“STORM WARNINGS”

TEXT: Isaiah 43:2

THESIS: To show how the Lord promises to protect & preserve His saints in the storms of life.

INTRO.:

A. The “STORM WARNING” was up & a “small craft advisory” had been posted, but we decided to go fishing anyway. We would have been wiser to have taken heed. We were able to negotiate the inlet, but when we got into the ocean, the waves were too much & we had to turn back (with our wives laughing at us on the beach).

B. Just over a week ago a “STORM WARNING” was issued for Hurricane Bertha. The giant storm had regained some strength just as it slammed into the coast & those who did not heed the warning were sorry. Four people lost their lives, millions of dollars worth of
damage was done to homes & property. Those who heeded the warning & took the necessary precautions were spared great loss.

TRANS.: In our text God issues a “STORM WARNING” for believers. True, the context is for Israel, but as Paul reminds us, these basic premises are for the church as well. And if that is true for the Body of Christ, it is also true for each member of the Body.

QUOTE: C.H. Spurgeon: “...claim this promise as made to you, just as much as if God had spoken it out of the excellent glory right into your ear, or as much as if you saw Him writing with His own eternal pen, these precious sentences as a personal epistle to you, for He does speak them & write them to you by His ever blessed Spirit.”

I. STORMS ARE INEVITABLE:

A. Not “If” But “When”:

   1. You say “But I don’t like storms” - no one does, but they are necessary &  inevitable.

   2. Everyone is included, God doesn’t play favorites.

ILLUS.: It is true that all “all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution...” 2 Tim.3:1, which tells me that those who have the biggest storms are those who are often closer to the Lord & that the storms are to some degree a measure of God’s special love & attention.

B. No One Is Exempt:

HYMN:
“Am I A Soldier Of The Cross”:
“Must I be carried to the skies, on flowery beds of ease,
while others fought to win the prize, and sailed through bloody seas?”

👉You are in good company if you are in the midst of the storm: Job, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, Paul, Peter...it is like a “Who’s Who” of God’s choicest servants.

   1. Jesus promised that we would have tribulation as a part of the Christian life.

Jn.16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

   2. The storms will be varied: “waters...rivers...fire...flame...”

      a. Water may speak of danger that springs from circumstances.
      b. Fire may speak of danger that springs from persecution.

ILLUS.:
💥Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord...” but he went through earth’s greatest storm. (Remember the alternative was to perish w/the rest of the world!)
💥Jonah went through a great storm as a part of God’s disciplinary program.
💥The three Hebrew young men went through the fire of the furnace & came out unscathed as a testimony to God’s protection.

   3. The storms will be unrelenting: you will no sooner get through one than another will come.

ILLUS.: Job got bad news, then more bad news, then even worse news, till his entire family, wealth & possessions were gone! You may have financial problems, then your car will break down, then your health will be gone & then your doctor will tell you “It’s cancer!”

II. STORMS ARE FEARFUL:

A. It Is Lonely In The Storm:

ILLUS.: One elderly woman my wife works for, lives alone and is terrified when she hears a “STORM WARNING.” She takes sleep medication & goes to bed till the storm is over.

   1. The wind howls, the lightning flashes, the thunder roars...a storm can be terrifying.

ILLUS.: The howling wind is fearful, but usually harmless...the lightning is awesome, but if you see it you have escaped it’s power...the thunder roars, but thunder is harmless.

   2. The water rises, the floods threaten to destroy everything we have in this life.

ILLUS.: Some of the reasons the Lord sends the storms is so we will realize our helplessness, recognize our loneliness & not hold too tightly onto the things of this life. His promise is precious “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee...”

B. But We Are Not Alone:

   1. God was with Noah in the ark, with Jonah in the whales belly, with Job in the valley of despair, with Elijah under the Juniper tree, with the 3 Hebrew young men in the fiery furnace, with Daniel in the lion’s den, with John the Baptist in prison, with Paul in the prison...and he will be with you in your storm!
   2. The storm cannot separate us from the love of our Savior.

Rom.8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

   3. The Lord is nearer than our closest friend...He lives within the believer.

ILLUS.: My wife is strange. She is terrified of storms, but she feels more secure if I am there!? (If she thinks I am going to step in front of the lightning, she had better think again.🙂) A clap of thunder seemed to be right over my bed the other night & with all my faith in God I grabbed my teddy bear & crawled under the bed!
​
🔶Thank God we are NOT alone in the storms & the One Who is with us is the omnipotent God Who created the storms & also regulates them!

And His promise is “I will be with thee.”

III. STORMS ARE TEMPORARY:

A. We Are Not Kept From The Storms:

   1. All storms will pass, eventually.
   2. After the storm comes the rainbow & things look & smell so much clearer & cleaner!

ILLUS.: When the purpose of the storm is understood we may find out that it was simply to get us away from the distractions which kept us from fellowship w/Him. We will find ourselves clinging to Him more. Perhaps one of the results will be that we will see Him clearer & that
we will be cleaner!

B. We Are Kept In The Storms: “through...”

   1. Three times the word “through” is used in the verse.
   2. God doesn’t exempt believers from the storms of life, but He goes with them through them!
      a. Just as He took Israel through the formidable Red Sea.
       b. Just as He took Israel through the barrier of the Jordan River.

ILLUS.: This is the same word &a concept in Ps.23 where God’s promise is “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me!”

His promise is that ✔we shall not be overwhelmed by the waters, ✔drowned by the rivers, ✔burned by the fire ✔nor consumed by the flames because of His presence with us. ✨We never have to go it alone. ✨He even promises to walk with us thru the valley of the shadow of death! ✨Death is our “last enemy” which many dread throughout life. When we get to the other side we will say “Is that all it was?!" 
"Why did I fear that? The Lord took me safely through!”
✨The storm you are going through now or will go through shortly will also pass...everything in this life, including this life itself, is temporary! Thank God!

CONCL.: I have attempted to issue a “STORM WARNING” today to let you know that storms are inevitable...they are on their way; they are fearful because we are just flesh; but they are also temporary & we are never alone in the storms if we are saved!

The Scriptures offer no such comfort or hope to the unsaved. They must go through the storms of life alone...totally alone. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Accept the Savior!

NOW! Make Him your storm companion.

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