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We all know where we were and what we were
doing on 9/11. We remember how we felt because to some degree we
have felt that way ever since, and events like hurricanes and anniversaries
such as this one remind us of the soon return of Christ in the skies and the
coming judgment for this earth.
What
should we do when these cataclysmic
events strike? When buildings fall and waters rise?
I. HAVE FAITH - NOT
FEAR Vs. 26. “...and they
cried out for fear.”
Vs. 27, “...Be of good cheer; it is I; be not
afraid.”
Vs. 30, “...But when he saw the wind
boisterous, he was afraid;”.
Vs. 31, “...O thou of little faith,
wherefore didst thou doubt?”
I am not suggesting that we should not
express normal emotions of concern and uncertainty. I am saying that fear is
not the spiritual response.
II Tim. 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of
fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Fear will not comfort anyone. Fear will only
bring more anxiety and distress.
As we have observed the horror that is
present on gulf coast resident’s faces over the last 2 weeks, we each have
related with them, whether we’re related or not! And we Christians should
not be naïve to overlook the fact that the worst is yet to come for this
planet.
Yet, we must not let fear reign during times
of crisis. There are no answers in fear. Only faith will have the answer
for us.
Jesus said in Mark 11:22 , “Have faith in
God.”
Just Dial 911—
It's amazing how powerful God's Word is. You can look at about any
verse in any book and find application for your situation. Check out
chapter 9 and verse 11 in a few passages, for instance...
Genesis 9:11
And I will establish my covenant with
you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood;
neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Do you believe God’s
promise? Tsunamis and hurricanes
are localized. The rainbow is God giving us His word on this…do we believe
Him and trust Him?
Then the first 9 vv. of chapter 11 is the
Tower of Babel…sinful man continuing to
do his thing. But God’s promise has held true and will to the very end…God’s
final judgment will be different…not water, but fire next
time! And praise God, we Christians won’t be here for that!
So, Have Faith and not Fear.
II. PRAY - DON’T
PANIC
When panic takes
over prayer ceases. We must continue to pray for those who are homeless or missing loved
ones. We should pray today for all ravaged by terrorism 4 years ago, and
for the ongoing worldwide war against it!
Just Dial 911—
Neh. 9:11
And thou didst divide the sea before
them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and
their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty
waters.
The natural man panics…but the
supernatural man prays!
Job 9:11
Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he
passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
Job didn’t see God in some low times,
but he knew He was there, and he prayed until he got his answer!
Psalm 91:1
He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
It’s
hard to see in the shadows, and it can be scary there,
until we realized Whose shadow that
is!
I Cor. 9:11
If we have sown unto you spiritual
things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?
Things are just things, and they
pass away, but the devil cannot touch our spiritual things…our
salvation is secure as we are in God’s hand. Job said “naked came I out of
my mother’s women and naked shall I return.” “the Lord gave and the Lord
taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord!” In eternity material values
don’t matter. “only 1 life, twill soon be passed…only what’s done for
Christ will last!”
II Cor. 9:11
Being enriched in every thing to all
bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
Truly,
if we have Christ we have it all…we’re rich, we’re blessed,
and we should be thankful in all circumstances for this!
III. BELIEVE GOD - DON’T
BLAME HIM
This is not God’s fault, though we call it an
“act of God.”
Some will blame Him. Some will turn against
Him.
Some will suggest that God is punishing
certain individuals.
It’s part of our nature to
make ourselves feel better by assigning blame.
Some will seek to blame the President, the
government, FEMA, CIA, etc. There is a place for this but it shouldn’t be a
political tool…this is about saving lives!
So Dial 911—
Eccles. 9:11
I returned, and saw under the sun, that
the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet
bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to
men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
It’s a
sin-cursed world, and we are the sinners who cursed it,
and bad things happen.
Daniel 9:11
Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy
law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the
curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses
the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
Deut. 9:11
And it came to pass at the end of forty
days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, even
the tables of the covenant.
We shouldn’t blame God, but believe on Him.
God is not responsible for our
circumstances…He wants to save us from them, and He will, if only
we believe, like the blind man…
John 9:11
He answered and said, A man that is
called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the
pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
We don’t know all the reasons why. We do know
that God is in charge, and He controls all. Thus, we must believe and not
blame.
IV. RESPOND - DON’T
RUN
We must take this as a lesson and a call from
God to do that which must be done.
Dial 911—
Matthew 9:11
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said
unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
Jesus went where the opportunities
were, to those who recognized their need of Him. And
this is the time for believers to reachout as well!
Luke 9:11
And the people, when they knew it,
followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of
God, and healed them that had
need of healing.
Psalm 9:11
Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth
in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
V. BE ASSURED -
NOT ANGRY
Be assured that God always does the right
thing.
Be assured that
God never makes mistakes.
Our Anger must be directed toward sin.
Righteous anger must be directed toward the
Prince of sin.
We must unite against the act of
terrorism, not the terrorist.
God loves the sinner. But he hates their sin.
God gave His Son for the sinner.
Anger will only enhance confusion and
misunderstanding. So we need to focus
upward in assurance, not outward in anger.
Peter got into trouble when he looked at the
storm, but when he looked at his Lord he rose above the storm. We have a
problem in that we always want to “feel” good. We need to rest in the
“fact” that all is well even when we don’t feel it.
Bad things happen, but God is good!
Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, and was
handicapped…he was lame. He had special needs, and our hearts go out to
ones like that. But the king took him in as his own and he lived and was
blessed there.
II Samuel 9:11
As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he
shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.
I don’t mind living “hand to mouth”
as long as it’s God’s hand and my mouth! He
who puts food on the table will put gas in the tank.
If He can be trusted with our souls He can be trusted with our feet and
everything that stands above them!
Dial 911—
Proverbs 9:11
For by me thy days shall be multiplied,
and the years of thy life shall be increased.
We can be assured the goodness of God in all
things if we have the assurance of salvation…
Hebrews 9:11
But Christ being come an high priest of
good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with
hands…but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us.
God’s anger is sometimes poured out
on wickedness, but He knows His own, and when He sees that blood he passes
over us.
Exodus 9:11
And the magicians could not stand before
Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon
all the Egyptians.
And the wicked have their reward…
Rev. 9:11
And they had a king over them, which is
the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon,
but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
What will we do in time of crisis?
We must have faith, not fear.
We must pray, not panic.
We should believe and not blame.
Don’t run from problems…respond to those in
need.
And depart in peace with assurance…
Philip. 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that
he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ.
