What is a
Bible Believer to Do When Troubles Come?
Luke 8:22-25
30 Jan 2011 AM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
I.
Introduction
(2Timothy 3:1; Luke 8:22-25)
A.
The Bible says that perilous
times are coming!
1.
Troublesome times – dangerous
times
2.
This world is headed into a lot
of future events – many dark – some wonderful
B.
This month we have taken a brief
look at Biblical Prophecy – the future is laid out perfectly by the Bible
1.
The soon coming Rapture of Bible
believing Christians out of this world
2.
The appearance of the man of sin,
the antichrist
3.
The beginning of the seven year
period of time called the Tribulation
4.
The battle of Armageddon
5.
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
to this world
6.
The Millennial Kingdom of Jesus
Christ on this world for 1,000 years
7.
The final battle with Satan at
the battle of Gog and Magog
8.
The New heavens and new earth,
and the descent of the New Jerusalem out of heaven
C.
Oh, there is a lot of history
ahead of this world! Don’t think everything is boring today!
D.
But, how are we to handle the
storms of today? How are we to deal with higher costs, failing health,
financial instabilities, emotional stresses, religious confusion?
E.
The same way as the disciples did
when THEY experienced storms. By believing that Jesus can calm ANY storm
(Luke 8:22-25)
II.
Background
(Luke 8:22-25)
A.
Storms are Coming – it is not
going to get better – that’s not pessimism, that’s just plain fact. Yes
there can be good days, and even good years, but the general trend is down!
B.
Storms are
C.
Storms are Good.
1.
They force us to our knees –
develop FAITH
2.
They remind us we are not
invincible
3.
They show what is really
important and valuable
4.
They make us better people – not
so selfish and self-centred
5.
Remember all that next time you
are chin deep in a troublesome time!
D.
Storms Require Anchors
1.
No ship is safe in a storm
without anchors
2.
There are shorelines full of
boulders and rocks that ship will run into unless they can hold position
3.
Your life is no different
4.
God offers every person in this
room wise, strong anchors for every storm you will find yourself in
5.
And believe me, you will go
through most if not all these storms throughout your life, sometimes, more
than once!
6.
Let’s learn about those anchors
and see if we can attach them to our lives!
III.
Message
A.
Financial
Storms
(Luke 15:13,14)
1.
Since this is most on people’s
minds today, we might as well start here
2.
The Bible has a lot to say about
money. Jesus preached more about money than he did about heaven
3.
What is a Christian to do when
debts, and economies become monsters?
4.
People all across this nation,
and much of
a.
Cut your spending
– REDUCING YOUR SPENDING! (Proverbs 27:17). Face your debts head on like
iron against iron!
1)
I know that it is not the High
Street way, and it affects economic growth in the short term, but the
smartest thing to do is cut back!!!
2)
Cut out Sky Digital, Sky Sports,
all the movie channels
3)
Hey! Cut out TV altogether and
see how much you could save and how many books you and your kids will
read!!!
4)
Cut out Brown Thomas and shop in
Dunnes and Penneys for a while!
5)
Cut out eating out, and all the
HUGE portions people are getting used to eating – eat salads with your
meals, and butter some bread again, and put away the ice cream
6)
Quit buying every toy your child
asks for
7)
Quit spending on everything you
want
a)
How much money would you save if
you put down those cigarettes?
b)
How much money would you save if
you didn’t buy the wine every week?
c)
How much money would you save if
you gave up trying to buy that new, larger TV?
d)
How much money would you save if
you cut out all the constant sweets, snacks, cokes?
8)
I wonder?
5.
Work more
(2Thes 3:10-12; 1Tim 5:8; Proverbs 10:4) – Quit just sitting around in debt!
a.
Take a look around – find
SOMETHING TO DO TO MAKE SOME MONEY
b.
Find what people need done (shrub
cutting, rubbish clean up, fixing cars, garden work) – and then offer to do
it!
c.
Get good at making money!
d.
That’s why you needed to learn
the value of work. We all know the value of money, but this generation needs
to learn the value of work!
e.
Stay in school, and finish
college, but love work!
6.
Pay your bills
(Rom 13:8)
a.
Quit living on credit! The most
important attitude a Christian must have in this world is to be responsible
enough to pay their bills.
b.
God is your first bill (Pr
3:9,10; Mal 3:10,11)
c.
Government is your second
d.
All your vital bills are next
e.
What is your tithe?
1)
That means the first bill you pay
is 10% of your GROSS INCOME – the money your employer starts out with!
2)
The first fruits mean just that.
It comes before your taxes, bills, or entertainment. It comes off of
the top.
3)
I know, I know, the government
comes in and takes 21% of every purchase you make. And then, every time you
get paid for work you do, its 40% straight off the top, but GOD is BIGGER
and more important than the government!
4)
The TITHE (a tenth part) belongs
to God. God calls “His” part that He says belongs to Him without question is
10 percent (Mal 3:8-10)!
a)
This means that out of every
Euro, 10 cent goes to God.
b)
Out of every ten Euros, one euro
would go to God.
c)
Out of every Two hundred Euros,
20 Euros goes to God
d)
It’s not that hard!
5)
It is simply paying your bills,
instead of living off of credit!
7.
Give some money away
– give your way out of debt (Luke 6:38; Mt 10:42)
8.
Save Something Every Month
(Proverbs 30:24,25; 21:20)
9.
Lastly, Pray!
a.
Not that prayer is LAST
b.
But, NOW you can trust the Lord
to make up the money you owe!
c.
Pray for God to help you pay for
the debts and needs that you have.
d.
Too many people ONLY pray and
don’t go out and get to work!
B.
Political
Storms
(1Timothy 2:1,2)
1.
What do you do when Governments
topple? When the world around you is coming unravelled? Like it is in
2.
Christians do not live in a
perfect world. Christians live under all kinds of wicked governments
3.
What is a Bible believing
Christian supposed to do?
a.
Pray for those in leadership
– no matter who they are.
1)
Pray for them by name
2)
Pray for them for wisdom, and for
courage to make right decisions
3)
Pray for them to look to God for
help
4)
Don’t you dare complain and get
angry at the government – not until you have prayed for them by name!
b.
Secondly, Get right, ourselves!
(2Chron 7:14)
c.
Obey your leaders
as long as they don’t command you to do something against God’s
commandments! We are far too easily the rebels, and not the submitters that
Jesus commanded us to be (Rom 13)
d.
Raise your family to honour authority
– or else they will one day turn against YOU
4.
In every country, in every
community, there needs to be a group of people who stay steady, who may not
agree with the laws of a government, nor the lives of its leaders, but that
community stays steady, because they serve Christ, not Caesar!
5.
No matter the leader: Brian
Cowan, Enda Kenny, Josef Stalin, or Nicholas Chouchescu!
C.
Emotional
Storms
(Mark 5:2-5)
1.
What is a Christian to do when
emotional stress starts winning? When depression takes over, and
discouragement becomes bigger than hope? When drugs and drink have taken
their toll and now there is no strength to even get out of bed in the
mornings?
a.
Run to Jesus – spend “alone” time with Jesus
(James 5:13).
1)
As fast as you wake up, start
crying out to the risen Saviour, the lover of your soul, the friend of
sinners, the light of the world, the King of kings, and hearer of your
prayers!
2)
Spend as much time emptying your
heart to Him as possible
b.
See who you haven’t forgiven, and forgive them,
particularly, and personally (Eph 4:26,27)
c.
Check for doorways into your heart that the devil uses to break you down
1)
Old memories – bury them, mortify
them, drown them under the blood of Jesus
2)
Old friends – get you some new
friends who love the Lord Jesus!
3)
Old habits – the pub, the same
old cycles? Dump them!
d.
Bless them and pray for them that have hurt you
– pray for them to be blessed and succeed!
e.
Keep going
– don’t quit in your Christian race! The devil wants you only to quit!
That’s all he is interested in because that means he has won! Don’t let him
win in your life anymore!
1)
You may want to give up, or
change direction
2)
But you will only hurt again
3)
But if you will just keep going,
keep faithful obeying what Jesus says to do, the devil will fade, and the
stress will be replaced by joy (John 16:20,22)
D.
Religious
Storms
(1Cor 14:37)
1.
Confused? Unsure of what is the
right thing to do?
2.
Loads of people are these days.
They feel like a ship without a compass or even a sail
3.
Most of religion is based upon
confusion – mystical miracles – and fears of the unknown – nothing solid or
sure!
4.
Biblical Christianity is based
upon the truth (Ps 119:105) – absolute, inspired truth!
5.
What is a Christian to do when
they are confused about what is right, and what God wants in their life?
a.
Read your Bible
(Acts 17:11) – get to know THE TRUTH! It stabilises you! Read it as much as
possible, but always at least 30 minutes a day!!! Don’t worry about studying
your Bible until you are a consistent reader of this Book of books!
b.
Get the right kind of a Bible
(2Cor 2:17)
1)
Not the ones that say “to
us who are being saved it is the power of God”
like the NKJV says
2)
Not the ones that are missing key
Bible verses – 40 New Testament verses are clean removed out of the NIV
3)
Not the ones that tailor the
words to a certain kind of consumer
a)
Gender neutral bibles – people
who don’t want to be offended
b)
Women’s focus bibles – written
with women in mind
c)
Catholic editions – words changed
to agree with catholic dogma
d)
Children’s bibles – it’s time to
grow up and get a real Bible!
c.
Test what you think you know
– like the Bereans did!
1)
Listen to CHALLENGING preaching
and Bible teaching – listen like your life depended upon it
2)
Ask questions
3)
Discover that God has a lot to
say about all the things that are so confusing today
a)
Should women preach?
b)
Is Jesus coming back in May
c)
Should a Christian speak in
tongues?
d)
Does God speak through visions
and dreams today?
e)
Can a person know for sure that
they are forgiven and HAVE eternal life?
4)
Let God’s word be proven as true
and understandable
5)
It will calm every religious
storm!
d.
Start proving God is right by obeying
what he says to do instead of what everyone else says to do!
6.
Our modern world is in such a
mess religiously simply because they have no Bible anchor!
E.
Health Storms
(James 5:14)
1.
Christians get sick. Last time I
checked, Christians even die! Health storms come into Christian homes just
like they do into every one’s home.
2.
Sometimes a sickness is a
person’s own doing – smoking, drinking, drugging, overeating, not sleeping,
not working, etc!
3.
Sometimes for no apparent reason
like it was with Job!
4.
What is a Christian to do?
a.
Praise God!
(Heb 13:15) We forget to do this – it is called the sacrifice of praise,
b.
Let this trial get you close to Jesus
– as it did with Job!
c.
While you are learning how to be
thankful, and as you learn better how to pray when sick, go ahead and
ask God if there is a
reason for your illness
d.
Learn about diet.
1)
Lose two stone
2)
Cut out the fry’s – fried foods
3)
Walk, walk, and walk some more –
get out and make yourself sweat
e.
Call for your pastor
– humble yourself and let him help you
f.
Confess your faults
– get spiritual problems and issues out in the light
g.
Believe God
– He is STILL the great Physician
h.
Call a doctor.
1)
If you had a fire, would you call
the fire brigade?
2)
If you had a leak, would you not
call a plumber?
3)
Don’t think that it is not
spiritual to call a doctor
4)
It is not unspiritual to take
medications, for a while!
5)
But you had better FIRST get very
close to Jesus
F.
Spiritual
Storms
(Eph 6:12)
1.
What do you do when the devil
really starts hammering you? When you wake up with dark dreams, and when
worry and fears overwhelm your thoughts? When there is no rest in your
spirit?
2.
You wrestle – don’t collapse!
Take the devil on! But just make sure you do it the Bible’s way
a.
First thing you must do is Draw nigh to God
(James 4:8)
1)
I would examine if I am truly
born again (2Cor 13:5)
2)
Then, I would get down on my
knees and start praying, crying out to Jesus to help you, to reinforce your
confidence in Him, to rebuke the devil
b.
Plead the power of the blood of Jesus Christ
(Heb 9:14)
c.
Call in reinforcements
– get others to pray with you, and pray for you
d.
Meditate on powerful Scriptures
– ones that establish Christ’s victory and the devil’s doom!
e.
Carry no worries
(1Peter 5:7)
3.
NOW you can resist the devil – in
Jesus’ name!
G.
Home Storms
– I will talk about this storm starting next month!
IV.
Conclusion
A.
The Bible says that perilous
times are coming!
1.
Troublesome times – dangerous
times
2.
This world is headed into a lot
of future events – many dark – some wonderful
3.
But, how are we to handle the
storms of today? How are we to deal with higher costs, failing health,
financial instabilities, emotional stresses, religious confusion?
4.
The same way as the disciples did
when THEY experienced storms. By believing that Jesus can calm ANY storm
(Luke 8:22-25)
B.
The key truth is, Storms Require
Anchors
1.
No ship is safe in a storm
without anchors
2.
There are shorelines full of
boulders and rocks that ship will run into unless they can hold position
3.
Your life is no different
4.
God offers every person in this
room wise, strong anchors for every storm you will find yourself in
5.
And believe me, you will go
through most if not all these storms throughout your life, sometimes, more
than once!
6.
Let’s learn about those anchors
and see if we can attach them to our lives!
C.
There are
several Strong Anchors for Financial Storms
(Luke 15:13,14)
1.
Cut your spending
2.
Work more – Quit just sitting
around in debt!
3.
Pay your bills – including your
tithe
4.
Give money away – give your way
out of debt (Luke 6:38; Mt 10:42)
5.
Save Something Every Month
(Proverbs 30:24,25; 21:20)
6.
Lastly, Pray!
D.
There are
several strong anchors during Political Storms
(1Timothy 2:1,2)
1.
Pray for those in leadership – no
matter who they are.
2.
Get right, ourselves! (2Chron
7:14)
3.
Obey your leaders as long as they
don’t command you to do something against God’s commandments
4.
Raise your family to honour
authority – or else they will one day turn against YOU
5.
In every country, in every
community, there needs to be a group of people who stay steady, who may not
agree with the laws of a government, nor the lives of its leaders, but that
community stays steady, because they serve Christ, not Caesar!
E.
God has
Anchors for Emotional Storms
(Mark 5:2-5)
1.
Run to Jesus – spend “alone” time
with Jesus (James 5:13).
2.
See who you haven’t forgiven, and
forgive them, particularly, and personally (Eph 4:26,27)
3.
Check for doorways into your
heart that the devil uses to break you down
4.
Bless them and pray for them that
have hurt you – pray for them to be blessed and succeed!
5.
Keep going – don’t quit in your
Christian race! The devil wants you only to quit! That’s all he is
interested in because that means he has won! Don’t let him win in your life
anymore!
F.
Anchors for
Religious Storms
(1Cor 14:37)
1.
Read your Bible (Acts 17:11) –
get to know THE TRUTH! It stabilises you! Read it as much as possible, but
always at least 30 minutes a day!!! Don’t worry about studying your Bible
until you are a consistent reader of this Book of books!
2.
Get the right kind of a Bible
(2Cor 2:17)
3.
Test what you think you know –
like the Bereans did!
4.
Start proving God is right by
obeying what he says to do instead of what everyone else says to do!
G.
God has
anchors for Health Storms
(James 5:14)
1.
Praise God – we forget to do this
– it is called the sacrifice of praise,
2.
Let this trial get you close to
Jesus – as it did with Job!
3.
While you are learning how to be
thankful, and as you learn better how to pray when sick, go ahead and ask
God if there is a reason for your illness
4.
Learn about diet
5.
Call for your pastor – humble
yourself and let him help you
6.
Confess your faults – get
spiritual problems and issues out in the light
7.
Believe God – He is STILL the
great Physician
8.
Call a doctor
H.
Spiritual
Storms
(Eph 6:12)
1.
First thing you must do is Draw
nigh to God (James 4:8)
2.
Plead the power of the blood of
Jesus Christ (Heb 9:14)
3.
Call on reinforcements – get
others to pray with you, and pray for you
4.
Meditate on powerful Scriptures
5.
Carry no worries (1Peter 5:7)
6.
NOW you can resist the devil – in
Jesus’ name!
I.
The question now is, are you
going to WAIT until disaster strikes before you start any of this? It would
be like heading out to see without any anchors! Boy you are going to WISH
you had brought along those big, clunky, cumbersome things!