What to Do When the World Is Falling Apart
Take your bibles and turn to Psalm 46. It's a good day; absolutely
beautiful outside, beautiful inside; to be with all of you, friends and family
and guests. I really had intended this morning to have a video element that was
a montage of current events. It was going to be clips from the Middle East war
on terrorism, our relationship with Russia, Iran, and North Korea, clips from
the recent election and poles, clips from riots, clips from strained race
relations. I almost had that and then determined, “No, I'm just going to bring
a paper up here and read you a few quotes from the paper. You know what? I got
to the point I decided I'm not going to do either one because I don't want to
depress you this morning.
Let
me sum up the morning paper for you in three words, let me sum up all the news
broadcasts and three words: IT AIN’T GOOD! Everywhere we look today turmoil,
hatred, violence, confusion, slander, incredible negativity. I can't tell you
how many times I've asked people something about the election, or about what's
going on, and literally people have gotten the point now most don't even reply
they sigh.
I
don't know where our country is headed, whichever path. I don't know how this
is going to turn out. Things seem as messed up as they've ever been for a lot
of us here on planet Earth. Some of you who lived through the 60’s, some of you
saw some of that turmoil, may say differently, but a lot of folks I talked to
would say “Brian, sometimes it feels like the world is falling apart.”
You may be here this morning and far more personally than the election, far more personally than clips from the Middle East, you can say “Brian, it feels like MY LIFE is falling apart.” Some of you today, your marriage is hanging by a thread; you’re about one fight away from being done. Some of you, financially you have no idea how you're going to make it through the next week, much less the next year. This has been such a theme throughout every family in America; a child, a grandchild, a family member are bent on destroying themselves and its killing you! It feels like you're world's falling apart. It could be one of a million scenarios where we just sigh and hold up our hand. I don't know what to do.
You may be here this morning and far more personally than the election, far more personally than clips from the Middle East, you can say “Brian, it feels like MY LIFE is falling apart.” Some of you today, your marriage is hanging by a thread; you’re about one fight away from being done. Some of you, financially you have no idea how you're going to make it through the next week, much less the next year. This has been such a theme throughout every family in America; a child, a grandchild, a family member are bent on destroying themselves and its killing you! It feels like you're world's falling apart. It could be one of a million scenarios where we just sigh and hold up our hand. I don't know what to do.
During
our short time together this morning, I want to entitle my message “What to Do
When the World Is Falling Apart”. Psalm 46 says this:
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not
we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters
thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling
thereof. Selah. [In other words, that word in Hebrew means
think about that, meditate on that. Picture this cataclysm of earthquake that sends
mountains down into the ocean, landslides, turmoil.... think about that.] 4 There
is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place
of the tabernacles [or
habitation] of the most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall
help her, and that right early. [Some translations say when morning dawns.] 6 The heathen [the
nations] raged, the kingdoms were moved:
he uttered his voice, the earth melted. 6 The heathen raged,
the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7 The Lord of
hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. [There it is again.] 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
9 He maketh wars to
cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in
sunder [or the shatters the spear]; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know
that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen [nations], I will be
exalted in the earth.
11 The Lord of
hosts [here’s that refrain again] is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah.
Father,
Thank
you that already we've had the chance to sing beautiful lyrics, some old some
new, all centered around Christ. Thank you that we heard from that from the
lips of our children a lesson that would change everything, about how Jesus is
our hope in our life. God today we want way more than information, that just
won't be enough. I pray Holy Spirit you take your word, penetrate our hearts. Thank
you for a beautiful day, make it even more beautiful, and get glory today.
It’s
in Christ’s name that I pray.
Amen
Amen
What to Do When the World Is Falling Apart
I
think the first thing to note is when you turn to the book of Psalms, it is essentially
the Jewish songbook. All of these Psalms, each individual psalm, singular, is a
song. So the Jewish people, by the way a people who know something about
turmoil. Think of Syria, Rome, Babylon, Adolf Hitler, Nazis, think even today
with all the surrounding nations against them. A nation of people who know
something about turmoil, cataclysm, and pain; this is the song that they sang.
They had a comfort in its message that’s so powerful the text says it calmed
their fears. The text says, listen when they sang this, there was something in
the message so incredibly strong that in the most cataclysmic, earth-shattering,
circumstances imaginable...
Just
imagine, I live in the shadow of a mountain that's been there all my life and
all my family's life for generations beyond. I just watched the earth quake and
shake and tear apart and I watch the mountain move and I watch the ocean swell.
I'm seeing everything that was just taken for granted in my life busted up. I'm
seeing the stuff that I never thought would happen, happen. They were scared, afraid,
upset, and they sing this song and it would quench their fears.
So
what is the message of this song? I tell you, at first read the message looks
like God's saying, I will shelter you from adversity if your mine. At first read,
that's kind of what it looks like. Hey listen, the world may suffer but you Christians,
I'll take care of you and make sure that you don't. They may struggle, they may
hurt, they may get sick, their kids may go wrong, but don't worry I'm your God
I'm your shelter that won't happen to you. At first read it seems like that's
what it's saying. Friend, here's the thing, if you live on the mountain and the
mountain falls, it doesn't matter whether you’re God’s or not, your home falls.
The truth is, that doesn't even ring true with our experience. Thank God if
you're His, you can probably talk about deliverances you’ve experienced. There
were things that didn't touch you because God delivered you. There were ways He
blessed you and you look back and say, “man alive!” I think when we get to
heaven, we're going to be shocked how much God did that we never even noticed,
never even knew, but the truth is that prosperity gospel; when preachers stand
up and have you touch your television screen and they're sitting on gold thrones,
big hair, and if you send in your money you'll never have any problems and
everything will go well and you'll be helped. There's only one big problem with
that: the Bible. God says in the world you're going to have trouble.
I don't believe that was the ultimate
comfort of this message. I think it would also be easy to come away with, and
this is what I've done most of my life with the psalm, is saying the message of
the psalm is God saying don't worry, I will win in the end. By the way, that's
an awesome message! How many of you have read the back of the book and you see
God wins? Right! Amazing thing to note, whenever it seems like things are
utterly chaotic the Bible teaches that God is sovereign. He’s still the hand at
the helm of the universe. He's still steering this ship. The Bible says no one
can enter power as a president, a king, or a ruler unless God Almighty makes it
so. It could be easy to say, okay God is saying don't worry, it's all going to turn
out right in heaven, I win. I want you to know the text offers even more than
that when it says that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble. He's offering present tense 2016 comfort. So what's the message of this
song? Honestly, this book is so amazing. I've been preaching it for 20 years,
I've been reading it for a lot longer, and I learn new things all the time. Something
caught my eye, so strong. There's one little section of this Psalm this seems
completely out of place. Did you notice that? It almost seems like the psalmist
was like writing lyrics, and then he started writing another song, and then he
came back to the original one, but such is not the case. Look at verse number
four
4 There is a river,
the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy [habitation] place of
the tabernacles of the most High.
5 God is in the
midst of [this city] her; she shall not be moved.
Now
remember, we’re in the midst of everything being moved! Mountain being moved, earth
is moved, oceans being moved. There's a city that God lives in with a river
that runs through it that will never be moved. The question, what city is he
describing? I think we're real prone to take the Bible sometimes be like, “man
that's beautiful. That poetical description. I'm going to put that up on my
wall and stick it on a plaque. I mean it's gorgeous.” But what does it mean? He
didn't write it for no reason. What is this city, and what is this river, and
what is he talking about? Y’all, I discovered some things this week, honest,
that I've never seen before my life! If you want to stay there and just trust
me, that's cool, stay in Psalm 46; we’ll be back there.
I want
to turn back to the beginning of the Bible, Genesis Ch. 2. Here's what I found
out: This city, this river, runs throughout the entire Bible. From Genesis to
Revelation a river runs through it.
7 And the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a living soul.
8 And the Lord God
planted a garden eastward in Eden; [First
of all, I’ve never seen this before, he didn’t say the garden was called Eden;
there was a whole region called Eden and he put a garden in the middle of it], and there he put the man whom he had
formed.
9 And out of the
ground made the Lord God to grow every
tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in
the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 And
a river went out of Eden to water the garden....
There's Eden, one of the oldest
translations of the Hebrew Scriptures in the Greek called the Septuagint. It
translated the word Eden paradeisos... paradise. You had paradise on earth. You
had heaven on earth. You had God on earth. You had the river of life on Earth.
You had the tree of life, which we get the indication Adam and Eve were eating
of this tree because God told them eat of every tree in the garden except the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They're receiving life as they eat this
tree. It's a city, so to speak, with a river that runs through it. Adam and Eve
are living in communication with God, seeing God, hearing God, walking with God,
and the most impressive thing in that garden wasn’t the fruit, and wasn’t the
trees, it was God. If you know the story of the Bible, you know that Adam and
Eve sin. They eat of the fruit of this one tree that God said don't eat of. They
fall, they're put out of Eden. An angel, cherubim with flaming swords, is put
to guard the entrance to that place lest they eat of the tree of life and live
forever in a broke down sinful state.
It seems as if this city is dissolved.
It seems as if we're never going to see this place with God, with a river of
life, but they're drinking out of and they are satisfied ever again. But all
through the Bible y'all, never seen it before; in Ezekiel, in Isaiah, all over
the Bible it talks about the river, it talks about the city, it talks about
something coming, and we reach the book of Revelation, the book of unveiling. The
book where God says let me show you the future, let me show you some stuff
that's on its way. I want to show you what we find in Revelation 7:9, John is
taken up to see future events and he says,
9 After this I
beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the
Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a
loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and
unto the Lamb.
11 And all the angels
stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and
fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen:
Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and
might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
13 And one of the
elders answered, saying unto me [John], What are these
which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?[Where did they come from]
14 And I said unto
him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of
great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they
before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he
that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger
no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any
heat.
17 For the Lamb which
is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living
fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Now
in heaven/paradise, now God is there with martyrs, people that died for the cause
of Christ. By the way they’re still dying all over planet Earth as we speak. Don't
let anybody fool you. And here is God sitting on his throne, with the river of
life running, and all these people gathered around him in complete and utter
pleasure, with never a tear in their eyes again, never worry again, they are mesmerized
by the glory of God but it doesn’t end there.
This
is where some of us get involved.
21 And I saw a new
heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem, [the throne of God, the river of God, all
that was up in heaven a few chapters before] coming down from
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a
great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things
are passed away.
5 And he that sat
upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me,
Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto
me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give
unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Look at Chapter 22,
22 And
he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of
the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of
the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life,
which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 And there shall be
no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his
servants shall serve him:
4 And they shall see
his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
5 And there shall be
no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord
God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
What
is the city of God with a river that runs through it? Friends, it has many
names; it's paradise, it's heaven, its Eden, its the New Jerusalem, but above
all the things that make it that, it's the place where God lives and His
presence is so powerful, so satisfying, so filled with love, that when you're
in that place and drinking from that river, everything you ever cared about
falls
into
the background. Everything that ever enamored you is pushed into obscurity.
Some
of you that are here this morning, your suffering, and a lot of you that are
here this morning and you're scared... "Brian, that’s fantastic that one day
I'll drink from that river, one day I'll see that God, one day I'll have that
peace, one day I'll have that comfort, but I live here and now." John Ch. 4, Jesus
Christ, God, has come down to earth, has been born in a human body, is living a
human life; He's still God but He's a man. For 33 years, He's living on earth
and He finds himself one day, by the Providence of God, sitting down at a well.
Tired because he's got a human body and a woman comes to draw water; she's a
Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans hate each other's guts, have nothing to do with
each other, Jews would go around their entire territory so they didn't get
infected. Their race relations made ours look like a picnic in this country.
And
a Samaritan woman comes to get some water, and Jesus Christ seated there at the
well, asks her for a drink. She says why in the world is a Jew asking me, a
Samaritan, and even lower than that in that culture, a woman, for a drink? This
is what Jesus says in John 4:10,
10 Jesus answered and said
unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee,
Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee
living water.
What
do you mean, Jesus? I don’t understand. Are you better than Jacob, who dug this
well. What are you saying? Verse 13,
13 Jesus answered and
said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life.
Two
chapters later, hang with me, on the last day of the feast of tabernacles, when
the children of Israel would all be gathered for that ceremony and part of that
ceremony included the pouring out of waters as a picture of God in the nation and
restoration, Jesus said in John 7:37
37 In the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried [yelled], saying, If
any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
38 He that believeth
on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly [out of his soul, his heart, his innermost being] shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake he
of the Spirit, which they that believe on him [Christ] should receive: for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Oh, I wish I could get passed just being so
concerned about an election! I wish I could be more concerned in life than just
my money. I wish I didn't have to worry about my kids, and I wish these
problems that crowd on me didn't dominate. I wish I could sit beside that river
in heaven and have peace. I wish I could see God's face and have everything else
fade to the background. And I want to tell you something, Jesus is screaming at
the top of his lungs, I am the river! I am the river of life! You know what friends?
We are thirsty for far more than this world can offer; down in our soul. You
know I found? I'd rather have money than not have money, but when I have money,
I'm still thirsty. I don't want my kids to be sick. I want them to be healthy
and happy and involved, but you know what? With they're healthy, and happy, and
involved; I'm still thirsty. How often we run to the same muddy water over and
over again.
When
I was in Haiti on a missions trip, before the earthquake, I'll never in my life
forget sewage, the filthiest water running down the middle of the street, and a
little kid playing in that water, drinking from that water. Why? Because he
didn't have anywhere else to go. You'll drink that if you don't have anything
else to drink. Jeremiah 2:13, God says this:
13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
What can you do when the world is falling
apart? One more verse in Psalm 46. Y'all for some of us, every time I read this,
there's something about this verse. There's something about it that almost
moves me to tears every time I read it. You know I’m talking about? There's a
bunch of you know exactly what I mean. There's something about this verse that
every time I hear it, every time I speak it, every time I read it, I read
10,000 times; it still gets me.
Psalm
46: 10,
10 Be still, and know that
I am God:
You
know how I took that for the longest time? Hey, chill out! We're going to win
in the end. It'll be alright. It's so much more than that. When God says be
still, He's saying I see you running. I see you sprinting from one muddy stream
to the next. I see you trying to scratch out satisfaction so many ways. Stop. Stop!
Give up on it. You know what the Bible word is? Repent. Jesus says to that
woman I got living water for you! I can give you water that you'll be satisfied.
She says, “I want that water” and Jesus says, “okay go get your husband”, and
she is taken aback. She says “I don't have a husband”. He's like,” you're right.
you've been married five times and the guy you're living with now is not your husband.”
Why would he do that? Just to be cruel? No, He's saying “I see you running. I
see you running from bedroom to bedroom. I see you running to drugs, running to
pornography. I see you running to the refrigerator. I see you trying to have
your kids involved in everything under the sun thinking that if you're the
perfect parent you'll be satisfied. I see you climbing that ladder trying to
get that promotion. I see you trying to convince other people that you're okay because
you really don't believe you're okay. I see you. I love you! Be still, be still,
repent, turn back from that. Give me a chance, know that I am God.”
Not
just know [in your mind] y'all, know [in your heart]. Matthew 11,
28 Come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke [my teaching, my way]
upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find
rest unto your souls.
You
know what? If an election, with what I think what most of us would agree are
two inferior candidates, drives you and me to Jesus, thank God for a terrible
election and inferior candidates! If America going under, by the way if you
look in Revelation you don't find anything about America, is what it takes for
us to stop; we're so scared and need to say Jesus I just want to be still and I
want to drink from You. I want to know that You’re God.
Friend,
you know what? I believe the people that are drinking deeply of the river that
is Jesus, would tell you, they'd rather have all the pain in Jesus than have
all the success in the world without him. This is the way I want to close out
this service. If you have a Bible, turn a few chapters back, you may know this
from memory. This is the 23rd Psalm, I want you to stand to your
feet with me. The most famous chapter in the Bible, hit me in a whole different
way this week, would you quote this with me aloud, or read it with me aloud? Let's
think about these words,
23 The Lord is
my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to
lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my
soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death [cataclysm!], I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a
table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with
oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever.
"What To Do When The World Is Falling Apart" Brian Loveless Sermon on October 30, 2016 at Calvary Baptist Church, Grand Prairie, Texas.
