Like all of you, my thoughts
this week have been greatly consumed with the earthquake and tsunami
that followed it in the Indian Ocean. In one horrific stroke, God swept off the face of the
earth 100,000 people. One stroke. Every few hours, every day, the
number of the dead that have been counted rises. And as I follow the destruction
and devastation, I have been asking God to give me some understanding. I've been seeking from his word
some measurement, some understanding of these things. The Lord of hosts has visited
the earth with thunder, with earthquake, and great noise,
with storm, and with tempest. He's caused the whole world to
hear his voice. The whole world has heard his
voice with his finger He touched the ocean's floor and shook the
earth at its very foundations and sent his mighty waves sweeping
across the shores. If you will, turn with me to
2 Chronicles, Chapter 7. And you'll find the question
that I've been asking all week, the question that I hope I can,
with some measure, of help answer from the Word of God this morning.
2 Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 21. After Solomon has made his
prayer of dedication, the Lord God makes certain promises. And
then he warned Solomon what would happen when the people abandoned
him, his word, and his worship. In verse 21, The Lord God says,
and this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every
one that passeth by it, so that he shall say, why hath the Lord
done thus unto this land and unto this house? When the Lord God brought the
nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem to utter destruction. When he had completely destroyed
the temple so that not one stone was left upon the other, the
Jews and all who passed by looked upon that place with utter astonishment
and say, why hath the Lord done thus? They didn't understand
his works. They didn't understand his providence.
They were utterly astonished, and all they could do in their
astonishment was to cry, why? Why hath the Lord done thus? Multitudes were slaughtered horribly. Why? Multitudes were slain, men,
women, and children, by the sword under the judgment of God, and
the city was destroyed. Why? Why hath the Lord done thus? That's the common response of
the human heart and mind to any kind of great tragedy. For God
speaketh once, yea, twice, yet man perceiveth it not. Well, I've been asking the question,
like you have. Why have so many thousands been
destroyed in a moment? had more than a million people,
when all put together, lost so much, had made, experienced such
devastation in their lives? Why have so many small children
been swept off the face of the earth? Why all those rotting
bodies lining the Asian shores? Why all the sudden pain and heartache
for so many people? Why hath the Lord done thus? Now, my purpose in preaching
is very simple. I want to honor God and I want
to help you. That's all. I just want to honor
God and help you. I wanted to help you and help
myself to learn from the providence of God, particularly the painful,
tragic, disturbing events of this past week. The psalmist
said, thy judgments are a great deep, O Lord. There are no easy
answers and there are no complete answers to the question I raise. Why hath the Lord done thus? No easy answers and no complete
answers, not this side of eternity. No. God's way is a great deep. Cowper put it very well. God
moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. He plants
his footstep in the sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable
minds, he works his sovereign will. That's God's way. All right,
let's see if I can answer three questions. Here's the first one.
You will know the answer to this when I ask it. Who caused this
to happen? Whenever something happens that's
unexplainable in human terms, the question rises, well, how
could this happen? The infidel, the infidel, and
I chose the word deliberately, Blames things like this on bad
luck, blind fate, misfortune. Religious infidels. I chose my
words deliberately. They are people who blame all
bad things on the devil. He's in control of the bad things.
Religious infidels. Worldly infidels. the wise actors
of the world, they find another reason. They find, well, if somebody
had just had a good warning system in place, we could have prevented this. The fact that unbelieving people
don't understand these things should not surprise us at all.
The natural man understandeth not the things of God. Never. Evil men understand not
judgment. They know not the way of the
Lord nor the judgment of their God. But they that seek the Lord understand. The fact is, these multitudes
were taken out of this world suddenly, without warning, by
the hand of God. They did not die by accident,
but by divine purpose. They did not die by the unfeeling
stroke of blind fate, but by the just and righteous and good
hand of God Almighty. The Lord did this. The Lord did
this. People who believe God, and I
mean all who believe God, simply cannot look upon things as natural
tragedies. I'm so sick and tired of hearing
about nature and mother nature. We don't worship this earth.
It's not our mother. It's the dirt on which we live.
We worship God Almighty. I heard one of the news commentators
talking about this thing, and after some time, he described
the events of December 26 as Mother Nature striking out with
all her fury. We know that the earthquake and
the tsunami are the works of Him who sits upon the throne
of the universe, doing His will in the earth, in the sea, and
in all deep places. So amongst the heathen among
whom we live, And I do mean heathen. If I could get their attention,
I would say it from the housetop over every medium in this world.
Amongst the heathen among whom we live, we say, no! This is not the work of fate
or of nature. The Lord our God reigneth. He is clothed with majesty and
strength. God sitteth upon the throne of
his holiness. The Lord reigneth. Let the people
tremble. This is God's work. That which
the whole world witnessed this past week, God did it. The voice we heard is God's voice. The voice that shook the earth
is that voice described in Job 33 by Job when he said, the Lord
speaketh once, yea, twice, yet man perceiveth not. Now, having
said all that, We dare not point an accusing finger at God Almighty
and charge him with injustice and cruelty. Should a man do anything, if
he had the power to do it, like we've seen, yes, we would say
that's unjust, that's cruel, that's barbaric, that's horrible. But God Almighty is not weighed
in the scales of your opinion. God Almighty is not to be held
in the judgment of your puny mind. We dare not suggest that
something God has done is cruel, unjust, or wrong. That's utter blasphemy, nothing
short of blasphemy. Our great God, is holy and righteous
and just and true. And what he does is right. It's right. It doesn't matter
what he does. It's right because he does it.
If he didn't, if it weren't right, he wouldn't do it. May God open
our eyes to see his works. and calls our hearts to hear
his voice. You see, we all tend to live, we don't say it, but
we tend to live as though we're in control, as if we rule our
destiny. And what we've seen this week
ought to make us aware of our utter nothingness. Our utter nothingness, just nothing. Nations can't stand against the
finger of God. They're counted as a small dust
in the balance, as nothing before him. Our God, our God alone is
the captain of every man's soul. Our God, our God alone is the
master of every man's destiny. Now you can like it or don't
like it, that's the way it is. You're in God's hands. I'm in
God's hands. Our sons and daughters are in
God's hands. Our children are in God's hands. The nations are
in God's hands. Nobody has God in their head. Nobody. Our God rules. It is He alone who is described
in these words. The Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. It is God who gives every man
breath and being. And it is God who takes it away
like that. Death. A terrible, terrible reality. Death. Reminds us that this world
is not the very good creation God made it in the beginning.
Ours is a corrupt universe and a corrupt world. Corrupt because
of our own transgressions as well as the transgression of
our father Adam. Cursed because of sin. It is man's rottenness, man's
corruption, man's defilement that has taken the garden of
God and turned it into the garbage heap that we call Earth today. It's cursed and corrupt. and
is full of pain and sorrow and heartache and misery and woe,
and it will never change, not till God makes all things new.
Turn, if you will, to 2 Peter. As in the days of Noah, the Lord
God has again shown His sore displeasure. As in the days of
Noah, men are willfully ignorant, refusing to hear His voice. Let
us not be numbered among them. Yes, he has again employed the
same floodwaters as he did in Noah's day. And yet in wrath,
he remembers mercy. I feel sort of like Ezekiel did
when he saw the destruction and described it. And he said, and
I was left. And I was spared. These who perished
were men and women just like you and me. No worse may be much better,
but certainly no worse. And yet we were spared. Perhaps
He spared us to wake us up, to turn our hearts to Him. Listen
to this, 2 Peter 3 verse 7. For this they willingly are ignorant
of, that by the word of God he spoke and it was done. The
heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and
in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed
with water perished. But the heavens and the earth,
which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto
fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Verse 11. Seeing then that all these things
must be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in
all holy conversation and godliness looking for? and hasting unto
the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Now look back at verse 9. The
Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count
slackness. We've seen this week that God
Almighty can take this world out of existence by the mere
exercise of His will. That's all it takes. That's all
it takes. That's all it takes. Brother
Larry was explaining to some the other day how that huge,
mighty tidal wave caused by just a shift in the ocean's bottom. What did you say, a half inch? It just takes God to will it,
and this thing is over. It's over. But why do we still stand topside
of the earth? Because God is long-suffering
to us, not willing that any chosen redeemed sinner Any of us whom
He has loved with an everlasting love should perish, but that
every one of them should come to repentance. Now, how are we
to look at this thing? Why has God left you and me here? I'm talking to you who are believers
and to you who still live with your fist shoved in His face.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, verse
14, be diligent that you may be found of Him in peace, without
spot and blameless. Be found of God in peace, without
spot, blameless before God in that day when He sweeps away
the world. Found in Jesus Christ, washed
in His blood, robed in His righteousness. And to count that the long suffering
of our Lord is salvation. He left us here for the saving
of His people to the glory of His name. The fact is some who
died last week died in their sin. And today suffer the intolerable
horrid wrath of God Almighty in the fires of eternal damnation. Some who died, died in faith,
trusting Christ, washed in His blood, robed in
His righteousness, loving Him sincerely because God gave them
a heart to trust Him and to love Him. All who died, died by the
hand of God. Why? I know this, nothing comes to
pass in God's universe except that which God brings to pass. to even give a thought to anything
else is to blaspheme God and practice atheism. Nothing comes to pass in God's
universe except that which God brings to pass. This is what
the book says, all things are of God. For of him, And through
him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Surely, God says, as I have thought,
so shall it come to pass. As I have purposed, so shall
it stand. Well, but preacher, how do you
explain this or that? How do you... How do you explain these things
to men? Who needs explaining? If you see, if you should see
that something is done visibly with your eye by the hand of
a man, you don't need to know why it was done if you see it
done. You say, well, I thought I did
that. I saw it. I saw it. God Almighty. does whatever comes
to pass in this world. Job understood that. He said,
the hand of God has touched me. But what about the Sabaeans and
the Chaldeans and the other folks? He said, God's hand touched me.
What about the devil who came and afflicted him? He said, the
hand of the Lord has touched me. You can worship the Sabaeans
and the Chaldeans and the devil if you want to. My God touched
me. David understood this. Shemai
came out and cussed him. He said, the Lord said to him,
cuss David. That's what he said. That's what
he said. Well, David, you don't mean that
God made Shemai do that? Shemai did what he wanted to.
But he couldn't have done it if God hadn't said do it. The
Lord has said to Shemai, curse David. Jeremiah understood this. You read Lamentations 3 and the
great woes he experienced. And he said, the Lord has broken
my teeth with gravel stones. He's covered me with darkness
and blackness. He's afflicted me. He's laid
heavy chains upon me. Our Savior understood this. He
said, behold and see. if there be any sorrow like unto
my sorrow, wherewith the Lord God hath afflicted me." No matter
what our trials are, no matter what the cause of trouble is,
it's the hand of God. It doesn't matter whether you're
a believer or an unbeliever, God Almighty controls everything,
everything about you and everything in you. For the unbeliever, that's
terrifying. That's just terrifying. For the
unbeliever? I understand why folks won't
hear this. I understand. If God controls everything, my
rebellion's useless. If God controls everything, I'm
insignificant. If God controls everything, I
can't do anything. If God controls everything, I'm
totally in His hands and totally at His disposal. And I hate Him. I despise Him. I will not bow
to Him. And therefore His heart is terrified. with the thought of an absolute
God. For the believer, what could be more comforting?
Our God is in the heavens. He reigns. He sitteth upon his throne and
the inhabitants of the earth are as nothing before him. He
doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and none
can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest thou? Our God
is God indeed. My Father rules in heaven above, in earth beneath,
in all deep places, in the sea, and in hell that is under the
earth. I know this too. The span of
your life and mine, the time of your death, and the instrument
by which we shall be slain was fixed by God Almighty before
ever the world was made. Job said, the days of my appointed
time will I wait. God is of one mind. Who can turn
him? What his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. Now listen, for he performeth
the thing that is appointed for me. Did you hear what I said, Bobby?
Our heavenly father rules. And this is what he's doing.
He's doing the thing appointed for you. He's doing the thing appointed
for me. It is God alone, God alone who
controls all things. He takes men and women, boys
and girls, even old men and old women out of this world at the
time he's appointed. And when you and I have served
the purpose for which we were created, we will die. We will meet God in judgment.
Sometimes we see a young child. I've had to preach
funeral for a lot of young children, a few. Written a lot of letters to mamas
who lost their babies early. Some who lost their babies just
before giving birth. Some who lost their babies early
in the pregnancy. Some who lost their babies early
in this world. And people say, oh, how sad the
life cut short. How sad the life, what could
have been, what could have been. Listen to me. Every human being,
to whom God Almighty gives breath serves a complete purpose. And when his purpose for which
God has given him breath is done, that's the dot. That's the period. That's the end. That's when God
takes breath away. The first question is easy. Who
did this? God did it. The next question,
more difficult. Why? What's the reason? What's the reason? This also cometh forth from the
Lord, from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and
excellent in working. But why? I don't ask out of curiosity. I don't ask in rebellion. I don't ask demanding an answer. I have no right to demand an
answer. When my little girl was a little girl and she'd ask me
why I did something, sometimes I'd tell her and sometimes I
wouldn't. As she got a little older, she
would ask with greater reason, and still it was my discretion
whether I would tell her or whether I wouldn't. She's now an adult
and got children of her own, and she asked. But I'm still
her father, and sometimes I tell her and sometimes I don't, because
I deem it best what's best for her to know as to why I do anything. And you know what I am? I'm an
ignorant man who just never knows really what's best. But I'm her
father. I'm her father. And I expect
my daughter to trust my judgment. Now, we come to our father and
we bow to him. and we trust his judgment and
his work. And we say, Lord, will you show us something? Give
me something to help me understand what you're doing. Well, I know
this. God did this to display his glorious
sovereign dominion as God. Every now and then throughout
history, every now and then throughout history, God does something just
to say, stand back and pay attention. I'm still sitting on my throne.
To make everybody know, he still is. I'm certain also that he
did this for the eternal, everlasting spiritual good of chosen sinners. This too, he works together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Maybe, maybe as the result of
this sudden stroke of God's providence, God may just get your attention
and calls you to seek him. Certainly, I know this. This has made me a little more
aware. of the need to number my days
and apply my heart to Christ and to look upon everything in
this world for what it is. Just a breath. That's all. That's all. Don't hold anything with a tight
fist. If you do, when God gets ready
to take it away, He'll break your fingers. Hold it loosely,
because it's leaving you. It's leaving you. Or you're leaving
in one of the two. But there is one indescribably
great blessing I've been thinking about a lot. With one stroke of his hand. This one stroke, the Son of God
has reached around the world and gathered in thousands of
chosen redeemed sinners. Home to glory. Oh, how beautiful heaven must
be now. Thousands of new voices at one time, singing worthy is
the lamb. Standing before our God, robed
in fine linen, clean and white, saved out of much tribulation.
No doubt there were some among those thousands who perished
who were believers. There were, without question,
thousands of infants and small children. And I have no hesitancy at all
in telling you those infants swept away before
they could ever sin after the similitude of Adam's transgression.
are swept away in mercy into everlasting glory. No question. No question. How can you say
that? Because God's good. Because he
tells us plainly, they sin not out of the similitude of Adam's
transgression. Because God in justice will never send one man
to hell for the sins of another. He sends men to hell for their
own sins. And because the only example
we have in all scripture of an infant dying where any explanation
is given, David's son. While his boy was sick, he wept
and cried to God, lamented his sin. Oh, he cried out to God
to help him. Cried out to God to spare the
boy. He refused to eat, couldn't go to the house of God and worship.
All he did was stay on his face before God. Oh, God have mercy
on this boy. And then the boy died. David
said, well, he's all right now. He's all right now. God answered
my prayer. He took care of him. He healed
him. And the folks looked into it. Hey, we don't understand. How
do you explain this? Yesterday, when the boy was still
alive, you were tortured in your soul. Now he's gone. You washed your face and you
said, get me some soup, I'm ready to eat. How do you explain that? He said, my boy's gone to God.
He can't come to me. I'll go to him. I'll go to him. What's our response to this? I'll give you a word of warning. Don't sit in self-righteous judgment
and think, well, those were heathen people in a heathen land, ungodly
people, and they courted God's judgment, and he brought it.
And since they were such great sinners, God brought judgment
upon them. God forgive us our self-righteousness. Suppose ye that these were greater
sinners than any others, our Lord said? I tell you no, but
except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Except you repent, you too shall
perish. So I bid you, repent. Believe on the Son of God. Turn
to God your Savior and cast your soul upon Him into His arms. Bow to the Son of God and trust
Him. And understand, understand this. It doesn't matter. It does not
matter. how I die. Now, I have some preferences
in my own thinking. I have some preferences. I'd
hold up rather die doing what I'm doing right now than any
other way. I'd like to be able to die and
not have to endure what I've seen a lot of folks endure. I'd
like to be able to without causing that dear lady to have to sorrow
for me while she watches me die. I'd like to die serving my God. I have a lot of preferences,
but it doesn't matter how I die. It doesn't matter whether I'm
taken by heartache or disease or by some crazy nuts bullet.
It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Doesn't matter
where I die. Doesn't matter if I die standing
here or I'm swept away in a tidal wave. Doesn't matter. The only
thing that matters is that I die in the Lord. That's all. That's all. In Christ. Blessed are the dead that die
in the Lord. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. When I have breathed my final
breath and dropped this robe of flesh in death, when my appointed
work is done and my allotted time is gone, don't stand around
my grave and cry, I'll not be there. I did not die. My Savior
came to call me home. And with Him to heaven I go. Now I'm free from sin and pain. And with the glorified I reign.
Don't stand around my grave and cry. I'm glorified. I did not die. Seated with Jesus
on His throne, glorified by what He has done. I am a trophy of
His grace. Rejoicing, I behold His face. Don't stand around my grave and
cry. I'm with Christ. I did not die. My body lies beneath
the clay until the great resurrection day. In that day when Christ
comes again, body and soul unite again. Don't stand around my
grave and cry. Rejoice with me. I did not die. Amen.