What South East Asia’s Tsunami Tells Us!
Matthew 24:43; II Peter 3:10-11; Revelation 3:3; Ezek 3:16-21
1. We Must Be Ready: Matthew 24:43
2. We Must Keep Our Priorities Right:II Peter 3:10-11;
3. We Must Warn The Wicked: Ezek 3:16-19
4. We Must Warn The Righteous: Ezek 3:20-21; 1Revelation 3:3
Introduction:
John Barnett, Pastor of Tulsa Bible Church wrote in a news letter that secular writers and news reporters have used words such as “apocalyptic” and of ‘biblical proportions” as they tried to describe the devastation and death caused by South East Asia’s Tsunami.
“Some have even began to talk about what if there was a catastrophe so big, so deadly that it could wipe out life on our planet--an asteroid, a comet, a complete climactic shift away from a life sustaining world. In other words—people are briefly thinking and talking about—the End of the World.”
The world as we know it will end one day with the number of eclipsing the one hundred and fifty thousand plus people killed by this natural disaster by 20,000 times in the tribulation.
Barnett continues with these mind staggering prophetic Biblical statistics;
• The world has over six billion people alive today.
• God’s Word says that more than half of the population of planet earth will perish in the Great Tribulation. Most scholars believe this occurs in the second half which lasts for 3 ½ years.
• So three plus billion people perish in 42 months or 3 ½ years.
• Would that be equivalent to an event as big and deadly as this recent tsunami daily for three and a half years? No an event like the tsunami each day would not be big enough to equal the death toll of the Tribulation. For 150,000 to die a day for 42 months only equals 189 million deaths.
• If half the world’s population were to die by quake and tsunami in 42 months—there would need to be one each hour, 16 hours per day, for three and one half years.
• That will be more bodies to bury than we can even imagine. That is what Jesus warns about when the end of the world comes.
Measured in lives lost, this is one of the ten worst earthquakes in history.
It is also the single worst tsunami in history; the previous record was the 1703 tsunami at Awa, Japan that killed over 100,000!
What are we to learn from South East Asia’s Tsunami?
1. We Must Be Ready:
a. It has been noted in the information about the South East Asia’s Tsunami that despite a lag of up to several hours between the earthquake and the impact of the tsunami, nearly all of the victims were taken completely by surprise; there was no tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean to detect tsunamis, and equally importantly, warn the general populace living around the ocean quickly.
Matthew 24:43; But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
b. The Tsunami was totally unexpected; even though the possibility of one occurring exists there is no way to know when one might develop.
c. When Jesus comes to usher in the tribulation period, will first take those in Christ out!
d. So since we do not know the hour or the day Christ will come for His church we must maintain a readiness in our lives at all times.
e. The New Testament writers under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost maintained a belief in imminent coming of Christ!
What is the biblical definition of imminency? Dr. Renald Showers defines and describes imminence as follows:
1) An imminent event is one which is always "hanging overhead, is constantly ready to befall or overtake one; close at hand in its incidence."
• Thus, imminence carries the sense that it could happen at any moment.
• Other things may happen before the imminent event, but nothing else must take place before it happens.
• T. Pierson has noted that, "Imminence is the combination of two conditions, viz,: certainty and uncertainty. By an imminent event we mean one which is certain to occur at some time, uncertain at what time."
f. What then is involved in Being Ready.
• The absolute first thing is that to be ready one must be Saved, Born Again, by recognizing ones own sin, Seeing a need to turn from that sin and turn to God!
• The second thing according to Jesus is to be watching for His imminent return!
Mark 13:35-37
Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
1. The Son of man may come at any moment to set us before the Judgment, and we should therefore be ready.
2. If we are His, if we have been renewed and pardoned; if we have repented of our sins, and have believed on him. and are leading a holy life, we "are" ready.
3. If not, we are unprepared, and soon when we least expect it the cold hand of death will hurry the unsaved to the place where is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
4. Oh how important it is to be ready, and to escape the awful sufferings of an ETERNAL HELL!
South East Asia’s Tsunami not only tells us to be ready, but it also tells us…
2. We Must Keep Our Priorities Right: II Peter 3:10-11;
2 Peter 3:10-11; But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
a. Life for many of the Tsunami victims was great, they had succeeded in business, they were having the ultimate Island get away! Like one commercial says; “Sweeeeet”
b. It is my prayer that those lost had set in their life right priorities.
c. The last phrase in 2 Peter 3:11 give us great insight into what right priorities look like.
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
• Note that right priorities begin with the way we live our lives; “holy conversation”
1. The meaning here is not communication but how one conducts their daily lives.
2. Holy as applied to Christians in the New Testament conveys the notion of a separation from the world and a consecration to God.
3. Just as Israel under the old covenant was a chosen race, so the Christian church is God’s elect of the church age, a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9),
4. The Christian individual, as one of the elect people, becomes a holy man or woman (Col 3:12).
• The New Testament leaves no room for the thought of a holiness divorced from those moral qualities which the holy God demands of those whom He has called to be His people.
• There for a Holy ie. Separated life style begets Godliness.
Having a Holy Life Style leads one to finding meaning for his or her life.
1. Right priorities give one a life that will be invested in something that will last forever! Jesus says a life lived laying up treasures in heaven is a life with meaning!
Having a Holy Life Style leads one to a joy filled life.
1. What is true joy, how is it obtained?
2. The little song I used to teach the kids when I was the junior church song leader sets thing in the right perspective.
“J” is for Jesus for He has first place, “O” is for others we meet face to face; “Y” is for you in what ever you do so put yourself last and spell joy!
It is a reminder of how you can experience joy by getting your priorities right: Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last.
In a Holy life style, People Matter More Than Things
If I were to ask you; Do ’People Matter More Than Things’ you would respond by say. Of course, they do!
1. But do we live as though that were the case?
2. Do we treat every person we meet as if they were of infinite value?
3. Look around your home: how much will come with you into Heaven?
a. Not the favorite comfy chair; not the new garbage disposal in have installed for Mrs. Cooley!
b. But the people you live with, those who you work with, those you meet on the street have an eternal destiny and therefore eternal value.
c. Things, all things, every thing will be dissolved along with this wicked world! Listen again to Peter’s words: “…THE EARTH ALSO AND THE WORKS THAT ARE THEREIN SHALL BE BURNED UP.”
d. What did we do last week that had eternal significance? What will we do this week?
1. Anything you do for another person has eternal significance.
2. Every kind word, every act of forgiveness, every gentle response matters eternally.
3. Don’t you agree that nothing we do for other people is ever wasted?
South East Asia’s Tsunami not only tells us to be ready and Keep Our Priorities Right but it also tells us…
3. We Must Warn The Wicked: Ezek 3:16-19
Ezekiel 3:16-19; And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 17Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
1. Tsunami detection is not easy because while a tsunami is in deep water it has a very low height and a network of sensors is needed to detect it.
2. Unlike Tsunami detection the dangers of man’s lost and sinful state are known and revealed by God in His Word!
Jeremiah 17:9-10; The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
3. The Lord reveals to those who know him the deceitful and wickedness of the hearts of the lost men and women of this world. WHAT ARE WE TO DO WITH SUCH KNOWLEDGE?
“THEREFORE HEAR THE WORD AT MY MOUTH, AND GIVE THEM WARNING FROM ME.”
a. We must warn the lost of our world!
b. Some do not want to listen!
c. Some will listen and become angry!
d. But we must remember that we are not responsible for their response we are however responsible conveying God’s message!
4. If on the other hand we fail to warn the wicked we ARE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TRUTH WE RECEIVE!
“but his blood will I require at thine hand.” IN THIS LIFE WE MAY NEVER CLEARLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS!
a. But ONE THING IS FOR SURE, IF WE ARE FAITHFUL IN WARNING SINNERS OF GOD’S JUDGMENT, some will listen and repent and be saved!
On Maikhao beach in northern Phuket, Thailand, a 10 year old British girl named Tilly Smith had studied tsunamis in geography class at school and recognized the warning sign of the receding ocean. She and her parents warned others on the beach, which was evacuated safely!
b. You beloved may be your neighbor or friends Tilly Smith; you will warn them, they will listen and your actions will lead them to repentance and God will deliver their souls from hell!
South East Asia’s Tsunami not only tells us to be ready and Keep Our Priorities Right and that We Must Warn The Wicked, but it also tells us…
4. We Must Warn The Righteous: Ezek 3:20-21
Ezekiel 3:20-21; Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
a. This we must view in light of the New Testament that the truly saved are eternally saved!
b. The Bible makes it clear that when the one made righteous by the blood of Christ turns back to his sin God puts in his path trials and tribulation designed to turn him back to righteousness.
c. When the prodigal son went into the world and lived riotously God sent a famine that put him the place where he began to remember the Fathers House to which he returned, repented, and was restored!
d. So it with some, perhaps yourself, or someone you know. God is sending the stumbling block, when it comes God wants us to remind them God is allowing the trial to get them thinking of the Church, The Father’s house!
e. Its time we must say to THEM repent and return, and be restored to righteous living!
Conclusion:
In light of the four things the South East Asia’s Tsunami tells us there are for questions we must ask ourselves:
1. Am I personally Ready to meet Christ?:
2. Are my Priorities Right?
3. Am I faithfully Warning The Lost sinner?
4. Will I Warn That Righteous friend that sins like unfaithfulness or careless living are bringing God’s chastising hand down to draw us home to faithfulness and righteous living?
Invitation:
To the lost today I say come repenting, confessing, and trusting Christ so you will be ready.
To the saved today I say come and ask God to help you set right priorities.
Christian friends will you not come to this alter today asking God to help you be faithful in sharing His warning with our lost family friends and With those who saved but living unfaithfully and unrighteously that we might become Tilly Smiths, and see them redeemed and restored!
What South East Asia’s Tsunami Tells Us We Must Do! [Revised]
5. We Must Be Ready: Matthew 24:43
6. We Must Keep Our Priorities Right: II Peter 3:10-11;
7. We Must Warn The Wicked: Ezek 3:16-19
8. We Must Warn The Righteous: Ezek 3:20-21; 1Revelation 3:3
Matthew 24:43
But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
2 Peter 3:10 11
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
Rev. 3:3
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Ezekiel 3:16-21
And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 17Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
