter eight. We live because of sin and because of the choices that we have made as people in this world because we have followed our will and not God's will and we've given over to temptation to Satan's will in many cases. We live in this fallen world that Satan is taking control of. Look at Romans 822. The Bible says, for we know that the whole creation growneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they but ourselves also which are the first fruits which have the first fruits of the spirit even we ourselves grown within ourselves. Look, we will battle this flesh our whole lives and we see this fallen world around us and it pains us to see this. The whole point of the sermon this morning, this, you know, the fact that people grown at what's happening in the world. Look, that lady on the porch, she wasn't saved but you know what she did have? She had a conscience. She had a conscience and she recognized evil when she saw it and she just didn't understand what the Bible said about where these things come from. You know, and so she just, you know, she blamed God. She just needed to be told the truth on where evil actually comes from. And then look, he said, not only they but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the spirit we grown within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. Look, we are going to struggle with these three wills our whole lives even as saved people. We have our will but we have, you know, the Holy Spirit within us battling our flesh. That's why we need to be reading the Bible, following the Bible. We choose God's will every time but we're not going to because we're all sinners. We're all sinners. But then, knowing this, knowing this, look what God says in Romans 8, 28. Knowing that we are going to fall, that we're living in a fallen world, that we're gonna still, even as saved people we are still gonna choose to go against God's will in our lives. Look what God says in Romans 8, 28. And knowing that we have this fallen world around us we have people that God has literally rejected that have just turned into wicked people. Knowing all that, when bad things still do happen in this world, because look bad things happen evil people succeed on this earth at times. And look at verse 28. God, look, God tells us this. Knowing that the creation is groaning under this pressure of sin. God tells us and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. To them who are called according to His purpose. God says, God says here, look, this is not a fridge magnet. This is a promise right here in Romans 8, 28. God is promising us as saved believers that if this evil intersects our lives God will take that and make a good thing come from it. And you can see that with bad things that have happened to saved people. You can see that God has taken that and used that for the kingdom of heaven on earth in many cases. But look, it's a promise that God gives us. It's comfort that God gives us. So look, after the nations have forgotten the Lord after individuals have turned against the Lord and what he told us to do. And then after the governments of those nations have just refused to punish evil as God says that they should do God still says, you know what? I promise to take the evil deeds against my people and make good come from it. That's a beautiful promise. And that's mercy upon this world from God. And you know what the perfect, the perfect most extreme example of that is? You know what the ultimate terrible thing in this world is? The ultimate terrible thing happening to the innocent. You know what it is? It's someone who has persecuted and killed for their faith in Christ. That is the ultimate, you know, that is the, and here, this is Romans 828 proved in the most extreme case right here. Turn to Psalm 116. Turn to Psalm 116. So you say, Romans 828, give me an example of God, you know, turning something that's terrible against the saved person into something that's great, you know, that making a good thing come of that. Look, that's the promise that he gave us and we can see it everywhere. And I'm gonna show you. Look at Psalm 116 and verse number 15. Psalm 116 and verse number 15. Psalm 116 and verse number 15. Look what the Bible says here. I want you to read these words. Read these words. This is an extreme statement right here. But look what it says and you have to understand this statement. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. What in the world? It says when the saints are killed for Christ, when we are killed for our belief in Christ because that's what's gonna happen, all shall suffer persecution. But look, not everybody is gonna be killed for their faith but some have been and some will be. You don't know anybody like this. But look, the Bible says, God says, that when that happens, when Stephen is stoned, when the martyrs in the martyrs mirror are tortured and brutally killed for their faith, the Bible says it's precious in the sight of the Lord. The Bible says that God, he's like, that's a great thing. It's precious to him that that happens. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11, let me explain this to you. You're like, how could a saved person being killed in a horrible way? How could a saved person being killed in a horrible way be precious to the Lord? Because of Romans 828, that's why. That's what I'm explaining to you this morning. Look at Hebrews chapter 11. I'm gonna read for you. While you're turning to Hebrews chapter 11, let me read for you Matthew chapter five. Blessed are ye. This is Jesus saying, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you. They'll say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. He's, when they come for you to kill you for my sake, he's like, rejoice in that. And you're like, what? But it's precious to the Lord. God's up there and he's just like, this is precious. And he's saying, you should rejoice too. You should rejoice. Look, this isn't gonna happen to everybody. This probably happens to very few believers throughout history. This isn't gonna happen. And many of us may sit there and say, we may read a story like Stephen. We may read the martyr's mirror of the terrible things that happened to these Christians as they were strapped to the stakes and burned and tortured and all these terrible things that I can't even say from the pulpit. And be like, man, I'm glad that didn't happen to me. But the Bible says, if that does happen to you, you should rejoice. And I know that's hard to wrap your head around. But that's what Jesus is saying. He says, for great is your reward in heaven. First of all, you're gonna have rewards like you wouldn't believe if you're chosen for something like that. If you're chosen to go through something like that. For so persecuted day, the prophets which were before you. And this brings us to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11, look at verse 37. You say, where's the good part of this? You say, where's the precious part? I'm getting to it. Just hang in there. It gets worse. They were stoned. They were sawn asunder. They were sawn in half. They were cut into pieces. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. And then here we start to see what it is right here. Verse 38. Of whom the world was not worthy. You see, this is why it's precious right here. This is why it was precious. Because what does that mean? Of whom the world was not worthy. Because these men whose lives, you know that there's men and women whose lives were born just for this. Whose lives were, they never had good in their life. It was just always suffering and death in the end. You can think about the apostles. They all just suffered horrible deaths. And they just kept preaching. There was no glory. There was no riches. There was no comfort. It was just affliction and torment. And then finally a long, painful death usually. But the Bible says the world was not worthy of these people. And that shows you they were performing a service for the world. They were here to perform a service to the world. And the world that had them here to serve them was not worthy of the service that they performed. And just as, look, God is a God of the extremes. And I can't even imagine what the rewards are gonna be like for this. Because I know what the other extreme is. And I'll get to that in a few minutes. But the world was not worthy because, you know, they did all these things in service of, and they gained nothing on earth for themselves. It was all for the service of a wicked, fallen world. That's why they did it in verse 39. And these having obtained a good report through faith received not the promise. They received nothing for it themselves. Only pain and suffering. And then verse number 12 shows us the Romans 828 answer right here, Romans, or Hebrews chapter 12. Just go to one chapter over and look at verse number one. It says, why did he do this? What's the point of all this? What was the point of letting all these evil, wicked rulers just destroy all these prophets, destroy all these great, wonderful men of God, women as well? We're foreseeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. It's like, they're a witness to us. And then we can do what? We can lay aside every weight. We can quit complaining about the stupid things in our life. We can lay aside every sin and the sin, which does so what? So easily beset us. Look, these guys did this. And you can't quit drinking, idiot. That's what the Bible is saying. It's like, these great men of God perform this service to the world. They got nothing out of their life. And you can't give up your stupid sin and be profitable to one person. That's what the Bible is saying here. They were a witness to us, for us. We're not worthy either. Yeah, we get wrapped up in all the thorns of this world. You know, all the riches. You know, just we get sidetracked by anything in our Christian life. We get sidetracked by any little weight. Anything hits us. And we're like, we're out of church. Or we're out of soul winning. Or, you know, whatever. But these guys, they're a witness to us. They're a witness that if they can do this extreme, extraordinary thing, we can run with patience. We can finish the race. If they can run a 50 mile marathon with no water, we can run 100 yards. Is what the Bible is saying here. They did it. That's why it was precious to the Lord. It was precious to the Lord because this is a powerful witness for us going forward. This Romans 828 in the most extreme case is the prophets being that witness. That's why it's precious because, you know, Isaiah giving his life or being son of thunder is a huge example and it will just, it will propagate throughout the rest of the world for generations for the kingdom of heaven. You know, we do things. If we go out and we may get people saved and, you know, hopefully we can get those people into the Christian life so they can get their family saved and things like this. But what these men did is, if many of them, much of it's documented in the Bible. Documented in history books. It just, it echoes. It echoes throughout century after century after century. And it just furthers the kingdom of God. That's why it's precious. And that is the good thing that comes from a terrible thing with the prophets. So first of all, let's recap. Why do good things, why do bad things happen to good people? You know, because free will. Because free will, that's why. And some people will choose evil. Some people will choose evil. But think about, you know, we think about free will. Think about this. Why did God choose free will? Think about this between both husbands and wives. Think about this for all you married people. Who would like to have a marriage where it's like your wife constantly has a gun to her head. It's like, you have to be his wife or I'm gonna pull this trigger. Like constantly. You have to love your husband. I'm gonna pull this trigger. Like nobody would want that. It doesn't even match our conscience. It's ridiculous. Who would want it? Ladies, who would want a husband who's supposed to love them? Right, the Bible says, you know, love your wives. Who would want a husband that's like, you know, you better love your wife or I'm gonna shoot you. You know? Like nobody wants that. God wants us to choose him freely. And then, you know, on top of that, he gives us his word. He gives us the complete instructions. He gives us complete instructions. You know, for this fallen world that he knows that we live in, he provided the path out of our sinful condition. First of all, by giving us his son, by dying for us, he's provided us that path, you know, just out of, you know, the punishment that we deserve. But even that, even more than that, his word tells us how to manage our lives, how to manage our country, how to manage the world. And we just, we just don't, we just don't listen. He tells us how to handle evil personally, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 17. He tells us how to handle evil through government that we would have, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 17, look at verse number two. Deuteronomy chapter 17 in verse number two. The Bible says if there be found among you within any of the gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God in transgressing his covenant and hath gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the Son or the Son or the host of heaven, which I've commanded and let it be told thee. And thou hast heard of it, inquired diligently and behold it be true. And the certain thing that such abomination is wrought in Israel now shall bring forth that man or woman that have committed the wicked thing unto the gates, even that man or that woman shall stone them with stones till they die. The Bible here is saying just follow the law. It's saying just follow the law that I gave you because guess what? Evil breeds more evil. Evil breeds more evil if it's just allowed to just float around. And here's the thing, God's law is not really about punishment because that's what hell is for. I mean, it's about community, safety and management. Think about it that way. I mean, have you ever gone to, I always go to like before we moved to a house, I always go to familywatchdog.com or.us or whatever it is. Go to that. If you don't believe that there's evil, I mean, it's ridiculous. You go there and it shows you like all the offenders against children. You know, I don't even wanna say the word, you know, with the kids in the room. But I mean, basically it shows you the offenders and they're living in all the, it will shock you how many there are and they're not in the ground, they're living next to you. And we wonder like, why do these bad things keep happening? Because we're not following what God says. But look, here's the thing, the Christian should be smarter. And this is why, this is why, hey, we, I can't do anything about what the government does. But guess what? We can manage this church, how God wants this church to manage. And this is why these hard things in the Bible are so important. I'm talking to some friends, you know, that have gone and gone to other churches recently. First of all, if you ever leave a church like this and you go to the church, you're gonna just have a hard time. Because there's not many churches following the Bible anymore. And it's a big deal. It's a big deal because if you find like, Christians should be smarter. We have to administer the church like this. Otherwise, you know, this evil is gonna come in here. This wickedness is gonna come in here and it'll literally put people in the church in danger. But we have to be smarter. A Christian should be smarter realizing, realizing, turn to Genesis chapter six. Realizing that the more the government doesn't punish evil, the more violent society is gonna get. Because guess what? Folks, in the Bible, all these things, you say, oh, just perversion and all these things in Leviticus chapter 20, we're all about, you know, perverted unnatural relationships. It always leads to violence. And it usually leads to violence against the most innocent in our society, which is children. It, look, this is the reason that God steps in. And guess what? God does eventually step in. We need to think about that in this country, too. God eventually does step in and just say, you know what? That nation, that iniquity is full in that nation and they're done. Look at Genesis chapter six, but it always ends in violence. Christians need to understand this. Christians need to understand that as the government keeps doing what it's doing, that our society is gonna get more and more violent. We'll get verse number 11. This is why God destroyed the world. The earth was also corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth and behold, it was corrupt. For all flesh has corrupted his way upon the earth. It's corrupt, it's corrupt, it's corrupt. In what ways it corrupt? He said it was filled with violence. That means hurting the innocent. That's the purpose of this sermon. Why are the innocent hurt? Why is there violence in the world? And God said to Noah, the end of all flesh come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them and behold, I will destroy them in the earth. So look, it only comes from not listening. But violence always comes from it. As Christians, as individuals, we need to understand that this violence is around us. This is why you need to be able to protect your family. You need to be prepared. We have plans in this church. We have things in this church that they're here in place to protect the church because violence is around us. Because where evil is allowed to exist, there will be violence. But God promises, again, God promises even through those bad things and even through that violence and even through not listening to His will, He promises that if any saved believer that loves Him is hurt through this, He will use it for the good. He will use it for the good. To be a witness for other believers. To be a witness for other believers. That's why even the small things that we go through, you'll see that. Even the small things like the mandates. Even the small things. You know what that does? That, I mean, many of you went through some slight persecution there or a threat of persecution. But guess what? You can see that it becomes a witness. Even in just the small things. Imagine a large, you know, violent event happening to a believer. This is why you can't back down on anything in the Bible because it allows you to be that witness. It can't just be about surviving everything in this Christian life because we're here to be a witness to people. Why are you taking that stand? People will start asking. And then you can start telling people things. And you can have conversations that you normally wouldn't have had with people. But finally, here's the last comfort that we can have. Turn to Romans 12 and verse number 19. So it's our fault, folks. Turn to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. This is our final comfort right here. Why bad things happen to good people? Romans chapter 12, look at verse number 19. The Bible says, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place under wrath. For it is written, avenge is mine. I will repay, say it to the Lord. We still do what we're supposed to do. We're gonna come and we're gonna serve the Lord. We're gonna go out and we're gonna preach the gospel. We're gonna go out amongst all this. And God says, you know what? You let me handle the wickedness in this world. He said, I will repay. In Matthew 25, 46, he says, and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous unto life eternal. The punishment that evil people and even people that have just not decided to believe in the Lord, it's gonna be everlasting. It's gonna be everlasting chains, the Bible calls it. Eternal, look, eternal torment, the Bible calls it. No rest, day or night. The Bible calls it, look, it sounds, I mean, when you think about an evil person, it sounds fair. And the thing is, God will repay more than we could ever think of how to repay. So in the end, it will always be made right in the end. And we can have that confidence, we can have that hope, you know, but essentially on this earth, we've not followed God's plan and there are consequences for that. And there are consequences for everybody. And ultimately, let me just leave you with this. Let me leave you with the verse on the front of your bulletin. On the front of your bulletin, the Bible says in Job 121, the Bible says in, and said, naked I came out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return dither. The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. You don't deserve anything. We don't deserve anything. You know, we think about just our life, the fact that I'm alive here talking to you, the fact that you were alive in the chair this morning, you know, listening to me. You don't deserve any of your life. God just gave that to you. You didn't deserve any of it. I know that's hard to wrap our heads around that, but God, even the person that decided in their life, later in their life, or whenever, you know, in their late teenage years or whatever to just reject the Lord, they lived that whole life as a child, and that was free to them. You know, I mean, the guy sitting in his lawn chair, as I go out, soul-winning, years ago that says, what's God ever done for me? It's like, well, you know, he gave you the breath that you're breathing right now. He gave you the life that you're destroying as you sit there drinking a beer in your lawn chair on Sunday afternoon, in your front yard. He gave you that, you didn't deserve that. He sent his son to die for you and offers freely salvation to you. He offers you heaven for free. You got your life, your physical life for free. Now he offers you eternal life for free. We deserve nothing, nothing. And we haven't followed his laws. We have free will, and you know, it's our fault that we have done this to this world, and it's a fallen world that we live in, and we're just not choosing the Lord. But yet, when those bad things happen to good people, when those bad things happen to saved people, even when a wicked person does, is able to hurt a saved person, an innocent person that didn't deserve what happened to them, God promises, I will turn that into a powerful witness. I will turn that into good. Even though it's our fault, we've rejected everything. It's fair, and then when he gets those evil people, what about the evil person? We can't even imagine. You think about the rewards of the prophet that was killed, those rewards are gonna be comparable to the eternal punishment that the evil person receives. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.