The Storms of Life

Temple Baptist Church - 7-8-2018

Nahum 1:1-7

Introduction: 

A.  The interpretation of our verses.  The Book of Nahum is the prophecy of the impending judgement of God upon Nineveh.  God sent Jonah, the reluctant servant, to Nineveh to tell of the judgement of God on a sinful city but, much to Jonah’s displeasure, Nineveh turned to God in chapter 2 and God saved the city.  In our text, we find that 150 years has now past and Nineveh has apostatized.  I want to make an application of these verses to the lives of God’s children.

B.  Lately, I have been taking a biblical look at problems that God’s people often face.  One of my favorite verses concerning hard times is found when Jacob went down to Egypt and stood before Pharaoh.

Genesis 47:9  And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. 

Job 14:1-2  Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.  He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

C.  There have been a lot of songs written by people who endured hard times. 

Psalms 77:19  Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.

1.  Page 94 - Stand By Me – “When the storms of life are raging, stand by me!”

2.  Page 119 - Till The Storm Passes By – “In the dark of the midnight, have I oft hid my face; while the storm howls above me and there is no hiding place!”

3.  Page 120 - Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me – “Jesus, Saviour, pilot me; over life’s tempestuous sea!”

4.  Page 145 - It Is Well – “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.”

D.  Storms and valleys in the Bible are beautiful types of the hard times in life and help us to understand, to some degree, as to their benefit in our lives.  Storms are hard, often long, but always teachers!

            1.  Storms get our attention

            2.  Storms interrupt our plans

            3.  Storms show us our weakness

            4.  Storms correct our sinfulness

            5.  Storms prove our foundation

            6.  Storms introduce us to our Saviour

E.  There are two things that I want to look at in these verses, Storms and Known, but I will only deal with one of them this morning.  I what to look at what God said about our storms.

1.  The Omnipotent Side of the Storm. 

a.  God Is The Administrator of The Storm - vs 3a - “the Lord hath his way”

(1)  We See God’s Sovereignty in the Storm - “The Lord”

Psalms 135:6-7  Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.  He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries. 

                        (2)  We See God’s Divine Purpose in the Storm - “hath his way”

b.  God Is The Accelerator of The Storm - vs 3b-6 - “whirlwind and in the storm”

                        (1)  Whirlwind – a tornado or hurricane. 

                                    a.  They come suddenly with little warning

                                    b.  They strike at random and are seldom predictable

                                    c.  They have great destructive power

                                    d.  They leave behind devastated lives

                        (2)  Storm – a disturbance of the normal condition of the atmosphere.

                                    a.  They can be seen and predicted - Doppler radar

                                    b.  They usually last for an extended time

                                    c.  They can leave problems and destruction

                                    d.  They must be weathered

            c.  God Is The Accommodator in The Storm - vs 7 - “good ... stronghold”

(1)  Good – God does not attempt to be good, God is good.

(2)  Stronghold – A fortified place used for defense.  “If God be for us!”

2.  There is the Occupant's Side of the Storm.  Since we do not control the storm, we must ride it out.

a.  It is our duty to Trust God in the Storm.  Do not worry about or during storms. 

Philippians 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

b.  It is our duty to Obey God in the Storm.  To realize that God knows what He is doing or allowing in our lives.

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 

c.  It is our duty to Glorify God in the Storm.  As people watch us go through our storms, they become times that we can bring glorify God.

Isaiah 24:15  Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.

3.  The Other Side of the Storm.  Storms come to an end!

            a.  God will Sustain us in the Storm - vs 7 - “the Lord”   **Psalm 91

            b.  God will Supply us in the Storm - vs 7 - “is good”

            c.  God will Secure us in the Storm - vs 7 - “a stronghold...trouble”

            d.  God will Save us from the Storm - vs 7 - “knoweth them that trust in him”

America And The Judgment Of God

Temple Baptist Church - 8-22-2010

Jonah 3:1-10; Nahum 1:1-3; 3:1-19

Introduction:

A. Nineveh was an exceedingly wicked city of great proportions. It was a three day journey from one side of it to the other. In the Book of Jonah, Jonah was called by God to go and cry against the wickedness of the city. He refused and later went under duress. He preached the impending destruction of the city and the city got right with the Lord from the king to the pauper. God graciously spared Nineveh though the prophet Jonah grieved.

B. Nineveh was an idolatrous city. Nineveh was known for the goddess Ishtar (goddess of war, fertility, love, and sex). Her “temple” was noted for its courtesans and “sacred prostitutes.” In Ishtar’s youth, she was noted for her relationship with Tammuz (the savior-fertility sun god who annually resurrected). In Ezekiel 8:14, the Bible says that “He brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.”

C. The Book of Nahum was written some 150 years later. In the space of that 150 years, Nineveh had corrupted itself to the point of no return in chapter 3:19

D. Her numerous sins were identified to show the holiness and justice of God. Full of lies and robbery, whoredoms, witchcrafts, her people were like women.” In 150 years, they went from great revival to total apostasy. God said that there was no longer a remedy for their sin and that judgment was imminent.

E. Sounds like America does it not? A nation founded under “In God We Trust” to a nation that our president said was no longer a “Christian nation!” From great revivals (The Great Awakening, the Westley Brothers, George Whitfield, Dwight Moody, Billy Sunday, and etc.) to almost total apostasy. Sinfulness permeates our nation, apostasy permeates “Christendom,” and apathy has filled our churches. Good is evil spoken of and evil is called good. Our nation is in a mess and if she does not repent and turn to God, God will turn her into Hell! He has so promised!

F. I am not saying that it is too late for America but I am saying that God will judge America for her sins!

WHY GOD WILL JUDGE AMERICA!

1. God Will Judge America For Her Rejection Of Biblical Law. (Our courts have ruled against the God of Heaven time and time again with their wicked decisions!)

2. God Will Judge America For Their Ungodly Life Style. (A Hollywood style of lasciviousness and plural marriages has permeated and destroyed our moral structure.)

3. God Will Judge America For Her Slaughter Of The Innocents. (Reprobate doctors have ruthlessly slaughtered Millions of innocents with both the sanction of our judicial system and pro-choice proponents!)

4. God Will Judge America For Her Acceptance Of Sodomy. (Sodomites have not only become socially acceptable but, also God has been blamed for their debauchery and reprobate lifestyle!)

5. God Will Judge America For Her Conspiracy To Give Away Israel’s Homeland. (America has tried to use their economic influence to bring about an unbiblical peace in Israel by giving away the land that God gave to them in Genesis 13:15! Nations will be judged according to their relationship with Israel and agreement with God’s will regarding the Jew.)

6. God Will Judge America For Her Squandering Of His National Blessings. (The Lord raised up America and has made it the most wonderful land on earth, truly a land flowing with mild and honey, and has been rewarded with unthankfulness and ungodliness!)

7. God Will Judge America For Her Spiritual Lukewarmness. (God’s people are worldly and Laodicean to the hilt! They have no love for either the Lord or the lost!)

8. God Will Judge America For Her Liberal Compromised Churches. (The local church has become more like the world than the world more like the church! Compromised pulpits and dead, ritualistic liturgies! GOD IS NOT THE LEAST BIT IMPRESSED!)