Turn with me, if you would, to
Job 37. Job chapter 37, just before Psalms. Job 37. I have something for all of us
tonight, including our children. I have something for every single
one of us, including our little kids. Kids,
I want you to know I thought about each one of you as I was
preparing this. Each one of you. All right? So I want you to really listen
to this. I have something for all of us,
and I want you to know this, okay? Job 37, look with me at
verse 1. At this also my heart trembleth,
my heart is trembling with fear, and is moved out of his place. Hear attentively the noise of
his voice and the sound that goeth out of his mouth. He directeth
it under the whole heaven, and His lightning unto the ends of
the earth. After it, a voice roareth. He thundereth with the voice
of His Excellency, and He will not stay them when His voice
is heard. God thundereth marvelously. with his voice. Great things
doeth he which we cannot comprehend." Now did we hear what he just
said? God thundereth marvelously. He thunders marvelously. He thundereth With the voice
of His Excellency, He thunders. Sometimes when it rains, spring,
summer, we hear thunder. We hear the thunder, don't we,
in the rain. Turn over to Job 40. Now Job was speaking some things. Job and his friends were sitting
around speaking some things. And the Lord revealed a few things
to Job. And this is where he said in
verse 3, Job answered the Lord and said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay my hand upon my mouth. Job said, I think it's time I
stop. I think it's time for me to just hush. Once have I spoken,
but I will not answer. Yea, twice, but I will proceed
no further. Verse 6, Then answered the Lord
unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Gird up thy loins now
like a man, I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou
mayest be righteous? Now watch verse 9. Hast thou
an arm like God? Or canst thou thunder with a
voice like him? Can you make your voice sound
like thunder? Monday was Isabella's birthday. And we decided to celebrate it
by going on a little adventure. And it turned out to be quite
an adventure. We decided to go hiking. And we went about 30
minutes north of here to Fort Blackmore, Virginia. And there's a swimming hole up
there that you can hike to, and they call it, the people in this
area, whoever named it, it has a sign right there, and it's
called the Devil's Bathtub. In reality, it's God's bathtub.
God made it. He owns it, it belongs to him. I prefer to just call it God's
bathtub. So that's where we went. We went
hiking up to God's bathtub and it was beautiful. And I'm not
a hiker. And it was beautiful. The beauty, just seeing the things
the Lord has made tucked away where nobody sees it. The rocks
were huge. I felt like I was in the Amazon
or something. No easy hike. But the shortest distance up
to this bathtub, they said, was 1.8 miles. That's the one we
took. 1.8 miles up, 1.8 miles back. And we made it up there, and
I was the only one who was either Not brave enough or not foolish
enough to get in the water. It was ice, ice cold. It was
quite a few people up there. Everybody who got in, they were
just freezing. So I didn't do it. But we spent a little time up
there, and we enjoyed ourselves and had a good time. All of a
sudden, though, while we were up there and I was watching everybody
freeze, we started hearing thunder in the distance. First time,
you ask yourself, is that thunder? Next couple of times, you start
to realize that's thunder. Now, here we are, we're at 1.8
miles. I mean, this was not a path.
This was an obstacle course with little children. It started getting dark. I mean,
this is early afternoon, and it just got dark. It just got
dark. I thought, man, this is crazy.
And as soon as two drops fell, the whole bottom fell out. I
mean, it was immediate. It was an absolute torrential
downpour. And we're trying to round all
our stuff up. We are literally soaking wet.
All of our stuff is soaking wet. And we start heading back down
that path, and it's probably 45 minutes back down to our vehicle. And everybody's doing fine. We were all doing fine, pouring
down rain. As long as the thunder was way
out there, we were all doing fine. But here we are walking
down this path, and then we all saw a flash. Four, five seconds
later, six seconds later, here comes the thunder. We're moving
on down. All of a sudden we saw another
flash. Three, four seconds later, here comes the thunder. Then
we saw a line. Two seconds later, here comes
the thunder. And then it went. Immediate. It was on us. I mean,
it was on us. And I was trusting in my Lord,
but it was on us. It was right there. It was fearful. It was absolutely fearful. It
was scary. To say that my youngest was a
little uneasy is the understatement of the century. And it was awful. It was full of awe. It's the
kind of rain that if you were on the interstate, you'd pull
over for it. I mean, it was bad. All we wanted at that moment
was shelter. That's all we wanted. There was
one thing on our mind. You know how you go through this
life with about a million things rolling through your mind? At
that moment in time, there was one thing that was needful to
us. One thing. We needed something
between us and this powerful storm. That's all we needed. Now, I thought in my mind, I
was going down there through this, I was thinking, this is
crazy. This is literally crazy. And I was thinking, if we, his
children, are scared in this. If we are afraid, I'm a grown
man, and if we're afraid in this, can you imagine standing before
the judgment throne of God? Now here's why, don't turn, but
Revelation 4 verse 5 says, out of the throne proceeded lightnings
and thunderings. Out of the throne. When a sinner
stands before that judgment throne, he is standing at the source
of lightning and thunder. As lightning streaks through
the sky, it is coming directly from the throne of God Almighty.
He sends it. He directs its course. And that's
our comfort. But he tells that lightning where
to strike. It has nothing to do with magnetization and electrons
and all. God said strike right there.
So to stand before God's throne is to stand at the source. Over
there it was fine. But for it to be on you, right
there on you. And we see the spiritual significance
here. The throne and judgment of God,
as long as it's way over there, men are fine. They're fine. Yeah, they kind of hear it off
in the distance. But when that crack is on you.
When that's on you, oh, it's a fearful thing. And it is going
to be a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God if we stand before Him with no shelter. It's going to be
a fearful, fearful thing. Just hearing the crack of His
thundering voice. The punishment is indescribable. The judgment is something Who
can even go there? But just to stand there bearing
the crack and thunder of His voice, that'll slay a man. That will just slay a man. Absolute
fear. If a sinner does not fear God
now, he will. He will. Look with me at Psalm
29. Psalm 29 verse 1 says, Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty,
give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord
the glory due unto His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. The voice of the Lord is upon
the waters. The God of glory thundereth. The Lord is upon many waters. That thunder rolls and rolls
and rolls. Sounds like many waters. Sounds
like waves crashing. Verse 4 says, The voice of the
Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full
of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh
the cedars, yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. When Judas
came to betray him, he brought a mob of people with him. I think
I read somewhere somebody estimated it at about 500 men or something
like that. He brought this mob of people,
and he told them, I'm going to betray him with a kiss. That's
how you'll know him. But the Lord was waiting for
him. He went out to meet him, and he was standing there waiting
for him. And when they came up, he said, whom seek ye? They said,
we seek Jesus. He said, I am. And as soon as
he said, I am, it says they fell back like trees. I can just see
him stiff as a board. Boom. 500 men. I am. The voice of the Lord is powerful. It's powerful. Fear God. Lightning and thunder. It thunders. Verse 4 says, The voice of the
Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaketh
the cedars, yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh
them also to skip like a calf, Lebanon and Syrian like a young
unicorn. The voice of the Lord divides
the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes
the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness
of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord maketh
the hinds to have their babies. And it discovereth the forest,
it rolls through the forest. And in His temple doth every
one speak of His glory. His glory. If a sinner ever hears
the voice of God, the voice of God, if the voice of God ever
thunders on a sinner's heart, he will seek shelter. I promise. I promise. He will seek. He'll be running for shelter. Last Monday, I said there was
one thing needful. That moment of time came. I didn't know it was coming. I didn't know it was coming.
It was sunny when we got there. That happened on a day that I
thought not. And here we were, marrying and
giving in marriage and celebrating birthdays, and all of a sudden, And at that moment in time, everything
else lost every ounce of its importance. Everything else. We need shelter. We need shelter. We need something
to stand between us and that fearful storm. Well, we had shelter. All right, we had shelter. And we all hoped in that shelter. I believed with every ounce of
my heart that it was still sitting in that parking lot. It was expected
anticipation. I wasn't saying, I hope my car
is there. I know it is. And it was my aim. It was my focus. I was looking
to it and I was trusting in it. We hoped in our shelter and we
ran to it. And we got in it. And as soon
as we did that, all the fear was over. It was all over. The storm was no longer upon
us. It was upon our shelter. It was
sitting there beating down on our shelter. That rain beat down,
that lightning, that thunder, it was all around, but we were
safe. Totally safe in our shelter. And lightning and thunder, it
comes from the throne of God. It truly does. Lightning comes
directly from the throne and the thunder is His voice. And
seeing God move is a fearful thing. It really is a fearful
thing. Those clouds roll in and you
know what the scripture says? It says that's the dust of his
feet. That's what it says. But here's the thing that, here's
our hope. God has provided us a shelter. And we are hoping in that shelter. We see it by faith. We're looking to it, trusting
in it. And if God has caused us to run
to our shelter, man won't run on his own, will he? But if God
has caused us to run to our shelter, run to Him, Jesus Christ, our
Lord, and if God has put us in our shelter, then we'll be safe. We'll be safe. We'll be safe
now, we'll be safe forever. The truth of the matter is, we
were just as safe running down that path as we were sitting
in my car. We're safe. Safe in our shelter. Look with me at Revelation 1. Revelation 1 verse 12, and I turned to see the voice
that spake with me. The apostle John heard a voice,
and he turned to see the voice that spake with him. And being
turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment
down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow,
and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like undefined
brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of
many waters." What John heard sounded like thunder. His voice
thunder. Verse 16, And he had in his right
hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged
sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength,
like lightning. Verse 17 says, And when I saw
him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me." Now, here's a point I want us to get. Saying
unto me, in that voice that sounds like many waters. That's what
John just said his voice sounds like. In that thundering voice,
that same voice, he said unto me, fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead
and behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of
hell and death in that same voice, in the same voice. That's what
I want to, that's what I want us to get ahold of kids in the
same voice, the same exact voice. He said, fear not. I was walking down that path,
and every time it thundered, I did not think of this the first
few times, but finally it dawned on me. Every time I heard that
fearful thunder, man, it was loud, something went through
my mind. Every single time. And I hope
that all of us get this in our minds and in our hearts, and
I hope the Lord will cause us to say this every time we hear
thunder. Go with me now to John 12. John 12 verse 23 says, And Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. What does he mean by that? Verse
24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall
lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep
it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him
follow me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my father honor. Now is my soul troubled." Now,
we were the ones troubled. Spiritually speaking, we're the
ones in sin. We're the ones in trouble. We're
troubled on every side, aren't we? We're troubled all the time.
We're in fear. But this is what he said, now
is my soul troubled. What that means is, he's our
shelter. That's what it means. He's our
shelter. And that storm of God's wrath is not on us anymore. It's
now on him. Now is my soul troubled. Verse
27, now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. This is the whole reason I came.
I came to be the shelter for my people in the time of storm. That's the whole reason I came.
Verse 28, Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice
from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify
it again. The people therefore that stood
by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel
spoke to him. He said this is the whole reason
I came. I came to be the shelter for my people in the time of
this storm. He said, Father, glorify thy
name. He said, I have glorified it. I will glorify it again. God's
greatest glory is that he will show mercy to sinners like us. That's his greatest glory. Now,
from here on out. From here on out, may the Lord
remind us, every time it thunders, from here on out, every time we hear thunder, that
is our reminder that God has glorified the name of His Son
every single time it thunders. What is His name? Savior. Jesus means Savior. God the Father
glorified His name in putting Him on that cross. He glorified His name in causing
Christ to be that shelter. And in that death, and only because
of that, now we have nothing to be afraid of. We have nothing
to be afraid of. I told this on Monday and I want
to say it again. Kids, and adults, and me, every time it thunders, every
single time, I want you to remember in your mind and in your heart,
alright? I want everybody to remember
in their mind and in their heart that God said, I have glorified
it, I'll glorify it again. I have glorified it, I'll glorify
it again. Every time you hear it thunder,
say this. Say this in your mind. Say this
in your heart. In the Lord Jesus Christ, I have
nothing to be afraid of. Every single time it thunders,
say it. If the rain comes, sometimes
it rains and you don't hear thunder. But if the rain comes and you
hear thunder 14 times, say it 14 times. Every time you hear
thunder, you say, in the Lord Jesus Christ, I have nothing
to fear, nothing to be afraid of. In Christ, God has been merciful
to us. In Christ, God is merciful to
us. In Christ God will always be
merciful to us. I have glorified it, I'll glorify
it again. I will glorify it again. Verse 30, Jesus answered and
said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Thunder comes from the throne
of God. You know why he makes that boom? Not for him, it's
for our sakes. It's our reminder. He reminds
us every time. He reminds us. Verse 30, he said,
This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is
the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said signifying
what death he should die. God speaks to us in his creation.
You know that? He does. We just sang a song
that says, this is my father's world and to my listening ears
all nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my father's world. He shines and all that's fair.
In the rustling grass I hear him pass. He speaks to me everywhere. When we see a rainbow, God is
speaking to us. You know what He's saying? I'll
never send a flood on you ever again. Every time we see a rainbow,
He's speaking to us. Every time we hear it thunder,
God is speaking to us. Every single time. In Christ,
you have nothing to fear. I have glorified it. I will glorify
it again. So I want us to remember that,
okay? Next time it rains, may all of
us remember that. Next time you hear that thunder,
say it in your mind, say it in your heart. In Christ, I have
nothing to be afraid of. I have glorified it, I'll glorify
it again. All right, let's stand together.