WHEN YOUR WORLD COLLAPSES---PSALMS 34:15-19
JOKE---In memory of those who’s lives were stolen in a murderous act of war, at the WTC, the Pentagon, and in the hills of New Jersey, there will be no joke this week. Instead, I simply ask you to observe with me a moment of silence.
INTRO--- There is a child’s book called, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” It’s about a little boy, whose day starts out by losing his homework and ends with his getting in trouble at home.
Prior to Tuesday, September 11th 2001, this might adequately describe a bad day for a TYPICAL child in the United States of America. However since that fateful day, millions of innocent children and unsuspecting adults have learned what a truly bad day really is.
That is why we need to pray for
The victims of American Airlines flight 77, which hit the Pentagon;
American Airlines 11, which hit the north tower of the WTC;
United Airlines 175, which hit the south tower of the WTC;
And United Airlines 93, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
Let us also pray for the innocent victims who were killed in the buildings and on the ground surrounding the Pentagon, and the World Trade Center. Let us remember their families, the President, our leaders, and the leaders of our Allies around the world.
PRAYER
TRANSITION--- My friends, life is full of unexpected circumstances that catch us off guard. After the week we have just witnessed, I don’t think anyone would argue with that statement. And how could they? No one plans on.... Terrorist strikes, stock market crashes, business failures, the violent loss of a loved one, injustice, etc… But as the Bible says, “It rains on the unjust and the just alike.”
What do you do when your world collapses around you? You learn to lean on the Lord. How can you lean on the Lord? There are 4 things you can lean on, and they are contained in our Scripture this morning.
I. THE FIRST THING YOU CAN LEAN ON IS THE WATCHFUL SIGHT OF THE LORD
A. Turn over to 2 Chronicles 16:9--- “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of [them] whose heart [is] perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.”
1. God proclaimed this message to King Asa.
a. King Asa and all Judah had come under attack from their enemies.
b. God told King Asa to turn to the Lord for rescue because the Lord’s eyes were upon their need and his strength was behind them.
c. Instead of turning to God, King Asa relied solely on foreign coalitions to help him win the battle.
d. Even though the eyes of the Lord was upon him, King Asa removed God from the battle and as a result, he perished.
ILLUSTRATION---In 1984, a woman in Bogotá, Columbia, rushed her 10-month-old boy, who had severe dysentery, to a local hospital and left him over night. The next morning when she came for her child his head including his eyes were bandaged. There were specks of dried blood on his face. When she asked what was wrong with her child she was bluntly told he was dying.
She rushed him to another hospital where the doctors removed the bandages. Upon doing so the doctor said, "They have stolen his eyes." The child was a victim of an illegal cornea trade.
My friends, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS AT WAR! Undoubtedly, in the days and weeks to follow you will hear many commentators and a host of analysts on TV and Radio who will tell you that the recent terroristic attacks on the United States were the result of the absence of human intelligence in enemy states or regimes. There may be some truth to that.
However, the Bible says that the problem with America is not that we have lost our human intelligence capabilities; the problem with America is that someone has stolen our eyes. You see, because we have foolishly removed God from our culture, we have in turn arrogantly put our total trust in our military might and foreign coalitions.
Let me be bold! As a whole, our society has turned its back on Jesus Christ and that is why our enemies have caught us off guard. That is why God’s Word says we now have war.
2. But there is hope yet! And we are seeing it spring up all around us.
ILLUSTRATION---This past week, we have had a Church service every day since Tuesday. Many people have come through our doors to pray to God. But it is not just here in this church. I also presided over a prayer meeting at Norton Hospital in their boardroom. There were so many people that some had to stand outside and listen in. All over our country, church after church, Christian upon Christian, people are throwing down their sins at the foot of Calvary’s Cross and they are calling on the name of the Lord for strength.
ILLUSTRATION--- The following was excerpted from an email I got.
As I was spending time with the Lord this morning, and praying about what
happened yesterday I stumbled (God lead me) to Psalm 33:10-22
I couldn’t help but think that this is the problem with America. We were
founded on Christian Priniciples. We were a Christian nation and we had the
blessing of being a nation protected and blessed by the Lord. It wasn’t our
wonderful technology and our great American spirit that protected us and
made us such a great nation. It was the blessing of the Lord. Now with
each passing year we get further and further away from that foundation that
made us so great. We have turned our backs on the Lord. Instead of living
and acting like a Christian nation we are full of sin and things that mock
our God. And God is not pleased. He is never pleased with sin. I feel like
this is a very strong warning from God that if we don’t turn back to him He
will lift his hand of protection and blessing from us. God has done it
before to other nations (Read Jeremiah and Lamentations). Its not that He
likes to do this, but He can not bless sinful things. It would be against
his nature. It’s not that He brings the bad things, but that He lifts His
hand of protection, and the consequences of our sin affect us.God loves us
very much and He has given us many warnings that we need to turn back to
him.
Please take this seriously. Please tell others that it is time to turn back
to him. Our politicians, teachers, even preachers, everyone.
3. And that is just it! You see, if you and I will turn our hearts fully back to God in Jesus Christ, His son, then Psalm 34:15 says that God’s eyes and his ears will be upon us again.
a. As a result of this, the Lord God’s awesome strength will be behind us, and He will defeat all of our foes.
I. THE FIRST THING YOU CAN LEAN ON IS THE WATCHFUL SIGHT OF THE LORD
II. THE SECOND THING YOU CAN LEAN ON IS THE DEVASTATING STRENGTH OF THE LORD
A. Turn over to Isaiah 40:31--- But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.
1. What does it mean to wait upon the Lord?
a. In the Bible, to wait upon the Lord means to pause and look eagerly for the Lord.
ILLUSTRATION---I remember, when I was a child, waiting to Go to the amusement park. For at least 2 days prior to the trip, I would not be able to get a minutes rest. I would not be able to concentrate on one single thing. The day of the trip, I would always wake up 2 hours before everyone and sit outside on the front step, eagerly watching the driveway and impatiently waiting for any sign of my eldest sister to drive up to pick me up to go.
ILLUSTRATION---Henry David Thorough once said, “The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.”
2. How many of you want to go it alone without God?
a. You know, there are a lot of people in this country who believe that revenge is a dish that is best served fast and cold.
b. But an ancient philosopher has said, “Before setting out for revenge, first dig 2 graves.
3. My friends the Bible says, “Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord!
4. How do you just sit by and wait upon the Lord?
a. First, you must depend on Him to defend you and protect you.
b. Second, be confident in the Lord’s ability even though you are weak. He is strong.
1) Psalm 27:1-3 The LORD [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, [even] mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this [will] I [be] confident
ILLUSTRATION---Have you ever watched an eagle in flight? The eagle depends on the unseen force of the wind to push him up and hold him up, high up in the air. My friends, we too like the eagle must wait upon the unseen force of the Lord to hold us up and sustain us in light of what has occurred.
5. We can soar like an eagle high above our enemies in this life or we can charge after them half-cocked without God’s devastating strength. The choice is up to us.
I. THE FIRST THING YOU CAN LEAN ON IS THE WATCHFUL SIGHT OF THE LORD
II. THE SECOND THING YOU CAN LEAN ON IS THE DEVASTATING STRENGTH OF THE LORD
III. THE THIRD THING YOU CAN LEAN ON IS THE SWIFT SWORD OF
THE LORD
A. Look at vs. 16---God is against the enemy of his children.
1. Revelation chapter twelve presents Satan as a huge red dragon that angrily sought to destroy Jesus and now wants to destroy all those who believe in Jesus.
2. In a picture of spiritual warfare, Satan is hurled down to the earth.
a. And there is a warning in Revelation 12:11, to those of us on earth about who our true enemy is…
1) “But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short” (Rev. 12:11).
3. The Bible says that Satan is here and that his time is short..
a. That means 2 things.
1) Our time on earth is short before Christ returns.
2) Satan is on the warpath and you and I are the focus of his fury.
4. So, how can you and I stand firm against the devil and his human soldiers on this earth?
a. The key to defeating the devil is also recorded in Revelation 12:11.
b. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”
ILLUSTRATION--- I recently heard the story of a country church which had a creeper - perhaps an ivy plant - growing up by the porch doorway. Over the doorway was a text carved in stone, "We preach Christ crucified". Over the years the plant grew steadily and a branch gradually spread over the doorway. The first word of the text covered by the leaves of the plant was "crucified" which reduced the text to "We preach Christ". Well, we might think, that’s unfortunate but the essential part of our faith is still there. As time went on the branch spread further and covered over the word "Christ". Now, this was serious, but no-one seemed to notice, and the message of the church to the world outside was reduced to "We preach" - it had lost its message. Have we as a so-called Christian nation lost our testimony; our message?
4. My friends, although we must take a stand for righteousness and fight them today, our enemy is not really the Taliban, nor is it Usama Ben Lauden, nor is it even terrorism.
a. Our enemy is Satan! He is, was, and shall be for a while the original terrorist in the world.
b. The fact remains that while our blood has been shed, and while we will undoubtedly shed the blood of our enemies, the only shed blood that will ever bring real justice, real salvation is the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
IV. THE FOURTH AND FINAL THING YOU CAN LEAN ON IS THE SALVATION OF THE LORD
A. Look at Psalm 34 vs. 16 and 21---Are you troubled today? Are you broken hearted? Are you crushed in spirit?
1. Why don’t you call out to God through Jesus Christ, his son?
CONCLUSION---You know the destruction of the WTC towers and the E ring of the Pentagon was massive and costly . But it was nothing compared to the destruction of the entire kingdom of Satan that occurred here on this planet 2000 years ago, when Jesus Christ, voluntarily allowed himself to take on the sins of the world as he was nailed to the cross at Calvary. He gave his life temporarily so that you may keep yours eternally.
If you were standing on the edge of a pier at the beach, and some guy came running up to you and said, “This is how much I love you” and then dove into the water and drowned you’d think he was nuts. Maybe you’d think it was a nice gesture, but it was a waste of a perfectly good life. He couldn’t just told you much he loved you. But if you fell off that pier and were drowning and that same guy dove in to rescue you, dragged you to safety but died in the process and his dying words were, “This is how much I love you” then you’d truly understand this kind of love. That’s what Jesus did when he went to the cross, he didn’t just show us love, but he brought God’s love to us by rescuing us from our sin.
