1 00:00:00,220 –> 00:00:03,000 When I planned this series I had no idea 2 00:00:03,000 –> 00:00:07,660 that our country would be reeling in the 3 00:00:07,660 –> 00:00:10,500 aftermath of the worst national disaster 4 00:00:10,500 –> 00:00:12,240 in our nation’s history as we come 5 00:00:12,240 –> 00:00:14,160 to this passage of scripture 6 00:00:14,160 –> 00:00:15,980 and this theme of disaster today. 7 00:00:15,980 –> 00:00:19,139 But that is where we are today. 8 00:00:20,420 –> 00:00:23,520 And as the waters in Louisiana and Mississippi 9 00:00:23,520 –> 00:00:27,320 begin to subside, the questions begin to rise. 10 00:00:27,320 –> 00:00:29,020 And they include very significant 11 00:00:29,020 –> 00:00:33,619 questions of faith that will run in our own minds 12 00:00:33,619 –> 00:00:37,380 and will run in our country for some time. 13 00:00:37,380 –> 00:00:40,959 Where is God when disaster strikes? 14 00:00:42,500 –> 00:00:47,500 What is God saying when a disaster happens? 15 00:00:47,619 –> 00:00:49,139 How should we respond? 16 00:00:50,340 –> 00:00:52,060 Now these are obviously important questions 17 00:00:52,060 –> 00:00:53,980 for every Christian believer 18 00:00:53,980 –> 00:00:55,660 and we need to face them honestly 19 00:00:55,660 –> 00:00:57,900 and so I’m glad that we have the opportunity 20 00:00:57,980 –> 00:01:01,639 of grappling with them as we turn to the Bible today. 21 00:01:01,639 –> 00:01:03,279 I have to tell you, I cannot imagine 22 00:01:03,279 –> 00:01:06,099 a more relevant passage of the Bible 23 00:01:06,099 –> 00:01:07,620 than Micah in chapter one 24 00:01:07,620 –> 00:01:09,559 which has just been read to us 25 00:01:09,559 –> 00:01:11,239 and so I do want to encourage you today 26 00:01:11,239 –> 00:01:13,379 to turn that in your Bible 27 00:01:13,379 –> 00:01:18,080 as these questions are of great concern to all of us. 28 00:01:18,080 –> 00:01:20,660 This chapter describes a great disaster 29 00:01:21,559 –> 00:01:22,839 and I want to take a few moments 30 00:01:22,839 –> 00:01:25,059 to walk through the chapter 31 00:01:25,059 –> 00:01:27,239 and then to apply what we learn here 32 00:01:27,300 –> 00:01:30,660 to our experience of disasters today 33 00:01:30,660 –> 00:01:33,000 and that will be our experience of disasters 34 00:01:33,000 –> 00:01:36,660 whether they be national or whether they be personal. 35 00:01:36,660 –> 00:01:39,980 The great experiences of loss and trial 36 00:01:39,980 –> 00:01:41,480 that come at different points 37 00:01:41,480 –> 00:01:46,180 into the experience of every one of our lives. 38 00:01:47,000 –> 00:01:50,959 Now, the Book of Micah begins with a terrifying scene. 39 00:01:50,959 –> 00:01:55,199 In verse three, God rises up from his dwelling place 40 00:01:55,199 –> 00:01:59,000 and he comes down to the earth. 41 00:01:59,000 –> 00:02:02,379 The reason that is given for God’s coming down in this way 42 00:02:02,379 –> 00:02:06,139 is that he has a case against the peoples of the earth, 43 00:02:06,139 –> 00:02:08,779 verse two, he is bringing charges 44 00:02:08,779 –> 00:02:11,919 against a rebellious world. 45 00:02:11,919 –> 00:02:14,820 Verse four describes the sheer terror of what happens. 46 00:02:14,820 –> 00:02:18,639 It really is like a scene from a disaster movie. 47 00:02:18,639 –> 00:02:21,880 Micah says the mountains melt with wax, 48 00:02:21,880 –> 00:02:24,300 like wax beneath the Lord. 49 00:02:24,300 –> 00:02:26,500 The valleys split apart. 50 00:02:26,500 –> 00:02:29,500 I was trying to think what Steven Spielberg would do 51 00:02:29,500 –> 00:02:33,520 if he was depicting this in the form of film. 52 00:02:33,520 –> 00:02:35,539 The special effects department would have 53 00:02:35,539 –> 00:02:38,080 an extraordinary time with this. 54 00:02:38,080 –> 00:02:39,399 Think of this picture. 55 00:02:39,399 –> 00:02:44,399 Imagine the mountains and they’re like wax melting away. 56 00:02:45,039 –> 00:02:48,199 Just falling, crumbling, eroding. 57 00:02:49,100 –> 00:02:51,440 And valleys that are splitting apart, 58 00:02:51,440 –> 00:02:56,360 revealing great chasms beneath the earth. 59 00:02:56,360 –> 00:02:58,399 Now, Micah was a brilliant communicator. 60 00:02:58,399 –> 00:03:01,880 He uses the drama of these vivid pictures 61 00:03:01,880 –> 00:03:04,119 to put across his message. 62 00:03:04,119 –> 00:03:07,199 But the real punch of what he has to say 63 00:03:07,199 –> 00:03:08,600 comes in verse 5. 64 00:03:09,759 –> 00:03:13,759 You see, when Micah opened his prophecy here 65 00:03:13,759 –> 00:03:17,679 saying, listen O Earth and all that is in it, 66 00:03:17,880 –> 00:03:20,740 the Lord is coming in judgment, 67 00:03:20,740 –> 00:03:24,039 his audience would have been nodding their heads 68 00:03:24,039 –> 00:03:26,679 in quiet agreement. 69 00:03:26,679 –> 00:03:30,020 Amen, amen, they would say. 70 00:03:31,399 –> 00:03:33,119 Judgment day is coming. 71 00:03:34,160 –> 00:03:37,320 God is going to deal with his enemies. 72 00:03:37,320 –> 00:03:40,460 The Assyrians really have it coming to them. 73 00:03:40,460 –> 00:03:42,919 Their mountains are going to melt like wax. 74 00:03:42,919 –> 00:03:44,880 Their valleys are going to split apart. 75 00:03:44,880 –> 00:03:46,979 The Lord will come from his dwelling place. 76 00:03:46,979 –> 00:03:50,339 Lord come quickly, judge the Earth, reign in righteousness. 77 00:03:50,339 –> 00:03:52,039 May the Lord be praised forever. 78 00:03:52,039 –> 00:03:54,160 Amen and amen. 79 00:03:55,139 –> 00:03:56,699 You see, that’s what the audience would be thinking, 80 00:03:56,699 –> 00:03:59,779 just like an evangelical audience 81 00:03:59,779 –> 00:04:03,360 whenever the subject of judgment is addressed today. 82 00:04:06,600 –> 00:04:08,860 But then look at what Micah says in verse five. 83 00:04:10,839 –> 00:04:15,740 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression. 84 00:04:17,760 –> 00:04:19,359 Sorry, Micah? 85 00:04:19,359 –> 00:04:20,760 What did you say? 86 00:04:21,959 –> 00:04:26,880 I said, all this is because of Jacob’s transgression. 87 00:04:26,880 –> 00:04:30,339 This is because of the sins of the House of Israel. 88 00:04:32,579 –> 00:04:34,519 Now, Jacob and Israel are ways of speaking 89 00:04:34,519 –> 00:04:37,519 about God’s people in the Old Testament. 90 00:04:37,519 –> 00:04:39,660 They saw themselves as the true believers, 91 00:04:39,660 –> 00:04:40,799 the light of the world, 92 00:04:40,799 –> 00:04:44,000 the people who carried the name of God in the world. 93 00:04:44,000 –> 00:04:45,820 And Micah says, you need to realize, 94 00:04:45,820 –> 00:04:48,959 it’s not the Assyrian mountains that God’s going to melt. 95 00:04:50,059 –> 00:04:51,859 It’s not the valleys of our enemies 96 00:04:51,859 –> 00:04:53,339 that God is going to split apart, 97 00:04:53,339 –> 00:04:54,920 it’s our mountains. 98 00:04:56,019 –> 00:05:00,399 It’s our valleys that are going to be destroyed. 99 00:05:00,399 –> 00:05:02,239 Now, talk about a knockout punch. 100 00:05:03,640 –> 00:05:07,440 I mean, this is a left hook landed straight on the jaw. 101 00:05:08,540 –> 00:05:10,559 Micah, you cannot be serious. 102 00:05:11,519 –> 00:05:14,160 But Micah is deadly serious. 103 00:05:14,160 –> 00:05:17,519 This is the word of the Lord. 104 00:05:17,519 –> 00:05:18,820 You want to know what God is saying? 105 00:05:18,820 –> 00:05:20,619 He continues, verse six, 106 00:05:20,619 –> 00:05:23,899 I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, 107 00:05:23,899 –> 00:05:25,420 a place for planting vineyards. 108 00:05:25,420 –> 00:05:27,260 I will pour her stones into the valley 109 00:05:27,260 –> 00:05:28,899 and lay bare her foundations. 110 00:05:28,899 –> 00:05:32,160 All her idols will be broken to pieces. 111 00:05:33,160 –> 00:05:34,660 In other words, he’s saying this disaster 112 00:05:34,660 –> 00:05:36,820 that I’m talking about, it’s coming on you. 113 00:05:38,540 –> 00:05:39,820 Now, of course, this is exactly 114 00:05:40,399 –> 00:05:43,339 what happened during Micah’s lifetime. 115 00:05:43,339 –> 00:05:48,339 Samaria, in the year 722 B.C. was overrun. 116 00:05:48,619 –> 00:05:51,260 The Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom 117 00:05:51,260 –> 00:05:53,600 of Samaria, marked there in green. 118 00:05:53,600 –> 00:05:55,660 The great war machine of Assyria 119 00:05:55,660 –> 00:05:59,320 trundled over the valleys and indeed the mountains, 120 00:05:59,320 –> 00:06:03,679 bringing absolute devastation to the entire country. 121 00:06:05,260 –> 00:06:07,660 Now notice Micah’s response to his own message. 122 00:06:07,660 –> 00:06:11,660 He says in verse eight, because of this, I will weep. 123 00:06:11,660 –> 00:06:12,579 I will weep. 124 00:06:13,480 –> 00:06:15,260 Now here is a man with the Word of God 125 00:06:15,260 –> 00:06:17,820 and he also has the heart of God. 126 00:06:17,820 –> 00:06:20,140 He knows that he cannot change the course 127 00:06:20,140 –> 00:06:22,779 of events in Samaria. 128 00:06:22,779 –> 00:06:25,339 In fact he says, verse nine, that the wounds 129 00:06:25,339 –> 00:06:28,700 of the northern kingdom are incurable. 130 00:06:30,100 –> 00:06:31,940 Samaria’s resistance to the Lord 131 00:06:31,940 –> 00:06:34,420 has reached the point of no return. 132 00:06:35,420 –> 00:06:39,420 So Micah cannot change the course of these events, 133 00:06:39,420 –> 00:06:43,899 but his tears show that he really cares. 134 00:06:43,899 –> 00:06:47,980 And there maybe times in your life just like that. 135 00:06:49,399 –> 00:06:53,559 Things reach a point where they cannot continue as they are. 136 00:06:54,980 –> 00:06:58,519 You have to tell a son or a daughter to leave home. 137 00:07:00,040 –> 00:07:02,100 You have to make an intervention in the life 138 00:07:02,100 –> 00:07:04,019 of somebody that you dearly love. 139 00:07:05,140 –> 00:07:07,480 The day of reckoning has come, 140 00:07:08,660 –> 00:07:12,559 and it tears you apart, but you cannot avoid it. 141 00:07:13,459 –> 00:07:17,320 And Micah says what you will experience. 142 00:07:17,320 –> 00:07:21,260 Because of this I will weep and wail. 143 00:07:22,299 –> 00:07:24,899 Notice how he continues, verse 10. 144 00:07:24,899 –> 00:07:27,559 Tell it not in Gath. 145 00:07:27,559 –> 00:07:29,959 Now Gath was one of the five main cities 146 00:07:29,959 –> 00:07:32,160 that belong to the Philistines. 147 00:07:32,160 –> 00:07:34,640 Philistines of course being the longtime enemies 148 00:07:34,640 –> 00:07:37,679 of God’s people, Goliath the giant Goliath, 149 00:07:37,679 –> 00:07:40,640 he came from the town of Gath. 150 00:07:40,640 –> 00:07:43,559 And this phase tell it not in Gath 151 00:07:43,559 –> 00:07:46,160 was used first by King David 152 00:07:46,160 –> 00:07:50,500 at the time when Saul died on the field of battle. 153 00:07:50,500 –> 00:07:53,559 And at the beginning of 2 Samuel 1 154 00:07:53,559 –> 00:07:56,799 we’re told that David took up this lament 155 00:07:56,799 –> 00:07:58,839 about Saul and Jonathan, 156 00:07:58,839 –> 00:08:00,160 that the glory of Israel, 157 00:08:00,160 –> 00:08:03,399 Israel’s king, had been slain on the heights 158 00:08:03,399 –> 00:08:06,359 and lies slain and the mighty have fallen 159 00:08:06,359 –> 00:08:08,959 and then David says through tears, 160 00:08:08,959 –> 00:08:11,720 tell it not in Gath. 161 00:08:11,720 –> 00:08:14,559 Don’t proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon. 162 00:08:14,559 –> 00:08:16,720 Don’t let the Philistines be glad. 163 00:08:16,720 –> 00:08:17,959 In other words he knows 164 00:08:17,959 –> 00:08:20,440 that one of the worst aspects of this disaster 165 00:08:20,440 –> 00:08:22,480 is that they enemies of God’s people 166 00:08:22,480 –> 00:08:27,480 will rejoice in the downfall of Saul the King among them. 167 00:08:27,940 –> 00:08:31,559 And it’s true don’t expect sympathy from your enemies 168 00:08:31,559 –> 00:08:33,099 when disaster comes. 169 00:08:34,479 –> 00:08:38,239 The world’s press has not been entirely sympathetic 170 00:08:38,239 –> 00:08:41,780 to the disaster that has befallen our country. 171 00:08:41,780 –> 00:08:43,659 Some who despise our country, 172 00:08:43,659 –> 00:08:46,520 seem to have found a certain strange 173 00:08:46,520 –> 00:08:51,479 and perverse satisfaction in our troubles. 174 00:08:51,479 –> 00:08:53,880 And that is what David was talking about 175 00:08:54,599 –> 00:08:58,280 when Saul died and Micah takes up his well known phrase, 176 00:08:58,280 –> 00:09:00,020 tell it not in Gaths, 177 00:09:00,020 –> 00:09:01,640 knowing that the enemies of God’s people 178 00:09:01,640 –> 00:09:04,059 will rejoice when they come into trouble, 179 00:09:04,059 –> 00:09:07,799 he says, tell it not in Gath. 180 00:09:09,179 –> 00:09:11,340 Then Micah gives us a list of towns 181 00:09:11,340 –> 00:09:14,159 that will be caught up in this great disaster. 182 00:09:14,159 –> 00:09:17,020 These are all little local areas. 183 00:09:17,020 –> 00:09:19,380 In verse 10 he speaks about Beth-Oprah, 184 00:09:20,179 –> 00:09:25,179 Shaphir, then Zanan, Beth-Easel, Marath, and Lachish. 185 00:09:26,859 –> 00:09:28,200 If you look down to verse 14, 186 00:09:28,200 –> 00:09:30,640 you’ll see there that he includes his own little hometown 187 00:09:30,640 –> 00:09:33,059 that we referred to last time, Moresheth. 188 00:09:34,059 –> 00:09:35,799 That must have been particularly painful 189 00:09:35,799 –> 00:09:40,140 for Micah to think about his own little hometown 190 00:09:40,140 –> 00:09:43,200 being caught up in this terrible disaster 191 00:09:43,200 –> 00:09:45,820 that would come from the Lord. 192 00:09:45,820 –> 00:09:47,900 Now Micah uses the names of these towns 193 00:09:48,500 –> 00:09:50,179 to communicate his message. 194 00:09:50,179 –> 00:09:53,900 The name, Oprah, in Beth-Oprah, 195 00:09:53,900 –> 00:09:56,979 sounds like the Hebrew word for dust. 196 00:09:56,979 –> 00:10:01,200 And so he says, let Beth-Oprah roll in the dust. 197 00:10:01,200 –> 00:10:04,859 The word Shaphir sounds like the Hebrew word for beautiful, 198 00:10:04,859 –> 00:10:06,679 and Micah is saying, in effect, 199 00:10:06,679 –> 00:10:10,239 Shaphir aint gonna be beautiful for too much longer. 200 00:10:10,239 –> 00:10:13,619 Zanan sounds like the Hebrew word for exit, 201 00:10:13,619 –> 00:10:15,760 and he’s saying the problem for this city 202 00:10:15,760 –> 00:10:17,179 will be it’s under siege. 203 00:10:17,179 –> 00:10:20,619 So nobody will be exiting from it. 204 00:10:20,619 –> 00:10:22,340 Now, one of the commentators on Micah 205 00:10:22,340 –> 00:10:23,739 who just happens to be Scottish, 206 00:10:23,739 –> 00:10:28,340 Peter Cragy, describes how this might have sounded 207 00:10:28,340 –> 00:10:31,039 if Micah had been a Scots preacher 208 00:10:31,039 –> 00:10:32,780 speaking to a Scottish audience. 209 00:10:32,780 –> 00:10:34,859 He’s trying to get the idea of the rhythm 210 00:10:34,859 –> 00:10:37,059 and the rhyme of the words. 211 00:10:37,059 –> 00:10:40,440 And he suggests it would be something like this 212 00:10:40,440 –> 00:10:42,619 if translated to Scotland. 213 00:10:42,619 –> 00:10:45,500 There’ll be grief in Craith. 214 00:10:45,500 –> 00:10:48,020 There’ll be frail in Craille. 215 00:10:48,020 –> 00:10:50,380 There’ll be pain in Taine, 216 00:10:50,380 –> 00:10:52,859 and there’ll be blown away in Stornoway. 217 00:10:52,859 –> 00:10:54,380 Now that actually means something to me 218 00:10:54,380 –> 00:10:55,940 because I’ve been to all of these places 219 00:10:55,940 –> 00:10:57,799 and I realize that it doesn’t mean much here 220 00:10:57,799 –> 00:11:00,099 because they’re remote just like Beth Edele 221 00:11:00,099 –> 00:11:02,820 and Shaffir and Zainan and so forth. 222 00:11:02,820 –> 00:11:05,239 They’re all completely remote from us. 223 00:11:05,239 –> 00:11:08,059 So to get the impact, what you need to do 224 00:11:08,059 –> 00:11:11,760 is to think about the places that are our places. 225 00:11:12,780 –> 00:11:14,739 And it would sound something like this. 226 00:11:15,539 –> 00:11:18,099 It’ll be no go in Chicago. 227 00:11:18,099 –> 00:11:20,460 There’ll be a reeling in Wheeling. 228 00:11:20,460 –> 00:11:23,099 There’ll be out of time in Palatine. 229 00:11:23,099 –> 00:11:25,700 There’ll be big pains in Des Plaines. 230 00:11:25,700 –> 00:11:29,020 It’ll turn out a light in Arlington Heights. 231 00:11:29,900 –> 00:11:33,099 Now, you see we smile because that kind of pun 232 00:11:33,099 –> 00:11:37,140 seems very shallow and trivial in our culture. 233 00:11:37,140 –> 00:11:38,679 But it really was a very common way 234 00:11:38,679 –> 00:11:41,419 to communicate in ancient times. 235 00:11:41,840 –> 00:11:45,859 The impact of this on Micah’s first audience 236 00:11:45,859 –> 00:11:50,280 would be to say wow, he’s talking about here. 237 00:11:52,000 –> 00:11:55,659 He’s talking about where I live. 238 00:11:55,659 –> 00:11:58,979 He’s talking about something that will touch me. 239 00:12:02,859 –> 00:12:05,599 Now, verse 12 really is the key statement 240 00:12:05,599 –> 00:12:06,739 in this whole chapter. 241 00:12:06,739 –> 00:12:08,719 And this is what I want us to focus our attention 242 00:12:08,719 –> 00:12:10,840 for the rest of our time this morning. 243 00:12:10,840 –> 00:12:15,580 Verse 12, those who live in Mareth writhe in pain 244 00:12:15,580 –> 00:12:20,580 waiting for relief because disaster has come 245 00:12:20,739 –> 00:12:25,299 from the Lord even to the gate of Jerusalem. 246 00:12:25,299 –> 00:12:27,780 I want to focus in on these words, 247 00:12:27,780 –> 00:12:32,780 disaster has come from the Lord. 248 00:12:34,820 –> 00:12:37,460 Now this raises the very important question. 249 00:12:37,460 –> 00:12:41,659 How should we think about great disasters today? 250 00:12:41,659 –> 00:12:45,500 How should you think about personal loss, 251 00:12:45,500 –> 00:12:50,500 financial crises, breakdowns in health? 252 00:12:51,299 –> 00:12:52,780 See all of these things happen 253 00:12:52,780 –> 00:12:54,880 in the lives of God’s children. 254 00:12:55,900 –> 00:12:57,960 What are we to say about the disasters 255 00:12:57,960 –> 00:12:59,659 that come into the lives of those 256 00:12:59,659 –> 00:13:03,039 who are encircled in God’s covenant love? 257 00:13:03,820 –> 00:13:05,260 And what are we to see indeed 258 00:13:05,299 –> 00:13:08,000 about natural disasters that come on the earth? 259 00:13:08,000 –> 00:13:11,640 You cannot separate these two questions, 260 00:13:11,640 –> 00:13:14,460 because every time a natural disaster comes, 261 00:13:14,460 –> 00:13:18,580 the righteous and the wicked are caught up in it together. 262 00:13:18,580 –> 00:13:19,900 It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking 263 00:13:19,900 –> 00:13:22,900 about the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C., 264 00:13:22,900 –> 00:13:26,500 or the Second World War, or the terrorist attack on 9-11, 265 00:13:26,500 –> 00:13:28,919 or the tsunami in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, 266 00:13:28,919 –> 00:13:31,979 or the hurricane that has affected New Orleans. 267 00:13:32,900 –> 00:13:36,140 The righteous and the wicked are always caught up 268 00:13:36,140 –> 00:13:39,080 in these things together. 269 00:13:39,080 –> 00:13:40,059 Think of it. 270 00:13:40,059 –> 00:13:45,059 One man blasphemes God’s name every day, 271 00:13:45,099 –> 00:13:47,260 his neighbor prays to God 272 00:13:47,260 –> 00:13:49,659 in the name of Jesus Christ every day, 273 00:13:49,659 –> 00:13:52,859 and when the storm comes, both of their homes are taken out. 274 00:13:53,979 –> 00:13:55,059 The righteous and the wicked 275 00:13:55,059 –> 00:13:57,039 are caught up in these things together, 276 00:13:57,039 –> 00:13:59,799 so whatever we say about disasters 277 00:13:59,840 –> 00:14:04,840 must hold true both for the righteous and for the wicked, 278 00:14:06,260 –> 00:14:10,979 both for God’s enemies and for His children. 279 00:14:12,619 –> 00:14:14,380 Now, I wanna suggest to you three things 280 00:14:14,380 –> 00:14:16,400 that we should do when disaster comes, 281 00:14:16,400 –> 00:14:19,940 and we’re talking particularly this morning about our faith 282 00:14:19,940 –> 00:14:23,940 and how we respond as Christian believers 283 00:14:23,940 –> 00:14:27,619 with regards to our faith in such times as these, 284 00:14:27,619 –> 00:14:29,200 three things. 285 00:14:29,419 –> 00:14:33,500 Number one, we must affirm 286 00:14:33,500 –> 00:14:38,419 that God is in control of disasters. 287 00:14:38,419 –> 00:14:43,419 We must affirm that God is in control of disasters. 288 00:14:45,099 –> 00:14:46,280 Now, this isn’t easy. 289 00:14:47,580 –> 00:14:50,859 There are a hundred questions, I’m sure, 290 00:14:50,859 –> 00:14:53,619 that come quickly to your mind as they do to mine 291 00:14:54,580 –> 00:14:57,960 as soon as we come to this statement of truth. 292 00:14:58,859 –> 00:15:02,780 In fact, it is so difficult to face 293 00:15:02,780 –> 00:15:04,799 some of the questions that arise 294 00:15:04,799 –> 00:15:08,940 from affirming that God is in control of disasters 295 00:15:08,940 –> 00:15:12,260 that some Christians have felt that it would be better 296 00:15:12,260 –> 00:15:16,520 to keep God at a distance from disasters altogether. 297 00:15:17,700 –> 00:15:19,539 Now, there was a movement that began 298 00:15:19,539 –> 00:15:24,539 back in the 18th century called deism, deism. 299 00:15:25,200 –> 00:15:29,940 And the deists believed that God created the world, 300 00:15:29,940 –> 00:15:32,539 but then that He stands back from the world 301 00:15:32,539 –> 00:15:35,599 and leaves it to run by its own devices. 302 00:15:35,599 –> 00:15:39,099 The deists taught, and indeed still do, 303 00:15:39,099 –> 00:15:41,179 that rather like a watchmaker 304 00:15:41,179 –> 00:15:43,359 God made the world like a watch 305 00:15:43,359 –> 00:15:45,340 and winding it up as it were, 306 00:15:45,340 –> 00:15:47,940 he left it to run by its own mechanism 307 00:15:47,940 –> 00:15:49,940 without any further interference. 308 00:15:49,940 –> 00:15:52,580 He walked away and left it to its own devices 309 00:15:52,659 –> 00:15:55,640 for better or for worse. 310 00:15:55,640 –> 00:15:58,780 In other words, that God is at a distance. 311 00:15:58,780 –> 00:16:01,059 And therefore if something good happens to you, 312 00:16:01,059 –> 00:16:03,460 there’s no reason to thank Him for it. 313 00:16:03,460 –> 00:16:05,619 And if something bad happens to you, 314 00:16:05,619 –> 00:16:08,219 there’s no reason to blame Him for it. 315 00:16:08,219 –> 00:16:10,940 That God is at a distance both from the blessings 316 00:16:10,940 –> 00:16:13,159 and the disasters of life, 317 00:16:13,159 –> 00:16:16,659 that He was simply the inventor of the great machine 318 00:16:16,659 –> 00:16:19,340 called the cosmos that He created 319 00:16:19,340 –> 00:16:20,940 and that He’s put us in it 320 00:16:20,979 –> 00:16:25,419 and here we are to work our own experiences 321 00:16:25,419 –> 00:16:28,619 which will essentially be a matter of random chance 322 00:16:28,619 –> 00:16:30,940 in this created universe. 323 00:16:30,940 –> 00:16:33,780 So for the deist, there are no miracles. 324 00:16:34,679 –> 00:16:37,820 There can be no salvation because by definition, 325 00:16:37,820 –> 00:16:39,820 salvation is an intervention of God. 326 00:16:39,820 –> 00:16:41,700 There can be no prayer 327 00:16:41,700 –> 00:16:43,159 because that would involve God hearing 328 00:16:43,159 –> 00:16:44,619 and answering and intervening. 329 00:16:44,619 –> 00:16:47,739 No, all you really have is yourself. 330 00:16:48,539 –> 00:16:51,979 Now anyone who knows the Bible will see 331 00:16:51,979 –> 00:16:55,760 that deism is quite different from Christianity. 332 00:16:55,760 –> 00:16:57,700 The Bible makes it clear 333 00:16:57,700 –> 00:17:01,099 that the creator is always involved with his creation 334 00:17:01,099 –> 00:17:03,299 that he directs and reigns 335 00:17:03,299 –> 00:17:04,739 that he rules and intervenes. 336 00:17:04,739 –> 00:17:06,180 He hears and answers prayer. 337 00:17:06,180 –> 00:17:07,739 He sends his son into the world. 338 00:17:07,739 –> 00:17:09,959 He opens blind eyes and deaf ears 339 00:17:09,959 –> 00:17:12,979 and raises those who are spiritually dead. 340 00:17:13,839 –> 00:17:17,739 So no one who believes the Bible will embrace deism 341 00:17:18,800 –> 00:17:22,800 but some Christians want to go halfway there. 342 00:17:24,420 –> 00:17:28,520 They want to say that God is in control of the good 343 00:17:28,520 –> 00:17:30,180 but not of the bad. 344 00:17:31,119 –> 00:17:33,540 That his hand is seen in the good things of life 345 00:17:33,540 –> 00:17:36,819 but they don’t want his hand in any way associated 346 00:17:36,819 –> 00:17:39,579 with something that is bad. 347 00:17:39,579 –> 00:17:41,219 Now here’s the problem with that. 348 00:17:42,020 –> 00:17:46,180 If God is in control of the good only 349 00:17:46,180 –> 00:17:48,800 who is in control of the bad. 350 00:17:50,099 –> 00:17:53,339 And if the bad is outside of God’s control 351 00:17:53,339 –> 00:17:56,739 then the bad is actually greater than God 352 00:17:56,739 –> 00:17:59,640 because it’s beyond his ability to control it 353 00:17:59,640 –> 00:18:02,119 and then we’re in real trouble. 354 00:18:03,380 –> 00:18:06,420 A God who is not sovereign over evil 355 00:18:06,420 –> 00:18:10,219 would leave evil sovereign over us. 356 00:18:10,260 –> 00:18:13,920 And that leaves us in a world where chaos reigns 357 00:18:13,920 –> 00:18:15,660 and where disaster rules. 358 00:18:16,819 –> 00:18:19,900 If God is not in control of all things 359 00:18:19,900 –> 00:18:23,459 then we are a drift on the sea of chance. 360 00:18:24,819 –> 00:18:27,859 The bible therefore brings us the good news 361 00:18:27,859 –> 00:18:29,800 that God is in control 362 00:18:29,800 –> 00:18:34,000 even of the disasters of our lives. 363 00:18:34,000 –> 00:18:36,500 Let me give you scripture for that. 364 00:18:36,500 –> 00:18:38,540 First Micah chapter one and verse 12 365 00:18:38,540 –> 00:18:39,420 right where we are 366 00:18:39,420 –> 00:18:42,579 where he speaks of the disaster that comes from the Lord. 367 00:18:42,579 –> 00:18:47,020 It’s not coming through another hand apart from His. 368 00:18:47,020 –> 00:18:48,780 Psalm 107. 369 00:18:48,780 –> 00:18:51,219 You might like to look through verses 25 to 30 370 00:18:51,219 –> 00:18:55,420 that speak specifically of the God who stirs up the storm. 371 00:18:55,420 –> 00:18:57,619 Some people went down to sea in ships, 372 00:18:57,619 –> 00:18:58,619 the Psalmist writes, 373 00:18:58,619 –> 00:19:00,439 and they saw the works of the Lord 374 00:19:00,439 –> 00:19:05,119 for he spoke and stirred up the Tempest 375 00:19:05,119 –> 00:19:08,380 and lifted high the waves. 376 00:19:08,380 –> 00:19:11,619 And then He pictures this boat mounting up to the heavens 377 00:19:11,619 –> 00:19:13,739 and the panic as the sailors 378 00:19:13,739 –> 00:19:16,619 are reeling like drunken men, it says, 379 00:19:16,619 –> 00:19:19,880 at their wits end, and they call out to God, 380 00:19:19,880 –> 00:19:21,880 and then God stills the storm. 381 00:19:22,719 –> 00:19:24,319 But you see the Bible attributes 382 00:19:24,319 –> 00:19:26,859 both the raising of the storm 383 00:19:26,859 –> 00:19:31,859 and the stilling of the storm to the same hand of God. 384 00:19:32,020 –> 00:19:33,859 You find the same, of course, in the book of Jonah. 385 00:19:33,859 –> 00:19:35,280 Chapter 1 and verse 4. 386 00:19:35,280 –> 00:19:39,859 It was the Lord who sent a great wind on the sea 387 00:19:39,859 –> 00:19:41,260 and such a violent storm 388 00:19:41,260 –> 00:19:43,400 that the ship threatened to break up. 389 00:19:44,719 –> 00:19:46,420 But perhaps the greatest testimony 390 00:19:46,420 –> 00:19:48,540 to the good and the bad, 391 00:19:48,540 –> 00:19:50,500 coming from the hand of God, 392 00:19:50,500 –> 00:19:52,739 comes from Job himself, 393 00:19:52,739 –> 00:19:55,439 the righteous man in the Old Testament, 394 00:19:55,439 –> 00:19:58,819 who experienced such terrible loss 395 00:19:58,819 –> 00:20:02,479 in a terrorist attack and a natural disaster 396 00:20:02,520 –> 00:20:05,459 we saw last time on the same day. 397 00:20:06,319 –> 00:20:08,280 And in Job chapter 2 and verse 10, 398 00:20:08,280 –> 00:20:10,280 this is what Job says in response. 399 00:20:10,280 –> 00:20:15,280 “‘Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?’ 400 00:20:17,219 –> 00:20:19,119 Say, I have affirmed that good 401 00:20:19,119 –> 00:20:20,800 has come to me through the hand of God, 402 00:20:20,800 –> 00:20:21,959 here’s trouble now, 403 00:20:21,959 –> 00:20:24,540 shall I not accept that too 404 00:20:24,540 –> 00:20:27,219 and submit to it from the hand of God?” 405 00:20:28,060 –> 00:20:30,979 Now we know from the book of Job 406 00:20:30,979 –> 00:20:35,780 that Satan’s hand was behind what Job suffered. 407 00:20:35,780 –> 00:20:38,459 But the Bible will never allow us for one moment 408 00:20:38,459 –> 00:20:42,859 to think that Satan operates as some kind of free agent. 409 00:20:43,880 –> 00:20:48,359 Martin Luther said, and I find this profoundly helpful. 410 00:20:48,359 –> 00:20:53,359 He said, even the devil is God’s devil. 411 00:20:53,439 –> 00:20:55,959 His point was that Satan’s best effort 412 00:20:56,000 –> 00:20:58,380 to destroy God’s work always ends up 413 00:20:58,380 –> 00:21:01,339 contributing to its growth. 414 00:21:01,339 –> 00:21:03,979 That’s the ultimate frustration for the evil one. 415 00:21:03,979 –> 00:21:07,560 He can never ultimately accomplish his own ends. 416 00:21:08,579 –> 00:21:10,640 So now the mystery of God’s sovereignty 417 00:21:10,640 –> 00:21:14,839 leaves us with many, many questions. 418 00:21:14,839 –> 00:21:19,359 But I would far rather live with these unanswered questions 419 00:21:19,359 –> 00:21:21,839 than with the alternative, which would be 420 00:21:21,839 –> 00:21:24,260 that the storms of life are somehow 421 00:21:24,260 –> 00:21:26,859 outside of God’s control. 422 00:21:30,660 –> 00:21:34,719 Dr. Joe Stoll tells a story about how one day 423 00:21:34,719 –> 00:21:37,219 he was preaching at a conference 424 00:21:37,219 –> 00:21:39,219 on the theme of the sovereignty of God, 425 00:21:39,219 –> 00:21:41,219 which is what we’re talking about here. 426 00:21:42,400 –> 00:21:45,020 And afterwards a couple came up with tears in their eyes 427 00:21:45,020 –> 00:21:47,439 to thank him for his message and said to him 428 00:21:47,439 –> 00:21:49,640 that it had been a tremendous comfort 429 00:21:49,640 –> 00:21:51,119 the words that he had spoken. 430 00:21:52,119 –> 00:21:53,479 They then told their story. 431 00:21:55,180 –> 00:21:59,260 They had lost their son early in his life 432 00:21:59,260 –> 00:22:01,920 through a tragic and sudden illness. 433 00:22:03,640 –> 00:22:06,900 They had gone to their pastor grief stricken 434 00:22:06,900 –> 00:22:09,660 and the pastor had shared and entered into their grief. 435 00:22:11,579 –> 00:22:14,020 They were looking for something to cling on to, 436 00:22:14,020 –> 00:22:19,020 some word of hope and their pastor said to them this, 437 00:22:19,060 –> 00:22:23,719 I really don’t know what to tell you 438 00:22:25,380 –> 00:22:29,400 except to say that sometimes even God makes mistakes. 439 00:22:34,099 –> 00:22:35,959 My friends, that’s the abyss. 440 00:22:38,800 –> 00:22:40,380 The sovereignty of God leaves me 441 00:22:40,380 –> 00:22:43,119 with 1,000 unanswered questions 442 00:22:44,219 –> 00:22:46,459 but I would rather live any day of my life 443 00:22:46,459 –> 00:22:50,140 and especially the darkest day of my life 444 00:22:50,140 –> 00:22:52,000 with the unanswered questions 445 00:22:52,000 –> 00:22:54,579 that arise from the sovereignty of God, 446 00:22:54,579 –> 00:22:55,880 the God of the Bible, 447 00:22:55,880 –> 00:23:00,260 than to plunge into an abyss of a small god, 448 00:23:00,260 –> 00:23:04,560 small G who stands by as a helpless onlooker 449 00:23:04,560 –> 00:23:08,739 with the disasters of life somehow beyond his control. 450 00:23:10,079 –> 00:23:13,060 Nothing happens to you or to me 451 00:23:13,060 –> 00:23:17,339 except it passes through the hand of a sovereign god. 452 00:23:19,319 –> 00:23:21,619 My dear friend Ray Pritchard puts it like this, 453 00:23:21,619 –> 00:23:24,119 what you call circumstances 454 00:23:24,119 –> 00:23:27,979 is really God working in your life. 455 00:23:30,099 –> 00:23:32,699 The circumstances in your life may be very far 456 00:23:32,699 –> 00:23:34,300 from what you would like them to be right now, 457 00:23:34,300 –> 00:23:36,699 but they are under the control of God, 458 00:23:36,699 –> 00:23:39,339 and that’s the first thing you need to know 459 00:23:40,260 –> 00:23:41,719 in times of disaster. 460 00:23:42,520 –> 00:23:47,520 We must affirm that God is in control of disasters. 461 00:23:48,040 –> 00:23:51,640 It’s the bedrock of Christian faith. 462 00:23:53,000 –> 00:23:58,000 Second, we must reserve judgment 463 00:23:58,760 –> 00:24:01,680 on the cause of disasters. 464 00:24:01,680 –> 00:24:06,680 We must reserve judgment on the cause of disasters. 465 00:24:07,959 –> 00:24:09,979 You don’t know why great losses 466 00:24:10,040 –> 00:24:12,459 or pains come into your life. 467 00:24:12,459 –> 00:24:15,020 I don’t know why they come into mine, 468 00:24:15,959 –> 00:24:20,420 and we do not know why some of the mysterious things 469 00:24:20,420 –> 00:24:21,780 that happen in our world 470 00:24:21,780 –> 00:24:24,540 and in each other’s lives take place. 471 00:24:24,540 –> 00:24:28,339 We must reserve judgment on the cause of disasters. 472 00:24:29,459 –> 00:24:33,020 Now this point came home to me again powerfully last week 473 00:24:33,020 –> 00:24:34,099 when I had the opportunity 474 00:24:34,099 –> 00:24:36,099 of sharing in a live television program 475 00:24:36,099 –> 00:24:38,219 about the Katrina disaster 476 00:24:38,219 –> 00:24:43,180 that was broadcast on Total Living Network Television. 477 00:24:43,180 –> 00:24:46,819 The folks at TLN had put together some excellent material 478 00:24:46,819 –> 00:24:48,339 about the disaster, 479 00:24:48,339 –> 00:24:50,300 including some moving testimonies 480 00:24:50,300 –> 00:24:53,780 giving stories of Christians involved in the relief effort 481 00:24:53,780 –> 00:24:55,780 and some guests, in fact, 482 00:24:55,780 –> 00:24:59,780 who had lost their entire livelihoods 483 00:24:59,780 –> 00:25:03,359 and were able to testify to God’s grace in their lives. 484 00:25:03,359 –> 00:25:05,040 It was very, very moving. 485 00:25:06,160 –> 00:25:09,300 And then they opened up the phone lines 486 00:25:09,300 –> 00:25:11,640 for questions and for comments. 487 00:25:12,680 –> 00:25:14,760 Now, folks called in from all over the country, 488 00:25:14,760 –> 00:25:16,520 there were many calls, 489 00:25:16,520 –> 00:25:20,339 and some of them had very helpful things to say. 490 00:25:21,359 –> 00:25:23,239 But the thing that struck me was that 491 00:25:23,239 –> 00:25:25,920 many of the callers 492 00:25:25,920 –> 00:25:28,400 were confident that they knew 493 00:25:28,400 –> 00:25:30,920 why God had sent the curriculum. 494 00:25:32,599 –> 00:25:34,500 One caller said that it was 495 00:25:34,500 –> 00:25:39,260 because of the particular sins of partying in New Orleans. 496 00:25:40,680 –> 00:25:42,239 A few minutes later, someone else said 497 00:25:42,239 –> 00:25:44,079 it was because of the widespread scale 498 00:25:44,079 –> 00:25:46,160 of abortion in America. 499 00:25:47,520 –> 00:25:50,920 And then the most creative, as far as I was concerned, 500 00:25:50,920 –> 00:25:53,680 one caller was quite sure and adamant 501 00:25:53,680 –> 00:25:55,760 that the reason the hurricane had come to New Orleans 502 00:25:55,760 –> 00:25:59,640 was because of NASA’s initiative in space. 503 00:26:00,719 –> 00:26:02,859 And she had noticed and charted 504 00:26:02,859 –> 00:26:06,020 that every time the Challenger goes up into space, 505 00:26:06,020 –> 00:26:09,439 there is some natural disaster someplace in the world. 506 00:26:11,300 –> 00:26:13,359 Now it seems to me, 507 00:26:13,359 –> 00:26:14,739 because these are folks who profess faith in Christ, 508 00:26:14,739 –> 00:26:16,219 they’re Christian folks who are phoning up 509 00:26:16,219 –> 00:26:17,699 and making these comments, 510 00:26:18,859 –> 00:26:21,979 that this is where we desperately need 511 00:26:21,979 –> 00:26:25,979 to remember the difference between Micah and you and me, 512 00:26:25,979 –> 00:26:27,380 and here’s the difference. 513 00:26:27,380 –> 00:26:30,780 Micah was a prophet, you’re not, and neither am I. 514 00:26:31,439 –> 00:26:32,280 It’s different. 515 00:26:33,839 –> 00:26:36,739 What that means is that God spoke to Micah directly. 516 00:26:37,640 –> 00:26:40,699 God gave to Micah precise revelation 517 00:26:40,699 –> 00:26:43,739 about exactly what was going to happen in his own lifetime 518 00:26:43,739 –> 00:26:45,660 and beyond his own lifetime. 519 00:26:46,540 –> 00:26:48,979 This was a direct revelation in which God spoke 520 00:26:48,979 –> 00:26:52,079 actual words to the prophets. 521 00:26:52,079 –> 00:26:53,819 That is why we study the Bible, 522 00:26:53,819 –> 00:26:56,060 because it is revelation from God. 523 00:26:56,060 –> 00:26:58,619 It is different from all of our particular 524 00:26:58,619 –> 00:26:59,959 individualistic thoughts. 525 00:26:59,979 –> 00:27:01,160 It’s in a different category. 526 00:27:01,160 –> 00:27:03,439 We are not prophets. 527 00:27:05,719 –> 00:27:07,800 And I cannot tell you 528 00:27:09,060 –> 00:27:14,079 why there was a terrorist attack on 9-11 529 00:27:15,300 –> 00:27:19,680 or why there was a tsunami in Indonesia. 530 00:27:21,819 –> 00:27:26,119 I cannot tell you why Hurricane Katrina came 531 00:27:26,119 –> 00:27:27,359 as and when it did. 532 00:27:28,160 –> 00:27:30,640 And neither can you tell anyone else, 533 00:27:31,640 –> 00:27:35,619 presumptuous to pretend that we might be able to do so. 534 00:27:37,339 –> 00:27:38,699 And at a more personal level, 535 00:27:38,699 –> 00:27:40,439 if you were to come and to ask, 536 00:27:40,439 –> 00:27:42,640 I cannot tell you why it would be 537 00:27:42,640 –> 00:27:44,640 that you’ve been diagnosed with cancer 538 00:27:45,760 –> 00:27:47,680 or someone around whom you’ve built your life 539 00:27:47,680 –> 00:27:48,959 has been taken from you 540 00:27:49,900 –> 00:27:52,400 or your job has come to an end 541 00:27:52,400 –> 00:27:55,260 or some great financial crisi has come into your life. 542 00:27:58,339 –> 00:28:02,060 There was one scripture that I quoted on the program 543 00:28:02,060 –> 00:28:06,300 and I think it is of such importance for every Christian 544 00:28:06,300 –> 00:28:09,819 when we think about these kinds of situations. 545 00:28:09,819 –> 00:28:13,339 It’s Deuteronomy 29 in verse 29, easy to remember 546 00:28:13,339 –> 00:28:17,060 Deuteronomy 29, 29 and it’s one that’s well worth 547 00:28:17,060 –> 00:28:18,979 having buried in your mind and heart. 548 00:28:19,939 –> 00:28:23,199 “‘The secret things belong to the Lord our God, 549 00:28:24,199 –> 00:28:27,239 but the revealed things belong to us 550 00:28:27,239 –> 00:28:29,479 and to our children forever.’” 551 00:28:30,439 –> 00:28:31,920 You see what God is saying here? 552 00:28:31,920 –> 00:28:34,199 Remember my children, He’s saying that there are 553 00:28:34,199 –> 00:28:37,760 two categories of knowledge, there are the secret things 554 00:28:37,760 –> 00:28:41,239 and you don’t know them, there are the revealed things 555 00:28:41,239 –> 00:28:42,079 and you do. 556 00:28:44,760 –> 00:28:46,719 The problem is when we start pretending 557 00:28:46,739 –> 00:28:49,699 that we know the secret things we lose all credibility 558 00:28:51,180 –> 00:28:54,260 and when Christians begin to suggest reasons 559 00:28:54,260 –> 00:28:56,739 for the secret things, like why a person has cancer 560 00:28:56,739 –> 00:28:59,140 or why a person suffered loss or why a hurricane 561 00:28:59,140 –> 00:29:00,880 came to a certain part of the country, 562 00:29:00,880 –> 00:29:03,619 when Christians start speaking as if they knew 563 00:29:03,619 –> 00:29:05,479 the secret things, you know what happens? 564 00:29:05,479 –> 00:29:08,180 We lose all credibility in the eyes of the world 565 00:29:08,180 –> 00:29:11,300 when we actually speak about the revealed things 566 00:29:11,300 –> 00:29:12,699 because the world listens to us 567 00:29:12,699 –> 00:29:14,439 and says, well obviously you’re just guessing 568 00:29:14,439 –> 00:29:15,660 about these things. 569 00:29:15,680 –> 00:29:17,020 So when you speak about the gospel, 570 00:29:17,020 –> 00:29:20,760 presumably you’re just guessing in a naïve-old way as well. 571 00:29:22,000 –> 00:29:24,079 So this principle of reserving judgment 572 00:29:24,079 –> 00:29:26,699 over the cause of disasters is very important. 573 00:29:27,560 –> 00:29:32,560 We must have great humility before the secret things 574 00:29:32,880 –> 00:29:36,180 and great confidence in the revealed things. 575 00:29:36,180 –> 00:29:37,920 Get them the other way around, 576 00:29:38,859 –> 00:29:40,780 that will be a disaster. 577 00:29:41,599 –> 00:29:46,599 We must affirm that God is in control of disasters. 578 00:29:46,900 –> 00:29:49,280 Second, we must reserve judgment 579 00:29:49,280 –> 00:29:51,819 on the cause of disasters. 580 00:29:51,819 –> 00:29:53,540 And here’s the last thing. 581 00:29:53,540 –> 00:29:58,540 We must draw near to God in the light of disasters. 582 00:29:59,579 –> 00:30:01,319 Now notice how Micah responds to 583 00:30:01,319 –> 00:30:03,199 the unfolding of this great disaster 584 00:30:03,199 –> 00:30:05,599 in the last verse of the chapter. 585 00:30:05,599 –> 00:30:07,880 He says, shave your heads in mourning 586 00:30:07,880 –> 00:30:10,540 for the children in whom you delight 587 00:30:10,540 –> 00:30:12,619 make yourselves as bald as a vulture 588 00:30:12,619 –> 00:30:16,800 for they will go from you into exile. 589 00:30:16,800 –> 00:30:18,819 And obviously the shaving of the head 590 00:30:18,819 –> 00:30:22,099 in that culture was an expression of mourning 591 00:30:22,099 –> 00:30:23,979 before the Lord. 592 00:30:23,979 –> 00:30:26,180 And Micah is saying when I see 593 00:30:26,180 –> 00:30:28,900 what is going to happen to the land that I love 594 00:30:28,900 –> 00:30:32,260 and what is going to befall the next generation 595 00:30:32,260 –> 00:30:36,339 I mourn for myself and I mourn for my children. 596 00:30:37,260 –> 00:30:40,300 Now, disaster will always have 597 00:30:40,300 –> 00:30:43,300 one of two effects in your life, always. 598 00:30:44,500 –> 00:30:49,479 Either it will lead you to shake your fist at God 599 00:30:50,660 –> 00:30:53,380 or it will lead you to shave your head before God. 600 00:30:53,380 –> 00:30:54,979 These are two wonderful pictures 601 00:30:54,979 –> 00:30:57,699 of reaction to every disaster, 602 00:30:57,699 –> 00:31:00,680 either it will bring you to shake your fist before God 603 00:31:00,680 –> 00:31:03,619 or to shave your head before God. 604 00:31:04,500 –> 00:31:06,099 See Job’s wife, remember? 605 00:31:06,099 –> 00:31:07,939 She shook her fist. 606 00:31:07,939 –> 00:31:08,800 She said to Job, 607 00:31:08,800 –> 00:31:10,859 in the light of all this trouble that’s come upon us, 608 00:31:10,859 –> 00:31:13,339 why don’t we just curse God and die? 609 00:31:13,339 –> 00:31:14,920 That’s shaking your fist. 610 00:31:16,359 –> 00:31:19,699 But Job did the other thing, he shaved his head. 611 00:31:19,699 –> 00:31:21,859 He said, shall we accept good 612 00:31:21,859 –> 00:31:24,400 from the hand of the Lord and not trouble? 613 00:31:26,020 –> 00:31:27,959 See, the disasters of life 614 00:31:27,959 –> 00:31:30,420 will reveal who you really are. 615 00:31:33,060 –> 00:31:34,180 Time and again, 616 00:31:35,180 –> 00:31:37,380 we see this in the body of Christ. 617 00:31:38,420 –> 00:31:42,760 A Christian comes to face a real disaster 618 00:31:43,780 –> 00:31:45,680 and it proves to be their finest hour. 619 00:31:46,819 –> 00:31:49,739 And you will hear them saying, I can’t explain this. 620 00:31:49,739 –> 00:31:51,540 I have so many unanswered questions. 621 00:31:51,540 –> 00:31:53,099 The pain is so deep within me 622 00:31:53,099 –> 00:31:57,000 and yet, I have discovered God in a whole new way. 623 00:32:00,560 –> 00:32:02,939 Disasters in your life will always lead you 624 00:32:04,719 –> 00:32:09,420 either to shake your fist or to shave your head. 625 00:32:09,420 –> 00:32:11,140 It will reveal who you really are. 626 00:32:14,000 –> 00:32:16,420 But you don’t need to wait for a disaster 627 00:32:16,420 –> 00:32:19,300 in your own life to draw near to God. 628 00:32:20,959 –> 00:32:22,439 Look, and this is the last thing with me 629 00:32:22,439 –> 00:32:24,900 for just one moment at verse two. 630 00:32:24,900 –> 00:32:26,380 Because it’s easy to skip over this 631 00:32:26,380 –> 00:32:29,420 and to miss its importance. 632 00:32:29,420 –> 00:32:33,839 Micah says, hear, O peoples, all of you. 633 00:32:34,780 –> 00:32:38,520 Listen, O earth and all who are in it. 634 00:32:39,579 –> 00:32:42,959 So the word of the Lord is coming to everybody 635 00:32:42,959 –> 00:32:45,339 on a worldwide basis. 636 00:32:46,420 –> 00:32:48,300 Now that’s very significant because remember 637 00:32:48,300 –> 00:32:50,640 that Micah is describing a disaster 638 00:32:50,640 –> 00:32:55,079 that will happen in one country, in Samaria. 639 00:32:55,079 –> 00:32:56,780 But what he says at the beginning, in effect, 640 00:32:56,780 –> 00:32:59,540 is that God will speak through this one disaster 641 00:32:59,540 –> 00:33:02,459 in Samaria to everybody in the whole world. 642 00:33:04,619 –> 00:33:06,060 That raises an important question. 643 00:33:06,060 –> 00:33:08,500 Are you allowing God to speak to you 644 00:33:08,500 –> 00:33:10,939 through other people’s loss? 645 00:33:14,739 –> 00:33:16,420 Every Christian should go to a funeral 646 00:33:16,420 –> 00:33:17,579 at least once a year. 647 00:33:20,339 –> 00:33:22,219 If you’ve not been to one for the last year 648 00:33:22,219 –> 00:33:23,739 because you’re not close enough to someone 649 00:33:23,739 –> 00:33:25,619 who has died, just come to one anyway. 650 00:33:27,040 –> 00:33:27,880 I mean it. 651 00:33:29,099 –> 00:33:31,180 Every Christian should come to at least one funeral 652 00:33:31,180 –> 00:33:33,819 at least once a year and when you’re there, 653 00:33:33,900 –> 00:33:36,900 you should say to yourself, one day this will be me. 654 00:33:38,939 –> 00:33:43,140 Or one day this will be my wife or my husband. 655 00:33:45,500 –> 00:33:48,819 And then you will know better how to live. 656 00:33:52,420 –> 00:33:56,380 Has your friend lost his job, his home, 657 00:33:57,699 –> 00:34:01,199 her health, their business, 658 00:34:02,160 –> 00:34:04,060 their son or daughter? 659 00:34:07,939 –> 00:34:11,760 Let God speak to you through that 660 00:34:14,060 –> 00:34:17,659 so that you will better know how to live in this world. 661 00:34:22,000 –> 00:34:24,340 And if that is true of personal loss 662 00:34:24,340 –> 00:34:26,179 as we interact with each other 663 00:34:26,179 –> 00:34:29,280 in the fellowship of the body of Christ, 664 00:34:29,280 –> 00:34:31,659 surely it is true of the great events 665 00:34:31,659 –> 00:34:34,159 that capture the attention of the whole world. 666 00:34:35,419 –> 00:34:38,280 When a tsunami happens in Indonesia, 667 00:34:40,040 –> 00:34:43,100 God is speaking much more broadly through that 668 00:34:44,159 –> 00:34:46,379 in Australia and in South Africa, 669 00:34:49,159 –> 00:34:50,000 China, 670 00:34:52,260 –> 00:34:53,560 around the world. 671 00:34:55,719 –> 00:34:58,739 We’re being reminded that this world is passing away 672 00:35:00,280 –> 00:35:03,300 and that nothing that we hold dear is forever. 673 00:35:06,459 –> 00:35:08,320 And when there’s a hurricane in Louisiana, 674 00:35:08,320 –> 00:35:10,899 God is speaking not simply to people in New Orleans, 675 00:35:10,899 –> 00:35:14,139 but also in Florida and California, Nebraska, and Illinois. 676 00:35:14,139 –> 00:35:18,379 And He’s calling us to draw near to Him. 677 00:35:21,100 –> 00:35:23,820 See, the Christian response to disasters 678 00:35:23,820 –> 00:35:25,800 is not to say, 679 00:35:25,800 –> 00:35:29,000 oh, well God is judging Muslims in Indonesia. 680 00:35:29,360 –> 00:35:33,899 Or, God must be judging partying people in New Orleans. 681 00:35:33,899 –> 00:35:38,419 No, we have to reserve judgment on the cause of disasters. 682 00:35:38,419 –> 00:35:41,100 You are not a prophet, you don’t know. 683 00:35:43,719 –> 00:35:45,300 What we should say is this, 684 00:35:47,040 –> 00:35:49,719 God is speaking to me through this, 685 00:35:51,659 –> 00:35:55,820 and my response will be to draw near to Him. 686 00:35:56,820 –> 00:36:01,780 Listen to how Peter puts it at the end of his second letter, 687 00:36:01,780 –> 00:36:03,120 and with this we close. 688 00:36:05,260 –> 00:36:08,899 The day of the Lord, He’s talking about the cataclysmic day 689 00:36:08,899 –> 00:36:11,919 when the Lord in power and glory comes to the earth. 690 00:36:13,379 –> 00:36:17,520 He says, the day of the Lord will come like a thief. 691 00:36:18,379 –> 00:36:21,139 The heavens will disappear with a roar, 692 00:36:21,139 –> 00:36:23,659 the elements will be destroyed by fire, 693 00:36:23,659 –> 00:36:27,120 and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 694 00:36:27,120 –> 00:36:29,260 Then He says to Christians, 695 00:36:29,260 –> 00:36:33,100 since everything will be destroyed in this way, 696 00:36:33,100 –> 00:36:34,959 what kind of people should you be? 697 00:36:36,699 –> 00:36:38,719 You ought to live holy and godly lives 698 00:36:38,719 –> 00:36:40,820 as you look forward to the day of God, 699 00:36:40,820 –> 00:36:42,260 and speed its coming. 700 00:36:43,540 –> 00:36:45,500 That day will bring about the destruction 701 00:36:45,500 –> 00:36:46,979 of the heavens by fire, 702 00:36:46,979 –> 00:36:49,399 and the elements will melt with heat. 703 00:36:50,560 –> 00:36:53,080 But in keeping with His promise, 704 00:36:53,120 –> 00:36:56,179 we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, 705 00:36:56,179 –> 00:36:58,639 the home of righteousness. 706 00:36:58,639 –> 00:37:01,100 So then, dear friends, 707 00:37:01,100 –> 00:37:04,840 since you are looking forward to this, 708 00:37:04,840 –> 00:37:08,060 make every effort to be found spotless, 709 00:37:09,139 –> 00:37:10,520 blameless, 710 00:37:11,500 –> 00:37:14,379 and at peace with Him. 711 00:37:17,100 –> 00:37:19,120 Are you spotless, 712 00:37:20,620 –> 00:37:21,699 blameless, 713 00:37:21,899 –> 00:37:24,600 and at peace with Him? 714 00:37:29,300 –> 00:37:32,080 Would feel like a good reason to come to Jesus, 715 00:37:33,179 –> 00:37:34,000 wouldn’t it? 716 00:37:35,840 –> 00:37:37,280 Let’s pray together, shall we? 717 00:37:41,379 –> 00:37:45,540 Father, in heaven we bow before you, our sovereign Lord. 718 00:37:48,479 –> 00:37:49,500 We dare to thank you 719 00:37:50,280 –> 00:37:52,300 with a thousand unanswered questions 720 00:37:52,300 –> 00:37:56,120 that run in our minds, that you are sovereign. 721 00:38:00,360 –> 00:38:03,439 We ask your forgiveness for our foolish over-confidence 722 00:38:03,439 –> 00:38:06,719 in thinking that we know the secret things when we don’t. 723 00:38:07,659 –> 00:38:09,919 Let us find our strength 724 00:38:09,919 –> 00:38:13,040 in that which you have revealed, we pray. 725 00:38:16,540 –> 00:38:19,280 And grant that when trouble comes to our lives 726 00:38:20,360 –> 00:38:25,360 it may not find us shaking the fist at you, 727 00:38:26,419 –> 00:38:28,959 but rather shaving our heads before you. 728 00:38:34,320 –> 00:38:36,719 Grandfather, that in particular ways 729 00:38:36,719 –> 00:38:39,479 you will help each of us to hear your voice, 730 00:38:40,479 –> 00:38:41,760 to have moldable hearts, 731 00:38:41,760 –> 00:38:44,979 and to be those who humbly draw nearer to you 732 00:38:46,139 –> 00:38:49,459 in this uncertain world in which we live. 733 00:38:50,260 –> 00:38:53,260 And then send us out as those 734 00:38:53,260 –> 00:38:55,540 who are learning to walk humbly with God, 735 00:38:56,540 –> 00:38:58,520 that we may be able to do good 736 00:38:58,520 –> 00:39:00,219 and to bring hope to others 737 00:39:01,179 –> 00:39:02,620 and all the mysteries 738 00:39:02,620 –> 00:39:05,300 of the suffering of this world and of this life 739 00:39:06,919 –> 00:39:08,580 until the day when we shall see 740 00:39:08,580 –> 00:39:11,979 our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 741 00:39:11,979 –> 00:39:15,320 that which is hidden and obscure becomes clear. 742 00:39:16,260 –> 00:39:18,040 And the end of all things 743 00:39:18,840 –> 00:39:20,360 draws nigh. 744 00:39:20,360 –> 00:39:23,159 Hear our prayers, in Jesus’ name, 745 00:39:24,000 –> 00:39:24,840 Amen.