["In the Hall of the Mountain King"]
Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. Take you with your song book and turn to song number 51.
Song 51, Where It Will Never Grow Old.
Again, that's song number 51.
We're singing song number 51, where we'll never grow old.
Just giving our church lord and just giving us chance and opportunity to hear the word
of God preached, Lord, and to be edified and grow the faith and thank you all the
people that come together to hear the word of God preached, and I pray you bless
every one of them.
Let us all be filled with their spirit.
And so we come out of here being better Christians today, and we pray these things
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
All right, the next song we're going to sing is song number 36, When Christ Arose.
Again, that's song number 36, when Christ Arose.
Lo, in the grave He lay, Jesus, my Savior, waiting the coming day, Jesus, my Lord, come
from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o'er His lows, He arose a victor from
the dark domain, and He lives forever with His eggs to reign, He arose, He arose, hallelujah,
rise the rose, vainly they watched His bed, Jesus, my Savior, vainly they sealed
the dead, Jesus, my Lord.
Come from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o'er His lows, He arose a victor from
the dark domain, and He lives forever with His eggs to reign, He arose, He arose, hallelujah,
rise the rose, death cannot keep His praise, Jesus, my Savior, He tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord.
Come from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o'er His lows, He arose a victor
from the dark domain, and He lives forever with His eggs to reign, He arose, He arose,
hallelujah, rise the rose.
Thank you so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church.
If you need a bulletin, lift your hand nice and high.
One of the ushers can come by and get you a bulletin.
On the inside we have our service times, as well as our church-wide soul winning
times, and a couple regional times.
If you'd please make sure any soul winning maps that you take from the bin or given
to you, even if they're completed, still turn those in so we can make sure to mark
the map.
We want to make sure that we're really efficient with those.
If you have any soul winning map, please make sure to bring that back to the church,
and either put that in the completed bin, or give it to brother Dylan or me.
Just make sure that you get those turned in.
Also, on the right-hand side, we have the stats for the month and the year to date.
We also have a list of several expecting ladies, if you'd please be in prayer for all of them.
And then we have our prayer list.
If you have any other prayer requests throughout the week, you can send those in,
and we'll be discussing those in the mid portion of the week.
But just so you can be in prayer with everybody in our church.
On the back, we have some church reminders.
If you'd please make sure to just look at the church reminders,
and just get them ingrained in your heart, okay?
No, I'm just kidding.
But basically, we have a couple mother-baby areas.
Please feel free to use those at your discretion.
And we have basically the mother-baby room where it's birthed or pre-callers,
and a mother-toddler room where it's crawlers and walkers,
and no food and drink in those rooms.
Also, if you'd please use the church resources as soul-winning information, not as toys for your kids.
So, also please don't sit on any of those chairs stacked in the back.
We just don't want to create any safety hazards or anything like that.
That's just storage.
Imagine there's a wall there, okay?
Then you don't have to worry about it.
And then that'll happen in the future.
Drinks are for the soul winners also.
If you need any beverages, the fridge is usually stocked up with waters,
gatorades, anything like that, please make sure to grab several.
And definitely do it.
It's still very hot in the summer, so make sure to grab a couple waters.
Don't feel like it's a time to limit your amount.
If you want lots of water, grab lots of water, lots of gatorade.
Make sure you're drinking it as you go out soul-winning.
We don't want anybody to hurt themselves by all the heat out there.
And if you ride in the van, you need water, okay?
It's hot in there, all right?
So, also, if you have anything that you just put in the fridge,
just beware that it may leave the fridge, okay?
So, don't leave stuff over there overnight.
And also, we have a couple soul-winning marathons that are coming up,
some really exciting things.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, if you'd like to participate in that,
please email brotherfurr at steadfastbaptist.com.
See, he's going to be leading the charge up there,
and he's been doing a really good job.
I actually was up there this Thursday, and it was really good spirit.
It was really great to see them. I got to go soul-winning with them.
And it was one of the first people we talked to.
I think it was the first person I talked to up there.
He was one of the most receptive people
that I've talked to getting out soul-winning in a long time.
And so, it's really encouraging.
It doesn't happen all the time, but you'll meet those people out soul-winning,
and it just keeps encouraging you.
Man, there's other people out there.
He'd been a youth pastor for a long time,
and he'd just kind of fallen away from church,
but he was really interested in church, and he got saved.
And so, it was a great time out soul-winning with them.
And they have some new people that have joined the church up there.
So, if you ever get a chance, you can always check out OKC.
They have a lot of great people up there, really good spirit.
And they do a lot of great soul-winning too.
They get tons of people saved up there.
It's very receptive.
It's actually a lot of Spanish-speaking too, which is kind of interesting.
I never would have thought that.
But Oklahoma City has a ton of Hispanic people that only speak Spanish up there,
and so it's another opportunity also.
But if you'd be in prayer for the Tulsa Oklahoma City marathon,
even if you're not going to be able to make it,
but if you are, it'd be a great time of fellowship.
Also, Wichita Falls, we're going to have a soul-winning marathon in October 17th.
Really excited about this.
Wichita Falls, usually I just drive through it, but this time we'll stop.
And I think October is going to be the perfect time to go there.
It's like super humid and extremely hot throughout the summer.
It might even be worse or more hot and humid than it is here or even Houston.
So, it's a great time to go in October.
I'm really looking forward to this.
I would love to have everybody participate if that's possible.
And then also we have our Ecclesiastes chapter 1, we're on week number 4.
So, we'll be working on that.
I don't have an exact timeline of when we're going to end up moving our church,
but work has been going very well at the building.
We've been making a lot of great progress.
We're going to try and knock out a huge portion this week.
And then hopefully next week, God willing,
we might could even be finished with the major construction aspects.
So, if you just be in prayer, we have to get through a few inspections and things like that.
But if you just be in prayer for favor and that everything would go quickly,
we still have a lot of different things to take place.
But if all goes well, then basically after those two weeks,
I'd have one more week to buffer and then we could possibly make that transition.
But again, it'll be just kind of a soft transition just to kind of get over there.
And then we'll have like a big grand opening,
maybe three or four weeks after that soft transition.
Just to make sure we have all the kinks worked out, we get all the invites ordered,
and we can have our big family and friend day that we were hoping we were going to have back in the spring.
So, if you just be in prayer for that, I'm really excited about it.
Everything's going really well.
With that, let's go to our next song.
Psalm 126.
You could use your Bible or we have those handouts that are printed out as a separate literature
that has our songs in there from the Psalms.
Alright, this is Psalm 126.
Psalm 126.
The Lord had done great things for them
The Lord had done great things for us
Whereof he art glad
Turn again our captivity
The Lord has his dreams in the South
Then the sowing tears shall reap their joy
Then say they among the key
The Lord had done great things for them
The Lord had done great things for us
Whereof we art glad
We that goeth forth and weepeth
Merry, precious, he shall doubtless come again
Shall doubtless come again
With rejoicing, bringing his sheeps within
Then say they among the heat
Then the Lord had done great things for them
The Lord had done great things for us
Whereof we art glad
The play is being passed around.
Please turn your Bibles to Genesis chapter 2.
Genesis chapter 2.
In Genesis chapter 2, the Bible reads
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished
And all the host of them
And on the seventh day God ended his work
Which he had made
And he rested on the seventh day
From all his work which he had made
And God blessed the seventh day
And sanctified it
Because that in it he had rested from all his work
Which God created and made
These are the generations of the heavens
And of the earth when they were created
In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens
And every plant of the field before it was in the earth
And every herb of the field before it grew
For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth
And there was not a man to till the ground
But there went up a mist from the earth
And watered the whole face of the ground
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground
And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life
And man became a living soul
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden
And there he put the man whom he had formed
And out of the ground made the Lord God
To grow every tree that is pleasant to sight
And good for food
The tree of life also in the midst of the garden
And the tree of knowledge of good and evil
And a river went out of Eden to water the garden
And from thence it was parted
And became into four heads
The name of the first is Pison
That is it which compass the whole land of Hevilah
Where there is gold
And the gold of that land is good
There is Bedelim and the onyx stones
And the name of the second river is Gihon
The same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia
And the name of the third river is Hedekul
That is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria
And the fourth river is Euphrates
And the Lord God took the man
And put him into the garden of Eden
To express it and to keep it
And the Lord God commanded the man saying
Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat
But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil
Thou shalt not eat of it
For in the day that thou eatest thereof
Thou shalt surely die
And the Lord God said
It is not good that the man should be alone
I will make him and help meet for him
And out of the ground the Lord God formed
Every beast of the field and every fowl of the air
And brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them
And whatsoever Adam called every living creature
That was the name thereof
And Adam gave names to all cattle
And to the fowl of the air
And to every beast of the field
But for Adam there was not found and help me for him
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam
And he slept
And he took one of his ribs
And closed up the flesh instead thereof
And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man
Made a woman
And brought her unto the man
And Adam said
This is now a bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh
She shall be called woman
Because she was taken out of man
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother
And shall cleave unto his wife
And they shall be one flesh
And they are naked
The man and his wife
And we're not ashamed
Let's pray
Father we thank you this time for giving us to hear the word of God preached
I pray bless pastor Shelley right now
For whom the Holy Ghost so that he can teach the word of God
So that we can all be edified
And we pray that you also help keep all distractions to a minimum
And we pray this in Jesus name Amen
Amen
Look back at verse number four where the Bible read
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created
In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens
And every plant of the field before it was in the earth
And every herb of the field before it grew
For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth
And there was not a man to till the ground
But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground
So we have in Genesis chapter number two
More descriptions about God's creation of the world
And in fact how he created it
And we see that he's divinely acting on his own creation
And he's causing all different things to happen
But specifically I want to draw out a phrase here
And then I want to expand on this point
But notice what it says in verse number five
It says for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth
So the Bible says that God was not allowing rain to come on the earth
And notice how it's worded
He hadn't caused it to rain
So why would it rain?
Because God caused it to rain, right?
Isn't that what it's implying?
And obviously from the direct connection we can understand
At the first, God just allowed low level irrigation, right?
Just a mist to come up from the ground
And it watered all the earth
And that's how you have the plants and all these different things
And even certain agricultural systems will use this same type of methodology
Where the irrigation system is in the ground
It just kind of does a little bit of a mist
I know my father, he's really big into gardening
And he basically does a lot of tomato plants
Usually has almost a hundred or tomato plants or something like that every year
And he just puts a bunch of sprinkler heads, you know, or little tiny spouts
Right there by the plants
And they just mist a little bit at the bottom that he does every single day
And so it's a very ingenious way to water the ground
But God had not caused it to rain
And what I want to draw from this text
Is right at the very beginning God already tells us who's in control of the weather
It's him
God is in control of the weather
And the title of my sermon this morning
Is God is Burning California
God is Burning California
Now I'm going to take a while to get to that point
You hold that thought
But my first point in this sermon is that God controls the weather
God controls the weather
This is a super evident point in the Bible
In fact, I can't even scratch the surface
On how much Bible talks about this
We're going to try our best
Be prepared to look at a lot of verses here in a moment
But let's just race through the Bible for a moment through our mind
What happens very closely after this?
Genesis chapter number six, what happens?
Oh yeah, God destroys the entire earth with a flood
He was the direct cause of that
When we talk about Joseph and the end parts of Genesis, what happened?
God caused a huge famine to come on the entire earth
And he changed the landscape and economy of the entire earth through famine
How about with Moses, the ten plagues of Egypt
God causes the thunder and the hail and darkness upon the earth
We can see that God is literally covered with a cloud
God the Father, you can't even see him because he just covers himself with a cloud
And then you see the angel of the Lord
God actually goes by cloud by day and fire by night
And leads them through the wilderness
We have Elijah taken up in a whirlwind
We have all kinds of whirlwinds and tempest mentioned in the Bible
We see when we finally get to Jesus Christ
He calms the storms, doesn't he?
He can literally command the storms and they obey his voice
Even at the crucifixion, we notice irregular weather patterns
at the timing of the crucifixion to signify certain events that God wants to elevate
Also, Jesus Christ, when he ascends up, he ascends up with what?
With clouds
You see he's controlling the weather
And then when he comes back, what is he coming with?
Clouds, right?
And even in the book of Revelation, you have all kinds of crazy weather systems being affected by God himself
Now I'm going to prove this beyond a shadow
Go to Deuteronomy chapter 11
Go to Deuteronomy chapter number 11
And let me show you many other places in the Bible
Where it tells us explicitly that God controls the weather
And God causes different weather systems to happen on the earth
Deuteronomy chapter 11, now it's not always bad
In fact, it can also be good
And let's look at a couple good pictures here
Deuteronomy chapter number 11, verse number 14
That I will give you the rain of your land in its due season
The first rain and the latter rain
That thou mayest gather in thy corn and thy wine and thine oil
So God's talking about blessing the children of Israel and what he wants to do for them
And he says, I'll cause it to rain in order to bless your harvest, in order to bless your crops, in order to bless your agriculture, excuse me, to bless your economy
Go to Deuteronomy 28, Deuteronomy chapter number 28
Let's see another time where God says he's going to bless them with weather
Deuteronomy chapter 28, look at verse number 12
Now this is a very long chapter of the Bible
And basically the first tiny section is all about the blessings
And then the majority latter half is all about the cursings that God would pour out on people
Based on their obedience to his commandments
So in the first half it's saying when you follow his commandments, when you do that which is right, when you're walking in his ways
He says all the blessings he's going to give them
Look at verse 12
The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure
The heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season
And to bless all the work of thine hand
And thou shalt lend unto many nations and thou shalt not borrow
Tell China that, alright? No I'm just kidding
But notice what the Bible is saying that God has good treasure
That good treasure is where? It's in the clouds and he's going to open it up
It's that rain that he pours and in his season
You want rain at a very specific time in a season if you want it to bless your crops
And God knows that and God's going to bless you with rain in that season
If you're following his commandments, look at verse 15
But it shall come to pass if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God
To observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day
That all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee
So God then gives a list of all these different curses that are going to come upon them
Look at verse 24
The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust
From heaven shall it come down upon thee until thou be destroyed
God's saying when you break my commandments, when you're wicked
There's going to be a curse upon you and it's not going to rain water
It's not going to be that good treasure, rather it's going to be a drought
And so it's just going to be dust, it's just going to be dirt
That's the type of rain that's going to be coming upon you
And it's going to destroy you
Now go to Psalms 107, Psalms chapter 107, that's in the law
But in fact throughout the entire Bible
We see this picture of God commanding the weather
Of God organizing and utilizing weather to his benefit for his will and his purposes
Look at Psalms 107 verse 25
Psalms 107 verse 25, the Bible says
For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind
Now let me ask this question
Why is it that there was a stormy wind in verse 25?
Because God commanded
Notice God is still giving commands
God is still directing certain things
And when God commands the stormy wind, what happens?
It lifts up the waves thereof
It says in verse 26
They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths
Their souls melted because of trouble
They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man
And are at their wits end
Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble
And he bringeth them out of their distresses
This is verse 29
He maketh the storm a calm
So that the waves thereof are still
Then are they glad because they be quiet
So he bringeth them unto the desired haven
So we see the Bible saying God can control the weather
God just by his commandment can cause it to storm
By his commandment he can cause it to be calm
Now you know what this story makes me think of?
Because it's a picture perfect example of what?
Go to Matthew chapter number 8
The Bible says in Psalms 148
Fire and hail, snow and vapors, stormy wind fulfilling his word
The Bible gives a whole list of all different types of weather
It says the fire, the hail, the snow, the vapors, the stormy wind
They're all fulfilling God's word
Now we see God manifest in the flesh on this earth
And what kind of power, what kind of authority does he have over his creation?
Well look at Matthew chapter 8 verse 24
And behold there arose a great tempest in the sea
Insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves
But he was asleep talking of Jesus Christ
And his disciples came to him and woke him saying
Lord save us we perish
And he saith unto them why are ye fearful
O ye of little faith
Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea
And there was a great calm
But the men marveled saying what manner of man is this
That even the winds and the sea obey him
Notice that the winds obeyed Jesus Christ while he was on this earth
And that picture we had in Psalms 107
Isn't that a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ
How in the stormy winds he can just speak and it goes to a calm
And then they're at rest, then they're at peace
And you know when you're going through the storms of life
Jesus Christ wants you to say you know what don't be fearful
I'm in control of the storm
I'm the one that's going to guide you through the storms of life
Whether that be a physical storm or a spiritual storm or a personal storm
It doesn't matter
Jesus Christ is there with you
And at a moment's notice he can cause it to calm if he needs it to calm
But he told the disciples why even little faith
Saying you really think that a boat with Jesus Christ on it is just going to sink
Really think the Lord Jesus Christ is just going to allow them to just
Well we had this great time, Jesus was on this earth
He was going to do all this great work
But then they just drowned in the sea
They just got lost at sea or something
Bermuda Triangle right
But isn't that what people, people are afraid
You know people are afraid
Well if I raise my family to serve God
If we go to church and we have Jesus in our boat with us
If Jesus is in our house with us
If Jesus is in our church with us
Who cares what's going on outside
Who cares what storms are beating down
Jesus Christ is not going to let it sink
The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church
Hey if you've got Jesus in the boat
That's the only thing you've got to worry about
Now if Jesus jumps out of the boat
Now you're afraid
Now you've got some problems okay
But you know what Jesus Christ controls the weather
And not just physically even spiritually
And that's the point that he was making
Go to Ezekiel 14
But we're talking carnal this morning
For all you carnal Christians alright
I know that's what you need
Ezekiel 14 look at chapter 13
Or I'm sorry chapter 14 verse 13
The Bible says
Son of man
When the land sinneth against me
By trespassing grievously
Then will I stretch out mine hand upon it
And will break the staff of the bread thereof
And will sin famine upon it
And will cut off man and beast from it
Notice what God says
He says hey when you guys sin
When you guys do grievous wicked trespasses
What am I going to do
I'm going to bring a horrible famine upon your land
And you know what a famine is
It's a lack of moisture
It's a lack of rain on a land
Causing a drought
Causing the crops not to grow
Or perhaps it could be a bad storm
You know perhaps you have all these great crops
And it hasn't quite been harvested
And God brings in hail
God brings in a horrible storm to come
And wipe out your crops
But whatever it is
It's almost always due to
Some type of weather irregularity
Go to Nahum chapter 1
Nahum chapter number 1
Jonah chapter 1
Let's think about Jonah
Verse 4 I'll read for you
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea
And there was a mighty tempest in the sea
So that the ship was like to be broken
We always think about the fact that God sent a whale
But you know what He sent first
Was a great wind
He first sent a storm
And that's what caused all the people on the boat to freak out
And caused them to want to throw Jonah into the sea
Okay
And this is what happens
Whenever you're godly
Whenever you're righteous
There's going to be the storms of life
And those that are not saved freak out
And they're like just kill them
Just get rid of them
And guess who they blame
All the storms on Jonah
Right
And obviously it is his fault
We understand that from the story
But the wicked are always going to blame the righteous
For everything bad that happens to them
They're always going to look at Jesus
It's Jesus' fault that all these bad things are happening
It's Christianity
If we got rid of all the Christian morals in this nation
We'd be so much better off
You know we just got rid of that Bible
And all the hate that comes from the Bible
And all these different things
But what we have to understand is
It's them that are causing the problems often cases
And it was because of Jonah's disobedience
That actually brought that type of trouble
That type of evil upon them
It was not from being righteous
It was not from doing that which is godly
It's when people turn away from God
It's when people aren't serving God
That the storms of life come sent from God on purpose
Jonah was in rebellion to God
And what did God do?
He sent a storm after him didn't he?
Oh but that would never happen in the New Testament
That would never happen, oh it does happen
And it will happen
Now look at Nahum chapter 1 verse 3
The Bible says the Lord is slow to anger
And I think because of that phrase right there
Is why people don't get this
They would expect that if you say something bad about God
Immediate lightning strike
And I would love that
I'd love our protester out here
He blasphemes God and just immediate lightning strike
And he dies
Now we don't have him
I don't know where he went
Maybe he died and went to hell hopefully
But he'll probably be back
That was too easy ok
Anyways I'd rather see something
I would like to see something more dramatic anyways
You know a pitfall into hell or something
But the Bible says that the Lord is slow to anger
So often times people
They can commit horrible sin
Grievous sin for a very long period of time
Before God actually ends up punishing them
Before God actually ends up sending his wrath
That's not to say that God's not just
It's just that he's also very long suffering
It's also that he's very merciful and very gracious
In reality if we look at our world today
We constantly want people to be burnt up
We constantly want people to be destroyed
And God's not doing it
That should just be evident
Of the fact that God's so much more long suffering than we are
Hey when I look at some of the wicked people today
When I look at Joe Biden's face
Or Nancy Pelosi's face
Or Hillary Clinton's face
Or Bill Clinton's face
Or Jeffrey Epstein's buddies
Any of these people
I mean we just want immediate justice don't we
How is God allowing them to still walk this planet
And breathe his air
It's because he's long suffering
It's because he's gracious and he's of mercy
I mean you could not look at these wicked people
And not say God's not merciful
When he hasn't burnt them up already
He hasn't destroyed them already
God allows them to exist
To treasure up more wrath against themselves
And to fulfill his will and his purposes
And just gather more trash under them
But what you have to understand is
God is slow to anger
But that does not mean he will not judge
He will bring his judge
The problem is his judgments are like a hammer
And it says great in power
And will not at all acquit the wicked
You got to couple that with the long suffering
Did he say that the wicked can get away?
No
He'll never acquit the wicked
You're not going to get away with anything
No one ever gets away
God is not mocked
But what so ever man soweth that shall he also reap
You want to get away with your sin
Get saved
Okay
You won't go to hell
But then on top of that
If you don't want to get punished on this earth
You better confess and forsake that sin
Because God is not going to acquit wicked sin
Now let's keep reading this verse
The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind
And in the storm
And the clouds are the dust of his feet
Notice how he describes how the weather works
He's saying the clouds are like the dust
I just run
And then basically I create clouds
Just with the dust of my feet
He says he has his way in the whirlwind
So who's in control of these things?
Who's causing these things?
Where are they coming from?
I mean the Bible is super clear actually
Is it not?
Go to Job chapter 1
I'll read another verse for you
Ezekiel 13, 13
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God
I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury
And there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger
And great hellstones in my fury to consume it
So the Bible says that God actually will use storms as a great judgment against wickedness
God will use the weather to afflict people and to torment them
And to cause his judgment to be poured out on them
Now in trying to think about this sermon
Because really just let your Bible just fall open
You can probably find some way that God's impacting the weather
But I try to think of a story where maybe it's not him impacting the weather
And this is the closest thing I could come to
But here's the facts
He's always still in control
Here's the closest example I could think of
Job chapter 1, look at verse 18
While he was yet speaking
So talking about a servant coming to Job
Talking about all the horrible things that are happening
There came also another and said
Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house
And behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness
And smote the four corners of the house
And it fell upon the young men
And they are dead
And I only am escaped going to tell thee
Now in Job chapter 1
In this context, we understand this great wind is actually coming from the devil
The devil had the power
The devil had the authority to cause a great wind to come upon a house
And to literally wipe out his entire family
Which is a horrible sad story
So you say, okay, so it could be God or it could be the devil
Well, let's actually check this
And see if it was really the devil that was at the top of the food chain
On this decision
Go to chapter verse 10
If we back up, it says
Thou not made an hedge about him
Talking about Job
And about his house
And about all that he hath on every side
Thou has blessed the work of his hands
And his substance is increased in the land
But put forth thine hand now
And touch all that he hath
And he will curse through thy face
So the devil's asking God to do what?
He's asking God to touch him
He's asking God to stretch forth his hand
He's asking for God to allow this evil to come upon him
And God uses the devil to fulfill his will
Of that storm coming upon those people
So ultimately it's still God
And let me prove this even more
Go to Job chapter 2
Job chapter 2
Cause you say, well, the devil asked that
But then the devil did it
Well the devil only could do it because God allowed it
And God is actually the one causing this
Let me prove this
Look at Job chapter 2 verse 3
And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job?
That there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil
And still he holdeth vast his integrity
Although thou moveth me against him
To destroy him without a cause
So notice who God says is to blame for all this evil that's coming upon Job
Him
He says thou moveth me
So God is still the one that's causing all these things to happen
Yeah, he might allow the devil to intervene
He might use the ten kings to destroy Babylon
But you know what, he was putting his will into their hearts to cause them to destroy Babylon
He's putting his will into the devil to fulfill his purpose of doing all these evil things unto Job
To test Job, to prove Job and all the other things that are related
So let me say this
We've already seen that God causes the weather
God is in control of the weather
God is the one making all these decisions and allowing these things to happen
But God will also allow us to influence him about weather
So while God's in control and God's the ultimate cause
He allows others to influence his decisions about the weather
Let me prove this
Go to Psalms 83
Psalms 83
God will listen to your prayers about weather
Let me prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt from the Bible
Psalms 83
Look at verse number 13
Oh my God
Make them like a wheel
As the stubble before the wind
As the fire burneth the wood
And as the flame seteth the mountains on fire
So persecute them with thy tempest
And make them afraid with thy storm
Fill their faces with shame
That they may seek thy name, O Lord
Let them be confounded and troubled forever
Let them be put to shame and perish
Why?
That men may know that thou
Whose name alone is Jehovah
Art the most high over all the earth
Not the Jehovah's false witness, the real Jehovah, okay?
And notice why this guy's praying this prayer
It's against the enemies of the Lord
He wants God to destroy them with weather
So that people would fear God
And people would turn to the Lord
So people would know who the real God is
God is in control of the weather
Which is an evident token of the fact that he's God
That he's the one in control
He's the one that's making these decisions
And so God will affect the weather
Go to James chapter number 5
James chapter number 5
So we actually have an example for you
So we actually have an example prayer
Of someone praying the Bible for weather
Now was that a good prayer or a bad prayer?
Now, obviously it's a good prayer in its nature
But its essence is negative towards the enemies of the Lord
He wants God to destroy his enemies with a storm
With weather patterns
He wants to tear them up with a tempest
And make them afraid with thy storm
You know what'll strike terror in your heart?
A lightning bolt striking right next to you
Now I've experienced this and it is terrifying
I mean it doesn't matter if you're saved or unsaved
It'll level the playing field real quick
I remember coming out of a movie theater
And I believe I was with my wife
But we were going to try and come out of a movie theater
There was a fire hydrant
And I would say 20 to 25 feet away
It was kind of an extended sidewalk for the movie theater
It was kind of elongated
At the edge of the sidewalk was a fire hydrant
It was right in front of the exit
So we're like walking out and storming
And a lightning bolt literally hits that fire hydrant
And lights it up
And I mean it's the loudest crack and sound you'll ever hear
I mean it's just terrifying
Women are just instantly crying and screaming
You know
Like it's just like
You know it's just like
And they're just crying and weeping
And basically you know a couple guys went to get their trucks
They drove them like all the way up the sidewalk
Up to the door
And were trying to get women in the car
Just because it was so terrifying
Just that loud just spike
And I mean you can even feel it
If you're that close to a lightning or something like that
The hair will stand up on the back of your neck
You can kind of feel the electricity in the air
It's a terrifying feeling
Because that thing could just smoke you man
And playing a lot of golf
I mean lightning was a constant thread I guess
Or whatever
You're supposed to stay kind of away from trees
And you're supposed to be careful
If there's any kind of lightning they'd usually cancel the tournament
Or temporary suspended or anything like that
And I mean lightning can be a very terrifying thing
That's what God uses to strike terror in the hearts of men
He'll just bring the lightning
He'll bring the thunderbolt
He'll bring both of them upon you
And it's terrifying
Look at James 5 verse 17
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are
And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain
And it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months
And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain
And the earth brought forth her fruit
So in James chapter 5 we have the apostle James
Bringing up a story from the Old Testament
And he's expanding upon it
He's just basically expounding what happened
He's saying look you know why it didn't rain?
Because Elias prayed
Because Elijah prayed
Elijah prayed that it wouldn't rain
Didn't rain
Then he prayed that it would rain
And then it rained
Let's go back to that story
Go to 1 Kings chapter 17
1 Kings chapter 17
Notice that the man has power over the weather through praying to God
By his prayers to God he can affect the weather patterns
And why is it causing a drought?
Well, Ahab's a wicked king
They're into complete wickedness
And the northern kingdom of Israel is just worshipping all kinds of false gods
He married Jezebel, that wicked woman influencing him in all manner of evil
And so Elijah is there to rebuke Ahab and to rebuke these different people
It says in 1 Kings chapter 17 verse 1
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab
As the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand
There shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word
Now that's an interesting phrasing
Notice what he said
He said hey it's not going to rain here according to my word
He says I'm going to basically make it where it's not going to rain here
It says and the word of the Lord came on him saying
Get the ends and turn the eastward and hide thyself by the brook Kireth
That is before Jordan
So, Elijah's praying that it's not going to rain
And God tells him well go by this brook and just hide out for a little while
Well it says in verse 7
And it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up
Because there had been no rain in the land
And the word of the Lord came unto him saying Arise
Get thee to Zarephath which belongeth to Zidane and dwell there
Behold I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee
So we have Elijah praying that it's not going to rain
God sends him to this brook
All the water is drying up in the land because there's no rain
And then he has to go to Zarephath
Which is a very wicked place by it's just geology
It's an enemy of Israel typically
So it kind of makes sense God's just wanting to hide there
Because Ahab's going to think he's not Zarephath
He's not Zidane
He wouldn't go hide there
So he hides at this poor widow woman
And it says in chapter 18 verse number 1
And it came to pass after many days
That the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying
Go show thyself in Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth
Now just as a nugget
It has really nothing to do with our story
But let me explain this verse for a moment
Because some people would take James
And they say it contradicts with this portion
Atheists will try to say the Bible has contradictions
Because it said three and a half years
And James and this says in the third year
So that doesn't sound like three and a half years
Well let me explain this really quickly
First of all, in the third year of what?
Does it even say no?
But if you read the context it's crystal clear what he's trying to say
He's talking about being in Zarephath with this widow woman
And then it says in the third year of what?
Being in Zarephath, right?
Some people attach this to Ahab raining
And they'll say, oh he started at Ahab's rain
And then the third year of Ahab's rain
So that's not three and a half years
Well look, holy men spake
Or holy men spake
Or holy men of God spake as they're moved by the Holy Ghost
So in James chapter five it's three and a half years
And guess what? This is also the third year
But it's not the third year of Ahab's rain
I don't believe that
That doesn't make any sense
Basically how you can understand the story is
He probably hung out at the brook Hireth for about six months
And then he was in Zarephath for what?
Three years
And then the prophet with the Holy Ghost teaching him how long it was
Said three and a half years
But it was three and a half years, okay?
There's no contradictions in the Bible, okay?
If you think there's a contradiction, you're wrong
Every time, okay?
Just wait and let someone explain it to you
And there's been times where I've looked at things in the Bible
And said I don't really understand that
But then later you end up figuring it out
Later someone teaches on it
And you're like, wow, I've never seen it that way, okay?
But that's how we explain the story
And it's interesting here too
I want to make one more point
Not everything could always be discerned from the Old Testament text by itself
Notice that the New Testament has to tell us it was three and a half years
You can't figure that out in the Old Testament
Which is another evident proof that these guys weren't just using their own information
They were given information by the Holy Ghost
You don't see Enoch talking in the Old Testament
But then we have what he said in the New Testament
Why? Because the Holy Ghost knows what they said
The Holy Ghost knows what they did
The Holy Ghost knows it was three and a half years
So let the New Testament tell you what the Old Testament means
Let the New Testament tell you what really happened in the story
And it says in verse 41
And Elijah said to Ahab, get thee up, eat and drink
For there is a sound of abundance of rain
So Ahab went up to eat and to drink
And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel
And he cast himself down upon the earth
And put his face between his knees
So we can understand what is Elijah doing
He's going up to this mountain
He's praying for it to rain
So he prayed that it would not rain
Then he goes up to the mountain and he prays that it will rain
What happens? Verse 43
And he said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea
And he went up and looked and said, there is nothing
And he said, go again seven times
Now why is it bringing this up?
What was the point of James chapter number five?
Was it that you just pray and things happen?
No, it was that the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much
And we see Elijah, he's not just giving
Oh, it didn't happen, okay, give up
Nope, then he's going to pray again
And then he's just going to pray again
And he's going to pray again until it happens
He's just going to keep praying and keep trusting in God
And notice what happens
It says
And he went up and looked and there is nothing
And he said, go again seven times
And it came to pass at the seventh time
That he said, behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea
Like a man's hand
And he said, go up, say unto Ahab, prepare thy chariot
And get thee down
That the rain stopped thee not
And it came to pass in the meanwhile
That the heaven was black with clouds and wind
And there was a great rain
And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel
So notice what happens
Elijah prays, he says, go check and see if there's any clouds
None, alright, pray more
Go check and see if there's any clouds
Nope, alright, come back
And then on the seventh time, what happens?
There's this hand just coming out
This hand, this cloud, you know, just coming right at them
And then it just rains like crazy
Why? Because men can influence God to affect the weather
Men can influence God to affect the weather
Now that's pretty incredible when we think about the impact that you could have
Go to Psalms chapter number 19
What's the purpose then, Pastor Shelley?
Why is God causing all these different weather patterns?
Why can we influence God as far as the weather is concerned?
Well, my third point is that God uses weather to speak to us
God uses the weather to speak to us
Now, look what it says in Psalms 19, verse 1
The Bible says
The heavens declare the glory of God
And the firmament showeth his handiwork
Day unto day uttereth speech
And night unto night showeth knowledge
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard
Their line is gone out through all the earth
And their words to the end of the world
End them
Had they set a tabernacle for the sun
Now, we have to understand about this verse
Is God uses carnal truths to expound spiritual truths
The carnal truth is that we can all see the sun rising
It always rises in what? The east
And it sets in the west
How did Jesus do that?
Well, he said, He said,
And it sets in the west
How did Jesus Christ enter into Jerusalem from the east?
Okay
And what you have to understand is these are pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ doing what?
Rising again from the dead
We have day to day, we just see the sun rise every day
Like clockwork
And it's never going to not happen
Until it's all destroyed
But it's just not going to stop happening
Why?
It's just a picture of his everlasting salvation
His everlasting resurrection
Day to day, we can see his handiwork
Day to day, we see the creation of God
Hey, they're without excuse is what the Bible says
The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen
Being understood by the things that are made even to the eternal power
And God had, so they're without excuse
How can you look at this world and not understand that God exists?
How can you see the clouds and the heavens and the lightnings and everything
And just say, oh, it just happened
How can you say that lightning striking a rock caused us?
Every time lightning strikes something, it's destroyed
It's smoked
I mean, fire, destruction
You expect me to believe that lightning
Where did the lightning come from?
Where did the rocks come from?
Where did any of this come from?
It all came from God
God created it
And you know what? God speaks to us through his creation every single day
Hey, the fact that the sun is the exact same size
And just goes in this perfect pattern over our head every single day
Every single day
You know what that proves?
It proves that the earth is a sphere and rotating
Because that's the only way that that's possible
The only way that that's possible
If you see something perfectly moving around you in a perfect pattern
And it's the same size all the way through
It's because you're spinning
That's the evidence
And it's easy
Just go outside, just look
It's just like, it goes up
Read Ecclesiastes, right? Our chapter
The sun ariseth
Okay, and it sets and then it hastens back to its place
Every single day
The sun, the moon, the stars
It teaches us so much about God
And it's constantly uttering its voice
And I don't care if you speak Mandarin
I don't care what language you speak
You can tell the earth's not flat
You can tell that God created the heavens and the earth
You can see his handiwork
You can see his power
You can see his might
I mean, when the men of God looked in the heavens
They said, what is man that thou art mindful of him?
I mean, when you look at the comparison of what God has created
How can he entrust everything to us?
How did he give us dominion over everything?
What a great honor that he's given unto us
You know what? He uses his weather to speak to us too
Go to Amos chapter 4, let me prove this
Amos chapter number 4
God is going to use weather to try and grab your attention
To try and wake you up
To try and talk to you and try to instruct you
Now look what it says in Amos chapter number 4
Verse number 4
It says, come to Bethel and transgress
At Gilgal, multiply transgression
And bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after three years
And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven
And proclaim and publish the free offerings
For this liketh you, O you children of Israel, saith the Lord God
Now, please understand this
Verses 4 and 5, he's not telling them what to do
He's mocking them
He's sarcastically rebuking them
And joking at them
Now, I understand that your little soft, you know, weak heart
Can't handle mocking and ridicule
But let me explain something to you
The Bible is full of mocking and rebuke
It's full of constant joking and ridicule
God is mocking these sinners
Saying, oh yeah guys, why don't you just show up at Bethel and transgress
Why don't you just go to Sin City
Why don't you just go to Vegas then, buddy
Why don't you just go there and go down the boardwalk
With all the whores and the whoremongers
And play and gamble, why don't you do it
He says, and at Gilgal, multiply transgression
He said, don't just go there
Go into the casino, you know
Go to San Francisco, multiply transgression
He says, and bring your sacrifices every morning
And your tithes after three years
That's a little delinquent, huh
Verse 5, and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving
Notice this, with leaven
Are you supposed to offer thanksgiving with leaven?
Are we supposed to bring leaven into the church and then worship God with leaven in the church?
But we're so thankful
We're thankful for Adam Fannin being here this morning
So that he could bless us
We want to thank God with leaven this morning
I know he railed and lied about a ton of people
And has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt for doing it
But we're just so glad he's here
So that he could lie to us too
I don't want to
Sorry, he's just a perfect analogy for everything
That was not in my notes, alright
But we see that he's mocking them for their transgressions
He says, proclaim and publish the free offerings
For this likeeth you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord
Verse 6, this is what he says about them
And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities
Now, you would say, are they going to the dentist?
Like, Pastor Shelley, that doesn't sound bad
Like, we need to all go to the dentist more often
Now, cleanness of teeth is saying because you don't have any food in it
It's saying because you've been starving
It's because you don't have anything to eat
If your teeth aren't clean, it's because it's full of food
It's because you've been chowing down
So if you have cleanness of teeth, it's saying you're not eating
That's what he's trying to tell you there
It's not about brushing your teeth
Now you should, but that's different
He says, in want of bread and all your places
Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord
So notice he says, hey, even though you had nothing to eat
I was trying to get that to wake you up so that maybe you'd come back to me
But you didn't
Look at verse 7
And also I have withholden the rain from you
When there were yet three months to the harvest
And I caused it to rain upon one city
And caused it not to rain upon another city
One peace was rained upon
And the peace whereupon it rained not withered
So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water
But they were not satisfied
Yet have they not returned unto me, saith the Lord
So notice God's causing it not to rain on the city
And instead of just getting right with God, what do they do?
They have to go to another city and steal their water
They all wander under another city trying to figure out how to get water
Rather than just praying and asking God to forgive them
Rather than just getting right
Rather than realizing the reason why you're not having rain
Is because God's mad at you
He wanted you to do what?
He wanted you to return unto him
It says in verse 9
I have smitten you with blasting and mildew
When your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased
The Palmer worm devoured them
Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord
Verse 10
I have sent among you the pestilence
After the manner of Egypt
Your young men have I slain with the sword
And have taken away your horses
And I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils
Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord
I have overthrown some of you
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
And you as a firebrand plucked out of the burning
Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord
Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel
And because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel
For lo, he that formeth the mountains
And notice this
And createth the wind
And declereth unto man what is his thought
That maketh the morning darkness
And treadeth upon the high places of the earth
The Lord, the God of hosts, is his name
Look at that, Jehovah's false witness
There's another name, all right?
But what I want to point out
He's literally burning these places like Sodom and Gomorrah
And they still won't wake up
All of their economy is being destroyed
He's not raining upon them
He's bringing wind upon them
He's bringing all this destruction upon them
And they're still not turning to God
But God is trying to use the weather to wake them up
Saying, look, you know why you're so cursed
You know why there's all this destruction upon you
It's because you're wicked
Because you're transgressing against me
And look, God is burning California today
Because it is wicked
It is wicked
And if you don't know
I'm going to give you a couple articles, okay?
It is crazy what's happening in California
It is crazy
And you say, why are you talking about this?
Well, I want to give you a good example
It seems like the Bible's pretty clear
Why weather happens
Why people be burned up
Listen to this title and article
In just a week
Wildfires burn 1 million acres in California
The Associated Press
And that's this week
It says, weary firefighters in California
Raised Saturday to slow the spread of wildfires
That burned nearly 1 million acres statewide in a week
And destroyed hundreds of homes
Ahead of expected weather change
That could bring more lightning strikes
Like the ones that sparked many of the blazes
So they're saying lightning strikes
Are causing fires to start all over California
And it's already burned at least a million acres
This is what it says
Two clusters of wildfires in the San Francisco Bay Area
Grew to become the second and third largest wildfires
In recent state history by size
So you're saying San Francisco specifically
Has had the second and largest fires
At the same time
Recently
I'm shocked
Go to Psalms chapter 9
Go to Psalms chapter number 9
This is from the Associated Press
Which is basically the mouthpiece for the government, okay?
It's not like a godly Christian news article station
Oh, it's Fox News, well it's not godly either
Associated Press, now
Let me read you another title of an article that I saw
It's from the Daily Mail
Driving Through Hell
Driving Through Hell is the title of the article from the Daily Mail
I mean this thing has gotten all kinds of eyeballs on it
It's been on major publications
The main headline in fact of the Drudge Report
It was the number one title of all the articles
It says horrifying footage shown
The scenes from a car driving through the raging flames
Of the Hennessey fire in Napa County
As heavy smoke filled the air and burning trees overhead
Dangerously threatened to topple
Maybe you shouldn't call it Hennessey
At least six people have been killed
As a staggering 560 fires
Continue to spread uncontrollably
Across the state of California
They have 560 fires
All at the same time
In the whole state of California going on right now
And they have these pictures, I watched the video
I mean it literally does look like hell
I mean it's just fire everywhere
Except for the road that the guy's just driving through
I don't know why
I guess he's crazy or whatever
But look what the Bible actually says
Psalms chapter number 9
Look at verse 17
The wicked shall be turned into hell
And all the nations that forget God
God says if you're a wicked nation
If you forget God
You know what? You're gonna literally be hell on earth
Hell on earth
And notice we literally have articles from the ungodly saying
Hey it's like hell on earth here in California
Oh I think that's a coincidence
No it's because they're wicked
And you say well how did these things happen?
They said lightning strikes right?
Listen to this article
This is the title
Nearly 11,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours ignite more than 300 fires in California
11,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours
I feel like God's mad
11,000?
That's incredible
It says over the past 72 hours California has experienced a historic lightning siege
Said Jeremy Rahn, division chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
So even just the unsaved, the ungodly
They're just like we're just getting lit up with lightning and fire
And now what you have to understand about California is they also have like the Santa Ana winds
So it's dry because why? No rain
Then they have these great winds swirling through
Then they have lightning strikes just attacking and causing all these fires
And then with that wind it's just blowing all this fire everywhere on their state
Huh I wonder who's in control of the wind and the rain and the lightning
Oh yeah it's God
It's God that's in control of those things
Now all these people should basically be getting right with God
Right they should get on their knees and say God please spare us
God please stop striking our country and our state and our lands and just destroying everything
This is what they say
Wildfires and climate change
Climate change primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels
Is increasing the frequency and severity of wildfires
Not only in California but also all over the world
So you have just constant lightning strike
Constant just swarming fires and just destruction
And all kinds of crazy things that have never been seen at this scale
And they say climate change
Because you drive a truck in Texas you're destroying
Because you're going to eat a steak for lunch or a burger
I'm not joking
You think I'm joking?
That's literally what they do
But go to Isaiah chapter 29
Go to Isaiah chapter 29
Let me tell you the reason why it's happening
It's not climate change
Because God causes climate change
It's God
It's God that's causing these things to happen
And it's God that's bringing this destruction upon California
And it's California that needs to get right with God
If they don't want their entire state to be wiped off the planet
Because God is showing he's angry
And I can understand why
But look at Isaiah 29 verse 6
Look what the Bible says
Thou shalt be visitor to the Lord of hosts
Notice this
With thunder
And with earthquake
And great noise
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire
Now what describes California better than that verse?
I mean who has the most earthquakes?
So yeah, California
Who has the most lightning?
I think I looked up maybe China has a lot too
But that's a different story
I mean they're giving the most lightning
The most earthquakes
The storms and the tempest
And you know what?
They literally have flames of devouring fire
Just devouring all kinds of portions of their land
And homes
And running through their state
You say, why is this happening Pastor Shelley?
Well, did you know that California leads in abortions annually?
It has the most abortions
132,000 annually
Think about that divided by 365
How many babies are killed every single day?
There needs to be more lightning strikes
It has the most number of LGBTQ people
1.8 million
That's a lot
1.8 million
That's like all of Fort Worth or something
I mean that's more than most cities that are huge
1.8 million
The percentage of those people that are raising children
So it says the percentage of that 1.8 million raising children is 24%
A quarter
I mean we're talking like three, four hundred thousand faggots raising kids
I bet there's a lot of cries at night
Among the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas
San Francisco has the highest percentage of people who identify as freaks
As disgusting filth
6.2%
And that's what they're public about
I've seen other statistics say it's 15% in San Francisco
15%? That's disgusting
It's wicked
You look at me like, why is it not already destroyed? I don't know
Because God's so long suffering
God's so merciful
He let Sodom get to the point where it was 99.99999%
And then he wiped it out
You think about California, oh yeah they have Hollywood
They have some of the most prolific drug users
Just walk on the streets
Homeless people, fornication
I mean this is one of the most ungodly, wicked places on the planet
Oh it's shocking to me that God's just burning it up with fire
Just like Sodom and Gomorrah, right?
Now it's just a coincidence
Oh it's because of climate change
You're a science denier, Pastor Shelley
I don't deny science
The reality is that God caused the weather
That God is burning California
In fact, you say, oh well it's always been like that
Nope
1932, since 1932 they've been measuring all these wildfires
In California
The 10 largest
So the 10 largest wildfires that have been spread in California since 1932
All of them happened after 2000
And the largest ones have been either 2018 or this one
I don't know, it's basically
You'd have to look up different articles that said different things
One said 2018, another one said 2020
I don't know if one was behind the other in time or something
But how come it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse?
Climate change
Right?
Well here's my fourth point
Don't blame weather on climate change
Yeah, right
Go to Jeremiah chapter 14
Now I printed out an article
22 devastating effects of climate change, alright?
Now I'm not going to read all 22
And I'm not even going to read most of it
I'm just going to give you the highlights of some of the things they said
But they said in number 4
Western wildfires could burn up to 8 times as much land by 2100
So they're saying, oh if we don't fix this climate change issue
We could burn up 8 times more of the land
8 million square feet or whatever, I don't know
Number 6, they said hurricanes could become up to 11% more intense
And 20% wetter by 2100
Number 7, 4 times as many New Yorkers could live in areas that flood by 2050
Now New Yorkers, they have the highest percentage of fags per like
Capita or resident or maybe just in total population
Because they're so much bigger than any other city
But they have a lot of fags, ok?
Tons
So what do they say? They're floods, more hurricanes, more fires
Number 10, they say global weed and maize yields are already beginning to decline
Famine
So they say, you know what's on the horizon for the world?
Fire, bigger hurricanes, more floods, famines
14, increased droughts will make the driest regions even drier
So it says even more droughts
15, 63% of major wine regions could be jeopardized
So it's going to hurt the wine
Maybe you're paying attention to what's...
It's going to hurt the wine production
That sounds like something I read in Revelation maybe
17, Atlanta and New York could see twice as many days of thunderstorms by 2100
Now this one is just weird
Verse 21 a point
Some animals are shrinking
I'm going to read this one because it's weird
It has like this horse and then this little tiny thing next to it
It says an artist's rendering of the early horse Hira Cotherium alongside a modern day horse
Researchers found that Hira Cotherium body size decreased 19% during a global warming event
about 53 million years ago
So apparently 53 million years ago they went through the same global warming crisis that we are
and they noticed their animals were shrinking
It said that their horses became the size of dogs
With such accuracy
You're such a science denier if you don't accept that
And then number 22, an additional 20 million more children will go hungry by 2050
So you know what, the dialogue, let me explain this
The dialogue has already been set
That when God constantly pours out his wrath on this world
What are they going to always say?
Oh, climate change
Flood's climate change
Hurricane, climate change
Fire's climate change
And it's always the Republicans' fault
It's Trump's fault
Trump's basically eating all those burgers or whatever
It's the Christians' fault
It's the gas guzzlers in Texas
We need to all live in a commune and you can't ride a Segway by Tesla
Sorry, this wasn't an infomercial, alright
They're going to just always blame it on climate change
Aren't they?
They're always going to have an excuse
Even in Revelation when God's pouring out his wrath
It could never be more manifest
They still don't repent of their sins
They still don't repent of the works of their hands
They're still clinging to their idols
They're still clinging to their false gods
But you know what?
We as God's people should not fall for this false narrative
And be like, oh, it's climate change
No, God causes the climate change
And you know what?
God's in control of the weather
And God's using this to demonstrate how angry he is with the wicked
He's angry at the wicked every day
Look at Jeremiah 14 verse 1
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth
So God's going to tell him about a dearth
A dearth is an extreme famine
Okay
But the liberals will say, oh, climate change
Look at verse 22
And this is a great chapter
If you read this whole chapter, it really fits in well with our sermon
But look at verse 22
Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles
Notice this
That can cause rain
Or can the heavens give showers?
Art not thou he, O Lord our God?
Therefore we will wait upon thee, for thou hast made all these things
You know what we just did?
We instantly proved climate change is a hoax
Climate change is false
The Bible says, hey, can the Gentiles do anything to cause rain?
And what does God say?
No
You say, oh, you know, through all of our pollution
And all these things we're doing in the environment
We're causing all these effects to the weather
Nope
Zero
You say, well, maybe I should have less steak
I just want to help out with the environment
Bad idea
The steak tastes great
Hey, I don't want to have this gas guzzler, you know
Look, the Bible tells you
You can't affect the weather on your own
The unsaved can't do anything to the weather
The only person in control of the weather is God
God is the one that causes all the weather patterns
Quit blaming it on climate change
Don't get sucked into their narrative
Well, I studied the science and I understand that all these people
And all these, you know, carbon emissions that they're having coming out
Is raising the global temperature of the earth
Look, you're falling for their trap
God already told you it's not possible
You can't, I don't care what you think
Now the devil, obviously, given instruction from God
Could change the weather
But at the end of the day, it's not you on your own will
It's only if God allows it
Go to Psalms 11, Psalms 11, we're almost finished this morning
Amos chapter 3, because we read Amos chapter 4 all about
How God was trying to use weather to talk to these people
And cause them to return to Him
In the chapter right before, Amos chapter 3 says
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city
And the people not be afraid
Shall there be evil in a city
And the Lord hath not done it
The Bible says, hey, if something bad's happening
If there's some kind of harm in a city
You know who did that? God did!
You say, hey, where did all these fires come in California, Pastor Shelley?
From God
God is burning California as a warning
To all those that reject Him
As a wake up sign to say, hey, you don't like fire now
You're not gonna like fire in hell either
And if you forget God and you reject God
God will burn you up
And you know what, that's not the only natural disaster that happens in this planet
Do you know who's responsible for all of them? God
You say, I don't know if you should blame God
Look, God told me that in the Bible
I'm just believing the Bible this morning
You open your Bible, you just read
Just read a couple chapters, I guarantee you'll see something about that
It's just like everywhere in the Bible
It's on every page
God's in control
Psalms 11 verse 5
The Lord tried the righteous
But the wicked and him that loveth violence
His soul hated
I love this song
Upon the wicked he shall rain snares
Fire and brimstone
And a horrible tempest
This shall be the portion of their cup
You know, he's not doing that in hell
He's gonna do that on the earth
God is gonna rain fire and have these tempest
And these storms on the earth against the wicked
He destroys the wicked through storms
Read your Bible
Just let it fall open
It's called the flood, you know
It's called Sodom and Gomorrah, it's a great story
At least how God feels about it
Exodus chapter 9, last place of return, Exodus chapter 9
Let me give you one more proof
Look, God will literally burn your city
If you reject it
If you thumb your nose at God
If you're wicked
If you're transgressing exceedingly
God will rain all kinds of evil
And horrible, unimaginable things upon you
Read about Pharaoh
Read about the wicked people before the time of the flood
Read anywhere in your Bible
You say, well, that's Old Testament
Read Revelation
That hasn't even happened yet
And you can already see the climate deniers
You know, they'll finally kick off their climate change doctrine
When the Antichrist shows up
That's the only time they'll stop
It'll be climate change, climate change, climate change
And they'll be like, oh, Antichrist
And then even when God's pouring it out
They still can't figure it out
They still don't understand it
Look at Exodus chapter 9 verse 23
And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven
And the Lord sent thunder and hail
And the fire ran along upon the ground
And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt
Notice that God literally caused the fire to run upon the ground
Through what? Through thunder
And you know what comes with thunder? Lightning
He literally lit up all of Egypt with all kinds of lightning
And burned it all up
That's what he's doing in California
And you know what? That's what he's going to do to any area that hates God
That's what he's going to do to any nation
And look, there's a remnant of people that love God in California
And I'm not down on anybody that just happens to live there
But you know what?
As a whole, that state is wicked
As a whole, they are rejecting and rebelling against God
They are harboring some of the most evil and wicked people on this planet
If you were to say, where are some of the most wicked and evil people?
I mean, it's basically like New York and California
And then you got Tel Aviv
And then they're all fag-centrals of the world
Epicenters
Wherever the fags are, that's where you know it's super duper wicked
So what's our recap?
God controls the weather
But here's the second point
We want to bring it back out and think about it
God listens to our prayers about weather
So you know what we should do?
We should pray for a horrible tempest against the wicked
Against our enemies
And whenever we're going through difficulty, we should pray for God to calm the storm
Hey, whenever you're going through difficulty, whenever you see struggle
Even in a carnal sense, we could pray and ask God to be merciful unto us
For God to calm that storm
For God to bless us with weather
Number three, God uses weather to speak to us
Hey, when you get 11,000 lightning strikes in a 72-hour period, it's time to be like
I need to check and make sure I'm right with God
I need to make sure that, you know, He's not super mad at me
And number four, we should not blame the weather on climate change
Let's close in prayer
Thank you, Father, so much for your word
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to understand how this world works
I pray that we, as we gain understanding and wisdom through the Scriptures
That we would use that to give you more honor and you more glory
And see the handiwork that you've created, this wonderful place for us to live and have dominion over
I pray that we would not give tribute of your wonderful works to others
To the wicked, to the evil, but rather we would give honor and reverence and respect unto you
And as you try to speak to us through your creation
That we would give you the honor and the respect and that we would turn to you
I pray those that love God, those that, you know, maybe are weak or backslid in California
Could hear a message like this and realize that you're angry with the wicked
And that you want them to turn to you
And why don't you raise up a generation of salt in California and preserve them for even longer
But I pray that even us here in Texas
That we would understand how this world works
And that we would get on our knees and beg and pray for your mercy every day
In Jesus' name we pray, amen
All right, for the final song, we're going to sing song number 121
Song number 121, Like a River Glorious
Again, that's song number 121
Like a River Glorious
Is God's perfect peace
Over all victorious
In its bright increase
Perfect yet it floweth
Polar every day
Perfect yet it groweth
Deeper all the way
Stayed upon Jehoah
Thought so fully blessed
Hiding as He promised
Perfect peace and rest
Hidden in the hollow
Of His blessing hand
Never folk and follow
Never traitor's hand
Not a surge of worry
Not a shade of care
Not a blast of hurry
Not the spirit there
Stayed upon Jehoah
Hearts are fully blessed
Hiding as He promised
Perfect peace and rest
Every joy or trial
I'll live from above
Traced upon our dial
By the Son of God
We may trust Him fully
All for us to do
They who trust Him fully
Find Him wholly true
Stayed upon Jehoah
Hearts are fully blessed
Hiding as He promised
Perfect peace and rest