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HopeLives365

Mark Finley

Unstoppable Chaos: Where is God and How to Prepare for What’s Next?

All right, well, Pastor Mark, there's a lot of chaos in the world right now.

We've got these terrible fires in California.

I've been told they are the largest fires in Los Angeles counties ever, and there's people dying, it's terrible, and among other chaos that's going on in the world, we have airplanes crashing, a lot of things seem to be getting worse, and the frequency of things seems to be happening more.

I think you're going to talk about that in your presentation tonight.

Matt, you know, Tini and I lived in Southern California from 1991 to 2004 when I was the speaker director of It Is Written Television, so we know that area well.

And when we see the devastating scenes on television of whole communities burned out, and when I look at the fact that there is something unusual going on today.

So We're going to probe that as we look at those fires and as we look at how a Christian should relate to them.

We raise questions about God, His goodness and His love and how we see that in disaster and are these signs of the end times.

So let's pray and then we'll jump right into our topic for the evening.

Father in heaven, we thank you that the indications all around us indicate that the only thing that is certain is the word of God.

And so we pray thee, Father, that you would enable us to understand your word more fully and your plans for our lives more clearly.

Bless as we study these presentations, we pray in Christ's name, Amen.

When we look at what's going on in Los Angeles, indeed it is quite amazing.

You know the latest reports indicate that over 10, 000, 10, 000 structures have been destroyed.

Over 400, 000 people or thereabouts are under evacuation orders.

And 36, 000 acres have been burned in 5 separate fires.

You know, several of the most picturesque neighborhoods in Southern California have been devastated.

I've driven down the PCH, the Pacific Coast Highway, on a number of occasions And as I've driven down that highway, you come across those beautiful homes that are facing the ocean with their magnificent views.

And today, as I caught a glimpse of the news, I noted that home after home, multimillion dollar homes were burned.

And you begin to look at that and you say, what in the world is going on?

You know, newscasters have, are not prone to exaggeration, but they led with headlines like this.

Another headline, entire neighborhoods razed.

1 read like this, fires likely the costliest in US history.

Then 1 of the sheriffs said it looks like the atomic bomb was dropped.

And when you see those devastating scenes, Indeed it does look like the atomic bomb was dropped.

We want to look at 4 basic questions that will enable us to understand a little bit about what's going on behind the scenes.

So here are those 4 questions that enable us to study a little bit about what's happening behind the scenes.

1 of the questions that's being asked is where is God in all of this?

If God is a God of love, why would he ever allow this to happen?

Why would he allow people to lose their homes?

Why would he allow them to lose their possessions?

And we don't even know how many have lost their life yet, but where is God in all this?

If God is loving, why did he allow it to happen?

And if he's all powerful, why didn't he stop it?

Secondly, how should a Christian view these natural disasters?

Thirdly, What should a Christian response be to disasters like this?

How should a Christian relate to these disasters?

And lastly, can these disasters teach us important divine truths about end time events.

So let's let's begin with that first question.

I'm going to look at this from the biblical perspective and I'd like you to take your Bible if you have it and turn to Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation of course is the last book in the Bible And Revelation unmasks the plans of the devil, reveals the plans of God.

The first question is where is God in all this?

Where is God when there's a hurricane that wipes out entire cities?

Where is God when you have tsunamis, typhoons, and where is God in the raging wildfires blown by winds of 50, 60 miles an hour that has devastated all communities?

You can never understand what's going on around us until you understand what's going on above us.

You can never understand what's going on on earth unless you go back millenniums to a cosmic conflict, a great controversy that began in heaven.

So we're looking at Revelation chapter 12, verse 7 to 9.

Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.

But they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him." So notice, there's a war in heaven, there's a conflict in heaven, and to this perfect world, this perfect universe, sin is introduced.

God then, after this rebellion, creates earth.

And when God finished creating planet earth, he said, it is very good.

But then Satan, the great deceiver, came to earth.

God gave Adam and Eve the same freedom of choice that he gave to Lucifer in heaven.

If you take away the freedom of choice, you take away the opportunity to love.

And if you take away the opportunity to love, you take away the opportunity to love.

And if you take away the opportunity to love, you take away the opportunity to be fully happy.

In 1 John 4, verse 8, the Bible says, God is love.

So for God to take away the freedom of choice, He would take away the opportunity of love, and that would be contrary to God's character.

So God gave perfect angelic beings in heaven the power of choice.

He gave Lucifer, this angel of dazzling brightness, the power of choice.

But if you give the power of choice, you run the risk of these beings making the wrong choice.

When Adam and Eve were created, they too had the power of choice.

And when Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God, they chose it because they accepted Lucifer's lie.

Lucifer, as that serpent in the tree, said, you'll not surely die if you eat of this tree.

You can enter into a higher sphere of existence.

Adam and Eve fell for Lucifer's lie, and when they did, they were separated from God.

Separation from God brings sickness and suffering and heartache and sorrow, but it brings something else.

If you go in Scripture to here, the book of Genesis chapter 3, verse 17 to 19, Genesis chapter 3, and we notice here that in addition to the Adam and Eve being impacted by sin, we see that this whole planet is impacted by sin.

So sickness, suffering, and heartache came to Adam and Eve because they were separated from God.

But you look at Genesis chapter 3 and it says, starting with verse 17, then to Adam he God said, because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree that I commanded you saying you shall not eat.

In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken.

For dushed you are, and dushed you shall return." What is God saying when he says, curse it is the ground for your sake?

What God is saying is that we live on a planet that is separated from Him, a planet where Satan brings disaster.

He's saying that this planet is a planet that groans for deliverance.

In fact, that's what it says in Romans chapter 8.

In Romans chapter 8, the Bible talks about this planet.

There are natural disasters on every single hand.

But listen to the eighth chapter of the book of Romans, verse 22, for we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now, and not only they, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit even we groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption and the redemption of our body." Notice what the Bible says, all of creation groans.

Lucifer, a being created in dazzling brightness, disobeyed God.

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Unstoppable Chaos: Where is God and How to Prepare for What’s Next?

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