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(Earthquakes)
Preliminary:
The July 27, 2019 magnitude 5.9 Batanes earthquake and was preceded by a 5.4 5,4 magnitude foreshock, resulted to casualties
of 9 people dead, and 60 injured. When we were in MOA, April 22, 2019, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Pampanga, despite
the fact that its epicenter is in Zambales, leaving 18 dead, 3 missing, and 256 injured. The most memorable for me was way back
July 16, 1990, a 45 second magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Nueva Ecija, but the damaged reached the Cordillera region, and
NCR. About 1,621 people were killed, 28 collapsed buildings including the Hyatt Hotel.
Earthquakes are a part of this fallen world and they are going on all the time. Some like to speculate that they are more frequent
now than ever, but F. W. Borham, writing in 1918, said, "there is an earthquake on the average every quarter of an hour-or about
thirty to forty thousand a year. The earth is like a flea-bitten dog which is always shaking and twitching." Sometimes the
destruction is beyond belief, but experts say “we have not seen the worst yet-the big one.” But the world has already seen some
really big ones.
The greatest loss of life by an earthquake took place in 1556 in Central China when 830,000 people were killed. The second
largest loss of life was in 1976 near Peking, China when 655,000 people died. There have been dozens of earthquakes with tens
of thousands of lives lost. It is estimated that about 13,000,000 people have lost their lives in earthquakes. So there have been
big ones in the past, and there will be bigger ones in the future.
Message:
“Earthquakes, and the Anger of God”
(Nahum 1:5)
Now let's face this New Testament fact. God used earthquakes to accomplish His purpose of salvation for mankind, and,
therefore, there is a wonderful and awesome and positive side to the earthquake. It is important for us to see this
positive side for it is comforting to know that God may be doing something of great value for mankind even in what
seems to us to be very negative.
Summary:
So what is the bottom line on all of this? How are we to think about the terrible tragedies produced by earthquakes?
Read: Psalm 46:2-3. The Biblical evidence leads us to these applications.
This serves as a warning for those that are not yet in the faith, to come to repentance and cast their faith upon
Jesus, or the coming judgment will be upon those who are enemies of the gospel of Christ.
Suffering calamity in this life makes us long for the perfect world – suffering calamity in this life makes us long
for the perfect world. A little of this, and you want to say, “I’d like to go somewhere where it doesn’t shake.” I’d
like to go somewhere where there’s no fear, no danger, no death, no problems. You’re talking about heaven.
And if we are to set affections on things above and not on things of the earth, this will help us do it. I want to
get to that unshakable kingdom. Peter says “We are strangers and aliens.” Paul says, “Far better to depart and
be with Christ.” Philippians 1. Philippians 3, “For our citizenship is not on earth.”
“The sufferings of this world,” Paul says in Romans 8:18, “are not worthy to be compared with the glory that’ll
be ours in the future.” Paul says, I can’t wait to leave this place. I want to go to the perfect world. I want to go
where it doesn’t shake. I want to go where there’s no sorrow, sickness, pain or death. This makes heaven all
the more wonderful. All the more joyous. No fears, no doubts no anxieties, no questions, for all things work
together for good to those who love God.
And now, Brethren, seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought us to be in all holy
conversation and godliness. Looking for and hastening unto the day of the coming of God; we must be diligent, that we
may be without blemish in the day of His coming.
Letting go of things that will not glorify God and would not add anything to our heavenly goal. “The Lord giveth, and the
Lord taketh,” and all the visible things that we seemingly value the most here on earth will all be consumed in the
coming of the Lord. Therefore, knowing all earthly things that surrounds us or within our possession are just temporal,
let us seek the things above that leads to eternal life (Romans 8:28).
Life is uncertain, but eternal life is certain in Christ Jesus. The goal of life is to have a foundation that nothing can shake,
and that foundation is the Solid Rock-Jesus Christ. Put your trust in Him and you will have an unshakable foundation
forever.
randypmarchadesch/solideogloria2019