The Call of the Catastrophe

Well, amen. I think most of you know my habit. Many times it will relate to you. Portions of the songs or maybe phrases or words or songs that really speak to me as they relate to the message. And really it's just too much this morning. I thought about the old song, "A Mighty Fortress." It's kind of a modern remake. You know, he is our fortress no matter what's going on in the world. And it's Jesus. We know who the Word is. It's Jesus. And that's who we run to because we find our instruction and our teaching and who He wants us to be in His Word. And so I'm very, very thankful for what we've sung.

I believe it prepares our hearts for what is before us. So if you would take your Bible and turn back with me to where we were earlier in Luke chapter 12 and in Luke chapter 13, we're going to get to those messages or excuse me, those passages here in the message in a little while. We'll just kind of zoom through these passages. We will not divide them verse by verse, word by word like we normally do. I'll kind of let you in on how I think and how I work. Usually messages like this and messages like last week. You really stressed me out to be honest with you. I like to just take each verse. I like to take each word.

That's called expositional preaching. I like to take our time. Sometimes it's one verse, two verses. Sometimes it's difficult to get all that we can get out of four, five, six verses. Really, this is quite a bit. I see quite a few sermons here, but that's not the point this morning. There's a message in everything that is here. And so we will not divide every word and every phrase. You might see something that I don't mention. And if that's the case, you just make that a part of your study. That's the Lord helping you understand that is everything before us. But you know, think about it. Here we are. We're back worshipping together.

I was thinking this week, especially last night in this morning. It was just yesterday that we had our last service at our old facility out in the Nola community. We had our first service here. And then the next week we came together for Sunday morning and Sunday night. And it became evident that we were not going to be able to meet. You know, those were strange times. We were talking as men, the leaders in the life of the church saying, what are we going to do here? And that was just strange for us. But that was just yesterday. But isn't it good to be back here for public worship instead of trying to live stream a sermon?

Maybe instead of trying to catch up with it later in the week. I know that was difficult for us all. You know, if we're honest, we all have live stream stories. Maybe you might call them live stream nightmares. Just be honest. You know, some of you were wrestling babies and children during those times. I have a friend of mine that doesn't live here, lives in another community and attends a different church. And their church was live streaming all of that good stuff. And they have a newborn. And he told me this. He said, you know, I think my son just decides to have a stomach ache.

And he needs to have five diapers changed right when we want to sit down for the service. I heard some of the other men in the life of the church talking about their children during those times. That was interesting. I know. I know some of you find a terrible Internet connection. Not all of us have good Internet. If you come to my house, we have DSL. Yeah, DSL still exists. I think Noah probably had DSL on the Ark. I know why he would have been frustrated too. But you know, on our end during all of that, we were fighting this live stream thing. To be honest with you, we were really flirting with disaster.

You know, every time we met, it would be my family here. Sometimes Brother Key's family, they would scatter out. And we had a table right here in front and a tripod and a camera. It was just aimed right at me or whoever was behind the podium. And you know, we really don't have adequate live stream technology or gear. And so we really were flirting on the cliff of disaster. It always stressed me out. But you know, I'm thankful that those days are over for now. You know, this pandemic, we don't know where it's going to go. We might have to revert back to that. And I think you feel the same way that I do.

I'm very excited that we can meet, even though we are hindered, even though there are some stipulations. Even though we can't have small groups, even though we can't have a Sunday school fellowship or our first Sunday fellowship, I'm very glad that we can assemble together to sing songs and to be under God's word together. You know, to be honest with you, when I'm worshipping, I need to have to kind of, I need to conserve my voice. My voice isn't as strong as it used to be. And I just try not to sing out too much. So I'll have plenty of voice. But this morning, I just caught myself singing because I was so glad to be here.

So this is a good start for us to be back. And I'm very thankful. But think about this with me. Haven't these been some very interesting days? Haven't these been some very interesting, what has it been, eight or ten weeks? You know, it's been very troubling for some. It's been very difficult for some. I know some of you have faced some different circumstances and difficulties. You know, it's been deadly for some. There have been many people who passed away as a result of this COVID-19 virus. These are unprecedented times. In other words, you can never prepare for this. Nothing has ever come this way for us in our day and in our lifetime.

And as a matter of fact, unprecedented is almost an understatement. For us in our country, we have never experienced anything like this. We've never experienced disease on this level. We have not had such an interruption of life really since Hurricane Katrina. Think about that. Nationally, we have not experienced anything like this since 9/11. Those terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, obviously the terrorist attacks on 9/11 were much different than this global pandemic. But you would agree that both events have impacted us as a culture and really are still impacting us even deeply.

You know, when these tragic events happen, there is one universal question that usually gets asked. Think about it. A lot of times people will ask the question, "Why?" Why this shooting where innocent people are killed? Why did we have this tornado or hurricane where so many homes were destroyed and people have lost their lives? Why do we have forest fires where there's so much devastation and even death? Why do we have this war and that war and this terrorist attack and that terrorist attack?

A lot of times people will ask the questions, "Why?" Globally, why has this pandemic brought about so much death, so much really global economic fallout, really so much political and social unrest? And this has brought about this strange caution and fear in our culture. Why? For us as Mississippians, why those Easter tornadoes that ripped through our state? Really, it was multiple tornadoes on that day. And then the next week there was another band of tornadoes. They were homes that were destroyed, lives that were lost. Listen, millions of dollars worth of damage, why? And that's a question that many can ask.

But you know, there's another question that often gets asked during tragedy. And the question is where? Where was God during all of this? Where was God during this war and that war when so many were killed? Where was God during this terrorist attack or during this hurricane or this tornado? And so on and so on and so on. Where was God during all of this? But you know, there are some that would say that we should not ask why. Some would say that we should not ask where was God. Now, personally, I disagree. I think that we should definitely ask where was God and why. We should ask where and why when we are examining times like this.

But we must ask these questions correctly. Now, what I mean by that, we should ask these questions and seek the answers to these questions within the pages of God's Word. And that is what we're going to do this morning. We need to ask why. We need to ask where. Why this pandemic and where has God been during all of this time? Now, this morning, we're going to look at a couple of lessons here from Jesus teaching. And I believe this will help us. These come out of chapter 12, the verses we read earlier, and chapter 13, those verses that we read earlier. Now, I call these lessons really, there's a whole series of individual sermons here.

There's a whole series of sermons. They come out of a long discourse beginning in chapter 12 and all the way through into chapter 13, verse 21. Jesus is teaching his disciples, and there were thousands there in the crowd. At times, he is addressing just the 12 with the crowd of Jews watching and listening. But then there are times when they would interrupt Jesus and ask Jesus questions. And it's obvious that Jesus is teaching the crowds. And then there are times throughout this long discourse, Jesus is addressing things to the nation of Israel.

So we're going to really look at two lessons or two of these sermons, which come out of this whole long discourse. And really, this will equip us to ask the questions where and why. To be honest with you, we could go a lot further with this. Really, we could teach multiple messages on these subjects. I really feel like we're just going to take a rock and skip it over the surface. But I trust and pray this will help you. And like I said earlier, I will continue to reference what we look at more in the future. Now, as I always do, I usually give you the title of the message and where we're going.

We're going to have two major truths within our outline. You can see those truths before you. Really, the first major truth comes out of the verses in Chapter 12. And then the second major truth comes out of the verses in Chapter 13. And then I'll go ahead and tell you. I'm going to use some of the verses in verse 6 and verse 9 for the conclusion of the message. Now, I'm not going to read the portions of Scripture now. We're just going to start in the message and I'll read them as we go. So let's look at our first lesson. This comes out of verses 54 to 59. This is what I call the sign of the times. I call this the sign of the times.

Let's go back to the verses. And He, this is Jesus. He was also saying to the multitudes. See, He's addressing the multitudes now. When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, "Hey, a shower is coming or rain is coming." And so it turns out to be. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, "It will be a hot day." And it turns out to be that way. And then verse 56, there's a big shift here. He says, "You hypocrites, you know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? And why do you not even, why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?

For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate or the judge, on your way there make an effort to settle with him." That would be your opponent in order that you might not drag you before the judge. And the judge turn you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. Verse 59, "I say to you, you shall not get out of there until you have paid the last cent." Now, right away in these verses, I believe you can see that Jesus does two things. First, he's talking about the weather and some things associated with the weather.

And then second in verse 56, Jesus sharply, I mean, boldly rebukes those who were listening. He calls them hypocrites. Truthfully, that's not a good way to win friends, is it? That's not a good way to attract a crowd, if that's what you're trying to do. But really, there's a lot going on here. And I want us to take the time to examine at least a big portion of what we see here. But first of all, I want us to look at the weather. In verse 54 and 55, Jesus uses weather as a teaching tool. But really, Jesus is setting them up. Jesus is luring them in to make a point.

You see, the Jews in Jesus' day were very keen on keeping an eye on the weather. Jesus is saying something like this to them. You know when it will rain, when you see the clouds forming in the west over the Mediterranean Sea. You know when it will be a hot day when you feel the wind coming from the south, coming from the desert. He was saying, you people sure do know how to interpret the signs concerning the weather, do you not? Well, if the Jews would have reacted, they would have said something like this. Sure, we do. Maybe some of them did in the crowd.

But because if you read this entire discourse, you'll see that there's some talking back and forth. But notice what Jesus was doing. He was calling their attention to the fact that they were really good at interpreting these signs of the weather. But again, he was luring them in. This was a setup for his purpose. But then also we see a rebuke. There is an abrupt shift right there in verse 56. Jesus calls them hypocrites. Now Jesus regularly called the Jews hypocrites, especially the Jewish religious leaders.

But here in verse 56 and 57, Jesus goes, "Father, he really blasts them for properly interpreting the weather, but not properly interpreting the times in which they lived." Now remember, the weather was a setup. It was luring them in. In verse 56, we see this term, "present time." Go back to the verse. "You hypocrites, you know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?" That's a key phrase. Jesus was pointing to their time in connection with Jesus. This time in which they were living was the day of the promised Messiah of God.

It was their day of salvation in Jesus, the promised Messiah. But theirs was not an ignorance, misinterpretation of their time. No, this was willful, very willful. They were unwilling to accept Jesus as the Messiah. They were unwilling to come to him in repentance. And Jesus is rebuking them for this willful rejection. And he is rebuking the Jews and the nation of Israel. They were willfully, purposefully rejecting the times that were before them. Go back at the verse, verse 56.

"You hypocrites, you know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?" But then we need to see the lesson, the overall lesson in the verses. Jesus starts off in the lesson with a question in verse 57. Now I'm going to paraphrase what he's asking in verse 57. It's like Jesus is saying this, "Why do you not do what is right?" You see? Why do you not do what is right? Then Jesus gives an illustration in verses 58 to 59.

In the story or the parable of the illustration, we see one who needs to settle with an opponent before the case makes it to the court or before the case goes before the judge. In the story, the man needs to settle the case or he may have to suffer the consequences. He may have to go to prison. Now what's the lesson here? Jesus is calling the Jews there, listening to embrace the time in which they lived. The time that was at hand. To embrace him as the promised Messiah. To come to him as the Messiah before it's too late. Before their opportunity is gone. Before they lose their life and stand before the judge of judges, which was Jesus.

Or is Jesus. So Jesus is calling them to see the sign of the times. He is calling them to get their heads out of the sand and look at what is before them. They were living in the days of the long awaited Messiah. And the Messiah was staring them right in the face. And he was rebuking them for their willful, purposeful rejection. He is warning them that they better accept him before it's too late. Before they experience judgment for rejecting the Messiah of God. You see today when we have bad weather, what do we have? We have all types of warning signs. Think about the day in which we live.

I mean if bad weather comes in the middle of the night, our phones go berserk. Do they not? They wake us up and we get those weather alerts unless we have those notifications turned off. You know if we turn our television on during bad weather, I mean all the programming shifts to the weathermen and the weather stations. I'll never forget one time during a time of bad weather I was looking at the weathermen and I thought man these guys seem to be really excited. Now I don't think they're wishing disaster and death on anyone. No, but they are able to do their job as they're analyzing the times and the weather and the circumstances.

You know if we live in town or close to town, we have those civil defense sirens. I remember as a kid man when that siren would go off, I mean we knew that bad weather was coming. Now imagine ignoring all of those signs when bad weather, a tornado was coming. That would be really, really foolish would it not? Well that's what the Jews did. Jesus healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, fed thousands and thousands of people. He preached like no other man before or after and he fulfilled every Old Testament passage concerning the promised Messiah. And he did it all right in front of them, but what did they do? They ignored it all.

They ignored it all. They ignored the times that were before them. Now I'll question, what time do we live in? Ponder that with me for a minute. A lot of times I'll ask you questions and they're rhetorical. I want you to meditate on the question. We need to ask ourselves, what time do we live in? And we'll come back to that at the conclusion of the message. But let's move on. I want us to see our second lesson. And our second lesson comes out of verses 1-5 in chapter 13. This is what I call the disasters, plural, at hand. Look back at the verses. Again, this is still that same dialogue.

Now on the same occasion, there were some present who reported to him about the Galileans. See, they would interrupt him at times. This is a different style than we're used to. They interrupted him, seemed to be asking some questions. Now on the same occasion, there were some, they were present who reported to him about the Galileans, whose blood pilot had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered and he said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all of the other Galileans because they suffered?" I tell you no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them were those worse culprits than all the other men living in Jerusalem? I tell you no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Well, we see here in verse 1 and 2, the obvious. Someone in the crowd interrupts Jesus with some current events. Now, I don't know if they had a newspaper. I doubt they did. But if they had a newspaper, this would have been frontline news. And all of these Jews would have known about these Galileans who were killed by Pilate.

As a matter of fact, this really would have caused those in the crowds to sit on the edge of their seat in curiosity. Now, just like before, there's a lot going on here. I'm going to give us the heart of what we see in the verses. First, these tragic events. Now, in verse 1, it's obvious someone interrupted Jesus and brought up this subject about some Galileans who were killed by Pilate. But notice in verse 4, Jesus, he brings about or mentions another event. It seems that 18 people were killed when a tower fell on them and killed them. Now, again, this was a setup. Jesus is luring them in.

And we need to see a little bit about these tragic events. Now, no doubt, this first event, it probably was on the forefront of the minds of the Jews. It seems that Pilate killed a number of Galileans. Now, the Galileans were Jews. So this would have been Jewish people, their own countrymen. Now, really, the Galileans were a notorious bunch. They were very, very political. They hated the Romans. And they were known for plotting against the Roman occupation in their land. Now, on the other hand, we are Pilate. He was a very heavy-handed Roman ruler who was known to put out any resistance.

He would put out any resistance or rebellion with very fierce violence. Scholars tell us that Pilate's men found the Galileans there in Jerusalem, there at the temple. And scholars speculate that this would have been the time of the Passover. And it seems that when they were making sacrifices there in the temple, they were killed. And as they were killed, their human blood spilled out, and it mixed with the sacrificial blood, the blood of the animals. It seems this was right in the middle of worship, there at the altar. And so this would have been very, very horrific in the eyes of the Jews.

But the second event that Jesus mentions, no doubt, the Jews would have known about this event as well. Now, scholars are not sure what this tower was. Now, at the time, Pilate had authorized some work to be done on a major aqueduct there in the city. Some say that the tower was associated with the construction, maybe some type of scaffolding that had fallen over and killed some people. Some say that this was some sort of a watchtower. Now, either way, whatever the tower was, Jesus said that the tower fell and it killed some 18 people. Now, what is the point? This was current news. These were current events.

These were terrible events where people died. Some were murdered, but some were killed in an accident. Everyone there would have really perked up when these subjects were brought up. But again, Jesus is luring them in. He's really setting them up. Jesus uses the events to instruct the crowds, to correct the crowds, just like he did with the weather earlier. But then now notice the correction. We have a correction. Look at the questions in verse 2 and 4. What does he say in verse 2? Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners, greater sinners because of the faith that they suffered? And what do we see in verse 4?

Or do you suppose that the 18 whom the tower fell on, were they some kind of worse culprits than any other people there in Jerusalem? Notice that Jesus asked the Jews about an assumption. You see, there's an assumption here in their hearts and minds. It seems that Jesus is revealing that the Jews were assuming that the Galileans were sinful, and those who suffered when the tower fell were somehow guilty. You see, the Jews had a long-held belief that people who experienced some tragic event or suffering, they were some way, somehow, guilty of some sin, some secret sin.

They believed kind of this cursing and blessing that somehow they were cursed or judged by God. Really and truly we see this in the story of Job. Remember the story of righteous Job? Did he not experience all type of tragedy and calamity? He lost everything except for his wife and his life. During his great trial, one of his friends accused Job of some sin and guilt. If you know the story, you know his friend Eliphaz, he goes on and on assuming some guilt in Job. What a friend. Wasn't very much encouragement. So Jesus is attacking their erroneous view.

Jesus knew the Jews could never see a disaster or tragedy correctly if they continued to think that it was some kind of a fault connected with the victims. Now, of course, there are times when people fall tragedy because of their own mistakes, because of their own sins, but that was not the case here. And Jesus was attacking their erroneous thinking, which was always the case with the Jews. But then notice the lesson here. There's a lesson in the verses. We see the lesson in two places. In verse 3 and verse 5. It is plain and it is simple. Jesus is calling those Jews who were listening to repent and believe on him as the Messiah or else.

No doubt this message of repentance was very familiar to many of them, if not most all of them. It was John the Baptist who burst on the scene preaching a message of repentance boldly and powerfully. And listen, John's message of repentance had shaken the entire nation of Israel. Jesus too often preached the same message of repentance, especially early on in his ministry. Jesus here boldly calls the crowd to repentance twice using these two disasters. Listen, as leverage, remember he was drawing them in and Jesus gives one more lesson. Jesus gives one more lesson and that is the other side of the lesson.

Here, Jesus calls the crowd to repentance and if they do not, they will perish. You see, he says repent or else, or else you will perish like the Galileans or like those who were crushed when a tower fell on them. Now there was a debate here among scholars as to who Jesus is talking to here. Was he talking just to the Jews and the crowd or was he talking to Israel as a nation? I think it's both. Yes, these Jews that were staring him in the face, they would perish in hell if they rejected Jesus as the Messiah. But Jesus was speaking to Israel as well. If they continue to reject Jesus as the Messiah, they would suffer as well.

They would be judged as well as a nation. And ultimately they did. The Romans finally destroyed the temple and Jerusalem and the nation. So Jesus is calling these Jews to understand the tragic events properly because he is using them as a teaching tool. He is calling them to repent and to believe. He is saying to them, listen, if you do not repent, if you do not place your faith and trust in me, you will perish as well. You will die and you will suffer even a worse fate and that is an eternal damnation. Now a question for us. How do we view tragedies? How do we interpret disasters? How do we process accidents and disasters and tragedies?

Whether they are large or small. I am sure we are not like the Jews. I know I do not think that we think that some people are cursed or blessed and some have some guilty sin or something like that. No, I don't think we are like the Jews. But think about those tornadoes that roared through Mississippi on Easter weekend and then the next week. How do we react to those events? Say maybe there is a terrible car wreck and we have witnessed it. How do we react to that? You know it was not that long ago. One of the young people we were ministering to in the life of the church, he was involved in a terrible accident.

My wife and I got a phone call and we ended up in the emergency room at King Daughters here. It was horrible. I never forget when we walked into the emergency room. It was just deathly quiet and I have been in the emergency room many times. I did not understand why and later I found out why. Because one of the young men involved in the accident was on one side of the emergency room and he had passed away. And the other one that we ministered to the most, he was on the other side of the emergency room and he had survived. And see how do we react to tragedies and disasters and accidents no matter how they are or how big.

But ponder on that for a minute because we need to see how we react and we will come back to that again later on in the conclusion. Now a question. What does all of this mean to us? All that I have shared. I have not been exhausted. I know. How does this apply to us as individuals but greater than that how does that apply to us as a church? Now we are not Jews. We do not live in the nation of Israel. But so does this pertain to us today? We have to ask that question. First in application we must see the signs of the times in which we live. We must understand and embrace the times in which we live.

Now I am not predicting when Jesus is going to come back. No. That is not my point here. I am not going to tell you that Jesus is coming back tomorrow next year. No man knows the day of the hour. But you see the Jews should have understood the signs of the times that were before them. The Messiah had come. They should have looked at the Old Testament prophecies and what was taking place around them with John the Baptist and Jesus everything. And they should have rushed to Jesus as their Messiah. But what did they do? They rejected Jesus willfully and purposefully. Now what about our times? What are the signs of our times? Listen folks.

We have the full revelation of Christ Jesus in His Word right in our hands. Right in our laps. In our homes. On our nightstands. On the desk. In our kitchen and den. And listen. We have the sign of the church age. We live in the day of the church. And all around us. We know people who have been born again. They have come to know Christ Jesus. See there are signs all around us. Some of you in this room have witnessed people come to faith in Christ. You've known people who were lost and rebels against God. And you've seen them come to faith in Christ and become a new creation in Christ right in front of you. That's a sign.

Some of you, God, has worked to put you in the life of this church. You've said it to me. You've talked about the mystery of how God's allowed you to be in the life of our church. And we're all different. And many of you have said, "You know, I just see that God's brought me here for this day and this time." That's a sign. But think about the story of this church. Now I'm not bragging on us. I'm just bragging on a good God. I mean this church almost closed back in the old Nola days. But we experienced the rebirth of the church. And God grew us. And then God led us to relocate. And we're reconstituting.

This is a story, a success story, of God doing the work and the life of his church. All of these things are signs. See, we have the full revelation of Christ in His Word. And we know people who have come to faith in Christ and they're born again. We have the story of the church right in front of us. And listen, you either accept what God is doing around you, you either accept it, or you willfully reject it. And you willfully reject what God is doing. There's no neutrality. There's no neutrality. You either rush headlong into what God is doing or you're rejecting, even if you stay in close proximity to what things, what's going on.

And then number two, we must see the disasters at hand. We must understand the reason for such tragedy and disasters and such. Sure, there are some disasters that come upon some because of sin and terrible choices. Yes, we live in a fallen world. Sin has affected the entire creation. But we must put all of these things under the providence of God. God is sovereign. He is all-powerful. That means that God is in control of everything that we can see and can't see the entire creation. Tragic events happen because God either wills them to be or permits them to be.

We learn that Wednesday night that everything ultimately is a part of God's purpose and plan in the world. But more personally, disasters, tragedies and such should sober us. It should get our attention and look for those Jews in that day. Jesus never told them why those tragic events happen. He only used them for his purposes as his plan and that was to preach repentance. You see, disasters and tragic events, no matter how big or how small, no matter whose fault, they should serve as a warning. They should serve as a wake-up call. Make sure we are right with God. Make sure we are born again like we see in God's Word.

That we are living in right fellowship with God. These events show us just how weak we are as humans and listen how quick life can be taken away. This shows us that God is God and we are not. I think about a man I was ministering to some years back, lost and needed Christ. I was a witness to him and witnessed to him many times. Never forget there was a terrible car accident right out in front of his home. He told me about going to the car and there were some young people who were driving recklessly. He just told me about how he literally watched one or two of those young people die in that car.

He talked about the sights and the smells and the sounds and that should have been a tremendous wake-up call that he needed Christ. I remember during the days of Hurricane Katrina, I remember a man that I went to church with. He took a trip down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He was taking some relief and he had a real reason to go down there. He came back in tears because of the utter devastation. Those things should grip us and sober us and show that we must be right with God. So I relate to this pandemic. How do you relate to this pandemic? What are these days and these times done for you?

Now I want to close by simply glancing at a portion of Scripture. Really the next portion of Scripture, the next block of Scripture, the next lesson, verses 6-9. If you see in verse 6, Jesus talks about a fig tree. He talks about a vineyard keeper. He talks about cutting down the tree. Language such as that. Now I question what is Jesus doing here? All of this in verses 6-9 pertains to the nation of Israel. It pertains to the people. Israel is often portrayed as a fig tree in the Scriptures. Jesus is simply teaching that if they do not produce fruit, then judgment is coming. What is he saying?

If the tree doesn't produce fruit, it's going to be cut down. If they do not accept him as their Messiah, then they'll be cut down. They'll be destroyed. And ultimately we know history. They rejected Jesus and they were. They were cut down. They were destroyed by the Romans. And they literally ceased to be a nation after 70 AD. And you can summarize what Jesus is saying in verses 6-9 in one sentence. He was saying that they better capitalize on their opportunity. He was saying that their opportunity was fleeting. It was fleeting fast right before their eyes.

And you see, we for us, we must capitalize on our day, on our time, on our opportunity. Right here we are living in the church age. You see? We have a full revelation of God and Christ Jesus in the copy of God's Word. And we are here in our town for this day and this time to impact the world. And so we must take our opportunity very serious. Remember we've learned with the church at Philadelphia that we have an open door of ministry. We have a tremendous responsibility. I was meditating over this yesterday, Friday, after I finished up my work. My brother-in-law and I went to my grandfather's old place.

Many of you know my grandfather had a farm and it's still in our family. And we take care of the old place and we enjoy it. We do a little deer hunting and spend some time with family. And Friday afternoon, Friday evening my brother-in-law and I rode over and checked on the place, checked on the old house and checked on some of the equipment. And we took the time to just kind of clean up the roads at least a little bit. And I was on the bush hog, really something like that is very therapeutic for me. But I was on the bush hog and it was just me. And I was kind of thinking about all that we were going to look at this morning.

And I thought about it like this. What we're doing today could be for your sons and your daughters. The church that we're building today is for your sons and your daughters and your grandchildren. How we handle our day and our time and our opportunity with this church in this town and around the world. Listen, this isn't just for you. It's for our sons and our daughters and those whom UE would reach and their sons and their daughters. You see? So what does the Lord said to us this morning? This is what I call the call of the catastrophe. We must understand and accept our times.

We must see that disasters and tragedies should sober us up to spiritual things. This is a call to repentance and this is a call to throw ourselves into the opportunity that God has put before us. And you know, I think back to that day, there were the disciples and then the crowds. What did the disciples do? They took advantage. Oh, they were part of that group that capitalized. And then there are the Jews. They rejected and they blew it and they missed out. Please don't be like the Jews.

If you're here and you need Christ, if you're here and you're just not walking with God as you should be, if you're here and you're not pouring your life into the local churches, you should be. Listen, let these days and times sober you up and get as serious as you can with the things of God. And if you're here and you're not born again and you know it, the Spirit of God has been hounding you. Every time I preach God showing you, listen, don't try to remain neutral. You can't. You better seek the Lord while he may be found. This is the day and the time in which God has you.

Find the Lord, come to faith in Christ and then pour your life into the opportunity that God has before us. So what do we see? This is the call of the catastrophe, the call of the catastrophe. God is using, yes, these COVID-19 days for his purposes and his work. Let's pray. And I'll turn the service over to Brother Keith and we'll sing a song of committing this before the Lord and worship and then we'll pray after we make a few announcements. So let's pray.