Flood Waters And Our Soul Survival

Flood Waters And Our Soul Survival                              Kelly Durant    9-3-17

Matthew 7:24-26

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:

2. There was a terrible joke circulating a few years ago about a man who died and went to heaven and he questioned why God took him early, “Why did you let me die Lord?” There was a flood coming to town and the authorities came by and told him and everyone to leave, to get in their cars and get out of town. The man replied to them, “No, I’m staying, God will take care of me”.

Then the flood waters came and the rescuers came in boats and said to him to get in boat but the man replied to them, “No, I’m staying, God will take care of me”. But the waters got higher and on the roof a helicopter came by and told him to get on the ladder to climb on to get lifted away. The man replied to them, “No, I’m staying, God will take care of me”.

So then the waters got higher and he died by drowning. So in heaven he asked God why didn’t you save me, I believed you would take care of me? God replied, “I did try to take care of you! I gave you 3 chances and you stayed anyway! This joke is actually what really happens with many people, God gives them many chances, many warnings and they don’t listen! Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished.

3. To begin, I am not making light of those who lost their lives and properties in the recent floods! Any loss of life by any means is always a tragedy! What a blessing that the Salvation Army has the resources to deal with disasters and be able to help millions each year. It’s because we have a history of more than 100 years of helping in disasters. When I was at the flooded Katrina and Rita sites, and at Lake Charles, LA, we were feeding around 40,000 per day! We were about 100 Salvationists and another hundred that were mostly Baptists.

Floods are an unpredictable (yet in some areas predictable) reality that we, as human victims, must deal with. Disasters have a way of reminding you and me that there are natural forces at work way more powerful than what any man or government has the capacity to deal with or withstand. When all is lost, after suffering and being saved by the skin of your teeth, it forces you, me, and everyone to reflect that there must be a God that is in control considering that He is able to save lives after so much destruction! Even a lot of pets were saved in this Houston one! It brings out compassion in action by those who have it!

With another chance to live, it is important that you and I help the survivors so they can get their lives back together! That is our Christian duty according to 1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him? We can help not just with food and shelter, but with clothing, household items, and most of all with prayer support, pastoral care, and counseling! Have you ever lost it all? You will eventually want to talk to somebody about it that will listen as that is not an easy thing to go through! You will invite prayer for God to heal and restore you!

4. In some ways any flood reminds us of Noah and how God destroyed the whole world full of wicked people by a flood. That particular historical flood is recorded in almost every culture in all the world and there is no denying that it happened. Even those who do not want to believe in God cannot deny that humanity is always exposed to massive destructions. So how are people going to deal with it? Is it just natural? Or is something more elusive at work? 

If any one of us could be killed at any moment by any natural means then we must always question, are we ready? A tornado can hit almost anywhere in the U.S., what if this had been a tornado and you stayed home despite warnings and you were taken home by God? Sometimes the warnings are only 10 minutes ahead of time!

There would be no last days of repentance and preparations, you would just be instantly facing God on his great white throne where He will judge every person by opening their life history books. Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

5. To some degree, man’s punishments from certain natural disasters is his own fault for not knowing the terrain and the history. For example, if in 1906 practically all the city of San Francisco was leveled (and that was the beginning of the Salvation army’s disaster relief services), then why did they later rebuild that city in the same spot again? Even in 1989 they had another small quake, but that still doesn’t dissuade the stubborn people there who have priced the land as one of the most expensive in the U.S.A.! Their house is built on the shifting sands. I would never choose to live there no matter how beautiful certain people claim it is.

The verses of today about building your house on the sand has a spiritual connotation but they may also be interpreted as literal. Why is it stubborn people go back and build in flood or earthquake prone areas, on the sand? There is plenty of land on earth where to live without choosing areas where people have already suffered catastrophes!

Jesus was very clear, not just metaphorically but also literally when he warned in Matt 7:26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

6. I think we should learn from the ancients. When we toured Israel there were some ruins outside of Haifa which were built by the Romans, Caeserea Akko, that we saw on the coast and these ruins were destroyed by an earthquake around the time of Jesus’ life.

Despite all the time and labor that went into building that city, can you guess what I am about to present? They all abandoned their palaces as cursed and never rebuilt them! They lived by an ancient tradition that if God (or a supernatural force) had his hand in allowing something massive to come down, it would be presumptuous of us as humans to rebuild it. People must rebuild, but in the same location?

We can blame man’s greed for some of the recent disasters as the constructors and contractors knew it was a Russian roulette chance that one day a flood disaster might come but they risked it anyway. After all to build higher bridges and elevated houses costs a whole lot more. I think many would agree that populations should never have been allowed to build or live in certain danger zone areas. These areas are not just in the U.S. but all around the world! But that is foolish man for you! Floods worldwide affect millions and there was a recent one in India with 1,200 hundred dead and our ‘fake news’ media did not even report on it!

7.  It can be concluded that a vast majority of people are deaf and blind to current and historical warnings of past destructions. What is sad, and what the verses reflect today is the fact that people are actually oblivious to is the spiritual reality that their spiritual house, or relationship with God, may be built upon the sand. Many people have their entire life built upon the sands of material possessions and titles of pride which will not withstand disasters and trials in life.

How many people do we meet in life that have lost everything? Dozens or hundreds! You and I may never know the future. Many people around the world with much have lost it all due a divorce, a political change such as a socialist revolution in their country, due to a cancer or disease, or from a natural disaster. It’s almost a given that a very unexpected thing will happen in life and the only constant we can have is faith in Jesus.

Jesus is the only rock! Only in Jesus can we have a foundation under us that will carry is through all the many trials in life. We can lose possessions, family and health, as Job in the Bible did, but if we have faith and trust in God, we will have the strength to rebound and come back strong replenished with His blessings!

8. These are ‘signs of the times’. In Matthew 24 Jesus warned that destructions would increase. Wars and rumor of wars, earthquakes, and signs in the sun, moon, and stars. We could almost conclude now that an eclipse is a bad omen, a warning. No one in humanity can stop the final chapters of man’s self-destruction: destruction physical and spiritual because he is disobedient to a loving God! The prophecies of Jesus are coming to pass, and this is the unforgivable sin of the people of the world, they will not recognize that He is the Son of God, supernatural in His life, death, and resurrection, and supernatural in His warnings concerning the future of us all.

There were many good people that lost all. I know several Salvation Army Officers that lost all their personal possessions and yet they went right into action helping others. God allows good and bad to happen to us in this life, that is a part of our schooling to prepare us for the next life. Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

We cannot stop the destiny of humankind because God created us, and His lessons for us to learn before going into eternity cannot be dissuaded. It is ridiculous how politicians try to make people think that we can give money to stop the ‘climate change’ events. Over 100 billion dollars of tax money in the past 10 years has gone into the accounts of people who promote ‘green initiatives’ but did any green action stop Katrina, Harvey, and any other climate destruction? No! These are fraudsters, capitalizing on the ‘signs of the times’ which no one can stop. God controls it all and allows the ‘prince of the air’ to wake up humanity to the reality of how we need God to survive.

9. Please keep praying for everyone serving in Texas, that the volunteers and workers do not get overly exhausted or sick. I know of a young Office that died from heat exhaustion serving on a disaster: serving in disasters is serious endeavor.

God’s children ‘march into hell for a heavenly cause’, it is just what we do because we are called to love, to serve, to heal, to save, and to restore. These catastrophic moments are times when people will actually stop and contemplate how their relationship with God is going. You and I do not know what may happen here or anywhere, so the uncertainty of our frail human situation begs us to ‘be ready’!

Are you ready? Do you see the signs of the times? Do you heed Jesus warning to not build your house upon the sand? If your whole life revolves around your house, your possessions, your idea of what life should afford you, then today is a good day to start over and get your priorities straight. Build your house upon the rock of Jesus Christ. He is here forever and even if you die in some unexpected event, you will live forever with Him in His beautiful amazing Kingdom. (An old song) ‘On the rock, on the rock, on the rock I’ll stand (repeat), though the house of this world is built on sand, on the rock on the rock, on the rock I’ll stand!’