A Visit with the Joneses

Carol Jones Saint: Hello, hello there. Come right in to enjoy a special time of family devotions at Home Sweet Home. I have a question for you. Have you been going through any storms lately? Well, it's really a foolish question because we all have so many storms that we are going through. This might involve illness, it might involve loss of a friendship, it might involve loss of a job, just so many different storms. You have come to the right place because we are going to share with you some special songs and Scripture regarding some of the storms of life.

Now, when this particular program was prepared not too long before, there had been a very, very serious hurricane by the name of Andrew that had hit the United States. It was one of the worst hurricanes. Then we'll liken it to some of the spiritual storms that we go through. Well, join us now as we hear some wonderful congregational singing from one of our Jones family services, "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine."

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels descending bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, all is at rest. I in my Savior am happy and blest, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.

Well, that was great singing. Wonderful, wonderful singing. If you were in that service at the Norwin Church of the Nazarene, it's dedicated to you and also dedicated to our many shut-in friends who visit with the Joneses and enjoy the congregational singing. We will be returning to that service as we enjoy echoes of that service in just a few moments.

In Isaiah chapter 25, verse 4, we read this grateful song of the redeemed. "O Lord, thou art my God. I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall, thou hast been our refuge."

I want you especially to notice in that grateful song of the redeemed as found in Isaiah 25:4, these words: "Thou hast been a refuge from the storm. Thou hast protected us even when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." What a picture. Perhaps you have seen on television storms that beat against the break wall. Waves that were 25 feet high, winds that were 100 miles, 150 miles an hour.

The Lord's our rock, in Him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm. A shelter in the time of storm, a shelter in the time of storm, a shelter in the time of storm.

The Lord's our rock, in Him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm. Secure whatever ill betide, a shelter in the time of storm. The raging storms may round us beat, a shelter in the time of storm. We'll never leave our safe retreat, a shelter in the time of storm.

Oh, rock divine, oh, refuge dear, be thou our helper ever near, a shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is the rock in a weary land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock in the weary land, a shelter in the time of storm. A shelter in the time of storm, a shelter in the time of storm, a shelter in the time of storm.

Have you ever gone through a storm? Well, I think if you're a human being, most of us have gone through some storms and certainly some storms that frightened us a great deal. Of course, they tell us that the great hurricane, storm Andrew, that swept into southern Florida and into Louisiana in August of 1992 is probably the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the United States of America. The cost of it, the highest cost of any natural disaster.

None of us will forget Hurricane Andrew. None of us, even those of us who only saw on television or heard on radio, we will never forget it. It was so terrifying. And of course, to people who were there, over and over we have heard people being interviewed. It was the worst thing imaginable, the worst dream one could even think of. It was absolutely terrifying. Some people said they prayed and that they lost everything.

As we are thinking of the storms of life, as we are thinking of the storm of Hurricane Andrew and other storms that we hear about, Hugo was very tragic, and of course, we remember Hurricane Connie, but we'll tell you about that in a few minutes. As we're thinking of these storms, it is interesting to note that the Lord Jesus Christ had something to say about storms, something very important to say about storms. We find His words in the closing words of the Sermon on the Mount as here in Matthew chapter 7, beginning with verse 24, we find the Lord Jesus Christ saying:

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it." And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine: For He taught them as one having authority.

I would remind you that there are many storms on the sea of life, and they come in many different ways. Oh my, how storms come. They come through separations and disappointments and heartaches and pain. They come through financial difficulty. They come through the loss of employment, jobs are terrible these days. And they come through death and sorrow, divorce, heartache, many, many storms. And they come in so many, many different ways. And I would remind you from this passage of Scripture, they come to all people.

Guest (Male): Carol, you were asking a question that someone had asked you recently.

Carol Jones Saint: Yes, how is it that good people are having to go through storms? So many times today we think and we hear on radio and television, and if we read some of the religious books that are out, we get the impression, oh, if I just accept Christ as my Savior, I will never have a storm. And yet I know, and you know, and everyone here in the living room knows many, many people who are good Christian people, love the Lord, and they're going through perhaps some of the most severe storms that we've ever seen. Now, how do you explain it?

Guest (Male): Well, this passage of Scripture, the words of Jesus Christ, Matthew 7 beginning with verse 24, certainly is one excellent explanation. Often people write and say, "Why should you have cancer? You've served the Lord all of your life. Why did your mother die with cancer? She served her Lord all of her life. Why did Brother Ray, who was a minister needed so badly in his denomination, why did he die?"

Well, notice, Jesus points out the storm came, and the part that a lot of people forget is this: the storm came to both houses.

Carol Jones Saint: Oh, you mean the one house didn't miss the storm?

Guest (Male): No, that's not why that house stood, because it missed the storm. No, that's not the reason. It had to go through the storm. And Jesus says, "Everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not is likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand, and the rain descended, and the floods came." And then He says, "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock." The difference was not that one missed the storm.

Carol Jones Saint: Oh, that is so helpful.

Guest (Male): The difference is the foundation on which the house was built. Yes, yes. One house built on sand and it fell. One house built on the solid rock and it stood. I was interested in noticing even in the reports of Hurricane Andrew, it will probably take a long time before we will know exactly, but they say that probably the damage was much worse than it needed to have been simply because much of the building was not as strong as it should have been.

Carol Jones Saint: Yes, many of the houses, they said, were not put up according to even standards that are required.

Guest (Male): Many of the supermarkets and even schools that fell, a builder somewhere had neglected to build as well as he should have built.

Ruth: Yes, there is a new way now that actually when a house is partway up, they take a strap, a literal strap, and put around the whole house, and then that strap is fastened into cement and rock. And this is to help support the total house in such a storm. And they feel that when this is done, it does keep the house from blowing away. It, in other words, is an anchor for the house.

Carol Jones Saint: And so we sing "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less Than Jesus' Blood and Righteousness." In Jesus Christ, you can have a secure foundation, and you can have a house that is built upon a rock instead of sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.

There's a beautiful old hymn of the church that says, "From every stormy wind that blows, there is a calm, a sure retreat, 'tis found beneath the mercy seat." The mercy seat is symbolic of prayer. It is symbolic of the place where heaven touched earth and where God reached human beings. I want you to hear the words of this hymn.

From every stormy wind that blows, from every swelling tide of woes, there is a calm, a sure retreat, 'tis found beneath the mercy seat. There is a scene where spirits blend, where friend holds fellowship with friend; though sundered far, by faith they meet around one common mercy seat. Ah, there on eagle wings we soar, and sin and sense molest no more; and heaven comes down our souls to greet, while glory crowns the mercy seat.

Now join with all the friends who attended our service at the Norwin Church of the Nazarene in Circleville, Irwin, Pennsylvania, and they sang this beautiful, beautiful hymn. Having heard the words, you can follow the words as it is sung. And I hope you know the hymn.

From every stormy wind that blows, from every swelling tide of woes, there is a calm, a sure retreat; 'tis found beneath the mercy seat. There is a place where Jesus sheds the oil of gladness on our heads; a place than all besides more sweet: it is the bloodstained mercy seat.

There is a scene where spirits blend, where friend holds fellowship with friend; though sundered far, by faith they meet around one common mercy seat. Ah, there on eagle wings we soar, and sin and sense molest no more; and heaven comes down our souls to greet, while glory crowns the mercy seat.

How good to know that blessed mercy seat. There on eagle wings we soar, and sin and sense molest no more; and heaven comes down our soul to greet, while glory crowns the mercy seat.

I well remember when we arrived on a Friday night for a weekend revival meeting at the First Friends Church of Newport News, Virginia. All day long as we journeyed the Pennsylvania Turnpike and south toward Newport News, all day long we had heard reports of the Hurricane Connie that was coming and was sweeping toward that city as it had come up the coast. Several times we paused to call the minister of the church and ask if we should just take a motel and delay our coming.

But instead, he said, "No, no, no, come right ahead. Our people will be here in spite of the hurricane." We arrived to see the city boarded up, but we found our way to the church. We were soaked to the bone as we tried to get out of the car in dungarees and old work clothes and walked into the church, and we found there at the Friends Church a wonderful congregation of people who had gathered together in the midst of Hurricane Connie.

The next day, after the storm had passed, it dawned bright and beautiful, a delightful day with blue skies. We sat at the house where we were being entertained just about a block from Chesapeake Bay, and we saw all kinds of Navy ships coming back into port. I said to my host, "Well, what are they coming back into port for? I thought they would have been there all the time during the storm."

And my host replied, "Oh, no. When they heard the report of the storm coming, they left the docks. For if they had stayed in the docks, if they had stayed in port, they would have been dashed to pieces. The best thing you can do in the midst of a storm is to go out to sea and lower an anchor until it grips the solid rock." And so they had done exactly that. They rode out the sea, and they rode out the storm at sea.

There are times when the best thing you can do is pray, "Lord Jesus, Savior, pilot me all along life's tempestuous sea." And I'll ride out the storm at sea as the anchor grips the rock.

Jesus, Savior, pilot me over life's tempestuous sea. Unknown waves before me roll, hiding rock and treacherous shoal. Chart and compass come from Thee. Jesus, Savior, pilot me. As a mother stills her child, Thou canst hush the ocean wild. Boisterous waves obey Thy will, when Thou sayest to them, "Be still." Wondrous Sovereign of the sea, Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

Thus the songwriter who had gone through a great storm in his life was able to write and say, "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well, it is well with my soul.'"

May these thoughts help you when the storms of life come your way. It has been so good to have you visiting at Home Sweet Home for this special time of family devotions. This has been part one in a two-part series regarding the storms of life. All of us, all of us are going through storms, many, many different varieties. And we do pray that the thoughts that we have shared together with you have been of help and encouragement.

You could be of real blessing to us if you would take time to write, if you would like to email us, the email address is visitjoneses@aol.com. And our mailing address is Post Office Box 575, Erie, Pennsylvania, and the zip code is 16512. As you might imagine, there are many expenses involved in a ministry such as this. Gifts are tax-deductible, and when you're writing a check, the check should be written to the legal name: A Visit with the Joneses, Incorporated. And as I said, you can certainly deduct that from your income tax. Thanks so much for being here, and we hope the days ahead will be better ones for you because we've shared this time together. Goodbye.