A week ago Friday, Shelby and
I had the delightful privilege of going over and spending the
evening with our grandchildren. Faith and Doug had a dinner engagement,
and we took them out to dinner. And, of course, they had tornado
warnings all over Lexington and this area. And when we got to
where we were going, the storm looked like it was very foreboding. It was dark, the wind blowing,
raining hard. And folks were all looking for
shelter. And we went in this restaurant,
and I noticed my grandson was real quiet, fearful looking. And I went and put my arms around
his shoulder and pulled him up close to me. And when I did,
I felt his heart just pounding out of his chest. He was scared
to death, just petrified with fear. And some tornadoes touched
down. They were over Sunday, as you
know, and after dinner Sunday at the table, I had to go get
my Bible and said, let's read a little bit and turn to Nahum
chapter one, verse three, and tried to explain to him and to
our family, the meaning of these words. I didn't know then what
we were going to wake up to with the devastation all over the
South land this past Thursday. I just spoke to some friends
in Alabama today and they said you just couldn't believe the
devastation, never seen anything like it. Brother Frank Hall called
on his way home and he said, I've never seen anything like
it, never seen anything at all like it. More than right at 300
people I think were killed in six states for that series of
tornadoes that touched down. And I've had this text on my
mind all week long. I've quoted it in my own heart
many times in these last few days, and I want us to look at
it this evening. Nahum chapter one and verse three. God speaks in a lot of ways.
He speaks to us by his written word. He speaks by the word of
creation. If you read the 107th Psalm,
you'll see that he speaks by providence as well. We would
be wise to listen when God speaks. In fact, he will see to it that
sooner or later we listen. The title of my message tonight
is Listen to the Tornado. Nahum chapter one, verse three,
the Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will
not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind, the tornado, and the storm, and the clouds, are the
dust of his feet. Who is God? What's he like? What can we expect from God?
Listen to the whirlwind. Listen to the tornado. Let's
back up to verse one. Nahum is inspired of God to give
us this word of prophecy And he speaks plainly about the character
of God, showing us various attributes of God. The attributes of God,
I remind you, are those characters of his being that are essential
to his being God. If he is God, all these things
are true of him and much more. Nahum is not telling us the entire
truth about God's character, but all these things that he
here describes set before us the character of God. Take away
anyone and he ceases to be God. The attributes of God, his character,
those traits of his being are essential to him as God Almighty. The burden of Nineveh, the book
of the vision of Nahum, the Elkishite. We don't know anything at all
about this man Nahum. We don't know who his parents
were. We don't know whether he was married, whether he had any
descendants. All we know about Nahum is that
he is a man God raised up to give us this word of prophecy. God tells us virtually nothing
about Nahum, but Nahum tells us much about God. God is jealous. The Lord revengeth. The Lord
revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. Now, people tell us that God
can't do this, God can't do that. There's no such thing as hell.
God won't throw people into hell. That's cruel, all those things. Who are you? Who are you? to set in judgment over God Almighty. What a laughable piece of foolishness
for men to decide who God is, what God is and what God can
do. Read on. Verse three. The Lord
is slow to anger and great in power. And will not at all acquit
the wicked. He will not acquit the wicked.
He will not pretend that sin doesn't exist. He will not pretend
that you haven't sinned. He will not look at you and say,
well, I understand the circumstances. It's all right. We'll let it
go this time. He won't he won't give you a warning and tell you
not to do evil anymore. He will not at all under any
circumstances, to any degree, acquit the wicked. The Lord hath
his way in the whirlwind. and in the storm, and the clouds
are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh
it dry, and dryeth up all the rivers. Bashan languisheth in
caramel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake
at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence. Yea, the world and all that dwell
therein, who can stand before his indignation? God who has
his way in the whirlwind, God who drives back the sea, drives
up the riverbed, who can stand before his indignation? Who can
abide the fierceness, the fury of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire. and the rocks are thrown down
by him. The Lord is good and a stronghold
in the day of trouble. He knoweth them that trust in
him. All right, now let's look at
these declarations of God's character line by line. God is jealous. is jealous. With men, jealousy
is always considered a fault. It's considered a fault because
we are ourselves sinful men. With God, jealousy is an attribute. It is a good trait, a good character
of God. It's right for God to be jealous
because God's perfect. Any assault then upon his character
resistance to his will, any rebellion against his rule, any objection
to his work, any question of anything he does is evil. To question God is to blaspheme
God. To question God's work is To
question God's goodness, to question God's character is to blaspheme
him. It is for man to set himself
above God or try to and set a judgment of the Almighty. It's right for
God to be jealous. He's jealous for his son. Ask
those who crucified him. He's jealous for his own honor
and glory. Ask Moses and Aaron. Because
they sanctified not God to give him the glory, they perished
in the wilderness and could not enter into the land of promise.
God is jealous for his worship and his ordinances. Ask David. David said the Lord brought this
breach upon us when Uzzah reached out to steady the ark and God
killed him. David said God brought this breach
upon Israel because we sought him not after the due order.
We didn't worship him. We didn't come to him in the
way he prescribed. God is jealous and is jealous
for his people. Ask Pharaoh. God's jealous. Thank God for his jealousy. He's jealous. God will avenge
his own elect. He will avenge the honor of his
name. He will avenge himself upon his enemies. Look at verse
two. God is jealous, the Lord revengeth. The Lord revengeth. With men, again, vengeance is
horrible. It's horrible. Vengeance eats
away at a man. Just the thought of vengeance
will destroy a man's life. Vengeance is mine, saith the
Lord, I will recompense. God revengeth. The Lord revengeth
at his furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on his adversaries. He reserveth wrath for his enemies. He holds in store wrath for his
enemies. He piles up in store wrath for
his enemies. Today, men talk about God's love.
as though God's love is somehow a fluctuating thing and God loves
everybody until at last, because he can't do any better, he sends
them to hell. God's love is not a passion like
ours. It's not fluctuating like ours.
God's love is not in anything, in any way to be separated from
all his other glorious attributes. I'm not going to speak about
it tonight, but you'd be sure you understand this fact. The
fact that God is love does not in any way diminish the fact
that God is jealous. The fact that God is love does
not in any way diminish the fact that God avengeth. The fact that
God is love does not in any way diminish the fact that he stores
up wrath for his enemies. Oh no, God's love and his fury. God's love and his jealousy,
God's love and his anger are all totally perfectly consistent
with one another. In fact, it is God's love that
makes him jealous, so jealous that he's furious, so jealous
that he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The word wrath is not
in the original text. You'll notice our translators
added it. That which God reserves for his
enemies is inconceivably, inexpressibly
horrifying. Oh, hear me, you who are but
a breath from hell. Hear me. Hear me. I have, in my Days of rebellion awakened with horrible sweat
and fear and terror shaking me, literally shaking me at the things
I dreamed about hell and eternal damnation. And whatever hell is, it is indescribably
worse than you've ever imagined. Indescribably worse than any
tongue has ever spoken. Indescribably worse than anything
man has ever written. God is jealous. Look at the next
line. The Lord is slow to anger. Judgment is his work, but it's
his strange work and he is slow to perform it. This great and
terrible God, whose jealousy makes him furious, is patient,
forgiving, long-suffering with sinners. He is never in a hurry
to punish sinners. He's never in a hurry to execute
judgment upon his enemies. He will destroy the ungodly,
but he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Judgment,
I repeat, is his strange work. He always defers it, giving sinners
space for repentance. The reason this world still stands
is because God gives sinners space for repentance and commands
all men everywhere to repent. Turn to second Peter, second
Peter, chapter three. Second Peter, chapter three.
Verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward, longsuffering toward the people of his choice, longsuffering
to his elect, not willing that any That doesn't mean not willing
that anyone anywhere should perish. If God weren't willing for folks
to go to hell, they wouldn't go to hell. If God weren't willing
for folks to perish, they wouldn't perish. If God weren't willing
for men to be reprobate, they wouldn't be reprobate. What does
this mean? Not willing that any should perish,
not willing that any object of his mercy, not willing that any
of his chosen, not willing that any of his redeemed, his long
suffering to us were his elect, not willing that any of his elect
should perish. but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,
suddenly, without warning, into which the heavens shall pass
away with great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat. The earth also in the works that
are therein shall be burned up, seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved. Look around you. Look around
you. Get on the internet and look
up some of the pictures of the devastation of these tornadoes. Look around
you. Look at... Go home. As you drive up to your
house, look at it carefully. Look at the fields that you cherish. This is mine. I fenced this in.
This acre is my acre. Look at it. It's all going to
burn. All these things shall be dissolved. Seeing that all these things
shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought
you to be in all holy conversation in godliness? How you ought to
behave in your lives in godliness? Looking for and hasting unto
the coming day of God, living always in the anticipation of
the end. wherein the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat. People, these days, this is unbelievable. This is absolutely unbelievable.
I was watching Hannity the other night before I went to bed, and
it was the late night edition. And there was some gal on there
from the left coast, and she was arguing that animals ought
to have Lawyers. I thought, well, that's smart.
I wonder who's going to hire them. They all had the same rights
as human beings. After all, we're all one on God's earth. And folks
love the earth and worship Mother Earth. And they're scared to
death. We're living in these times of global warming. And
man, it seems like a cold May 1st to me, doesn't it, Jim? These
times of global warming, hence the cause of all these tornadoes
and all this stuff. No. No. This earth is not going
to be burned up by accident. And it's not going to be burned
up because you use too much hairspray. And we can survive if we lose
all the polar bears in the world. That'd be all right. That's not
a problem. But it's going to burn. At the
appointed hour, God shall destroy the earth. They shall be dissolved. The elements shall burn, melt
with the fervent heat. Verse 13. Nevertheless, Nevertheless,
though all this shall be dissolved, we, we to whom God is long suffering,
we who are called by his grace and given faith in Christ, we,
according to his promise, look forward. We're looking at the horizon.
We're anticipating a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing you
look for such things, Be diligent that you may be found of him
in peace without spot and blameless. Now watch this. And to count
that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. He's longsuffering with all creation,
longsuffering with the demons of hell, longsuffering with the
wicked, the reprobate of this earth, longsuffering to usward. not willing that any should perish,
but his long suffering is for our salvation. He's preserved
the earth under the day of your calling, and he will preserve
the earth until he's called out the last of his elect. Account
then that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation, even
as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given
unto him, hath written unto you. has also in all his epistles
speaking in them of things which are some things hard to be understood
which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, twist, manipulate,
violates as they do also the other scriptures unto their own
destruction. Verse 17, ye therefore beloved
Seeing, you know, these things before beware, lest you also
being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your
own steadfastness. Don't don't let all the resting
of scripture disturb you, but grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All right, back here.
Name name what? The Lord is great in power, great
in power. He is omnipotent. Omnipotent. Almighty. He doesn't possess all power. He is all power. He's great in power. He is so
great in power that he can do all that he's pleased to do.
God is a great God and because he is a great God he's great
in power and he's great in power Therefore he's a great God a
weak frustrated God Now just try to imagine if you can try
try to imagine if you can let's see here Let's call that God
Well brother Don who would ever do that anybody who would worship
a stone? Anybody who would worship a crucifix. Anybody who would
worship God who can't do what he will. Let's call that God. What can it do? Nothing. No. You see how it moves? I moved
it. You see how it falls? I dropped
it. Such a God is a frustration to
all who claim to worship him. not God. Our God is great in
power. He can never be defeated. He
can never be hindered. He can never be thwarted. He
can never be overthrown. A God who lacks all power is
as useless as a bucket without a bottom or a well without water. What is omnipotence? It is God's
ability to do all his pleasure. Turn to Isaiah chapter 46. Isaiah 46. Now listen to me carefully. God has
the ability to do what he will all the time with everything
and everybody, and he always does. He always does. God has the ability to do what
he will, to do all his pleasure, all the time, everywhere, with
everybody, and he always does. So that whatever comes to pass
in your life and mine, whatever comes to pass with your family
and mine, whatever comes to pass in Denver, Kentucky, or through
the universe, that's what God will. Nothing happens except
that which is God's pleasure. Isaiah 46 verse 9. Remember the
former things of old. For I am God. I am God. There's none else. I am God. There's none like me. Declaring
the end from the beginning and from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand. And I
will try to do all my pleasure. Not even the most perverted modern
translation says that, does it? I will do all my pleasure. I'm talking about God. I'm not
talking about Eric or Don. I'm talking about God. I'll do
all my pleasure. What's that mean? I'll call a
carnivorous bird. I'll call a bird that eats flesh,
a ravenous bird from the East to feed my prophet when he's
hungry. I'll call a ravenous bird from the East, the man that
executed my counsel from a far country. I'll call a pagan idolater
like Cyrus to execute my counsel. Yea, I have spoken it. I will
also bring it to pass. I purposed it. I will also do
it. Hearken to me ye stout-hearted
that are far from righteousness. I Bring near my righteousness.
It shall not be far off and my salvation shall not carry I will
place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory That's his whole point you can
trust me I Have my way everywhere That means I will save my people
And if God doesn't have his way everywhere, he cannot declare
the certain salvation of his people. And you can't believe
it. God's omnipotent. He will perform
all his word. He will accomplish all his decrees,
perform all his purposes, and he will save his people. Fourth,
back here in Nehemiah chapter one, the Lord will not at all acquit the wicked. That is to say, God is just.
Justice and truth are the habitation of his throne. Though he's long
suffering and patient, he will punish every transgressor. God's
forbearance is no indication that he lacks either the will
or the ability to punish his enemies. He's great in power. and he's just. Therefore, he
declares the soul that sinneth it shall die. I recall hearing Brother Mahan
years ago. He was preaching for a fellow
he went to school with at Tennessee Temple College in Chattanooga,
Tennessee. Henry was just a young man. God had saved him, revealed
the gospel of his grace in him, and he called Henry to come down
and preach for him. They met for prayer like we do
back here, pastoring for the mayhem. Only the men didn't meet
with them. And Henry said, what are we praying for? He said,
let's pray that God will save sinners. Let's pray that God
won't let them go to hell. Henry said, what for? I got done
preaching last night and you got up and told folks God's trying
to save them and he couldn't. Why pray to God? Why ask God
to keep them out of hell? He says that he's omnipotent,
full of power, and he declares that he's just. Therefore, he
says, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. God will not acquit
the wicked. A just God, now listen to me,
a just God cannot clear the guilty. Can't do it. He can't do it.
Turn to Romans chapter three, Romans the third chapter. Let's
look at this one more time. If God is just and must punish
sin, how can anyone be saved? Will God lay aside his justice?
Will he compromise his truth to save a sinner? Never. In fact,
the wise man says in Proverbs 16, 6, by justice and truth,
by mercy and truth, iniquity is purged. Look here in Romans
chapter 3, verse 24. We are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. On our
part, this is a matter of absolute freeness. God justifies us with
no contribution from us. But don't imagine that justification
is free. It cost Christ his life. We're
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation,
a satisfaction of justice through faith in his blood to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. God set
forth his son to be a propitiation sin to declare his love. No.
No. That is the revelation of God's
love, but that's not the reason he did it. He did it to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. I repeat myself to declare, I
say at this time, God's righteousness because this is the only way
he can be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
If God Almighty saves a sinner, you, me, or anyone else, If God
forgives the sins of his people, three things must be done. The
sinner must be punished to the full satisfaction of justice.
Now hear me, hear me. Will you listen to me? Please
listen to me. God's going to pour out his hell
on you. He's going to do it either personally or in a substitute. You're not going to escape the
wrath of God. Second, The sinner's sins and his guilt must be totally
removed. Not just covered, not just swept
under the rug, removed. As long as sin stands against
me, God cannot justify me. As long as sin stands against
me, I cannot enter into God's glory. The sinner's sin must
be removed. And third, the sinner must be
made perfectly righteous. And there's only one way, Bobby
Estes, that can ever happen, and that's by Christ's substitutionary
atonement. He who knew no sin made sin for
us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
I'll write back here in Nahum, chapter one. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm. What do those words mean? They mean that the Lord our God
who's jealous, long-suffering, omnipotent, and just is totally
sovereign. He rules all things absolutely. The whirlwind, the tornado. The weather folks can tell you
it's coming, they can warn you, but not one of them can tell
you we're going to touch down. Not one of them. Because God has
his way in the world way. Not one of them. Brother Don
was asking me, what did you do during the tornado? I said, I
just do whatever I was doing before. Whatever I was doing
before. Don't you take shelter? You're
not likely to have time. Not likely to have time. What
do you do? Oh, oh, oh, what am I going to
do? Tornado's coming. No, God's coming. God's coming. He has his way. in the whirlwind. As I mentioned
to some of the men in the back, I preached here on a Sunday morning
in January and left to go down to Florida. And that night, a
freak tornado, as the weather folks would call it, swept through
here and piled this lumber up here like a bunch of toothpicks,
tore the building down. Shortly after we came here, our
daughter, Faith, was spending the night roofed over at your
house with your sister, Pi, I believe it was. And Tornado came through,
went around, circled around your house. You tell me if I misstate
this and took the side out of the barn right where they're
sleeping, just a few feet away. God has his way in the whirlwind.
You know what he did with whirlwind? He sent a mighty east wind and dried a path, D-R-I-E-D,
dried a path. through the Red Sea and brought
Israel out of Egypt. That's what God does in a whirlwind.
That's what God does in a whirlwind. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. The clouds, they're
just the dust of his feet. The Lord has his way. in all
things, with all creatures, in all places, all the time. He
has his way in creation, he has his way in providence, and he
has his way in grace. We rejoice in the glorious sovereignty
of our great God because we understand that our God exercises his sovereignty
that he may show his mercy. that he may be gracious to whom
he will be gracious. Hear me, children of God. God,
who has his way in the whirlwind, is saving his people. He moves heaven and earth to
bring about the redemption, the final deliverance of his own.
Nahum 1, verse 4. He rebuketh the sea and maketh
it dry, and dryeth up all the rivers of Bashan. Bashan languisheth,
and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains
quake at him, and the hills melt. The earth is burned at his presence,
yea, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before
his indignation? Who can abide the fierceness
of his anger? His fury is poured out like a
fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. He says, I form the light and
create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things.
Rex, do you remember what his conclusion to that is? Look unto
me and be ye saved. all the ends of the earth. For
I'm God and beside me there is not else. I make lights and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I'm God! So trust me. Trust me. Trust me. Isaiah 52,
listen. Wherefore when I came Was there no man? When I called,
was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all that
it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, at my rebuke, I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a
wilderness. Their fish stinketh, because
there is no water, and dieth for thirst. thou not it which hath dried
the sea, and the waters of the great deep that hath made in
the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore,
the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing
to Zion." Even as the prophet describes
the judgment of God The fierce anger of his wrath, he raises
a question. Who can stand before his indignation? Not you. Not me. But bless God, there
is one who stood before his indignation and absorbed all the fury of
his wrath in the stead of his people. Jesus Christ, his darling
son. So that God now declares fury
is not in me. Look at the next line. Oh, how
great this is. The Lord is good. The Lord is
good. Wait a minute, Don. Wait a minute. He's jealous. He's vengeful. He stirs up the world with has
his way in the world and sends devastation, wreaks havoc in
the earth. He's furious and will by no means
clear the guilty. And then the prophet says, God
is good. The Lord is good. Good in all that he does, whether
you understand it or not. Good in all that he does, no
matter how men may think to set themselves judges over God. Good
in all his works. Good in the exercise of his providence. Good in the exercise of his grace. And good in the execution of
his judgments. God is good. As a matter of fact,
the very word God is but an abbreviation of good. Goodness is the character
of God. God's goodness gives us hope
and comfort and strength in the midst of trials and difficulties.
Now watch this. The Lord is good. Good. He's talking about the storm
of God's wrath and the terror of God's judgment. This quaking
and fear and trembling of the earth. And then it comes to this
to this attribute of God, and there's like an island of calm
and peace. God is good. God is good. Oh, my soul, remember, God is
good. I can no more explain God's goodness
than a thimble could hold the ocean. But I know this, that's
the essence of His being. God is good. God is good. James said, God cannot be tempted
of evil, neither tempteth he any man, because God's good. He's ordained the evil, yes.
He brings the evil to pass, yes, yes. We worship God. Nothing's, James, nothing's out
of his control. Nothing, nothing comes to pass
without his decree. Don't imagine that God kind of
says, What can I do now? How do I react to this? Oh, the
devil's got in control. Watch out. Oh, no. Nothing comes to pass but by
his decree. He ordains the evil that he may
bring about greater good from the evil he brings in the earth. He overrules it for good. He
afflicts his children. He brings Many evil things upon
us. But he makes the evil work for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Therefore, the wise man writes,
there shall no evil happen to the just. But the wicked shall
be filled with mischief. I believe it was Brother Larry
who read Tuesday night from Genesis 50. Joseph's brethren, after
the father died, were scared to death. They thought, man,
Joseph's going to get us now. He's going to get us now. And
Joseph, his heart was broken as he watched his conniving brethren. He said, as for you, you thought
evil against me. You wanted to kill me. You sold
me into slavery. You brought me down to Egypt. You made me to suffer many things. But God meant it unto good. God intended for you to sell
me. God intended your jealousy over
me. God intended that you put me
in that pit. God intended that you sell me
to that caravan. God intended to bring me to Egypt. God intended to put me in prison
because God meant it for good to save much people alive, even
as it is at this day. God punishes sin and does so
with vengeance. Nobody goes to hell by their
own choice. God throws them into hell. But even the punishment of sin
is good because it's a vindication of God's justice and the protection
of his kingdom. Not only is God essentially good,
God is singularly good. Our Lord told the rich young
ruler, there is none good but one. That's God. Not you, not
your mama, not your daddy, not your son, not your daughter,
just God. If there is any spark of goodness
that men may see in you, I'm not suggesting any goodness there.
Any that men may look at and call good, that comes from God. God alone is good. He's eternally
and immutably good. Eternally, immutably good. It never varies, never changes. God's good. In everything he
does, in all his acts of grace, in all his works of providence,
in all his works of creation, God is good, infinitely, immeasurably,
incomparably good in all that he is, in all that he's done,
in all that he's doing, and in all that he shall do. God is
good. He's good to his elect. He's good to his elect. Will
you hear me? He's good to his elect. Good
to his elect. I know right now Mark's concerned
for his wife's health and what God's brought to pass in your life.
I understand it. I understand the pain. I understand
the confusion. God did it because he's good. He's good. He's good. Whatever makes me call on him
is good. And by whatever means he takes
me out of this world. Doesn't matter whether it's a
heart attack or an assassin's bullet. By whatever means he
takes me out of this world, God is good. We'll worship him. We won't fight against him. If
he gives us grace, we won't rebel. He gives us grace, we won't call
into question his goodness. He's good. Then Habakkuk, our name says,
the Lord is a stronghold in the day of trouble. A stronghold. The name of the Lord is a high
tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. A stronghold. Larger cities, maybe they have
them around here. I don't know. We used to have
bomb shelters. Now they have tornado shelters
and hurricane shelters, and they're stocked with food, provision,
things to keep you reasonably comfortable during the time of
storm. And in that stronghold, there's safety and protection.
That's what Christ is. That's what Christ is. Run under
the shadow of his wings and take shelter. understanding that he
who is our God, who is good, good to his elect, so that goodness
and mercy follow me all the days of my life, chasing me at last
into the house of the Lord, hiding in him under the shadow of his
wings, I am safe, well provided for and kept. And then we read
in verse seven, the Lord knoweth them that trust in him." Maybe
I'll come back to this another time. That word know is so full
of meaning. He knows and he approves of and
he accepts them that trust in him. He knows who you are and where you
are and what you need. He knows them that are his. And he owns you as his. He owns
us now and says, Don Fortner's mine. Don't you touch him. Don't
you touch it. He will own us tomorrow. And when the world is ablaze
under the judgment of God, he'll own us then. Come back to Isaiah. Chapter 32, and I'll wrap this
up. I urge you again, go home and
read the 107th Psalm. Four times, the psalmist speaking
of God's works of providence and grace, and the two always
working together, he says, oh, that men would praise the Lord
for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men. What works? The works that bring
them down in the stormy sea, the works that bring them down
in irons, the works that crush their hearts and cause them to
cry out to Him in trouble. Listen to the tornado and take
refuge in our good God and Savior. Isaiah 32 verse 2, a man shall
be as a hiding place from the wind. and a covert from the tempest
of man. That man who is God, our savior,
a hiding place from the winds of adversity, a covert from the
tempest of trouble, as rivers of water in a dry place, as a
shadow of a rock in a weary land. who are yet without God, without
Christ, and without hope, take refuge in my Savior. And you
who are gods, in every trouble, in every storm, in every heartache,
in every trial, in every difficulty, take refuge in the Redeemer. He's a cover for your soul. a
refuge in time of storm. Amen.