Sureness of God's Promises
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For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Introduction:
I.
I.
The introduction to my message today may not sit well with some of you, but I pray that before you cast judgment on it, you will weigh it’s validity against the body of truth that I will present in the message itself.
Recently in the news, there has been a quite a bit of emphasis on “climate change”! Just this past week, an estimated 6 million young people protested around the world...
Show slides
Slide show
From the many protests around the world to the prominent Swedish sixteen year old that has captivated the attention of the news outlets, her name - Greta Thunberg!
And let us not forget the prominent Swedish sixteen year old that has captivated the attention of the news outlets, her name - Greta Thunberg!
Greta Slide
Greta is an articulate intelligent young lady with a form of Autism that has become the spokesperson for climate change!
Her addressing the Swedish parliament about the dangers of climate control has brought new awareness to those concerned about the effects that greenhouse gases CO2 have on the climate.
Because she’s a child, she has been given much latitude in her rants and even allowed to confront our own congress.
The conservative right, the poster bully for the radical leftist movement in our country has been taken to task for criticizing this young girl. They call it bullying!
But perhaps the real bullies just may be those special interest groups that are using her as a puppet to push their own agenda, an agenda based on fear and what some scientists, who are breaking rank with the climate czars, call faulty science. In fact, no one has done anything to alleviate this poor girls delusions and fears of global destruction.
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"My message is that we'll be watching you.
"This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!
"For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.
"For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.
"For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.
'This Is All Wrong,' Greta Thunberg Tells World Leaders At U.N. Climate Session
'This Is All Wrong,' Greta Thunberg Tells World Leaders At U.N. Climate Session
"For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.
"You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe.
"The popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in 10 years only gives us a 50% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees [Celsius], and the risk of setting off irreversible chain reactions beyond human control.
They’ve been saying that one for 30 years!
Incidentally, Greta sailed over to the USA on a “zero Carbon”, yet, non recyclable plastic 60 foot sail boat so as to reduce her own carbon footprint. Now if that’s not hypocritical enough, two other men had to fly to the united states to navigate her boat back to Sweden. This stunt, more that doubled her carbon footprint. It would have had less effect on the Eco system had she just flown herself! But, as those that are sympathizers to the cause explain, it was to prove a point. Yet, if all of the protesting and camera shots, accomplish nothing in reducing the carbon footprint, what is the point?
Greta, I’m afraid has been another pawn in the game of climate control! And everyone that sits back and allows this child to live in such abject fear, should be ashamed of themselves, including her own parents!
Greta, I’m afraid has been another pawn in the game of climate control! And everyone that sits back and allows this child to live in such abject fear, should be ashamed of themselves, including her own parents!
Now that I have stated some observations about the problem with “climate fear” as we know it, allow me to show another perspective.
This now brings me to my text for this morning.
Would you please stand as I read the Word of God this morning?
Would you please stand with me as I read ...
For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
The main points of this message are arranged in three questions.
I. Can mankind destroy the planet?
I. Can mankind destroy the planet?
I suppose hypothetically we could build a powerful enough nuclear bomb or synchronize the detonation of enough of them to get the job done, but remember, I said hypothetically!
During the atomic age of the 1950’s children practiced duck and cover in their classrooms.
Duck and cover was a strategy devised by geniuses to give assurance to the public that in the event of a nuclear holocaust, one could be safe from the explosion by getting under their desks and covering their heads with their arms! we won’t speak however of the radiation that would make you so sick you’d wished you had died in the explosion.
So, was there a real threat of having a nuclear warhead detonated in our country? Yes!
Do we face similar threats today with Nuclear, or bio warfare? Yes we do!
As long as the heart of man is desperately wicked, there will always be threats.
And so, even today there is the threat of contamination upon the planet by the greedy acts of mankind.
We can pollute the streams and oceans, the air, and ourselves.
But, can we destroy the planet?
unequivocally, NO!!
There are at least two good reasons mankind cannot destroy the planet:
God’s sovereignty
I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
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Our English word dynasty is derived from Greek that underscores sovereign.
God’s promise
Twice in our text 3 times in the extended passage we read of God’s promise to us.
II. Can mankind save the planet?
II. Can mankind save the planet?
Again the answer is, NO!!
And here’s the reason.
A. It is not our planet.
A. It is not our planet.
We had nothing to do with it’s coming about.
We have no real idea of how fragile it is.
We cannot thwart the plans of Almighty God.
B. It is God’s planet created for His purpose.
B. It is God’s planet created for His purpose.
He created it by His word.
He set it and the universe in motion.
He has a predetermined time for it’s conclusion.
He is in control of the outcome. (Again His sovereignty)
It is literally held together by Christ Himself.
And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
III. Is mankind responsible for the planet?
III. Is mankind responsible for the planet?
Absolutely! Don’t ever think otherwise.
Twice in the opening chapters of Genesis, God appoints man to till the ground.
Once before He creates man.
before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;
And once after the fall.
therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
5647. עָבַד ʿâbad, aw-bad´; a prim. root; to work (in any sense); by impl. to serve, till, (caus.) enslave, etc.:—× be, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service, compel, do, dress, ear, execute, + husbandman, keep, labour (-ing man), bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve (-ing, self), (be, become) servant (-s), do (use) service, till (-er), transgress [from margin], (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper.
But, what happens when man doesn’t exercise responsibility?
Man reaps what he sows!
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
If we do not exercise good conservation practices, we will poison ourselves!
We cannot just dump everything down the drain so to speak!
We should be conscious of what we do to the environment and how we treat it.
Why?
Because God entrusted it to us!
What else happens when man doesn’t exercise responsibility?
God will intervene!
In the book of Jeremiah, God pronounces that Israel will go into Babylonian captivity for 70 Years, for their idolatry which caused them to disregard the Lord’s commands for 490 years. One of those commands was letting the fields rest every 7th year. They did not.
God told them what to expect back in Leviticus if they didn’t head His warning.
And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest— for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.
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Conclusion:
And so, three questions:
1. Can mankind destroy the planet?
2. Can mankind save the planet?
3. Is mankind responsible for the Planet?
Make no mistake about it, global warming is coming, but not the way people think. And, there is nothing anyone will be able to do about it. This is what should frighten the world!
We are all on borrowed time!
And, we shouldn’t be surprised that the whole world is running a million miles an hour in the opposite direction!
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
But my brothers and sisters, the good news is that Jesus has overcome the world!
We may be the minority, but we have the truth, and the Greta Thunberg’s out there need to hear the truth from us.
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
The truth that despite what will surely come about, Jesus is still the way, the truth, the life!