This morning, I want to move away from our verse-by-verse study of Zechariah, and I want to address the issue of these fires in Los Angeles. And I'm doing so under the heading, "Where is God in the LA Fires?" I feel this is important, because I hear lots of things, especially on social media, that try to somehow frame this in ways that I think are unbiblical. And so I wanted to, by God's grace, give you a biblical perspective of these things. And this is especially dear to my heart, because we lived in Los Angeles County for a while in the 90s; and we were on the very north side, and these fires were probably maybe 25 miles from where we lived. But I'm very familiar with the area. I have friends to this day that live out there. We've got people that we know that have lost their homes, and it is absolutely catastrophic what we have seen happen. It's heartbreaking, and certainly it exposes the incompetence of a DEI mayor and the incompetence of a leftist governor, and on and on. But it is, it is literally apocalyptic, if you see what has happened.

Likewise, we know in September of 2024 we had the hurricane come through the southeastern part of the United States, Hurricane Helene that caused widespread catastrophic damage to many people in the mountains. We've helped a lot of them through things that we've donated and taken out there. We want to continue to do that. But what's interesting, especially of late, with these fires is many times you will have actual videos of people driving through them, trying to get out. And there is a phrase that they use constantly, and it is, "oh my God. Oh my God." And it's sad to think that, for the most part, most people have no concern for God, until all of a sudden, there's something like this that occurs, and that's where their mind goes. Suddenly they cry out, in fact, most people will use moral evil and catastrophes as an argument against God. After all, how can a loving God allow these things to happen and all of those types of arguments? And whenever there are horrific disasters, it causes people to search for answers, especially when they've lost loved ones, when they've lost their home. Can you imagine what that would be like? Lost all of their possessions? And millions even now are wondering why did this happen? Those who deny the existence of God will attribute these types of things to Mother Nature, whatever that is. Others will attribute it to global warming, to climate change, and certainly this is a position steeped in controversy and used by progressive elitists to gain control of societies. Others will say that these things are just just random. It's just part of this random world in which we live. Everything's just kind of out of control. And others aren't sure. They believe that maybe God is somehow a part of this, but they're not sure where he fits into all of this. Some will say, "Well, this is judgment on a wicked city." And certainly Los Angeles is a wicked city, but there are many believers that are there as well. And I think it's safe to say that that is not the only wicked city in our country, in our world. What about the rest of the wicked cities? If you want to see a wicked city, go to Washington, DC.

Others will link this to some kind of eschatological judgment; that this is part of the tribulation judgments beginning to come upon the earth. And a lot of people would just say, you know, "God doesn't exist. He doesn't care." And then some will say, "Well, God may exist, but he's powerless to do anything about this. He's as shocked as we are when these types of things happen. He has nothing to do with what happens in nature. He's kind of indifferent. He is there to kind of help pick up the pieces, but that's about it." Many liberal theologians will argue that natural disasters catch God by surprise, because God doesn't really know the future. He's certainly not involved in that, and that's the heretical openness of God viewpoint.

So what is a biblical position? Where is God in all of these catastrophes. And I want to begin by giving you the biblical answer and then spending some time defending it. Dear friends, God is the same place he has always been. He is seated sovereignly on his throne, and he oversees all of these things. Indeed, he has ordained to allow them to happen; to accomplish his purposes in redemption and ultimately bring glory to himself. That is the summary of what the Bible teaches. Catastrophes, you must understand, are the natural result of God's curse upon his creation, including mankind, and he cursed the world and all of us because of sin. And so when we see these things, they are a perpetual reminder of the catastrophe of sin against a holy God and the need for a Savior. And this wickedness that we see in the world is also part of what happens with Satan and what he does. We see biblically that Satan is the god of this world - not that he causes these storms - but he does perpetrate all manner of evil. Jesus said that he is the temporary ruler of this world. First John 5:19 says that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And so what we see biblically is that Almighty, sovereign God has ordained to allow natural disasters, and all manner of evil to exist in his creation, to accomplish His saving purposes and ultimately glorify himself. And frankly, existing within the horror of every calamity is the glorious seed of the Gospel, the offer of saving grace and the promise of eternal life.

Now, saints through the ages have received great consolation in understanding these essential doctrinal truths, and it helps you get through whatever the disaster might be, whatever the suffering might be, to know that somehow, he is intimately aware of it, and he is ultimately allowing it, for his own glorious purposes. Now technically, this subject falls under the efforts of what we call "theodicy," which is the vindication of divine goodness and providence in the view of the existence of evil. And it is quite common for people to either attack or rescue the character of God for allowing any evil to enter into his perfect universe, his perfect creation. And he does this for reasons that he never discloses.

In fact, God makes no attempt to justify his actions. God is not subject to any human court, and for this reason, our best efforts to explain him in this regard are woefully inadequate. However, Scripture does give us some general categories that help us give, or help us have, a basic understanding of these things. Let me begin with a few foundational truths. First of all, God has made it clear in his word that he is both sovereign and he is omniscient. Omniscient. He is in control of all things, and he knows all things. There is therefore nothing in our life that he has not ordained to allow. There is nothing in our life that he doesn't understand completely, including natural disasters, including calamities that are just unimaginable, like the LA fires; things that will bring about human suffering. And it is comforting to know that God is fully in charge of all that happens. He never has to resort to a plan B, he is never shocked and having to scramble to somehow do something.

And with respect to his sovereignty, we must remember that he is the one according to Isaiah 46:10, who "declares the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.'" Daniel described God as the one in Daniel 4:35 as the one who does "according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and no one can ward off his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" And we read in Psalm 135, six, "Whatever the Lord pleases He does in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps." And speaking through Isaiah, in Isaiah 45 beginning in verse six, the Lord said, quote, "'I am the LORD, there is no other besides Me, and there is no other.'" And he went on to say, "'The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.'"

And it's fascinating, we read that the prophet Jeremiah asks rhetorically in Lamentations three verses, 37 and 38, "Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and calamities go forth?'" And we read Solomon's words in Proverbs 16 and verse four, where he reminds us that the Lord has made all things for himself, "..even the wicked for the day of evil.” And you may recall precious Hannah praised God for his sovereignty in First Samuel two, beginning in verse six, even his sovereignty over evil when she prayed, "'The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts.'" And the prophet Amos, in Amos 3:6 declared, "If a calamity occurs in a city, has not the LORD done it? In these and in many other verses, God leaves no doubt that he reigns in absolute sovereignty over his creation. Nothing just happens by chance. Indeed, as we know, according to Ephesians 1:11 for example, that "He works all things after the counsel of His will."

Now, regarding his omniscience, the fact that he knows all things, let me give you some passages; in Psalm 33 beginning in verse 13, "The LORD looks from heaven, and He sees all the sons of men from His dwelling place. He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth. He who fashions the hearts of them all, He understands all their works." And in utter awe, David described how God knew even the minutest details of his life. You can read that, for example, in Psalm 139 one through six, and in Psalm 147 the Lord is praised as the one who "...heals the broken hearted." And we read in verse four, "He is the one who counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is the Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite." There is nothing man can do or even think that escapes his notice. Proverbs 5:21, "For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He watches all his paths." Indeed, according to Proverbs, 15, verse three, "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, watching evil and the good." "His understanding is inscrutable." Isaiah 40 and verse 28. The writer of Hebrews says in chapter four, verse 13, "There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are opened and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." And in First John 3:19, you have a summary of it all, it says that "He knows everything." So my friends, neither hurricane Helene nor the LA fires caught God by surprise. And despite the inevitable sorrow and the suffering that we endure in this life because of these kinds of things, we can find comfort knowing, according to Lamentations three, beginning in verse 22 that "The LORD's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

So I want to examine three of the most popular questions concerning natural disasters, like we see with the LA Fire. First of all, we want to answer the question, "Does the Bible tell us why we have natural disasters?" And secondly, "Are these catastrophic events prophetic signs of the times leading up to the second coming of Christ?" And then finally, "Where is God in natural disasters?" So first of all, looking at the first question, "Does the Bible tell us why we have natural disasters?" The answer is absolutely it does. Take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter eight. We will look for a moment at verses eight through 13, or eight through 18 through 23. In verse 18 of Romans eight, we read this, "For I..." this is the apostle Paul speaking, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." He's considering something here. The term in the original language carries the idea of having a settled conclusion that has been formulated by sound reasoning. So he has concluded that the "...sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." And here, Paul anticipates the glory of the resurrection, that wonderful hope that provides comfort and strength and encouragement to all of us that are enduring suffering.

You see, God would have us understand that all the earthly afflictions that we encounter are insignificant compared to the glory that is to be revealed. Then notice verse 19, "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God." And here he is saying that all of God's non-rational, inanimate creation - all of the animals, and the plants, and the mountains, and the rivers, and the seas, and the heavenly bodies - they're all personified as anxiously longing. The original carries the idea of an all-consumingconcentration; the idea of an outstretched head looking for something, an expectation fueled by a confident hope. The text says, "waiting eagerly."  And this further adds to this notion of waiting with great anticipation, but with a confident patience.

And what are they waiting for? It says, "...the revealing of the sons of God." The "Apokalypsis," the revealing, the unveiling, the revelation;  that glorious time when the curse is going to be removed, when Christ returns in his glory, when he renovates this earth and returns it once again to Edenic splendor; what the Apostle Paul described in Colossians 3:4 as, "When Christ, who is our life, is revealed..." Then believers, "...also will be revealed with Him in glory."

Now, the question before us is, why is all of creation filled with such a longing? Well, verse 20 answers it, "For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it." And you will recall back in Genesis three, verses 17 through 19, in particular, we read how that after Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed all of his creation, all of mankind, and before the curse, there were no uninhabitable places on the earth, there were no hurricanes or tornadoes or what we would call natural disasters. There were no polar ice fields. There were no harmful bacteria or viruses or earthquakes, because there was no fallen nature.

Genesis 1:31, we read, "And God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good." But we read here in Romans eight that God "subjected it to futility." The word means aimlessness; the inability to reach a goal, to fulfill a purpose. And of course, that purpose was ultimately to bring glory to himself. You see, because of sin, the creator cursed his creation, including mankind, even his inanimate, non-rational creation, would no longer exist as it was originally intended. And certainly we can see this reflected in physics under the category of the law of entropy. Perhaps you remember your studies, and in that realm the second law of thermodynamics, that states that all matter and energy in the universe are in a constant state of entropy, an irreversible process of continual degradation and deterioration. And yet, isn't it amazing that even with that curse upon the world, we can still look out and see things that are absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, bringing glory to God, exalting his majesty.

But folks, what we see is nothing like it was originally made and intended. Today we see his curse manifested in a very violent Earth. Frankly, most of the Earth is uninhabitable due to extreme cold or enormous bodies of water. The world in which we live is subject to all the stuff that we're familiar with, it's subject to pestilence and to weeds and drought and floods and erosion and tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires...bottom line, natural disasters are ultimately a result of sin and God's curse upon it. And as I said earlier, these things are a perpetual reminder of the holiness of God that has been violated by sin, and thus his holiness has been offended. They remind us that this world is not a safe place; that we're made for something far different. This is not a home for which we were ultimately suited. We were originally created for something radically different in the realm of our relationship to God and the realm of our relationship with one another; in the realm of our relationship with the world in which we live.

But notice back to our text, at the end of verse 20, he subjected it, it says, "...in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Beloved, you must understand that God's promise is that someday, all the disease, and the decay, and the human suffering, and the death, and the natural disasters brought on by the curse will cease to exist when the curse is lifted. That will happen at the second coming of Christ. We read about it in the context of so many passages in the Old Testament and in the new. Revelation 20 in particular, the renovated earth and the millennial kingdom. And then ultimately that will be the bridge to the eternal state when, according to second Peter 3:13; the entire universe will be destroyed and purged of all sinful sinfulness, and it will be replaced with a new heaven and a new earth -  Revelation 21. And eventually the curse will be reversed, but now we endure it. In fact, Hebrews two and verse eight says, but now we do not yet see all things put under him, but that day is coming. So creation remains, according to verse 21  "...in slavery to corruption..." Once again that inevitable process of deterioration and degradation. And that's going to happen "until," what a blessed word that is, until "...the freedom of the glory of the children of God." In other words, until that day when Christ returns and liberates his creation from the bondage of sin. But until that glorious day, verse 22, "....we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of child birth together, until now." The creation here is described in a way, as if it's a person. It's personified as someone groaning in pain. And the analogy here is it's like a mother travailing in the agonies of childbirth. In other words, creation, travails in the pain of labor as it prepares to give birth to a new heaven and a new earth, as it anticipates the glorious arrival of the Son of God and the new creation that will glorify him in all of his fullness.

And back to verse 23 it says, "And not only this,..." referring to creation, "...but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit,..." referring to believers, even, "...we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body." And certainly, every believer is fully aware of the corruption of sin in his or her life. We're fully aware of the staggering manifestations of sin that we see all around us on a daily basis. And our our redeemed bodies are still, shall we say, incarcerated in this unredeemed humanness. And we long for that ultimate emancipation when these old bodies that are deteriorating will be glorified. We long for final regeneration; a glorified body to be freed from the hideous consequences of sin. Dear Christian, can you imagine what it will be like to be in perfect fellowship with God and all that he has created? No sin, no effects of a curse. But until that time, we must endure. We must endure the ravages of a sin cursed world. We must endure hurricanes and fires and diseases and unmitigated evil. But we do so knowing that a new day is coming, and therein is the blessed hope of eternal life. And don't you long for that day? For that day of regeneration, when there's no more struggling to survive; there's no more shivering cold, no more stifling heat. No more weeds in the garden, right? No more ticks and chiggers and poisonous snakes and earthquakes and disease. No more divorce. No more broken families. No more unborn children being murdered in the womb. No more wicked perversions like we see in the LGBTQ cult.

Jesus spoke of this glorious regeneration in Matthew 19, beginning in verse 28 it says, "And Jesus said to His disciples, 'Truly, I say to you, that you have you who have followed Me, in the regeneration..." The term is "palingenesia" in the original language - regeneration - speaking of the new world. In the new world - "...when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel." There's part of the promise. And Peter called it in Acts 3:29, his great sermon, quote, "...the time of restoring all things about which God spoke by the mouth of the holy prophets, long ago." A reference, I believe, to the earthly kingdom that's described in Revelation 20 when all believers will sit with Christ on his throne and so forth. So does the Bible tell us why we have natural disasters? Yes, it does. It's because of God's curse on sin.

But secondly, are these catastrophic events prophetic signs of the times leading up to the second coming of Christ? And the answer is no, but they do give us a preview of apocalyptic divine judgment. But what we witness today isn't even close to the kind of destruction that God describes that he's going to pour out upon the earth, and we see this in so many detailed Old Testament prophecies and New Testament prophecies, especially Jesus' Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and 25 that parallels the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments that we see in Revelation six through 16. Let me give you a brief summary of what those prophecies tell us. God first uses satanically controlled men to unleash his wrath upon the wicked the unbelieving world, and what we see is that there will be a holocaust of worldwide war. There will be unprecedented famine and death. 25% of the population will be gone. This is beginning in the seal judgments that we read about in Revelation six and following. And then God directly intervenes in the sixth seal in Revelation six. And that begins with a "great earthquake," quote, unquote, and this will be accompanied by numerous volcanic eruptions that will blacken the sky. There will be cosmic disturbances; there will be massive asteroid and meteor showers. Revelation six, beginning in verse 14, says, then, "The sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain an island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath has come.'"

Now, obviously these supernatural disasters exceed anything that the world has ever experienced. And what I just described is just the beginning of these judgments. You move from the seal judgments to the trumpet judgments. In fact, the Seventh Seal Judgment is the first of the seven trumpet judgments, and I'll summarize them. There will be hail and fire thrown from heaven. A third of all the trees will be burned up, and a third of the grass; seas will be smitten, probably by an asteroid or meteor, we don't know, but it would appear as such. This will kill a third of all the sea creatures, and 1/3 of all the ships will be destroyed. Then the fresh water will be struck, polluting a third of it on the earth. Then the heavens are struck; the sun's heat reduced by 1/3 causing an enormous drop in temperature. By the way, what you see in the trumpet judgments is not only God caused global warming, but God caused global cooling. Unlike anything that we've ever seen before.

Demons will be released to torment unbelievers for five months. They will swarm like locusts and sting like scorpions. Man will pray to die but not be able to. Then another demonic host will be released from the river Euphrates region, which is in the realm of Iraq today, to kill a third of mankind. That's a third of what is left.

That's the trumpet judgments. Then you move to the bowl judgments, which are the final judgments that will happen rapid fire, right before the Lord returns. Loathsome sores will come upon men who wear the mark of the beast. Every living creature in the sea will be killed, the rest of the fresh water destroyed, and God will scorch men who will still continue to blaspheme him, and he will scorch them with intense heat. Then there will be worldwide darkness. The text says, And they gnawed their tongues because of the pain, but yet it also tells us that they would not repent, and they would continue to blaspheme God, and then God, supernaturally draws the armies of the world to come against Israel, retaliation against their God, who has caused all of this. That's the battle of Armageddon.

And then more demonic spirits will join these wicked armies. Another earthquake like the world has never known will occur. No islands or mountains will be left. Everything will be disturbed. There will be 75-pound hail that will come from heaven and the world now, at this point, is literally disintegrating under the wrath of Almighty God. And Jesus promised this in Matthew 24 beginning in verse 21 there will be a "...great tribulation, such has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved." And then we read that Jesus returns in power and great glory to establish His kingdom. Bottom line, dear friends, when you examine the prophetic literature and you grasp the unprecedented culmination of all of these afflictions that lead up to the glorious return of Christ, you can see that those prophetic events bear virtually no resemblance to the natural disasters that we see today. They don't even register on the radar of impending judgment, but they do remind us that life is fragile due to a sin, cursed birth, and that we must be ready, because we're all going to die. I don't want to leave you in depression, but that's the reality, right? We're all going to not die. But here's the hope, there is eternal life in Jesus Christ. That's the good news of the gospel.

Now, what is God up to finally, what is God up to in natural disasters? This is a big question. I'll have you turned to Luke 13 here. Let me give you the context. In Luke 12, it says that so many 1000s of people had gathered together that they were trampling on one another. There's ahuge crowd, a mass of people, trying to hear Jesus talk and preach to them. And then in Luke 13, we read this beginning in verse one. "Now, on the same occasion, there was some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices." In other words, Pilate had sent some of the Roman authorities to the temple to kill some of the Jews who were in the process of offering sacrifices. We don't know for sure what all his thinking was, but he probably considered them to be some of the seditious zealots that were causing so much trouble. Verse two of Luke 13, "And Jesus said to them, 'Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.'"

Now, in order to understand this, let me give you a little Jewish theology of that day, God's covenant people believe that, because they were his covenant people, they were only going to be the recipients of divine blessing; that nothing bad would befall them. They were special. They were superior. They were kind of the divine darlings that God had set apart, and any Jew with a disease or a birth defect was considered to be under the judgment of God, an especially sinful person. You will recall, for example, in John nine, Jesus passed by a man that was blind from birth, and his disciples said in verse two, they asked him saying, "'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?'" So the point is, if anything bad happened to a Jew, it resulted in great confusion to these people, because they automatically assumed that they were innocent, that certainly God's judgment isn't following on me, that's the idea. So they give Jesus this actual scenario of great calamity in verse one. And I might also add that the Galileans of that day were notorious for being exceedingly zealous and rebellious against Rome. They were subversive, and they were called zealots and terrorists, and evidently, the group in question was being hunted by Rome. Perhaps they had come to the temple for asylum. We don't know. Perhaps they came to worship. But for whatever the reason, Pilate sends his troops in and massacres them.

And I might also add that because of Pilate's heavy handedness and his tactics on the Jewish people, it provoked them even more to further rebellion, which led to the Romans destroying them in AD 70. Now important context here, Jesus has been talking about judgment in Luke 12, for example, verses 57 through 59 in essence, he's telling people to "settle with your opponent," before you stand before the judge, and he exposes your guilt, etc. So the point is, he's been saying to them, now you need to get right with God before you come before his holy omniscience, his omniscient bar of justice.

So with this theme of judgment resonating in their minds, ringing in their ear, someone who was aware of this barbaric massacre in the temple where presumably innocent people were murdered, asks Jesus about this issue, which is basically, where is God in this kind of a calamity. To put it in our modern vernacular, why do bad things happen to good people? Right? The assumption is that a loving God would never be a party to such a thing.

Now, verse two, he knows their assumption that this should never have happened to these innocent people. So how could God allow this? And he answered them and said, "'Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?'" Of course, he knew that's what they were thinking. And here Jesus gets to the very heart of the issue is, why does calamity fall on people indiscriminately, often killing people that are innocent as well as wicked. And of course, there are times when we know Goddoes judge the wicked in various forms of His wrath. But as you think about it, you know, what about war, where the innocent die? Where is God in all that? What about a plane crash, an epidemic, a tsunami, a hurricane, or the Los Angeles fires? Where does God fit into all of this? Is he as shocked and horrified at this as we are? Is he powerless to do anything about it. Is he indifferent, or is he the one who works all things after the counsel of his will?

Beloved, you should never forget that. You must understand that this is not a random universe, that God reigns supreme in utter sovereignty over all of his creation to accomplish his good purposes. We see, for example, in Bible prophecy, that God takes us into the secret chambers of his eternal counsel. We see how, by his providence, he orchestrates every single aspect of history to ultimately accomplish his eternal decrees, that we might all marvel at his sovereign rule, because he is Lord of heaven and earth. His dominion is unlimited. It is universal, and he orchestrates all things for our good and his glory. Nothing catches him by surprise. He brings, as I read earlier, both blessing and calamity. Amos 3:6 "If a calamity occurs in a city, has not the Lord done it?" The answer is, yeah. After losing all 10 of his children. Job said this in Job 1:21, "The Lord gave and the Lord is taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." Psalm, 103, verse, 19, "The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all." So where is God in all of this? The same place he's always been, and he will always be...on his throne.

One of the great Puritans that I love to read, Stephen Charnock, said this quote, "A view of God upon His throne will make us think His service, our privilege.  His precepts, our ornaments, and obedience to Him the greatest honor and nobility. It will make us weighty and serious in our performances. It would stake us down to any duty. The reason we are so loose and unmannerly in the carriage of our souls before God is because we consider him not as a," quote, "great King" (Malachi 1:14). Folks, this is the God of the Bible.

Now, with this in mind, notice Jesus' answer here to this support this important question. You know, where is where is God in this type of a calamity that presumably kills innocent people? Again, verse two, "'Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?’” And here's his startling answer in verse three, "'I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.'" Jesus is saying that these Galileans didn't die because they were worse sinners, nor do others still live because they are better than others; he is simply saying that death is inevitable, so be ready. How can I be ready to obey the command that God has given us to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? That is not an invitation. That is God's command that we repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We acknowledge that our heart is evil in rebellion to God, and we are hopeless and helpless to change apart from Christ, so we plead for his mercy and we acknowledge him as the only hope of our salvation. You see friends, the real calamity behind a hurricane or a tsunami or the LA fires is perishing in your sin.

Then he reminds them of another calamitous scenario that they would have all been familiar with, a natural disaster, if you will. In verse four, he gives them another example. "'Or, do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?'" By the way, the tower in Siloam, they would build towers in order to build aqueducts, and evidently, they had built one, and it had fallen and killed 18 men. What's his answer? He says, verse five, "'I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.'" So here again, he challenges their errant theology. The victims of this tragedy weren't any more wicked than anyone else. That's what he's telling them. And dear friend, again, here's the real calamity. And this is what Jesus is saying. The real calamity is not what happened in the temple. The real calamity is not what happened with the tower. And to make it applicable to what we're talking about even today, the real calamity is not hurricanes. It's not the LA Fire. The real calamity is when people die in their sin because they refuse to repent, when they fail to settle their dispute with God before they enter into his holy presence and see him as their judge and executioner.

Think about this, whenever an unbeliever dies of some calamity, it is always an act of divine judgment, because at that point, the time for their repentance had run out, and Jesus is saying, again, we're all going to die. It's inevitable. We don't know when. Frankly, every one of us is living on borrowed time. Everyone who dies in a natural disaster or some kind of acatastrophe, was going to die anyway. They just didn't know when. And of course, people will be quick to say, well, it's not fair that God would allow anyone to die or others to live. No, dear friends, what is not fair is that he allows any of us to live because the wages of sin is what it's death. We live in a fallen sin, cursed world, and every breath is a gift from God. So again, bottom line, be ready, repent, because it is appointed unto man once to die, then the judgment the Scripture teaches us. And what a tragic thing it was for those Galileans, as well as the folks who died at the Tower of Siloam, they must have been unbelievers. They thought they were right with God, but the text says they perished. The term perished in the original carries the idea of being lost, of being destroyed, the idea of eternal separation from God; the ultimate in eternal judgment.

Now think about this, when innocent babies die, or godly Christians that love Christ die in some catastrophe, bear in mind they were going to die anyway at some time, but death to them, merely ushered them into the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy. But when those who are living in rebellion to God, those who are trusting in their own righteousness to make them acceptable to God, those who have bought into some religious system that tells you you've got to do this, or you got to do that in order to be right with God and go to heaven,  when those people die in some natural disaster, it is an act of divine judgment. They did not repent, and so they perish in their sin. And those who survived some great catastrophic eventare recipients of divine mercy, not because they are somehow more deserving, but simply because God, in his mercy, is giving them more time; another chance to get right with him to. Or if they are united to him in faith, he gives them more opportunities to serve him. So where is God in natural disasters? Again, the same place he has always been - seated upon his sovereign throne, ruling over his creation until Jesus returns. And according to Hebrews two eight, until he puts, "'ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.' But between now and then, in his merciful forbearance, he allows sinners to live, to hear the gospel, to repent and to believe, to give them every opportunity to be reconciled to him through faith in Christ.

And on many occasions, he will even bring natural disasters - which can be judgment for unbelievers who perish - it can be merciful wake up calls to other people who survived. And very often, it will bring death to innocent infants, innocent children and redeemed saints who were going to die anyway, and usher them into glory. My friends, the real question is simply this, are you prepared to meet your God?

In closing, as I think about the LA fires, I see, my, what a vivid illustration of man's spiritual condition; there's so many parallels here. People lost and confused. They're in despair. I think first of all, what we see, for example, in the LA fires, is number one, people are unable to save themselves. They're unable to contribute spiritually to their salvation, to deliverance. They're dependent upon God. They're begging him for help and for mercy. And for some, it's too late. And the same is true for every man. Without Christ, he cannot save himself. He must cry out for God to save him.

Secondly, you see that some refused to get out of the way to be rescued, and those are some of the ones that were injured or died. I think of the spiritual parallel, and many people will ignore the warnings that you're hearing even from this pulpit today, and think, Oh my how silly. How can anybody possibly believe that? People too attached to worldly possessions, confident that somehow, they can put out their own fires in their life; too proud, too stubborn to believe. Like many unbelievers today, they're not worried about judgment, because they're convinced that they're going to be okay.

And then you have, thirdly, those that are utterly unconcerned. They're indifferent. No need to be concerned. Somebody else will take care of things. The government will take care of me. And then tragedy comes. A lot of people spiritually are the same way. You know, I belong to a church, I've made some profession of faith. You know, the man upstairs is going to take care of me, I have confidence in that. Those are the words of a fool.

And then you also see, in the LA fires, the criminals that come in to loot. I've got friends that tell me that it's not just a few here and there, it's hundreds, hundreds of people. And I think of the spiritually dead people today that hate God. They live only for themselves, to indulge their flesh, to satisfy their lusts and they love the world, and some of them are so depraved that they will tell you that they're looking forward to hell, because, after all, that's where they're going to be with all of their friends. What a lie, what a tragic lie. They do not know that hell is solitary confinement and conscious torment forever, where you will pay for your sins because you've refused to trust in Christ to pay for them on your behalf. There sinners will blaspheme God for eternity in rage, Jesus said, Matthew 8:12, they, "...will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." I cannot imagine a horror more profound than that - eternal darkness separated from God. God removed forever from the splendors and joy of the kingdom of light.

Oh, dear sinner, come to Christ before it's too late. Because unless you repent and believe in Christ, you will perish in your sin and when you see these horrible things happening in the world, know once again, this is part of a sin-cursed world. And concealed in every calamity are the saving purposes of God, and how often he uses those things to get people's attention and cry out to God; even as many of them are doing, maybe even unwittingly, when they say, "oh my god, oh my God." And I hope that at that point they would say, "Oh my God, save me, not only from the horror of what's happening, but more importantly, save me from the horror of my sin." That's a biblical perspective of the LA fires and all of the other things like them that we've seen and that we will continue to see until the Lord returns in power and in great glory. What a wonderful Savior. Amen? Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for these eternal truths. Impress them upon each heart. I pray for those that do not know you as Savior, that you will melt their heart with conviction, that they might bow the knee to Christ and believe in him, trust in him as their only hope of salvation. And Lord for those dear people who are still struggling in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee and Georgia, some in South Carolina, Lord for those people in Los Angeles, I pray that by the power of your spirit the gospel will go forth with such clarity and such conviction that many will be saved, and that you will be merciful to these people, that you will rescue them, even physically. But Lord especially that you will deliver them spiritually to the praise of your glory and for their eternal good. For it's in Christ's name that I pray. Amen.