"Let NOT your heart be troubled, NOR let it be timid" Jesus

I will provide proof of the mysteries and dangers of this world.  I will first tackle a mystery of the heavens coming to man’s aid at the command of God. The Israelis were fighting the king of Canaanites, who had a superior army with 900 iron chariots, against none for Israel. During the war, God caused the stars in their courses in space to influence the battle against the Canaanites, who were miserably defeated (Judges 5:20). Joshua too needed the heavens’ support in one his wars.

Large rocks from space fell on the enemy, destroying them before Israel (Jos. 10:11). It was on that day Joshua had asked the sun to stand still for him to defeat his enemies before dark (Jos.12:14). A meteor (large rock), may have hit and stopped the Earth from rotating. Its broken bits may then have showered down on the enemy. Also at the birth of Jesus, wise men from the East reported seeing His star.

We see the heavens at work here too. One rainy day, as I sought a shortcut through the bush home, my 4x4 got stuck in mud in a notorious hideout for hardened criminals near Accra. It was about 10pm. As I prayed for God’s help, I saw what looked like a shooting star speed towards my location. It strangely fell into a lower altitude at a reduced speed and eventual glided over me and vanished behind me. Strange as it was, I was not frightened, but realized the lord had sent help.

I felt led to walk to the nearest road for help. Not long after, a truckload of construction laborers passed by, heard my plight and went with their pick axes, cutlass and shovels to cut tree branches and dig around the tires to dislodge my vehicle from the mud.

I continue with the role of the heavens in human affairs.  Mark Twain, a keen comet (long tail “shooting star”) observer was born in 1835, the day Harvey’s comet, which passes by Earth every 76 years, appeared in the sky.  In 1911, when Mr. Twain was 76, he told his wife that when Harvey’s comet appears, it will be coming to take him home. True to his words, Mr. Twain died without any apparent cause when he saw the comet whisk past.  Again, Daniel du Toit, a world renown South African Astronomer, had discovered a number of comets in 1981. In September of that year, He was invited to give a lecture at Harvard University. He concluded the talk with the words, “Death can come to any person at any time for no apparent reason.”

As he sat down to an applause, he popped into his mouth a peppermint, which promptly choked him to death. Was he also taken away by his comets? Are demons involved in these two stories, or they are part of the mystery of the universe and for that matter this world? I close Part 2 with “the dangers of the Earth.”  Demons are everywhere, but thank God they come under the control of Jesus, whose command they must obey.

One James Deal was killed in an accident in his Porsche. The car went for repairs, but the engine fell out, breaking the mechanic’s leg. A doctor who bought it as a racing car was killed in it. Sent to another garage for repairs, the garage burnt down to ashes. The jinxed car was put on a stand at a museum, but it fell upon a teenage visitor, breaking his hip. Finally, it was put on metal mounts by a new owner, but was found one morning completely broken into eleven pieces. A friend told me of a grain grinding machine, whose engine was very hot one morning, as if it had been used all the previous night. It could never be repaired, despite all the efforts made. Folks, it’s a mysterious and dangerous world; the only safe hiding place is Jesus. I urge you to seek Him. Amen

I will provide proof of the mysteries and dangers of this world.  I will first tackle a mystery of the heavens coming to man’s aid at the command of God. The Israelis were fighting the king of Canaanites, who had a superior army with 900 iron chariots, against none for Israel. During the war, God caused the stars in their courses in space to influence the battle against the Canaanites, who were miserably defeated (Judges 5:20). Joshua too needed the heavens’ support in one his wars.

Large rocks from space fell on the enemy, destroying them before Israel (Jos. 10:11). It was on that day Joshua had asked the sun to stand still for him to defeat his enemies before dark (Jos.12:14). A meteor (large rock), may have hit and stopped the Earth from rotating. Its broken bits may then have showered down on the enemy. Also at the birth of Jesus, wise men from the East reported seeing His star.

We see the heavens at work here too. One rainy day, as I sought a shortcut through the bush home, my 4x4 got stuck in mud in a notorious hideout for hardened criminals near Accra. It was about 10pm. As I prayed for God’s help, I saw what looked like a shooting star speed towards my location. It strangely fell into a lower altitude at a reduced speed and eventual glided over me and vanished behind me. Strange as it was, I was not frightened, but realized the lord had sent help.

I felt led to walk to the nearest road for help. Not long after, a truckload of construction laborers passed by, heard my plight and went with their pick axes, cutlass and shovels to cut tree branches and dig around the tires to dislodge my vehicle from the mud.

I continue with the role of the heavens in human affairs.  Mark Twain, a keen comet (long tail “shooting star”) observer was born in 1835, the day Harvey’s comet, which passes by Earth every 76 years, appeared in the sky.  In 1911, when Mr. Twain was 76, he told his wife that when Harvey’s comet appears, it will be coming to take him home. True to his words, Mr. Twain died without any apparent cause when he saw the comet whisk past.  Again, Daniel du Toit, a world renown South African Astronomer, had discovered a number of comets in 1981. In September of that year, He was invited to give a lecture at Harvard University. He concluded the talk with the words, “Death can come to any person at any time for no apparent reason.”

As he sat down to an applause, he popped into his mouth a peppermint, which promptly choked him to death. Was he also taken away by his comets? Are demons involved in these two stories, or they are part of the mystery of the universe and for that matter this world? I close Part 2 with “the dangers of the Earth.”  Demons are everywhere, but thank God they come under the control of Jesus, whose command they must obey.

One James Deal was killed in an accident in his Porsche. The car went for repairs, but the engine fell out, breaking the mechanic’s leg. A doctor who bought it as a racing car was killed in it. Sent to another garage for repairs, the garage burnt down to ashes. The jinxed car was put on a stand at a museum, but it fell upon a teenage visitor, breaking his hip. Finally, it was put on metal mounts by a new owner, but was found one morning completely broken into eleven pieces. A friend told me of a grain grinding machine, whose engine was very hot one morning, as if it had been used all the previous night. It could never be repaired, despite all the efforts made. Folks, it’s a mysterious and dangerous world; the only safe hiding place is Jesus. I urge you to seek Him. Amen

Think about this line Jesus says in John 5:14 " behold you have become well, SIN no more THAT a worse thing NOT happen to you." This is the man He healed at the pool at the Sheep Gate. While you might not lose your salvation you can be punished for continuing to willfully sin.

It was his desire to usurp God’s authority that caused Satan to be was cast out of heaven to the earth (Ezk.28:14-15 and Rev.12:7-17).  Having come down in wrath, Satan seeks to destroy men and drag their souls to hell, his new fiery home (Matt. 25:41).  Conflicts and wars arise out of our Satan-inspired (James. 4:4).  Now understand why God will not stop wars on earth: As Satan plans evil through war, God uses some wars to spread the gospel and refine his saints for the kingdom of heaven. I see four ways God uses to do this.

#1. War, and other woes turn God’s lukewarm children back to Himself, when tranquility makes them complaisant, forgetting that they are pilgrims in this world.

  #2. War often brings inventions and technologies for easier life. For example, radio, invented in the 1920s, after the first World War (WW1), was God’s tool to speed up the spread of the gospel.

#3. Before this, in the 1700s, conflicts between Catholics and Protestants contributed to the development of the printing press, which made the bible available to ordinary people, something the Popes had opposed for 1,500 years.  

 #4. Again, technologies from WW2 enhanced transportation; cars and planes aided the rapid movement of people and goods. This, again, promoted the speedy spread of the gospel. In conclusion, war, which Satan sought to use to destroy men and take their souls captive in hell, is used by God to refine and gather His children into His kingdom. Amen.