Dr. Tom Doubt, Senior Pastor
Four Mile Creek Baptist Church
Richmond, VA
1st of a series of 5 on flying
FLY WITH JESUS
BACKGROUND:
A. There is a great old favorite hymn of mine called "I’ll Fly Away."
1. I¡¦ll fly away O glory,I¡¦ll fly away, When I die hallelujah, fly away
2. Many associate the song with physical death & heavenly reward.
3. "When this life is o’er" suggests when we go belly up in fish tank life.
4. It can also evoke an image of when you find someone put a shark in your tank of life.
5. The shark in your aquarium makes you realize it wants to bite your tail off.
B. Pressure situations in life are the sharks after our tail.
1. They produce variable levels of anxiety, sometimes they cause us to snap.
2. Frequently we have thoughts of flying away from our trouble.
3. David, in the Old Testament, had plenty of opportunities to handle pressure situations.
4. Saul & his army were threatening David’s life.
5. David penned Psalm 55, in a musical format, while his spiritual engine was failing.
6. Though it does not have the lyrics of "I’ll Fly Away", it has similar theme.
Read PSALM 55:4-8
INTRODUCTION:
A. Many know that I been taking flying lessons
1. One of first lessons, instructor says "practice recovery from stalls."
a. Even as novice pilot, I knew that did not sound good.
b. A Cessna 172 weighs about 3,000 lbs, only stays in air when engine running.
c. So here I am at 3,500 ft, 140 mph, going to "stall." Airport TERMINAL procedures took on a new meaning. The fall from 3,500 ft would not hurt, it is sudden stop when you hit the ground that hurts.
2. Once on the ground my instructor asked what would I have done if the engine had failed. I thought he was trying to discourage me from taking other lessons. I replied that I would say a prayer that he knew Jesus. I knew where I was going, and prayed he would go there too!
3. The instructor explained once up in the air, you still had to fly airplane when the engine quit.
a. Not able to pull over to the side of the road & call AAA.
b. In spite of worries & fears, you still had to fly plane.
B. Engine failure in an airplane has some similarities to spiritual failure.
1. Our spirit may sputter & fail in a pressure situation.
2. We might be panicky & fearful, we might even fantasize about our options.
3. Ultimate recovery is dependent on how we react during the crisis.
4. In flying, there are 5 F procedures to follow when the engine fails.
a. FLY at the best glide speed, continue to fly the plane, is most important.
b. FIND a suitable place to land.
c. FIX the problem, if possible.
d. FREQUENCY selection to the emergency frequency.
e. FLEE the aircraft once on ground.
5. The same 5 F’s apply when our spiritual engine fails.
6. This morning, we look at the 1st F: FLY at the best glide speed.
a. Fly in best manner that increases chances to land safely
b. As we look at David’s psalm, we will see how that F applies to flying with Jesus.
THESIS: When our spiritual engine fails in crisis:
Our heart is troubled as we realize danger (v 4)
Fear sets in as we confront possibility death (v 5)
We imagine we can fly away & be at rest (v 6)
Imagination becomes reality when Jesus is the pilot (v 8)
MESSAGE:
A. ENGINE FAILURE CAUSES OUR HEART TO BE TROUBLED
1. Anguish in the heart equates to knowing we are in a pressure situation (v 4).
a. You don’t have to be an airline pilot to know engine failure means trouble.
b. Likewise, a crisis in our lives produces an awareness of deep trouble.
c. Often our spirit begins to fail within us.
d. Troubles without number surround us, our heart fails within us (Ps 40:12).
2. Terrors of death assail us.
a. In many pressure situations, we perceive we might die.
b. Plane crash, strife in family, medical report, cornered by a bully.
3. Jesus encouraged us: in this world have trouble, take heart (John 16:33).
4. Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me (John 14:1).
5. If our hearts are not comforted, the situation can get worse. In Hebrew "anguish" has a root that means "give rise to something else."
B. THAT SOMETHING ELSE IS WHEN FEAR & TREMBLING SET IN
1. Horror of our predicament overwhelms us (v 5)
2. What I feared has come upon me, no peace, only turmoil (Job 3:25).
a. We become convinced that the worst scenario will occur.
b. Fear & trembling are external manifestations of an anguished heart.
3. Fear can produce action at either extreme; do nothing or behave oddly.
a. Extreme fear can neither fight nor flee[William Shakespeare] .
b. Fear makes the wolf appear bigger than he is [German proverb].
4. Illustration: A man came by to see what his neighbor planted.[Bible Illustrations for Windows, #856] "How’s the cotton?" he asked. "Didn’t plant any, afraid boll weevil would get at the cotton," the neighbor replied. "How’s the corn?" "Didn’t plant that either, scared drought would ruin the crop." Same story for not planting potatoes for fear the grubbs would eat them. At last the man said, "what did you plant?" "Nothing, I figured I’d be on safe side."
5. Illustration: Jerome Frank, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins talked with a passenger who used to fear flying [Bible Illus Windows #856]. It was in an era before even modest security checks at airports. The man feared flying ever since a guy brought a bomb on a flight to Denver with the intent to kill his mother-in-law. Dr. Frank reminded the patient that the chance of having a bomb on any flight was 1:10,000. The patient was not comforted, the odds seemed too low. So he calculated the odds of 2 bombs on any plane to be 1:100 million. The doctor said, "What good did that do you?" The patient replied, "Ever since, I carry one bomb to improve my odds."
6. Do not give way to panic before your enemies (Deut 20:3).
7. Perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18).
8. Yet we often fantasy an easy escape is more attractive than faith in Lord.
C. WE IMAGINE IF WE CAN JUST FLY AWAY & BE AT REST
1. If we only had wings of a dove, we could fly away & live in the desert (v 6,7).
2. Such flights of imagination rationalize the situation, but not the reality.
a. Wings of a dove are not sufficient to carry us away from pressure situations.
b. Living in a desert may remove us from danger, but it leaves us in isolation.
3. When our spiritual engine begins to fail, we want fly away.
a. Distractions become those imaginary fly away solutions.
b. We look around for someone or something to take our mind off the problem.
c. Examples: we heap attention on loved ones to avoid confronting our medical problem; we get news of our layoff & sit down to have a drink.
d. Such distractions can take our mind off real problems. They may be useful for short periods, but can make a bad situation worse .
e. They can also prevent us from seeing the real problem.
4. Can we flee from God’s presence? (Ps 139:7)
5. A close kin to distraction is the disbelief that something can be wrong.
6. Illustration: A pilot on a cross-country trip had his engine fail [AOPA Pilot 7/03]. He looked at the gas gauge, it read zero. He stared stupefied & unmoving, hoping the bad dream would pass. When the gauge remained on zero, he finally snapped to reality in time fly the plane.
7. The parable of the sower reminds us that seed on the path, the devil takes the word from our heart so we will not believe & be saved.
8. The Philippian jailer believed & was saved (Acts 16:31).
9. The most important thing do when the spiritual engine fails is fly with Jesus, let Him be the pilot.
D. IMAGINATION RETURNS TO REALITY, FLY WITH JESUS
1. Hurry to a place of shelter, far from storms (v 8).
a. The only real shelter is in the care of God.
b. We take refuge in the shadow of His wings until disaster has passed (Ps 57:1).
c. Those who hope in Lord renew their strength and soar on wings like an eagle(Is 40:31).
2. When the spiritual engine fails in crisis, it is vital to keep flying. Pressure situations in life are prayer situations. "A wise man in a storm prays, not for safety from danger, but deliverance from fear. The storm within us endangers us more than the storm from without." [Ralph Waldo Emerson]
3. Flying at the best glide slope creates the best chance of landing safely.
4. By His wisdom & power we can fly thru crises in our lives.
a. Our faith rests not in the wisdom of man, but in God’s power (1 Cor 2:5).
b. We are controlled by the Spirit of God who lives in us (Rom 8:8).
c. Though danger remains, we can have peace in pressure situations.
5. Illustration: An elderly woman crippled with arthritis was asked by a friend if she suffered much [Meggie Meggison, sermoncentral.com]. She pointed to her hand, "Yes, but there’s no nail here. He had nails, I have peace." She pointed to her head, "No thorns here. He had thorns, I have peace." She touched her side, "No spear here. He had a spear, I have peace."
6. Jesus said, "My peace I give to you, let not your hearts be troubled (John 14:27).
7. Jesus Christ is the only way to fly through a storm to safe landing.
ALTAR CALL:
A. Let us pray. When troubles come, spiritual engines often fail. You know O Lord how fearful we can become in our hearts. You have seen us tremble, seen our distractions & disbelief. Help us Jesus to put our faith & trust in You. Give us courage to let You fly us to safe landing - Amen.
B. How many times have our spirits fallen, when we could not see a viable plan?
1. Without Christ in your heart, you will have cardiac failure. Let Jesus be the pilot of your life.
2. Trying to survive without a church family is a fatal distraction. Fly with Jesus in His church.
3. If you fantasize you can fly alone, without the Holy Spirit, you’re in for a crash landing. Let the Holy Spirit heal you of whatever form of spiritual engine failure you might have.
C. Decide how you want to fly with Jesus.
