Crisis Intervention

Introduction

Crisis, intervention, crisis management, they are the terms of our times. Seemingly everything and everyone is in crisis. Nations are in crisis. And as we begin this lesson tonight, of course, there has been thoughts of the nation of Syria and what the United States government may do in relation to the atrocities that are we’re being told are being committed in Syria. And so our nation could be in turmoil because of crisis in another nation. It seems our government is always in crisis these days. I mean, there’s financial crisis that continually besets us as our national debt soars to numbers we can’t even begin to comprehend. And not only do we have financial crisis, we have a leadership crisis. That seems to concern many of us, and always the threat of national security or threats to national security cause us to be in crisis.

Families are in crisis. Divorce runs rampant in our times. Children are neglected, child violence, adult violence, families are in crisis. Abuse, neglect, turmoil, even debt are problems that families face. And of course, as families are in crisis, certainly individuals are in crisis, mostly because they are unaware of God’s purposes for them. And that brings crisis in and of itself. But even those who know God’s purposes for them experience crisis. You’re trying to get home from work and you’re stuck on San Filippi for two hours, or however long it was, or 2.49. Or if it rains in the afternoon, you’re going, oh boy, this commute home is going to be really long. All kinds of crises beset us. As I was preparing these thoughts, within the last 10 days, I had two very common maladies occur, but usually not this close together.

The flat tire happened as I was just trying to get a car wash. Immediately, everything changes. Your plans change. In the hot sun, you’re changing a tire. And then you have to try to find that tire to replace that because you know those little tires that are spares, you can only go 50 miles, or you’re not even sure if you can go that far on one of those things. And so then you have to find the tire and get the tire replaced. And then I had a dead battery a week later. That wasn’t quite as bad as the flat tires. But all of a sudden, when these minor kinds of crises happen in our lives, immediately they put us into a mode that we did not expect.

And that’s what crises do. We’re often unprepared for them. When they hit us out of the blue, they were unexpected. And now everything changes as a result. Christians find themselves in various crises from time to time. And churches can find themselves in crises as the practice of sin can infiltrate the body of Christ. So, what are some solutions for our times? Crisis intervention. I want to take you first tonight to Psalm 46. And we’re going to look at a few verses there. Psalm 46, verses 1 through 5. It is a psalm for a time of crisis. When he says in verse 1, God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. It has always been so that troubles have come to the lives of people and even the lives of righteous people.

And we would be absolutely absurd to think that troubles and difficulties will not come to our lives. That we will be completely free of those. In fact, sometimes we are free from those kinds of troubles, and everything seems to be going along rather smoothly for quite a long period of time. And if you’re in one of those right now, embrace it. Enjoy it. It’s a wonderful thing. A lot of people in the world never get those times. But rest assured, trouble will come. And God is a very present help in the midst of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth should change.

That’s pretty big. The earth should change. I think immediately of a sinkhole. A sinkhole starts working in your backyard. My backyard is not very big. If a sinkhole started happening in my backyard, my house would be swallowed completely. And I think that did happen not very long ago to a guy’s house. A sea hole developed and down with the house. Even though the earth should change, I will not fear. And he goes on to say, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, how catastrophic would that be? Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Then he says, this calving statement.

God satisfying his people with much needed nourishment. There is river. There is a river that can that imagery contains all sorts of blessings to our mind, or it should. What would we do without water for cleansing and nourishment and satisfying our thirst? And this river whose streams make glad the city of God. And then he says, God is in the midst of her.

Godliness vanishes. Love evaporates like steam. What are we going to do in the midst of crisis? Perhaps we can devise a checklist, how to deal with troubles that come our way and to make spiritual things our focus and godliness our focus when trials and troubles come. Start with Psalm 46 and the crisis intervention that it provides. But I want to give you another passage tonight in the Old Testament. Perhaps you’re not very familiar with this one. I wasn’t very familiar with this one until this week. I know I’d read it before. After all, we had studied Isaiah not very long ago. But I never really thought of it from the standpoint of helping us in the midst of difficulty. And that text is Isaiah chapter 33.

And we’re just going to notice a few things about this text tonight, and then we’ll conclude the lesson. Perhaps provide us with some things, as you notice when the fuel tank is on empty. That can be a crisis. If you run out of gas, that’s something, knock on wood that has never happened to me.

Dad, we’re going to run out of gas. Dad, we’re going to run out of gas. He was only like eight or nine years old at the time, I think. And so if you ever run out of gas, immediate crisis, like those other kinds of car maladies. But of course, the crises that we experience are often a lot worse than this.

Judgment lose on the horizon. God cannot leave sin unchecked. No, not among his people, the nation of Israel, nor the nations that threaten her and the nations that surround her. And so Isaiah is dealing with all of these nations. And even his own people, God is addressing the judgment that will come because sin will not go unchecked. And for the righteous, for those who are actually listening to what Isaiah has to say. These will be troubled and difficult times. You know, even if you’re not responsible for the judgment that is coming upon men, it’s going to be difficult for you. And I think of Jeremiah. Generations that follow. Jeremiah, as he’s prophesying of the imminent doom, that the Babylonians are going to come and destroy the city of Jerusalem.

We don’t know if Jeremiah even survived that destruction. If he fled and then died soon afterwards, we don’t have any knowledge of that. We know he wasn’t taken off into captivity. There’s no mention of Ezekiel of Jeremiah being in captivity. And so here he is, a very righteous person living in Judah, and he experiences personal crisis because he lives among wicked people. Righteousness exalts a nation. But sin is a disgrace to any people. Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 34. And so what are you going to do when crisis comes? You know, we talk about having a crisis hotline when somebody experiences a problem and makes a phone call. This is our spiritual phone call. Isaiah chapter 33 gives us some things to do in crisis. That I want to share with you.

Five things I want to. We’re not going to look at every verse in Isaiah 33 tonight, but I want to look at five things that this text is telling us. Look with me in Isaiah chapter 33 and verse 1. And to get the context of the times. Woe to you, O destroyer, while you were not destroyed. And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you shall finish destroying, you shall be destroyed. As soon as you shall cease to deal treacherously, others shall deal treacherously with you. And he’s talking to the nations here. And those who do what they do simply for self-advancement and selfish desires. They’re not doing what they do to be a part of the purposes of God.

1. It's Always About Fellowship

You who are the destroyer, look, that’s going to come back to you. You’re going to be destroyed. And in the midst of God doing that, there will be innocent casualties. Or people that will experience difficulty because of God’s judgment that he brings. More on that in a New Testament passage that deals with that in a later point. Number one. So what should we do in the midst of Christ? You have your crisis checklist ready. Number one, it’s always about fellowship. That’s what Psalm 46 was about. There is a river that makes glad the city of God. God is your very present help and your refuge in times of trouble. Fellowship is the key element to any crisis. Oh Lord, be gracious to us. And I put asterisks by these verses that I want to call your attention to mainly tonight in Isaiah 33.

And this is one, O Lord, be gracious to us. We have waited for thee. Be thou their strength every morning. A daily pursuit. Our salvation also in the time of distress. When you experience crisis, what do you do? You share it. Misery love company, right? No, we need help and counsel in a time of crisis. And so we’re going to share that with our spouse. We’re going to share that with our family. We’re going to share that with our extended family, and we’re going to share that with our brothers in Christ. And actually, bad we’ll share it with our neighbor. I mean, we’re going to share this with other people, and that’s one thing that the body of Christ is all about, right? If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.

We are to do what? Romans 12 15. You got that verse right? Romans 12.15 and that list of all the things we ought to be doing because we’re the justified in Christ. What? Weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. I’ve always said we’re much better at the first than the second. Misery love company. Weep with those who weep. And so here we are to help each other. And sometimes our brothers are experiencing spiritual crisis as well. They come acknowledging that, even in a public way sometimes, and requesting the prayers of brothers and sisters on their behalf. And they make an appeal. I need help. Pray for me. And we can do that. And we do that. But you know what we really need sometimes?

Don’t you wish we could do this? Okay, brother, I’m going to take the next three days, and it’s going to be just you and me. We’re going to spend three days together. Or a week together. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to do that? Let’s just take three days and let me help you through this given time of crisis. Much like Job’s friends, of course, they weren’t much help, but they came and sat with Joel for a number of days. Wouldn’t it be great? In our culture, we can’t do that. You’ve got to go to work the next day. And even then, even if we can do that, there is only so much that human compassion and human companionship can do. We’ll say things like, I know how you feel.

I feel your pain. Really? Sometimes we’ll think, we don’t. Who knows what to say, really, when you’re trying to comfort people? They’ve lost a loved one. What can you really say that makes that better? Just being there is what makes it better. But you say, I feel your pain, and they go, no, you really don’t. Unless you’ve experienced something awfully a lot like what they’ve experienced, you really don’t feel it to the same degree that they do, or experience it in the same way that they do. I mean, you’re weeping with those who weep, but that can only go so far. And I understand that, and you understand that. And so I never say things like, I know what you’re going through. Because I may have no idea what they’re really going through.

And so, yes, we are here to comfort each other and help one another and extend what comfort we can in times of crisis, but I’ll tell you, who can do far more than any human can do? And one who understands your situation and circumstances perfectly, he knows all of the weight that it brings to your life. The one who knows that better, who can really say, I understand your pain, it is God. He knows your thoughts inside and out. He knows the weights and concerns and the pain that you have. And so often we want to only turn to human companionship and human comfort when it is God that we need. He is our strength every morning. Turn first and foremost. Yes, this exists for our help and comfort.

Our spouses should exist for our help and comfort. But ultimately, God can do what no other can do. That’s where this starts. He shall richly supply all your need in Christ Jesus. I love Philippians 4 19.

2. He Shall Be the Stability of Your Times

Whatever my need is, spiritual, physical, and emotional. God can supply the need that I have. So often men, with the best of intentions and the greatest acts of service, cannot. Secondly, he speaks of the stability of your times. And I’ve not noticed this phrase before. As he says, at the sound of the tumult, peoples flee. Verse 3. At the lifting up of thyself, nations disperse. God can take care of nations, and he will judge them. And your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers, as locusts rushing about, men rush about on it. The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness, and he shall be, and this is where I have an asterisk. And he shall be the stability of your times.

I love that. A wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is his treasure. Though the earth should change, as we saw in Psalm 46, God will be the stability of our times. A wealth of wisdom, salvation and knowledge. These are the things that will see you through any crisis. We need to go to the right source for solutions. The wisdom of God, the knowledge of God, the salvation of God. The flesh profits nothing. Remember Jesus saying that in John chapter 6? But my words are spirit and they are life. I could spend the rest of the sermon just talking about that last phrase. They are spirit and they are life. They pertain to everything that the inner man needs for survival and immortality.

My words are spirit. They enliven the inner man and they are life. Where there may be death and pain and all sorts of troubles in our world, God’s words give life. It is the word of life. The fear of the Lord is his treasure when nothing else in the world seems to be valuable. Ever gone through some pain where you didn’t care about your 50-inch TV anymore?

Or your very comfortable bed, and don’t we all try to have one of those? Even that’s not very comfortable anymore. And no solace to you at all. You know, you’re going through some kind of pain, and Christ says, Oh, but my bed is the satisfaction that I need. You can’t even sleep. You can’t even get in a right position to sleep. Because your mind is so troubled. Your house, you’re not thinking about how wonderful air conditioning is it. It’s wonderful around here. And the fact that it’s 72 degrees in your heaven. There are times when all of the things that we have are cars, the comforts of our existence. None of those things matter. Of course, unless we didn’t have them. But they don’t matter that much.

3. Sinners in Zion Are Terrified

When nothing else seems to be valuable. The fear of the Lord is a treasure. Point number three. I want you to move down now as this passage of judgment moves on. And he speaks of his breath that will consume like a fire. I want you to think of something else. As he says in verse 14, the next verse I have marked, sinners in Zion are terrified. Trembling has seized the godless. Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning? The wicked do not have anything that we should envy.

And presently, many of the wicked aren’t seized by anything. But sheer selfishness. The pleasure of the moment. The trinkets and thrills of fleeting fun.

Everyone I know shies away from pain as much as we possibly can. We don’t like any kind of pain. Sunburn. Whatever we were doing that got us the sunburn. That was a lot of fun. But then it doesn’t seem so fun. When your skin is on fire. And you’re looking for some kind of relief. You ever had one of those really bad sunburns like my sister had once? She got her eyes puffed up because of the sun poisoning. You ever had sun poisoning, sunburn? We just heard a story this week about the tree that they, what tree was that? I forget. The lime tree. They got lime juice on their skin. And then went swimming. Burnt it. Seriously. Stay away from lime trees when you go swimming.

Don’t get lime juice on your skin. You will burn terribly. May not ever be able to go out in the sun again. Kids, stay away from lime trees. Don’t get lime juice on your skin and then expose it to the sun. I don’t know, but you. You ever get a hangnail? Don’t you hate that? It just drives you crazy. Or you cut your finger. There’s a little cut in the kitchen. Doesn’t happen most of those guys. But you cut your hand, and you know what I think immediately when I cut myself? You know, that’s going to bother me for about three days. That little cut. Every time I try to type on the typewriter, you know what I’m trying to do the computer trying to get around that little cut on my finger.

We don’t want pain of any kind. Do you like any kind of pain seriously? That’s why we have Advil. If you can’t take Advil, you’re taking Tylenol. We’ve got to have an answer for our pain. And this is the little stuff. Let me tell you something about the godless person. The godless person has in store for him or her pain of an extraordinary kind.

That leads me to the New Testament passages I was talking about. If it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God, and boy, if Isaiah 33 has a New Testament passage attached to it’s 1 Peter 4. If it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God, what will be the outcome? God is going to take account of his people first. And that’s sort of what’s going on here. What is he seeing in us? Are we pursuing fellowship with him daily? Is he our strength every morning? Is he the stability of our times? Because I want to tell you, if that judgment first begins with us, he says, what will be the outcome for the godless man and the sinner?

Don’t envy him. You don’t want to be him when the day of judgment comes. And trust your soul to a faithful creator in doing what is right. The godless tremble. I want to tell you. Right now, as the godless pursue their pleasure, they’re not trembling in anything. But I’ll tell you, when you really get it, when you understand what life is really all about, and the judgment that looms, the judgment of God that is certain, when you’re Felix listening to Paul, and you believe what he’s telling you about righteousness, about a real expression of faith before God, requiring me exercising self-control. And my failure to live according to the precepts of God causes me to be in danger of the judgment of God. The three things that he reasoned with him.

What did Felix do when he got it? He trembled.

So many of the godless today don’t tremble because they don’t know what they have in store for their future. It’s not a hangmail, it’s not a cut, it’s not a burn, it’s not a burn like we talked about with the lime juice. It is a continual burning away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. How much severer punishment do you think he will receive? Who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has considered unclean the blood of the covenant and has insulted the spirit of grace. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of believing God. And I left part of that out intentionally. The blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified. In Hebrews chapter 10, he’s not even talking about the one outside of Christ.

He’s talking about the one who has been in Christ but has now rejected that message. Considered unclean, the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, has insulted the spirit of grace.

4. Dwell on the Heights

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And then when he comes later in chapter 12 and verse 28, when he talks about Christians, believers, as he’s already warned them earlier in the book, to not depart from the living God by developing a heart of unbelief. He says, We have received the kingdom which cannot be shaken. Let us serve God acceptably with reverence and awe. And then how does that go? For our God is a consuming fire. Doesn’t sound like he’s changed from Isaiah 33, does it? Number four. Dwell on the heights of Mark verses 15 and 16. He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity. He who rejects unjust gain and shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe.

He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil. He will dwell on the heights.

That’s right. His ways are lofty. Doing right is a high place. I love that passage in Habakkuk chapter 3 when Habakkuk looks toward times that we’re talking about actually. Ultimate destruction on the beloved city of Jerusalem and Judah. He talks about a time when God is not blessing his people anymore. The fig tree doesn’t blossom. There’s no fruit on the vines. The yield of the olive fails. The fields produce no food. He says, Yet I will exalt in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he has made my feet like hind feet. And then this last statement of Habakkuk is, and he makes me walk on my high places. Listen, people, young people. Walking in the ways of God elevates you like nothing else can.

5. Your Eyes Will See the King

Doing the will of God in your life in simple things, in relationships, by the way we speak, the things that we will refuse to look at with our eyes because of our covenant with the Lord. We are walking on God’s high places. We are dwelling in the heights. Spiritual pursuit, personal devotion, corporate worship, studying the life-giving words of Scripture, these are our high places. And the ultimate high place is knowing the God of heaven. Because I know him, I speak purely for him. I keep my mind from lust for him. I do not care what others think about how small, disturbed, or foolish I am because I believe in him. Because I dwell in the heights. And finally, I’ve marked verse 17 of Isaiah 33. I’ve loved this verse for a long time.

Isaiah 33, verse 17. Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. Isaiah’s prophecy began with a vision of the king sitting on his throne in Isaiah chapter 6. Mine eyes have seen the king. I’m undone. I live among a people of unclean lips, and I have unclean lips, he says. In a previous judgment text in Isaiah 24 and verse 23. It says, The moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before the elders. And in a few verses, he says in verses 21 and 22, but there the majestic one, the Lord shall be for us. A place of rivers and wide canals on which no boat with oars shall go, and which no mighty ship shall pass.

For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, and he will save us. Your eyes will see the king. You know what happens in crisis, don’t you? We get distracted from where we ought to be looking.

We take our eyes off the king. When the Hebrew writer talks about faith and being an overcomer in faith, like those great examples in chapter 11, that great cloud of witnesses, and saying we need to lay aside the sin that so easily entangles us in every encumbrance and run with endurance the race that is set before us. What follows that? Extra credit if you get it. What follows that? Looking to Jesus. The author and finisher of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross and despised the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on eye. We have the same prescription for troubled times in Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 that we have in Isaiah 33. You’ve got to look at the King.

You’ve got to fix your eyes on he that is pure, so that you will be pure. He says in 1 John chapter 3 and verse 3, everyone who has this hope fix on him. That’s the key. You’ve got to see the king. And that hope is superior to any sensation. But the world is offering us. We’re the children of God.

Now you know the story in Matthew 14, right? Jesus comes walking to the disciples on the water. And at first they’re terrified. It’s a ghost. When he gets closer, they realize it’s Jesus. And then Peter, we’re always raking him over the coals for all of his mistakes, but what courage. Lord, if it’s you, had me come out to you on the water. Man, I don’t see any of the other disciples saying that. Of course, Peter, he was always going to be impetuous. He’s going to be the first to speak. But he said, Well, Let me come out on the water to you. I love this story. And he gets out of the boat and he’s walking on the water toward Jesus. Lucky him. Until what did he do?

Matthew 14 says, He was looking at the waves. When looking at Jesus. And what happened? You know the story. He began to sink. Got to keep your eyes on the king. Why did you doubt? As the Lord reaches out and saves them. Why did you doubt? The same troubles befall us. And then he concludes in verse 17 by saying, And they will behold a far distant land. What is that? Okay, so you’re on a journey. You’re headed someplace, a destination, perhaps a city. And you’re traveling for a long way. We do that in cars. They did that on walks and camels. And you’re headed to the city and you come up, you’ve been a long journey. It’s been difficult, sweating, in our times, traffic, many miles of pavement.

You’re tired. When are we going to get there? The kids are saying from the back seat. They’ve said it 45 times. Finally, you come up over the horizon, and there it is, the majestic glowing city, especially if you’re coming in at night. My parents always, I was asleep at the time, but my parents always talked about heading home from a 26-day trip, and we were driving back from the northern part of the United States all the way up to California, coming back to the southern part. We’ve been at the Grand Canyon, that’s where I got sick and threw up. And because I got sick and didn’t really enjoy the Grand Canyon, my parents said, okay, we’re going to head home. Trip ended sooner than we thought.

Tony’s sick, but the time we got home, I was well. Everybody else was sick. I share. But as we were coming into New Mexico in the city of Albuquerque, the sun was beginning to rise, and we were driving all night. Again, I was asleep. And my parents, I remember them trying to wake us up, but I don’t think that worked. And they said it was just absolutely beautiful. The city of Albuquerque against the sunrise in the morning. Absolutely. I get that picture here. The far distant land, this majestic city, this desired destination. And I’m thinking.

Right? Some of you are counting down the days. Go into Disney World. And I’ll tell you when it all comes to fruition when you walk into the magic kingdom, and there it is. Cinderella’s castle. Boom! Out of Disney World. Don’t get any better than this.

You will see the far distant land. Or you’re headed to the Emerald Coast, and finally you get there, and you put your feet on the beach, and there’s the green, seemingly green waves crashing upon the shore. We’ve got to keep our eyes on the king and the destination. The far distant land. We are a habitation of God and the Spirit. And these promises are brought to bear in Christ. Finally, this chapter concludes with sickness being cured. He says in verse 23, your tackle hangs slack, it cannot hold the base of its mass firmly, nor spread out the sail. Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided. The lame will take the plunder, and no resident will say, I am sick. The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

Conclusion

And like the prophets so often talk about, the overlooked and ignored, the downtrodden and the disadvantaged, the lame and the lonely and the lowly will finally have a share in the spoils and the plunder. Sickness is cured, iniquity is forgiven. In crisis, in spiritual crisis, you need to seek the healing that only comes from the Lord. He is the only one, as we saw this morning. If there’s someone who needs to respond to Him this hour to the saving of your soul or need assistance from your brothers and sisters in Christ, come now as we stand and sing together.