Sabbath

Genesis 2:1-3

Titus 3:3 says:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. (Titus 3:3 ESV)

This verse describes the condition of humanity. Most of us do not like to be described as foolish, led astray and slaves. However, our society reflects the facts of our foolishness and slavery. Our world also reflects the malice, envy and hatred of which this verse speaks. 

Our world is rapidly changing. Technology is one evidence of rapid change. Cell phones, televisions and computers grow in capacity, speed and function with every new model. However, this growth in technology has not relieved us of our foolishness and has only increased our slavery to various passions and pleasures. We cannot solve our problems. Conditions seem to go from bad to worse.

But there is hope! Titus 3:4-5 says:

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:4-5 NKJV)

In His kindness, God saved us. He has saved us from our foolishness and slavery. Notice here in these verses that it says this salvation is accomplished by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. 

There is a theological definition of regeneration, but let’s just consider the common definition of regeneration:

the action or process of regenerating or being regenerated, in particular the formation of new animal or plant tissue. (Google)

And, let’s do the same for renewal. The common definition of renewal is:

the replacing or repair of something that is worn out, run-down, or broken. (Google)

If we have been saved, if we have been renewed, then why do we find ourselves still trapped by foolishness and slavery to passions. Why aren’t we living lives of renewal and peace. Jesus said:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28 ESV)

The world lays heavy burdens on us - more than we can carry. 

Concerns about money stress us out. Concerns about children, education, jobs and the future weigh us down. 

Luke gives us an account from the ministry of Jesus. In Luke 10, Luke tells us Jesus was traveling and large crowds were following him. When Jesus entered a certain village, a woman named Martha invited Him into her home. She worked hard at her preparations, but her sister Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to Him. Finally, tired of doing all the work herself, Martha went to Jesus and said, “Master, tell my sister to help me with the work.”

Jesus replied:

Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. (Luke 10:41 ESV)

Many of us are like Martha. We are anxious and troubled about many things.

One of the results of sin in our world is life sapping stress and anxiety. Jesus said:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28 ESV)

Without the rest that Jesus is talking about, we all labor and are heavy laden. Laden means heavily loaded or weighed down. Jesus is promising to deliver us from the crushing burdens of our lives. Part of our salvation, part of our renewal is delivery from these crushing burdens. As children of God, we have rest, restoration and refreshing available to us. Hebrews tells us:

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, (Hebrews 4:9 ESV)

I am doing a study on rest and renewal, and I invite you to join me on this journey. I am calling it “Refresh.” When I see words like regeneration and renewal, which are part of our salvation, I think of times of refreshing. Just as Peter preached:

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. (Acts 3:19-20 NIV)

This is what we need - times of refreshing!

According to Google, to refresh means to “give new strength or energy to; reinvigorate.” Don’t you want new strength and energy?

The results of our repentance are our sins being wiped out and times of refreshing from the Lord.

When you are weary, when you are tired and worn out, the first thing you need is rest. The best example of this is sleep. Our bodies require sleep. Missing just one night of sleep has physical effects equivalent to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10 percent, which is above the legal limit for driving.

Rest is so important that God put it in His law that we are to rest one day out of seven. When God gave Israel the laws by which they were to function, He put taking one day off in seven on the same level as lying or murdering. Rest is that important. Rest is so important that God included it in the national laws of Israel.

Refreshing starts with rest.

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, (Hebrews 4:9 ESV)

The Bible begins by teaching us about rest. Genesis 2:1-3 says:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2:1-3 ESV)

Do you think that God got tired?

I hardly think so!

God did this as an example for us to set up the pattern. God could have created any type of universe He wanted, and He created this one, and rest is an essential part of it.

The people in the New Testament known as Pharisees are examples of the perfect practice of religion. They had rules to help them keep from breaking the rules. For example, to put up boundaries around the Sabbath, they added extra rules. Such as, they said a Jew could travel 2,000 cubits from one's house on the Sabbath without breaking the Law. This limit was set by the rabbis because of a statement found in Joshua 3:4 that the people were to follow the ark at this distance during their march in the wilderness. When these Pharisees confronted Jesus about doing something that they considered to be against their Sabbath rules, Jesus said:

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27 ESV)

In this confrontation with religious rule keepers, Jesus teaches an important concept about the Sabbath. The Sabbath was established by God for our benefit. If one examines the Ten Commandments, he/she will find that all of them are for our benefit and protection.

God knew that sin and greed would drive men to ignore the need for rest and refreshing so He built it in to His law. 

I am not saying that if you lack a day of rest in your life you are sinning. What I am saying is that if this world was not broken by sin, everyone would enjoy one day in seven as a day of refreshing. 

For your health, the health of your family and the productiveness of your life, to be all that you were meant to be, you must learn to put into practice the principle of Sabbath in your life. 

The rest part of it is simple. We all need to have one day in seven that is a change of pace day. This is not a burden of service you must do for the Lord. It is something you must do for your own sake. Make time to rest. I called this a change of pace day, because a Sabbath rest is not doing nothing, it is rather taking a break from the toil that consumes our life the other 6 days of the week. 

Another key concept of Sabbath is acknowledging the Lord.

There are those who view attending church as a service they do for the Lord. The idea is that going to church is a good deed and counts for some kind of brownie points with God. 

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Church is designed to be a time of refreshing. We are renewed when we worship the Lord, fellowship with each other and cast our burdens on the Lord. Refreshing! Isn’t it? 

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. A Sabbath rest is taking a break from the toil that consumes our lives, and it is also acknowledging that the world and my life is not going to fall apart if I take a day off. This includes acknowledging that God cares for me. 1 Peter 5:7 says:

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:7 NLT)

This is what acknowledging God does for us. It gives us rest from our heavy burdens. Jesus taught saying:

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:25-33 NLT)

This sermon fits the idea behind Sabbath. We can rest in the gracious hands of a loving Father. Consider this question from Jesus: “Why do you have so little faith?” 

The end of chapter 3 of Hebrews talks about the children of Israel who left Egypt with Moses. That whole generation did not enter into the Promised Land because of their unbelief. Hebrews 3:19 and 4:1 say:

So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest. God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. (Hebrews 3:19-4:1 NLT)

The children of Israel failed to enter the rest God promised because of unbelief, and it is unbelief that will keep us from the rest God has for us.

The Sabbath is not a burden to be carried. The Sabbath is a blessing to be entered into. Take a new view of the Sabbath and immerse yourself in the joy of being refreshed!

Restoration

Amos 9:11

On September 20, 2001, just 9 days after the attacks of 9/11, President Bush gave his “State of the Union” address to the nation. In that speech, he promised that America would rebuild.

After every catastrophe or calamity, our thoughts immediately turn to recovery, rebuilding and restoration. However, there are times when the disaster is too big, the calamity too overwhelming for us to see any way forward. 

The number 911 has no special meaning in the Bible, but in America, it means emergency, and since September 11, 2001, it refers back to the day when terrorists attacked America in unimagined attacks that ended the lives of thousands of Americans. 

I chose four 9:11 verses to cover the theme of emergency 9-1-1 because of the significance 9-1-1 has in our lives. Our children are taught to call 9-1-1 in an emergency, and all of us associate 9-1-1 with emergencies.

As we come to the end of our series, I want to talk with you about the recovery process that must accompany the 9-1-1’s of our lives. I am going to start with Amos 9:11 where it says, “From the ruins I will rebuild it.”

To the best of our knowledge, Amos lived in Judah but ministered to Judah’s sister nation, Israel. Amos was not a trained prophet. He was a shepherd and he also tended fig trees. He was not well-off because although he owned sheep, he tended them himself as opposed to hiring someone to do it for him. His name means “burden” and we assume this also represents the burden that the Lord had put on his heart for his people. His contemporaries included Joel, Hosea and Isaiah. Amos warned Israel of coming judgment. All of these prophets brought warnings of judgment, but the people would not listen. Amos 9:10 quotes the people as saying,

Nothing bad will happen to us. (Amos 9:10 NLT)

The people of the nation of Israel were living in a prosperous nation and enjoyed many luxuries. However, by the time of Amos, they had spent almost two hundred years violating the first and greatest commandment.

I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me. (Exodus 20:2-3 NLT)

Under the leadership of their first king, Jeroboam, they had set up golden calves at Bethel and Dan. Now, approximately 180 years later, because of their apostasy, the nation had become morally bankrupt. However, Jeroboam II was the most prosperous of the kings of Israel.

Some of the things God says He is judging them for are found in the verses that follow:

How you hate honest judges! How you despise people who tell the truth! You trample the poor, stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent. Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses, you will never live in them. Though you plant lush vineyards, you will never drink wine from them. For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellions. You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. So those who are smart keep their mouths shut, for it is an evil time. (Amos 5:10-13 NLT)

Besides the sins listed in these verses, we could point out that marriage was not honored and children were sacrificed to idols. 

As a result of their rebellion, God promised judgment. God never stopped warning His people about the consequences of their sins against Him and against each other. 

One would think that we would learn from what happened to ancient Israel. However, since Jesus ascended to heaven, the Church has been warning the world that He is coming again. 

We are living in the most prosperous days ever on the planet. Technology has allowed us to produce an excess of food, and yet people are starving. Consider the state of the world and consider if we are any different from the ancient Israelites that Amos was addressing. With pornography, human trafficking, and an endless list of gross immorality, we are worse. We are competing with Sodom and Gomorrah. There are still godly people left in the world and God is patient desiring all to come to repentance. But a time is coming when God removes His people, then judgment will come.

In Amos chapter 9, Amos records this vision.

Then I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said, “Strike the tops of the Temple columns, so that the foundation will shake. Bring down the roof on the heads of the people below. I will kill with the sword those who survive. No one will escape! “Even if they dig down to the place of the dead, I will reach down and pull them up. Even if they climb up into the heavens, I will bring them down. Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel, I will search them out and capture them. Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean, I will send the sea serpent after them to bite them. Even if their enemies drive them into exile, I will command the sword to kill them there. I am determined to bring disaster upon them and not to help them.” (Amos 9:1-4 NLT)

These terrible judgments came. The most frightening thing about these judgments is that last sentence. “I am determined to bring disaster upon them and not to help them,” God warned them sending prophet after prophet for hundreds of years. But a time came when there was no help. The calamity was complete.  The northern kingdom of Israel was wiped off the face of the earth. 

One would think that the southern kingdom of Judah would have seen and understood. In fact, the prophets told them to consider what happened to the northern kingdom, but they hardened their hearts. A time came when the waiting was over, and Judah was overrun by Babylon. 

But according to God’s promise and plan, under Cyrus of Persia, the nation of Judah was rebuilt and continued as a nation until they rejected the Messiah. As a consequence of their rebellion, Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. and the nation was completely destroyed by the Roman emperor Hadrian in 135 A.D. There was no help, and for almost 1900 years, the region was called Palestine and the nation of Israel did not exist.

In our day, we have seen the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise through Amos:

In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory. (Amos 9:11 NLT)

Before 1948, even Bible-believing men of faith did not think this would be literally fulfilled. Such a rebuilding of the nation was beyond anything that people could imagine or even hope for. And yet, here we are. On May 14, Israel will celebrate its 72nd year as a modern nation.

We, as humanity, may see things as being beyond hope, even beyond imagining. However, what is impossible with people is possible with God. (Luke 18:27)

In the history of Israel and God’s dealing with them, we see that God gives plenty of warning and He appeals to the rebellious and the wayward. However, the warning and appeals finally reach their conclusion when judgment comes. Up until the day of their destruction, God continued to call for the nation of Israel to repent and be saved.

However, because of their own waywardness, their own unwillingness to heed repeated warnings, disaster struck, and they were destroyed beyond human remedy.

According to 2 Samuel 14:14, God devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from Him. He gives each person many opportunities to repent and come to Him, but if the choice is not made before this life ends, there are no more chances.

Some people have been devastated by life. They have made poor choices. They did not listen to warnings, and now their lives are in shambles. Some people think their lives are over. They have made mistakes and wasted their time and now there is nothing left.  However, as we see in this example from the people of Israel, God can restore even those which are beyond human help.

 Amos 9:11 says, “From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory.”

If your life is in ruins, please let this verse be an encouragement to you. Even if your life is in shambles, God can rebuild it. Not only can He rebuild it, but He can also restore even more than was lost. 

In the days of Amos, the prophet Joel tells of a plague of locusts that destroyed the vegetation in Israel. The Lord called on Israel to repent and with that call to repentance made the following promise:

The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you. (Joel 2:25 NLT)

God promises to restore what was lost, even though it was God’s judgment that had taken it away.

Job was a very rich man, and God allowed it all to be taken away. For as long as God saw fit, Job lived in abject poverty. On top of the poverty, Job was also very sick, covered from head to toe with painful boils. When God restored Job, Job had twice as much as before his suffering.

In Job’s case, Job was not suffering for sins he had committed or because of a refusal to repent, but I use his example because his problems were beyond human remedy.

If you are suffering today, it may be of your own making and because of your own choices, but God is able to restore you. Not all suffering is of our own making, but the same message applies, God is able to restore us. Some suffer for following Christ or for their obedience to God. To these Jesus said:

I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come. (Luke 18:29-30 NLT)

Most, if not all of us, will face suffering in our lives. Suffering is in the world because of sin, but the good news is that Jesus came to restore us to a right relationship with God. Jesus said:

For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost. (Luke 19:10 NLT)

If you are lost, Jesus is seeking you. Repent of your sins and believe the good news about Jesus while there is time. At some point, this life will end and there will be no more chances.

The world is in ruins because of sin, and God will restore even that. We wait for a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. We are waiting for Jesus to return and restore all things. Acts 3:21 tells us:

For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. (Acts 3:21 NLT)

In her book, When is It Right to Die? Joni Eareckson Tada tells of a young woman who had a neurological disorder that was taking her life. It finally came to the point that the decision had to be made whether or not to put her on a ventilator to help her breathe.

Joni tells how she shared 2 Peter 3:8 with this young lady. The thought that Joni shared has captured my imagination. 2 Peter 3:8 says:

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. (2 Peter 3:8 NLT)

We focus on the fact that to the Lord a thousand years is a short time, but we tend to forget about the fact that a day is no shorter to the Lord than a thousand years. Just think of what God can accomplish in a thousand years, and realize that He only needs a day to do the same. It makes no difference to Him.

If you only have a day left to live, God can do all He needs to do in that time. Wherever you are in life, whether you think you have only a short time to live or a long time to live, commit those days to the Lord. He can do way beyond anything that we could even ask or imagine.

Calamity

Psalms 9:11

Calamity is defined as:

an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress; a disaster.

This week I am talking about observed calamity as opposed to experienced calamity. My desire is to talk about the condition of humanity and not about personal suffering.

I want to start by considering humanity’s relationship with God. To do so, I will start with Psalm 2.

Psalms 2 says:

 Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.” “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ” Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. (Psalms 2:1-12 NKJV)

The nations rage. The rulers of the earth take counsels together against God.

The Lord asks why.

In another place the Lord says:

“I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that was not called by My name. I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts; a people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense on altars of brick; who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs; who eat swine’s flesh, and the broth of abominable things is in their vessels; who say, ‘Keep to yourself, Do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day. “Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will repay— Even repay into their bosom—”Isaiah 65:1-6 NKJV

God stretches out His hands to a rebellious people.

The key to understanding the attitude of the rulers of the earth and the attitude of those to whom God has stretched out His hands is this word “rebellion.” 

The history of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament gives us an example to understand the results of this attitude toward God. This is helpful for all of us, because we are all born with self-will. 

Just to be clear that this applies to us all, I want to quote for you Romans 3:10-12.

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NKJV)

This describes the rebellion against God in the human heart.

If we go back to Psalms 2, we see that the rulers of the earth say,

Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.

What causes people to view the statutes of the Lord as bonds to be broken? Speaking of the commandments of the Lord the Psalmist says in Psalm 19,

More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalms 19:10-11 NKJV)

If the commandments of the Lord are so good, why do the rulers of the earth rage against God?

Isaiah 65 that we just read gives us a hint. It says. “Who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts.” We want to do whatever pleases us. The answer lies in the human heart. At the core, each of us starts out as an idol worshipper, and the idol is the self. Some people desire comfort above all else and will do anything to get it. Others desire pleasure and still others crave security. Those who see money as the way to get what they want are in danger of treating money as a god, while those who view power as a way to get what they want are likely to do anything to gain power. Still others crave acceptance and will do anything to be accepted by others. The Bible describes these cravings as coming in three types:

1. The lust of the flesh
2. The lust of the eyes
3. The boastful pride of life.

These lusts are reflected in the rebellion in the heart.

As I started to say, the history of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament serves as an example of the results of rebellion against God. Returning to Isaiah 65, I want to focus on just a few words. In verse 5, it says of the attitude of the people of Israel,

These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day. (Isaiah 65:5 NKJV)

God was expressing His displeasure with the attitude and behavior of the people. He was stretching out His hand to them but they were rebellious and would not listen. Isaiah was a prophet, and he warned the people of what was coming as a result of their rebellion. God sent other prophets over a long period of time until finally the promised calamity struck. 

The northern kingdom of Israel was attacked and conquered by the Assyrians. This great calamity could have been avoided if the people would only have listened to the prophets, repented and sought the Lord.

The southern kingdom of Judah saw what happened to Israel and yet they also refused to listen to the prophets and finally, a little over 100 years after Israel was conquered by the Assyrians, the Babylonians conquered Judah.

Isaiah is the first of the prophets in the Old Testament Scriptures. His words were well known in Israel. They would have known the words we have read today, including these words from Isaiah 65:6:

I will not keep silence, but will repay— Even repay into their bosom.

When calamity struck the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom could have taken warning, but instead, they were proud and said, “We are better than them.” So, calamity eventually struck them as well.

Jesus warned of an attitude of pride. Luke 13 tells of two calamities that happened in Israel during the days of Jesus.

About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.” (Luke 13:1-5 NLT)

Jesus was talking about two calamities that happened in His day and saying that the people that observed those calamities needed to take warning and repent of their sins.

Psalm 9 is a Psalm that speaks of God’s judgment against the wicked. Psalm 9:11 says:

Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds! (Psalms 9:11 ESV)

The deeds this Psalm is talking about are God’s judgment of the ungodly. For example, verses 5-6 say:

You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. (Psalms 9:5-6 ESV)

Consider carefully these words. “You have made the wicked perish; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.” God is not a passive observer in the affairs of men. Ephesians 1:11 assures us that he works everything according to the counsel of His will. Blotting out their name forever reminds me of God’s judgments against Babylon and against Petra and against Tyre. All these cities came to tragic ends just as God foretold through the prophets.

The Psalmist also gives another truth. Look with me at verses 9 and 12.

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. (Psalms 9:9, 12 ESV)

The Lord is a helper for the oppressed. 

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years. But God was not deaf to their cries for help. He sent Moses to tell the Egyptians to let His people go. The ten plagues gave Egypt ten opportunities to repent. But, they would not, and in the end, Egypt was all but wiped out.

The Lord is a helper for the oppressed.

I want to quote for you what our 16th president said concerning slavery in their United States. In his second inaugural address President Lincoln said:

The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope -- fervently do we pray -- that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether."

President Lincoln viewed the Civil War as the judgment of God on this nation for its sin of slavery.

The targets of 9/11 represent our false gods. Our might and our prosperity mean everything to us. We are so busy pursuing success we forget about the treasures of heaven. The calamity of 9/11 served as a wakeup call and we must be careful not to forget what is really important, our relationship with God.

I fear even greater calamity for our nation. We will not escape the judgment that is coming because of the killing of babies in the womb.

The godly died along with the ungodly in the attacks on 9/11. The difference is that the ungodly passed from this life to face judgment for sins that they had not repented of. But the godly died having been forgiven of their sins and passed into the presence of the Lord which is better by far than anything we have here on earth. The Bible tells us:

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. (Psalms 116:15 ESV)

And also,

The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; (Isaiah 57:1-2 ESV)

Death is not a punishment for the one who has put his/her faith in Christ. As the Apostle Paul said:

My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. (Philippians 1:23 ESV)

Calamities remind us that judgment is coming. 

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3:9-10 ESV)

Since judgment is sure to come, we must take the advice Peter offers:

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:11-13 ESV)