The Christ of every Crisis

By Apostle Andre Pelser, preached at Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town. 11 May 2014

When the earth was void and dark, God’s Spirit hovered over the earth and God spoke and created light and then God created all the living creatures and then God created Adam to possess the earth and rule over it.

When Adam needed a wife, God created Eve for him.

When the earth was destroyed by a flood, God told Noah to prepare an ark to save his family and all the animals.

When Abraham and Sarah had no children, God gave Isaac to them. Isaac means laughter. Abraham means father of nations.

When Abraham was tested to see if he will give his son to God, God prepared a sacrifice for himself just as Abraham believed he would. There was a ram caught in the thicket that could be the sacrificial animal. No harm came to Isaac. Then Abraham realized that God would give His only begotten Son to save the world. He saw God’s plan of redemption. He saw the day of Christ and he believed.

When Pharaoh demanded that Joseph tell him what he dreamt and interpret his dream as well, Joseph said, there is a Lord in heaven that interprets dreams and got the revelation of the dream and its interpretation from the Lord to save Egypt from a great famine.

When Moses faced the Red Sea with Israel with the Egyptian army hot on their heels, God opened the Red Sea miraculously and they marched through by faith. How did Moses do that? He saw Him who is invisible before Him all the time. He kept His eyes on Jesus Christ and marched through the sea by faith!

When Joshua faced a great army the Great Commander of the heavenly army appeared to Him and gave him assurance that the armies of heaven is with him.

When David faced Goliath he said, ‘today the Lord will give you into my hand!’ The Lord was with him in the crisis. When he faced the lion and the bear the Lord was with him and he killed them with his bare hands. How did David do it? He set the Lord before him so that he would not sin.

When Samson was attacked by a lion, the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he slew the lion with his bare hands. When the Philistines attacked him he broke free. When they wanted to mock him he killed 3 000 Philistines and died with them. He asked the Lord to strengthen him one more time and broke the pillars on which the roof of their temple rested.

When Elijah faced all the priest of Baal Elijah called down fire from heaven to devour the offering because he said, the God that answers with fire shall be God! Then he slew all the priests of Baal and commanded Israel to serve the true and living God.

When Israel had no judge the Lord raised up a young Samuel to hear from God and become a prophet and a judge to the nation. Not one word that Samuel spoke fell to the ground for the Lord was with him.

When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace for their faith in God that they would not deny, the fourth man appeared in the fire with them. When the King looked into the furnace he said: ‘Didn’t we throw three men into the fire? How is it possible that there are four men in the fire now? The fourth man’s appearance is like the Son of God!’ Jesus was with them in the fire and they were not burned. Only the ropes on their hands burned off.

When Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den for serving the Living God, the Lord sent His angel to lock the jaws of the lions so that no harm would come to Daniel! The Lord was with Daniel in his crisis.

When God needed someone to go on His behalf he asked: who will go for us? Then Isaiah responded and said: ‘here am I Lord, send me!’ The Lord revealed the plan of God’s redemption to Isaiah and he prophesied it and wrote it down: ‘He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities. Surely He bore our sorrows and by His stripes we are healed!’

When Israel suffered great losses the Lord revealed his financial plan to Malachi who prophesied and said: bring all your tithes and offerings into the storehouse so that there will be meat for the priests to eat and I will restore all that the locusts have eaten and rebuke the enemy for your sakes!

When the world needed a Savior, Christ appeared!

When the disciples thought that the storm will destroy them, Jesus came to them walking on the water. They shouted in fear thinking it was a ghost, but He assured them: ‘It is I!’ He is the Christ of every crisis! He rebuked the wind and the waves and calmed the troubled sea. They reached the other shore safely because Christ Jesus was in their boat!

When Lazarus died, his sisters and other people mourned. But on the 4^th day Jesus came to them and said: ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life. If you believe you will see the glory of God!’ He commanded the people to roll away the stone from Lazarus’ grave and commanded the dead man to come out. Lazarus was raised from the dead and people believed in Jesus.

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil for God was with Him. He stepped into the crisis of people and performed miracles to save and heal them. When people were stuck in a crisis Jesus had compassion on them and healed them!

When 5 000 people had no food Jesus took a schoolboy’s lunch and broke the bread and fish and fed them all. There were 12 baskets full left over!

When Jesus died they buried him and sealed the tomb with a great stone. But on the 3rd day, God raised Jesus from the dead and a great earthquake came and angels rolled away the stone. Jesus rose triumphantly from the grave to be the first man resurrected from the dead and never to die again! He is alive for evermore! He is the resurrection and the life! If you believe in Him, you will never die!

When Peter and the disciples went back to fishing after Jesus was crucified, they could not catch any fish. They fished all night but it was in vain. In the morning Jesus appeared on the beach and asked them if they caught anything. They answered: ‘no Lord, we caught nothing!’ Jesus commanded them to throw the net out on the other side and they would catch many fish. They obeyed His Word and had a net-breaking catch! Jesus is the Christ of every crisis.  

When the first church was persecuted, they scattered all over the earth and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Lord worked with them confirming the Word with signs and wonders following.

When the first church was persecuted and believers murdered, Jesus appeared to Saul on the way to Damascus who was their main persecutor and turned him into an apostle of the Lord!

When Jesus left the earth He prayed to the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be in every believer. On the day of Pentecost they were baptized in the Holy Ghost and 3 000 people were saved and baptized after Peter preached! 

When Jesus ascended on high He gave gifts to men to perfect the saints and to equip them for the work of the ministry. He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. 

When the people stoned Paul and left him for dead, the believers prayed over him and he revived to continue his missionary journeys!

When the jailor in the Philippi jail wanted to commit suicide because he thought all the prisoners escaped after the great earthquake, Paul called to him and said, do yourself no harm, for we are all here. Then the prisoner asked, ‘what must I do to be saved?’ Paul explained: ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your whole family will be saved!’ That was the beginning of the church in Philippi.

When Paul was a prisoner taken to Rome, a storm threatened to destroy the ship, but an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him they will survive although the ship will be wrecked. On the island the Lord used Paul to pray for the chief of the island and God healed him. They gave Paul another ship so that they could complete their journey to Rome!

Christ is the Lord of every crisis! He is the anointed One!

My friend, I don’t know what crisis you are facing today, but I have good news for you: Jesus Christ is the Lord of every crisis! He is right there in the midst of the crisis! He is the solution in the crisis! He is in the storm with you! You are not alone! He has not left you nor forsaken you! You might not be able to see Christ in your storm or it may appear like a ghost to you as it did to the disciples, but hear the voice of the Master today: ‘It is I!’

You might think it is over, but He is here to put you over!

You might think you are defeated, but He is here to give you the victory!

You might think that there is no hope, but He is the God of all hope!

You might think, ‘this is the end!’, but He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega!

You might think, there is no way through, but He will make a way where there is no way!

You might think you have no more resources, but the cattle on a thousand hills belong to him, all the silver and the gold is the Lord’s! He is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider! He will give you power to create wealth so that you can establish His Word throughout the earth!

You might think you are the only one left that serves God, but there are 7 000 others where you are who have not bowed the knee to false gods but are serving the Living God!

Today the Lord strengthens you, the Lord lifts you up, the Lord delivers you, and the Lord renews your strength and empowers you with His mighty power! The Lord will sustain you, He will preserve you! You will not fail and you will not be ashamed for the Lord is the Christ in every crisis!

The Lord has compassion on you today and He is ready to work on your behalf! Put your faith and trust in Him. He is the Christ of every crisis!

He will turn your mourning into dancing! He will give you the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness! He will give you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning! He is for you, not against you! He will not leave or forsake you! He will see you through the most difficult crisis because He is your God!

If you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord, do it right now! Say: ‘I believe God raised Jesus from the dead and that Jesus is Lord!’ If you confess your sins He is faithful and just to forgive you all your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness – right now! Whoever believes on the Lord and accepts Him will receive power to become a child of God! He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no man comes to God but by Him.

By grace through faith are you saved, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God so that no man can boast. 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

He is the Christ of every crisis!