Someone to Hear

Psalm 46:6-7 | June 21, 2020

Have you ever had a strange phone call?

The story is told of a young girl who was writing a book report for school and went to her dad for help.

“Dad, what’s the difference between anger and exasperation?”

Her dad said, “Well, it’s mostly a matter of degree.”

He picked up his phone and put it on speakerphone and dialed a random number and a man on the other end said “Hello” and her dad said, “Yes, is Melvin there?”

The man on the other end said, “There’s no Melvin here. Look, buddy, get your numbers right before you dial.”

The man hung up and her dad said, “You see, honey, he seemed to be annoyed with our phone call.”

Then her dad redialed the number and the same man answered again and again her dad asked, “Is Melvin there?”

The man on the other end said, “You just called this number and I told you that there is no Melvin here! You’ve got a lot of guts calling back again!”

The man quickly hung up and her dad said: “You see, honey, that was anger. Now I’ll show you what exasperation means.”

He dialed the same number again and a violent-sounding voice on the other end roared, “Hello!”

Her dad calmly said: “This is Melvin. Any calls for me?”

What do you do when the degrees of your life change?

What do you do when it seems your attitude has gone from annoyed to angry to exasperated?

And what do you do when it seems like the attitude of the entire world has gone from annoyed to angry to exasperated?

Well, it kind of boils down to what you do with the two holes in the side of your head.

What does that mean?

Let’s see if we can find out.

Listen to Psalm 46, beginning with verse 6:

6 The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;

The scene the psalmist is painting here is like a scene from some kind of epic battle between the armies of the enemy and the hero.

And the enemy is a massive war machine – they have the best armor and the best weapons and their soldiers all look like Azog or Ivan Drago with menacing scowls that would make you run away long before the battle begins.

And they are banging their spears on their shields and they are stomping their feet on the ground and the whole earth feels like it is moving and shaking and tottering and reeling.

In other words, it looks like the hero’s army will be obliterated. 

In many ways, that’s how many people are feeling today.

Whether it is the virus or injustice or the economy or cancer or protests or the plans for returning to school or the uncertainties of elections or sports or unemployment, many of us are waking up feeling the tottering of our society and hearing the loud roar of anger and fear and apathy.

And we aren’t hearing the loud roar of anger and fear and apathy just from TV or from talk radio or from our smartphones. 

We are hearing the loud roar of anger and fear and apathy in our own hearts and our own minds long before we engage with the news of the world. 

• We wake up angry
• We wake up afraid
• We wake up apathetic

Apathy might be the most dangerous of those three because an apathetic Christian is kind of an oxymoron.

Paul told the folks at Corinth…

1 Corinthians 10:31

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

The glory of God is not apathetic.

James 4:17

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Far too often, we tend to think that sin is making sure that we don’t do the wrong thing, but the gospel reminds us that because we have been saved it’s not just about not doing certain things – we are supposed to do the right thing.

And doing the right thing usually involves us changing our attitude and our actions.

You may have heard the story of the man who went to the doctor and after a long round of test and examinations the doctor told the man, “You’ve got to make some changes in your life and you are really going to need your wife to help.”

The doctor went on, “Ask her to cook more nutritious meals. Ask her to plan a tighter budget. Have her make the sure kids don’t bother you too much. And you’ve got to quit working such long hours. If you don’t make these changes immediately you could be dead in a month.”

The man said, “Doc, I’m not going to remember all that. Can you please call my wife and tell her what you have told me?”

When the man got home his wife came and hugged him and said, “I talked to the doctor. You poor man, he said you only have 30 days to live.”

The man needed to make some changes and so did his wife. 

Here’s the difficult reality of life – I need to make some changes – and so do you. 

If you are a Christian one of the most important things in your life is change – you need to be praying and striving to change every day toward being more like Jesus.

To be like Jesus – that is the call on our lives.

• Not to be like what you see on the news
• Not to be like what you hear on talk radio
• Not to be like what you read on social media
• Not to be like what your parents or grandparents are like
• Not to be like what you think is right

But to be like Jesus. 

Now, can the news and talk radio and social media and your parents and grandparents and even your own opinion promote the gospel from time to time?

Sure, but be careful in thinking that your opinion and your attitude is always in line with the gospel because it is not. 

We are weak and feeble and frail and arrogant and lazy and tired and weary and exhausted and aggravated and sometimes when we are like that we don’t always think right. 

So, what do we need do in moments like that?

Hide. 

Hide?

Not that kind of hide. 

The psalmist put it this way…

Psalm 119:11

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

The only way we can fight against apathy and discover what is good and right and then do what is good and right is to treasure God’s truth in our hearts.

We have to hide the truth of the Bible in our hearts in such a way that it becomes our greatest tool and our greatest weapon for every moment in life. 

We must see the Bible as a treasure not just a religious book.

So, here is a purposely unfair question for you to ask yourself – how much is God’s Word feeding your mind right now?

Are you treasuring God’s Word in the middle of all of this?

• Or are you treasuring your opinion?
• Are you treasuring your anger?
• Are you treasuring your fear?
• Are you treasuring your political party?
• Are you treasuring your rebellion against guidelines?
• Are you treasuring your obedience to guidelines?
• Are you treasuring the past and how things have always been?
• Are you treasuring the future and how you want things to be?

Again, none of those things are evil and we aren’t talking about being perfect people, we are talking about how you lean. 

If you profess to be a Christian, are you leaning first and most toward Christ or are you leaning first and most toward the liberal left or first and most toward the conservative right?

If you profess to be a Christian, are you leaning first and most toward Christ or are you leaning first and most toward a fear of obeying every update from the CDC or first and most toward rejecting every update from the CDC?

Are you striving to lean first and most toward Christ?

If you are, then you will start to lean away from anger and fear and apathy.

Not perfectly because we will all still struggle, but there will be a lean toward Christ.

And that’s super important if you claim to be in the Hero’s army.

Why?

Because when the Enemy and his army and all of his loud hype and all of his roaring propaganda and all of his evil activity make you feel like the world is tottering on the edge of destruction we remember one simple thing.

And what is that one simple thing?

Listen to what the psalmist says next…

6 He raised His voice, the earth melted.

Just when the enemy army was beating their chest the most and stomping on the ground the most and felt the most secure and most confident that they were going to wipe the Hero’s little army off the map, the voice of the High King boomed across the valley and the ground beneath the enemy opened up and swallowed up the army in the blink of an eye.

Dear Christian, this is our God!

He speaks and the earth melts – he has that kind of authority and that kind of power.

That is the dramatic difference between Christianity and every other religion in the world – we are not bowing before idols and philosophies that can’t speak to us. 

In fact, that would be a lot easier. 

Someone said the reason people worship idols – whether they are religious idols or the idols of fame and wealth and sports and sportscars and retirement – is because idols make no demands.

You can safely bow down before gods who cannot speak. 

But Jehovah God, the Lord of Hosts, is not like that.

When the nation is embroiled in social or cultural or racial or political or medical instability, in the blink of an eye the voice of God can melt it all!

Now, someone might ask, “Then why isn’t God doing that right now – wouldn’t this be a pretty good time to do that?”

Just a word of caution if you ever ask that question be careful because it kind of assumes that you are thinking that you won’t get swallowed up. 

Jesus said it this way…

Matthew 7:22

Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?”

 

Matthew 7:23

And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

A helpful question could be…

Does the actual truth of the gospel truly support your opinion?

If not, think carefully, speak carefully, act carefully, post carefully. 

But the question is not unfair – in fact, most professing Christians have asked it more than once in their lives…

• “God, where are you?”
• “God, why are you letting this happen?”
• “God, why haven’t you raised your voice?”

And that is where we can mess up the math – we assume because God is not raising his voice in the middle of our personal emergency or a national emergency or a world emergency that he has some kind of divine laryngitis.

So, how do we maneuver through those assumptions?

John wrote it this way…

1 John 4:18

…perfect love casts out fear…

And not just fear.

• Perfect love casts our anger
• Perfect love casts out apathy

So, what is this perfect love that can bring that much power into our living room and our hospital room and our voting booth?

We have to back up one chapter for the answer…

1 John 3:16

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us…

By this we know love – by this we know love – Jesus laid down his life for us! 

Never has God raised his voice more than through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

Never has the earth been more melted then on the moments that Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “It is finished!” and when the angel said to the women, “He is not here. He has risen just as he said.”

Don’t be fooled into thinking that 2020 is anything new under the sun – it’s not. 

Don’t be fooled into thinking that when you say, “How long, oh Lord?” that somehow God is out playing golf and has his phone on do not disturb. 

The greatest need the world has ever had has always been the same exact thing and that is this…

To be rescued from sin and everlasting death. 

And what has God done in and through Jesus to meet that need?

This is how Paul said it…

Colossians 2:13

When you were dead in your transgressions…He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

Colossians 2:14

having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

And we bear it no more – praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh our souls!

No matter what the situation is in our personal lives or in our community or our state or our nation or the world, as followers of Jesus Christ there is never a moment when we cannot hear the voice of God say to us…

“By this you know love – Christ Jesus laid down his life for you!”

And that perfect love has the power to cast out our fear and our anger and our apathy.

Why?

Because behind that perfect love is the powerful voice of the High King of Heaven!

The psalmist knew this and had experienced this in his own life.

He says it this way…

7 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

“Selah” is a word that means pause – like stop and chew on that for a minute – marinate on that truth for a moment. 

And what do we need to marinate on?

• That God is with us
• That God is strong
• That God has always been that way

But what about when we don’t feel that God is with us?

Or what about when we are so amped up with what talk radio or social media or Bill Lumbergh over in accounting keeps ranting about that we basically refuse to even think about God being with us much less listen for his voice?

Let me give two pictures of how we can hear God’s voice when we can’t think straight. 

I was reading portions of a sermon this week that was preached one Sunday by Derrick Harkins at The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.

And it wasn’t just any Sunday, it was Sunday, September 12, 2011 – ten years after the September 11^th terrorist attacks. 

The family of Army Major Malcom Peterson were in attendance at the service that day – Major Patterson was one of the 125 people that perished at The Pentagon.

What portion of the Bible did Rev. Harkins preach from that day?

Psalm 46.

During the message he referenced a poem that a prisoner had written on the walls inside the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

I’ve had no less than 25 people tell me this week that they never thought they’d ever see anything like what we are seeing today in their lifetime – and the week of 9-11 I had no less than 25 people in Bertie County, North Carolina tell me that they never thought they’d ever see anything like that in their lifetime and 80 years ago there were at least 25 people in this community that heard about the atrocities of Hitler and said they never thought they’d ever see anything like that in their life time – God’s message in the Old Testament has not faded one ounce – there is nothing new under the sun.

Here are the words of that concentration camp poem…

Poem

I believe in the sun

even when it is not shining

And I believe in love,

even when there’s no one there.

And I believe in God,

even when he is silent.

Poem

I believe through any trial,

there is always a way

But sometimes in this suffering

and hopeless despair

My heart cries for shelter,

to know someone’s there

Poem

But a voice rises within me,

saying hold on my child,

I’ll give you strength, I’ll give you hope.

Just stay a little while.

You see, the voice of God can rise up under the ground and swallow up the enemy and in the same power and with the same kind of impact the voice of God can rise up inside your heart and swallow up your despair.

How?

Because it is the voice of God.

• And he is always with us
• And he is always strong
• And he has always been that way

I was reading a story the other day about Charley.

Charley walked out of the house one day, but his family didn’t realize that he wasn’t coming back.

He didn’t tell them that he was going to get on a train that was heading 400 miles away to Washington, D.C. – and when he got there he did what he was going to do – join the Union Army. 

He was the oldest of 6 kids and on that long train ride he probably thought about his mother Fannie – it had been less than 2 years since she tragically died when her clothes caught on fire.

Her husband, Henry, woke up from a nap and tried to put out the flames the best he could with a rug and his own body, but her burns were too severe – she died the next morning. 

Henry’s burns were so bad that he wasn’t physically able to attend his wife’s funeral. 

He grew a beard to hide the burns on his face and at times he was so overwhelmed with grief and despair he thought they might lock him up in an asylum. 

Charley proved himself to be a skilled and trusted soldier, but on December 1, 1863, Henry received a telegram that Charley had been severely wounded.

A few days later word came to Henry that Charley’s injuries were serious and that he might be permanently paralyzed, but later that night there was an update that things wouldn’t be that bad though the surgery and recovery process would be at least six months long.

A few weeks later on Christmas day, Henry – a 57-year-old widowed father of six children – wrote a poem. 

He was still practically and emotionally filtering through the reality that he almost lost his oldest son to war – a war his country was fighting against one another. 

His poem was an attempt to respond to the confusion and conflict around him and inside of him. 

Justin Taylor

He heard the Christmas bells that December day and the singing of “peace on earth”, but he observed the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook.

Listen to some of the words of Henry’s poem…

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along the unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong, And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

What did Henry hear through his despair?

What did Henry hear through the chaos of his country at war with itself?

Henry could still hear the voice of God. 

How?

Because the voice of God is loud and deep, and he is with us and he is strong and he has always been that way and he will always be that way.

So, fathers, grandfathers, and everyone else, who are you listening to?

Message by Dow Welsh |

June 21, 2020 © Holland Avenue Baptist Church

 

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Above are pre-sermon manuscript notes, not sermon transcript

Sermon scriptures NASB unless otherwise noted

Lots of help from many pastors and theologians

Weekly help from Bruce Hurt at www.preceptaustin.org

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/the-story-of-pain-and-hope-behind-i-heard-the-bells-on-christmas-day/

Have you ever had a strange phone call there? A strange phone call? Ah, young girl was working on a book report for school. She needed a little help, so she went to her dad. Ask for help. She said, Hey, Dad, what's the difference in anger and exasperation? How are those different? Her debts? It will. Basically, it's a matter of degree, he said. Here, let me see if I could show you. And he picked up his phone and he just dialed a random number. A man's voice on the other end picked up. He had it on speaker phones whose daughter could here and the man picked up. And he said hello and her dad said Yes. Is Melvin there? The man said, There's no Melvin here. You need Teoh. Check your numbers, buddy, before you start calling people. And he hung up. So the father turned his daughter. He said, See, we seem to have annoyed the man a little bit with that phone call. So the father doubt the same number again. The man answered the phone, same man, and the father again said yes. Is Melvin there? And the man said, Look, buddy, you just called here. I told you, there's no Melvin here. You got a lot of guts calling me back again. And he hung up. So the father turned to his daughter's etc. The first time he was annoyed. That time he was a little bit angry. Now, sweetie, let me show you what it means to be exasperated. And so he called the number again, and a voice picked up Hello, Very calmly. Her father said, Hey, this is Melvin. Do I have any calls? Yeah. So what do you do when your life changes degrees? What do you do in your life when you go from being annoyed to being angry to being completely exacerbate? What's that word? Exasperated. What do you do or what do you do when you go from being annoyed to being apathetic? Are annoyed, too angry or annoyed, too afraid or annoyed, toe anxious and then exasperated. What do you do? And what do you do in the whole world? Seems to be going from being annoyed to being aggravated to being exasperated. What do you do? Well, it all bulls down to kind of what you do with the two holes in the side of your head. Was that me? Well, let's see if we can find out. Listen to some 46 beginning with verse six, the nation's made an uproar. The kingdom's tottered. This scene is just great that the psalmist is painting. It's It's like this epic battle between the armies of the enemy and the armies of the hero. And the enemy is like a massive war machine. They've got the best armor and the best weapons. They they have guys that looked like as a dog. I say his name right? I keep saying his name. Writer are often Drago thes six foot 5 £250 soldiers and their menacing. There's some menacing. You're ready to run away from them before the battle even begins. Their massive, their main there menacing. And they have it all. In other words, what's happening is that you're beginning to see that the hero and his little army are going to be obliterated. Now here's the thing. Ah, lot of people feel just like that right now, whether it's the virus or injustice or the economy or cancer, whether it's the plans for returning to school, whether it's protest whether it's the uncertainties of unemployment or the uncertainties of sports or the uncertainties of so many other things way seem to be hearing the loud roar of anger, an apathy, the loud roar of fear. And we are just hearing that loud roar from the TV or from social media or from talk radio. No, we're hearing that loud war more than that. See where we're feeling and hearing and sensing that that our whole world seems to be tottering. It seems to be in this uproar seems to be in this rage, and it seems like that's tottering and moving and about to fall apart and way here, the roars of all of that. But it's not just from the TV and our smartphones and social media. We're hearing that roar from inside our own hearts and our own minds. See, we're waking up angry and we're waking up afraid and we're waking up. Apathetic of all those apathy might be the scariest, because, especially for a Christian, apathy is kind of an oxymoron. To say that a Christian is apathetic is a bit of a paradox. The Apostle Paul said this to the folks at court, whether then you eat or drink, or whatever you do do all to the glory of God do all to the glory of God. Christian is called to do all to the glory of God, and the glory of God is not apathetic in any way, shape or form, James said. This and James, 4 17 therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it to him, it is sin. Far too often. I feel like we as believers, we tend to think that sin is making sure we don't do the wrong thing. But we forget the gospel shows our hearts that because we've been saved, it's not just about not doing certain things. It's about doing the right things and in order to do the right things, that means we're going to have to change our attitude. We have to change our actions. Remember the story about the man who went to the doctor and and after some tests and examinations and some things the doctor came in to talk to him, and he said, Look, you're going to have to make some major changes in your life like these are going to be big changes and you're going to have to get your wife to help you out. Get her involved. You're going to change your diet that you're going to have to start eating better and being more nutritious. You have to get your wife to kind of help and changing the menu and changing the plan. He said You're also going to have to make a tighter budget. You got a lower the stress that's coming along with all of the expenditures. You need your wife to help you lower that budget, tighten things up and watch the spending. And you're really going to have to be careful when you come home after work. I mean, you have to get your wife to help you that do not have the kids, just own you all the time. And you really have got to quit working so many long hours. You just got to cut back. And the doctor said this. He said, If you don't do this, he said, you'll be dead in a month. You've got to make these changes. So they went home, and before he did, he left the daughters office. He's a doc. I'm not going to remember all that stuff. So so could you just please call my wife and tell her that because I just I can't even think. Just let her know those same things. So he got home and his wife came over, gave him a huge hug. She said, Oh, sweetie, I just got off the phone with the doctor. I'm so sorry, the daughter said. You only have a month to live. You see that man needed to make changes, but so did his wife. Here's the harsh reality I need to make some changes and you need to make some changes. But we're not always willing to make a change. We're just not. But here's the thing. If we're a Christian, then we should always be in the process of changing. We should be praying and moving and striving for change in our lives. In what way that every day we would be changing to B'more and Mawr and Mawr like Jesus More like Jesus. That's what we've been called to be to be like Jesus, we haven't been called to be what you see on the news We haven't called toe Be what you hear on talk radio. We haven't called to be what you scroll through on social media. We haven't been called to be just who your parents or your grand parents are, what they like or what they believe. We haven't have been called to be what you like or what you believe or what you think is right. We've been called to be like Jesus. Now can the news and talk radio and social media and our parents and our grandparents and even our own opinions can those things sometimes promote the gospel promote? Jesus Yes, Bombings. But we should be careful and thinking that our opinions always line up with the gospel because they don't they just don't. We have a tendency to be weak and feeble and frail and tired and weary and arrogant and annoyed and frustrated and stressed and anxious and stop me any time you own. And on and on. We have all of these things that happen in our life, and when we begin to feel those types of things, we kind of can't always think straight, but we just can't think right. So what should we do? What should we do? And we're not thinking right. What should we do when we're kind of not trying toe honor the Lord well, when we can't think straight and when we're frustrated or tired or weary or anxious or whatever it might be, what we really need to do is to hide. Hi, that sounds crazy. Well, it's not the kind of hide that you're thinking about. Somis. Put it this way. Someone 19 my word. Have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against the The only way we can fight against apathy. The only way we can fight against anger. The only way we can fight against fear and discover what is good and right and then do what is good and right is to treasure the truth of God. We have to look at the truth of the Bible as a treasure. We have to look at the truth of the Bible and say this book God's word. It's going to become my greatest tool and my greatest weapon and my greatest resource for anything that I need to do in life. We need to look at the Bible as a treasure, not just a religious book. So a purposely hard question for you in the middle of everything that's going on right now. How much are you treasuring God's work? How much is? Is the Bible getting into your heart and your mind? How much are you turning to the truth of Scripture when it comes to your faults and your opinions in your attitudes and your decisions right now, if you're a believer, then it can of a necessity. Are you treasuring God's word or are you treasuring your opinion? Or are you treasuring your fear? Just love it that much. Or are you treasuring your apathy? You just don't care. You're all about it. Are you treasuring your anger? You're you're happy to be angry about everything that's happening. Or are you treasuring your obedience to God lines? Or are you treasuring your rebellion to God lines? Are you treasuring the past and how things have always been and wanting them to get back there? Or you treasuring the future and how you want things to be an anxiety and patience for things to get there again? None of those things were evil. OK, they're not none of them. But the goal here is which way we're leaning. Not perfection, but leaning. Which way are you leaning and has a believer. We're supposed to be leaning toward Christ. So are you leaning toward Christ first and most. Are you leaning toward Christ? Or if you're a Christian, are you leaning first and most toward the liberal left? Or are you leaning first and most toward the conservative right? Which way are you leaning? If you're a believer, your specially leaning toward Christ first in most. Are you leaning toward Christ first most? Or are you leaning first and most toward being afraid of every guideline that comes out from the CDC? Or are you leaning toward being rebellious and rejecting every guideline that comes from the CDC? Look at all the different pockets of life. What are you leaning toward the most? Are you leaning toward Christ first and most, are you treasuring God's truth? Are you treasuring Christ? If you are, then you'll be leaning away from fear and away from anger and away from apathy. Not perfectly. We're all going to struggle, but there will be a different lean and that leans important, especially if you are going to be a part and say you're a part of the Heroes Army. Why? Well, when the enemy and his army are the loudest when the enemy and his army, when their propaganda is a roar around when the enemy and his army are actually doing evil things in the world when the enemy is up to what the enemy does. Even in that moment, if you're leaning Tour Christ, you'll be able to remind your heart of one simple truth. And what's that truth? It's almost tells us. Next part of her six, he raised his voice and the earth melted. He raised his voice, and the earth melted at just the moment When the enemy and his army are the loudness, when they're roar is the louder when they're stopping the most, when they're beating their chests the most, when they're the highest point of confidence that they're going to white, the hero and his little army off the face of the earth. At that moment, suddenly the high king of heaven booms his voice across the valley and the earth opens up and swallows the enemy in a blink of an eye. Dear Christian, that is the power of our God. That's who he is. No one has authority and power like that. No one's voice commands such power. That's why Christianity is different from every other religion in the world. We're not bowing down to an idol or a philosophy that cannot speak to us, someone once said. The reason people worship idols, whether it's a religious idol or or the idols of fame and wealth and sports or sports cars or retirement or whatever else you want to put in the blank. The reason people worship idols is because when you worship an idol, that idol makes no demands on you. See, it's it's pretty safe toe worship an idol you can bow down before a GodThat's not going to speak to you. But our God is not like that. The Lord of Hosts is not like that. When the nation is embroiled in social or cultural or racial, our medical or political instability, a believer always can remember. In a blink of an eye, God can speak and melt it all. Now someone's thinking. Well, hey, just be a good time for that, you know? I mean, why isn't God doing that now? By this? Sure seems like a good time for God to speak and melt some things. Just a word of caution. If you ever ask that question, always be careful when you ask it, because you might be assuming that you won't be swallowed up. In other words, we need to be careful in assuming that we all right. Jesus. Put it this way, Matthew. Chapter seven many will say to me on that day, Lord Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name Cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles. And Jesus said And then I will declare to them. I never knew you depart from me. You who practice lawlessness, helpful question might be this. Does your opinion line up with the truth of the gospel? Does your opinion line up with the truth of the gospel? If not been, think carefully. Speak carefully. Act carefully. Post carefully. Be careful. But now the question is not a wrong question. In fact, every Christian has asked it at least once, maybe many times because the questions fear Right. God, where are you? God, where are you? God, why are you letting this happen? God, why haven't you spoken? God, why haven't you raised your voice? God, why aren't you doing something We've all asked that question. And when we asked that question, we need to be careful. We are dangerously may be missing the math because he sometimes when we asked that a question, we we assume that because God's not raising his voice in our personal emergency, because God's not raising his voice in the national emergency. Because God's not raising his voice in a world emergency that in some way, shape or form we think God has divine laryngitis. That he's he's lost his voice because surely he'd be speaking now. So how do we maneuver through those assumptions? Well, John put it this way. First John for 18 perfect love cast out fear and not just fear. Perfect love cast out anger, Perfect love cast out anxiety. Perfect love casts out apathy. That's love right there. Right. So So what is this perfect love? What is this perfect love that has that kind of authority and that kind of power inside of our living room, inside of our hospital room, inside of our voting? What kind of love has this kind of power? Well, back up one chapter and we find the answer first. John 3 16 We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us by this. We know love by this. We know love that Jesus laid down his life for us. That's how we know what love is. Never has God raised his voice more then through the crucifixion and the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus. And never has the earth melted more that in the moments that Jesus cried out, it is finished. And that the angel cried out. He is not here. He has risen just as he said different. Please do not be fooled into thinking that 2020 is anything new under the sun. It is not. It's not new. Don't be fooled into thinking that when you have prayed this week how long? Oh Lord, how long that somehow God is playing golf somewhere and his phone his own? Do not disturb. Don't be fooled into thinking that this time and this moment is somehow different and somehow new, the most urgent need that the world has ever had. The most urgent need that you have ever had, and your spouse and your kids and your grandkids in your parents and everybody else, you know The most urgent need in the world has always been the same. It's never changed. It's nothing new. And the most urgent need is this to be rescued from sin and everlasting death. That's the greatest need that any of us have. So what is God done to meet that need? Paul said it this way. Colossians, Chapter two When you were dead in your transgressions, God made you alive together with Christ having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us. And he has taken it out of the way, Having mailed it to the cross and Christian, we bear it no more. So we praise the Lord. Praise the Lord O. R. So thistles the truth that we take into any circumstance, any situation, no matter the circumstance in our personal lives. No matter the situation in our community and our state, in the nation in the world there's never a time where someone who is in Jesus Christ a follower of Jesus there's never a moment where they cannot hear the voice of God saying by this, you know, love the Christ lay down his life for you. That message never changes. And that perfect love from Jesus whereby he laid down his life for us that perfect love. It cast out fear. It cast out anger, cast out annoyance that cast out anxiety, cast out apathy. Cast all those things out. It causes us to lean toward Christ and lean away. That's what this perfect love does. And how do we know that? How do we know that this is how this perfect love works but become because become behind that perfect love is the loud, deep, powerful voice off the high king of Heaven, And that voice can never be drowned out. And the psalmist knew that voice. The Psalmist had experienced that voice, and this is what he says for seven. The Lord of Hosts is with us. The Godof Jacob is our stronghold, Salem say lies a cool word. It means pause. It's like hate. Take a break, chew on this firm. It marinate on this for a moment, and what are we supposed to be? Marinated, according to the summits, were supposed to marinate in the fact that God is with us, that God is strong and that God has always been that way, that God is with us, that God is strong and God has always been that way. But what about when we don't feel that? What about when we don't feel like God is with us and we don't feel like God's being very strong and we don't feel like God's always like that? What about when we're so aunt up over what we've been hearing on talk radio or what we've been seeing on social media or what? You know, Bill Lumber has been saying in the accounting department all of his ranting about stuff. What is it that happens when were ramped up and were amped up and were aggravated or were afraid or whatever might be going on in our minds? And we aren't thinking about God. We are thinking about God. We're not thinking about him being with us, and we're definitely trying to hear his voice. What do we do then? What do we do when we're not listening for God, not thinking for God and not looking to God? What do we do when we feel like God isn't there? Let me give me a couple of pictures of how to listen to God's voice When, when we can't think straight. I was reading a few portions of a sermon by Reverend Derrick Harkins, who once was the pastor of 19th Street Baptist Church in Washington, D. C. This particular sermon was from a Sunday in September September 12th 2011 to be 10 years after the September 11th terrorist attacks. On that particular day in his church, the family of Army Major Malcolm Peterson, they were in the audience that day in the congregation. Major Peterson was one of the 125 people that were killed at the Pentagon on 9 11 So this this moment this day was unique at the church. And of all the places that revenue Harkins could have picked to preach from, guess which part of the Bible he picked to preach from some 46 and part of his sermon, he referenced a point that was found on the inside wall of the OSCE wits concentration camp. Now I'm a read that appointment in just a moment, but at least parts of it. But first, I want you to get this scene a little bit. Okay, so over the last. I'll just say months. I've had no fewer than 25 people tell me. I never fault that I would see anything that's happening in the world in my lifetime. Okay, 19 years ago, over the course of a month, I had no fewer than 25 people in Bertie County, North Carolina, say to me, I never thought in my lifetime I would see any of the things that I'm seeing today. And 80 100 years ago, when people in this community heard about the atrocities of Hitler, there was at least 25 people in this community that said, I never thought in my lifetime I would ever see anything like this. The words of the wise man of the Old Testament, God's truth from the Old Testament never fade. There is nothing new under the sun. There is nothing new under the sun. God has made clear to tell us there is nothing new under the sun. And that matters because he doesn't change. So that means our hearts and our minds and our attention need to move to him. Kevin Harkins, Rid From this point, I imagine the image of this scrawled on a wall inside of a concentration camp. And here's how it goes. I believe in the son, even when it is not shining, and I believe in love, even when there's no one there and I believe in God. Even when he is silent, I believe through any trial there is always a way. But sometimes in this suffering and hopeless despair, my heart cries for shelter to know someone's there. And then it says this. But ah, voice rises within me, saying Hold on, my child, I'll give you strength. I'll give you hope. Just stay a little Wow. You see the voice of God, the one true God. The voice of God can rise up from the ground, open up the earth and swallow up the army of the enemy. And the same voice can rise up inside of your heart and your mind and swallow up your despair. That's who he ISS. That's how he acts. It's his character, it's his nature. This is our God. But how do we know that street? Because it's the voice of God and he is always with us and he is always strong, and he has always been that way always. I was reading a story this week about Charlie. Charlie left his house, didn't tell this family where he was going. They didn't realize that he wouldn't coming back. Charlie left the house that day and he walked straight to the train station, got on a train, and he wrote 400 miles to Washington D. C. And when he got there, he did exactly what he was going to do. He immediately went and joined the Union Army on that train ride all those miles. It's more than likely that he thought about his mother, Fanny. It had not even been two years since his mom had died. She was in an accident. Her clothes called on fire and cheated up dying from that fire. Her husband, Henry, he woke up when all of this was happened, he was taken a Nappanee. He went. He tried to do everything he could to save his wife. He used a rug and tried to put out the fire. And then he tried to use his own body to put out the fire. But her burns were so severe that she died the next day. Henry's burns were so bad that he was not physically able to attend his wife's funeral. His facial burns were so bad that he grew a thick beard and tried to cover it up. And he was so full of grief and despair that there were many days. He said he thought they were going to lock him away in an asylum because he was so overwhelmed. But Charlie did join the Army, and he proved himself to be a very good and skilled and trusted soldier. Then, on December 1st, 18 63 Henry got word that Charlie had been wounded, severely wounded in battle. The next message that came a few days later was that his wounds were so bad that more than likely he was going to be paralyzed permanently. But then later that night, another message came from some other surgeons, and they said it wasn't going to be that bad, but but that his surgery and his recurring recovery, we're going to be at least six months long. A long time. A few weeks later, it was Christmas Day. Henry wrote a point. This this 57 year old widowed father of six kids on Christmas Day wrote a point. He was still trying to filter through the physical and practical and emotional aspects of almost losing his oldest son to the war, a war that his country was fighting against itself. And in trying to filter through that he was trying to find a way to respond to the confusion and the conflict in his own heart. In his own mind, Justin Taylor said this. He heard the Christmas bells that December day and the singing of Peace on Earth. But he observed the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook. In other words, he heard peace on Earth. He heard. Oh yeah, the voice of God, he heard. Oh, by this we know love, but he was like, Yeah, that stuff can't be true because of what I'm seeing because of what I'm hearing. He was living in the moment, and there was no way these eternal truths could be true. But Henry wrote his point and let me just read you some of the words of Henry's point that day I heard the bells on Christmas Day. They're old from New, Your Carol's play and Wild and Sweet. The words repeat of peace on earth Good will demand and thought how as the day had come the bell freeze of all Kristen had rolled along the unbroken song of peace on Earth Good will to men till ringing singing on its way The world revolved from night today a voice chime a chance A blind of peace on earth Good will to men and then despair about my head. There is no peace on Earth, I said for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth. Good will to men then pealed the bells more loud and deep. God is not dead. Nor Duffy sleep the wrong shall fail the right prevail with peace on earth. Good will to man. What did Henry here through his despair. What did Henry here? Through his anger and his apathy, his anxiety and his fear over the chaos of his country at war with itself? What did Henry here? In the chaos and the confusion in the stress and the anxiety the voice of God Rosa inside of him, he heard God's truth. He could still hear the voice of God. How How could he hear the voice of God with everything that was going on. Here's how Because the voice of God is louder and deeper and more powerful than anything in the universe, and God is with us and God is strong and God has always been that way. And God will always be that way. This is who he is. So fathers, grandfathers and everyone else. Who are you listening to?