The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 16: Under His Wing

Episode Date: August 7, 2022

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. – Psalm 91:14-15 Abide in Him because apart from him, you can do nothing.

Amen and amen. We have some of the craziest stories you've ever heard in your life. Do we not? I don't know how many churches this weekend will share testimony of high-speed car chase with the police and prison and Baker Correctional and a thrift store and a prom dress that ends in tears and salvation and baptism. Amen? Amen.

They're all over the place. And as dynamic as that story is, that testimony is, what's crazy is that your little, I grew up in church that got saved when I was seven, is just as miraculous as that one because we were dead in our trespasses, and by the mercy and grace of God, we have been made alive in Christ. Amen? All right, if you got your Bible, Psalm 91 is where we're going to be, and I'm kind of excited about this one. This is a very, very familiar Psalm to me, and the reason it is a familiar Psalm to me is because when you say, Pastor, I need prayer, and it's like a doozy, man, this is the reason. This is the the Psalm I pray. And the reason I pray it, because kind of the theme of this Psalm is about God's

protection and provision and deliverance of God's people by the Almighty God. Now, what I will say as we work through Psalm 91 is this, is that you cannot read just one Psalm all by itself and build out a robust theology of suffering and blessing and protection. And all of the outstanding incredible promises in Psalm 91 are true and what most evangelical preachers want to do is just ascribe all of them to heaven when we get there one day. And that is true. They will all be fully completely realized in heaven. However, I also believe that they are true for us today and right now. So as we walk through the Word of God, if your current experience and circumstances don't necessarily be seeming to line up with some of these statements.

What I want us to do as a people is that we willingly choose to set our doubts and disbeliefs aside and believe God's Word for right now today. That's where we're going. Now, because here's the danger. Let me tell you the danger. The danger is you would hear some of these promises of God, and I know how Satan wants you to hear this sermon. And you're like, well, how do you know that, pastor?

because I'm the pastor, man. I know this stuff, okay? Not really. Because Satan quotes Psalm 91 to Jesus as like a test. Because what the enemy is going to begin to do in your mind and whisper these lies in there is as you hear about God's protection for his people, if you don't feel like you're being protected right now by God, then the enemy wants to get in there and be like,

see, he doesn't really love you. And that is not at all what the word of God says. I think God wants us to read this and choose to believe what it says today. Not just one day when it's fully. realized in heaven, but for you and for me on this day. Now I'm all pumped up, haven't even read your verse yet, okay, 91-1, here we go. He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. He who dwells in the shelter. Some translations don't use the word shelter, they use the word, the secret place. He who dwells in the secret

place of the Almighty. That's different to going to church every once in a while. That's different than humming along to that one song you know. That's different than just going, yeah, I kind of believe in God. You see, he even says it in that second line, will abide. That's the New Testament word. To dwell in the shelter means to abide in his presence. The word abide means, like Jesus says a whole chapter in John Chapter 15 on the word abide. He's looking at his disciples.

He's like, hey, guys, look, come here, come here, come here, real close, come here. Abide in me, and I will abide in you. Stay close to me and I will stay close to you. Abide in my word and I will be near to you. And they're like, how do we do that, boss? And he's basically saying, I'm really glad you asked. And then he uses this parable. He says, the father is like a gardener and I'm the vine and you're the branches.

And apart from me, think about how close a branch is to a vine. It is all the way attached. Everything that it needs comes from the source that is divine. And he says, because if you're not a part of me, if you don't abide in me, if you don't dwell with the most high, then you can do nothing. That's why so many of you are worn out because you're trying to be good Christian. You know there's no such thing as a good Christian. There's dead and there's alive. There's filled with the spirit and there's I got this.

And you ain't got this. It's just true, man. So he's like, come here, stay close to me. Well, how do you do that? Well, this is why I think he uses gardening terminology. Anybody have a yard in Florida. It's a mess, is it not? If all you did is spend time pulling weeds, all you would do is pull weeds.

Because they're just everywhere. Take out of one second. Chinchbugs. You've got no yard anymore, all right? That's how it works. And so if you want to keep your yard to look decent and not get those letters from our dear friends at the HOA, God bless those people. My HOA guy goes here. He's probably in this room right now.

Okay, whatever. So you got to do two things. You've got to pull out the junk. And you've got to feed the good stuff. The old-school Protestant theologians would call this mortification and vivification. Mortification means pull out the junk. It means kill. John Owen says, you'd be killing sin or it'll be killing you.

You don't pet sin, you don't tame sin. You go to war against sin. Because there are things in your life that are trying to choke out that abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. You could have war against those things. But it's not enough just to take out those things. You've also got to do, honestly, what you're doing right now. You go to church, to be with God's people, you abide in His Word. It's called vivification.

You do the things that stir your affections for the Lord. That's what it means to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, and you will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. When you abide in the shadow of the Almighty, how many of you know that you can't get in somebody's shadow from way over there? the closer you are to them, the more under their shadow that you are. See, this happens all the time, okay? After service, I hang out in the lobby just to, like, pray with you and say hey to you

and all that kind of stuff, all right? And there's always some parents, and you want, for whatever reason, I don't know why you think this, but you do. And you really want me to meet your kid. And your kid does not want to meet me. They have no interest in meeting me whatsoever. And you're like, come here, kid, meet the pastor. And you ever seen the kid hiding behind his mom's hamstring?

He's like, nope, I ain't into it. I'm hiding in the shadow of the Almighty of my mom. And then they look at me, they're like, he's scary on screen. Look at his face, ah, okay? And I'm not mad, man, it's just my face. I can't help it, okay? What the Almighty is saying is, come here, come here, come here for you.

You stay close to me. Like in times of trouble, like a little scared kid hiding behind his mama's leg, why don't you hide in the protection and the authority of the shadow that I cast on this world that is created by me, I got you. He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the almighty. Are you close to him? Because if you're not, that's up to you, man.

The brother of Jesus, James, makes this incredible promise. In James chapter 4, verse 8, he says, draw near to God. And here's the promise. And he will draw near to you. This is what it means to abide. in the shadow of the Almighty. Verse two, and I will say,

and by the way, the I hear is probably Moses. We're not totally sure who wrote it, but there's an old rabbinical tradition that says, if there's not a name attached to a psalm, go to the one before it, it's probably that one. Maybe true, it seems like it's true. So we think this is Moses. I will say to the Lord,

my refuge and my fortress, my God and whom I trust. Now, I'm so glad he said trust here, okay? Not just believe. Because when we hear the word believe, we think believe that. and you can believe that there is a God, and you can believe that Jesus came and died on the cross.

But believing that and trusting in are not necessarily the same thing. I hope you know that. And here's what he cries out, man. My refuge and my fortress. Let me ask you this. When do you need a refuge and a fortress? It ain't when everything's awesome. You don't need a refuge and a fortress when you're sitting on the beach and it's 77 degrees

and your wife ain't mad at you that day and your kids aren't around. You don't need a fortress then. You need an umbrella drinking a Zach Brown song. That's what you need in, glory to God. When you need a fortress when you're being attacked? When you need a refuge when something's chasing you when you're on the run and you don't know where to go? And the writer of this Psalm says,

The Lord is my refuge. The Lord is my fortress. Notice this, this personal possessive pronoun. This is my God in whom I trust. You see, every single one of us need a refuge in a fortress because we have an enemy. And if you don't think we do, bro, you're already done. I'm just telling you.

So, you know, I love to hunt. I've told you this. I always think it's kind of funny when they call it a sport. Because half of the players do not realize there's a game going on while we're participating in the sport. This is why I always win. Some of you, that's how you are. Like, just a deer. No, I'm just eating.

And there's an enemy trying to kill, steal, and destroy you. There's a thief. and he only wants to take you out. The word devil itself, it means deceit for one, deceiver. So what's your defense? Your willpower? That's why you're so exhausted. You see, the Lord is our refuge.

Not me. And this may sting a little. But the place that you run first in your time of trouble is your functional safety. Savior. Foxes have holes, birds have nests, what do you have? Where do you run? You see, God says, run to me, and I've got you.

But the place that you run first is the place where you feel safest. It's the place that you think is going to save you or rescue you. So where do you run? Another person? Are they your functional savior? Now for sure we're not supposed to do this faith alone, man. And we're supposed to be around people, band of brothers and sisters, that lift up our eyes and arms and help us fix our eyes on Jesus.

But if you are running to another person as your functional Savior, they will never, ever be able to live under the weight that you put on them. Whoever you idolize, when they let you down, you will demonize them. Let me tell you how I know this, because I've been pastor in this church 10 years. That's how I know. Let me tell you, bro, I'd be in the lobby, people come up and they'll be like, pastor, this church is amazing, everything is awesome. I'm like, you're new here, aren't you?

You just got here. Praise God for you. It's cool. It's where I get the email, Dear Pastor Jobb, you're the best pastor ever, and you have changed my life. And I think, uh-oh, we're about six months away from,

how could you? Like the drunk dude at the bar, be like, come here, man, I love you. In the next hour he wants to fight you. Not that I would know, but just, I don't go to those places, all right? Somebody told me. So is it a person, do you run into a person?

Or speaking to the bar, do you run to the bottle? and you don't run to the Prince of Peace for peace, but you run home and convince yourself, I deserve this at another and another and another because I deserve to knock the edge off. Is that where you go? Or maybe some medication?

Or maybe worse, a medication that doesn't have your name on it, but you feel like it works for you? Or maybe, maybe it's food. See, here's how tricky the enemy is. Some people run to crack. Some people run to cake. You came preachers at the Baptist Church. A lot of cake running over there anyway.

The crazy thing is, the crazy thing is, it's the same thing, man. I mean, I hear there are a difference between cracking cake, but fundamentally, if you're looking for your satisfaction in some kind of temporary relief through something physical, that is an idol that you're chasing after. It is your functional savior. Some people go dark, man. Go to isolation.

Maybe it's pornography. Again, here's how twisted the enemy is. Sometimes what people will do is they will run to some hobby. The end of itself is not a big deal. It's not sinful. Right? Maybe it's cross-stitching. Ain't nothing wrong with cross-stitching.

Unless you're trying to avoid everybody in your family because you're knitting together, you know, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made or whatever cross-stitch thing you're doing. I mean, I would say golf, but it's your idol, so you wouldn't even listen to me for the rest of it. Or is it Netflix, or is it work? Here's what I see in my world a lot, which is crazy. A bunch of brothers feel beat up by the enemy,

so they run too, not to Jesus, but they run to ministry because of the accolades they get from their people. So where do you run? Because wherever you run, that is your functional savior. And Moses says, I tell you where I run, my God in whom I trust, he is my fortress, he is my refuge. Now, in verse three, when I was in English class, Do you know I never made an A on an English paper in middle school, high school, or college?

Not one time did I ever make an A. When I published a book, I sent it to all the English teachers I could remember. Ha ha! Take that. All right. So what they told me wrongly is that you're never supposed to mix metaphors, where apparently they didn't read the Bible, because all the rest of it are this big conglomeration of metaphors to describe how God is our refuge. It says this, verse 3, for he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from deadly pestle.

This is incredible. He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler. A fowler is somebody that would catch fowl or catch birds, okay? Trap them. And there's a snare, which means there's a trick. There's a trap with a bait. And the bird thinks, ooh, I got it. And then you're like, ooh, he got me.

That is how the enemy works. It's a dirty war campaign. The enemy can't just dress up in his red suit with his horns and his pitchfork. and come after you, be like, whoa, back off, man. I ain't bought and paid for it by the blood. Get off me, right? And so what he does is he tricks us. It's a dirty war campaign.

It's a misinformation campaign. And so what he tries to do is the Bible says, Jesus says that every time the devil speak, he speaks lies. And what he does is he lies to us because he wants us to think the way he thinks. Because he knows that if we believe it in our head, we'll begin to feel it in our heart. And when you believe it and feel it, then you'll begin to do what he says. And every time he speaks, man, he is lying.

That's what he does. This is why Paul says in Romans chapter 12, do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. Don't buy into the lives of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is why in the book of Genesis, when the enemy shows up, the devil shows up, God creates Adam and Eve, everything's awesome. You think God is into rules and you need to read the Bible. When God created the first man and woman, he was into relationship, not rules. There was only one don't. There was only one thou shalt not.

He said, there's a bunch of yeses. Eat from every tree in the garden. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. That one, I love you enough to let you know if you eat from that one, you'll die. But there was a bunch of thou shouts. Subduing and cultivate. Be fruitful and multiply. Glory to God.

We don't have time to talk about that. And then the enemy comes along and says, here's this lie. Here's this twist. Did God really say, you see, he wanted to convince Adam and Eve that God was withholding goodness from them. It's the same thing that he does when Jesus gets baptized and then tempted. Jesus gets baptized.

He walks down to the Jordan, his cousin, is baptizing people, John the baptizer. And John says, behold, the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world. Jesus walks into the water, he gets dumped, and then the heavens crack open, and God the Father says, out loud, behold, my son and whom I am well pleased. By the way, how much ministry has Jesus done this far?

Zero. which means that the verdict comes before the performance. It's the gospel right there. Then the very next thing that happens is Jesus has led, Jesus has led by the spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted, and every single time when the enemy comes before Jesus, he says, if you are the son of God, you see, that's what he wants you to do.

He always wants to lie to us, so we'll believe it, then feel it, then do it. He wants us to question the work of God. Did it really count for you? the word of God. Did God really say and the worthiness of God? If God loved you, he'd treat you better. And there are three basic traps that he has.

We talk about this all the time from 1st John. It's important that you know this. Because you need to think about this. If you were your enemy, how would you try to take you out? The old-time theologians called this besetting sins. What are the lies that you were most apt to get snared by?

One is the lust of the eyes. Here's the lie, if I just had a little more money, I would be more secure. If I just spent a little more money, I would finally be satisfied. It's a lie. The lust of the flesh. That girl, that drink, that cake, that'll make me feel the way I really want to feel. It's a lie.

The pride of life. The pride of life is what people think about me online is more important than what God thinks about me. The pride of life is what my boss thinks about me at work is more important. it than the responsibility God has given me at home. And you'll even say the dumbest thing, like, I'm doing this for you. I'm just trying to make a name for myself. Well, there's the pride of life right there. If you were a follower of Jesus, there is one name under heaven whereby we must be safe. It ain't about your name. It's all about his name. So if you were the enemy, how would you take you out? For he will deliver you from the trick, from the trap, from the snare

of the evil one and from deadly pestilence. So sometimes it's not the trick of the enemy. Deadly pestilence is like diseases that kill. Because sometimes, you see, when sin entered the world, sin held the door open for pain and chaos to walk in with it. And this is why the whole world is broken, man. Everything from weather systems like hurricanes and floods that wipe people out,

down to the microscopic where cells don't do what they were commanded to do. And so sometimes when people are going through deadly pestilence or natural causes, they will ask me a question, and it's a really bad question, but I know what you mean. You say, why do good things, or why do bad things happen to good people? To which I say, there are no good people. Okay, look at the person next to you, not good, all right?

Now, if you came to your spouse, you don't even, I don't even have to prove it, right? I don't even have to, like, you're like, oh yeah, yeah, okay, so, yeah, there was one good person. He was perfect, and we did the worst thing ever to him. We killed the only innocent man ever. But I know what you mean. As compared to, like, you know, your college roommate in the nightly news, sure, man, you're relatively okay. So why are you in the mess you're in?

There are basically five reasons. Nobody loves you enough to tell you the truth on these. I do. Ready? Number one. Sometimes you. You are the enemy. It's you, man.

My daddy used to say, if you're going to be dumb, you better be tough. Some of you have stretched that proverb too as extreme. You're dumb, man. You do dumb stuff. And so when you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. That's just what happens. People come up to me at the service. Pastor, I need you to pray.

The devil is attacking my finances. Okay, tell me about your finances. Okay, well, I don't have money to buy things, but I continue to buy things with money I don't have. Okay, guess what? You, the devil. That's what's wrong, all right? So sometimes it's you.

Don't be dumb. Do it the Bible says. Okay? Sometimes it is a direct attack of Satan, see the previous Fowler situation, right? Sometimes it's others. Like other people stand against you. The abuse was not your fault.

It wasn't. The slander was not your fault. Other people sin against you. Sometimes it's just a collateral damage of the fall, man. There are broken things that happened. Jesus came to make all things new. And then sometimes, this will really mess you up. Sometimes it is God himself.

God never tempts, but God for sure tests. And God would love us enough to strip away all the things in our life so that we would realize that he and he alone is more than enough. And so God protects us. He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. Then he keeps going. And he will cover you with his pinions.

That's a weird way to say feathers. And under his wings, you will find refuge. Again, he's going to mix metaphors. And what he's saying is, I think this is the verse that Jesus had in mind where the week before, the week before his last week on earth, He's coming down the Mount of Olives, and he gets to a place where he can see over the walls of Jerusalem into the city where all the people are. And Jesus in Luke 13 said something very similar to Psalm 91-4.

He says, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophet and stones those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing? I wonder how many times today he'll walk through particularly America, particularly the South, and walk by church after church after church and say, oh, church people, church people, church people. If you would just let me, if you would just, if you would just receive me, I would gather you like a hen, gathers this little little babies and I would protect you. That doesn't mean that the attacks don't come. That means that the attacks hit the hen and not the babies.

See the cross of Jesus Christ. and that offer is still available. He says he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge, and his faithfulness is a shield and a buckler, not your faithfulness. In fact, Paul promises Timothy, even when you're faithless,

God is faithful because he can only be faithful. And his faithfulness over us is like a shield. You know what a shield is. You've seen 300. And a buckler. A buckler is like one of those little forearm shield things. that means he'll he'll protect you from the big attacks he'll take it he'll protect you from the small attacks and then look what happens look what happens when you hide under the wing of your

savior you will not fear not you should not fear not you ought not fear but you will not fear me just listen fear is not a personality trait okay the bible says Paul tells Timothy that fear is a spirit. He says, for God has not given you the spirit of fear. Now, scared, scared's fine. Scared's a feeling. You know what you do when you're scared? When you're scared, you pick up your faith and by faith, you follow after Jesus, do whatever he tells you to do. And that's called courage. Praise God for courage. We need more courage today. But fear paralyzes people and fear is misplaced trust. Fear is when you take your faith through, you take your trust and you put it in your ever-changing circumstances and you're just paralyzed and hoping and praying that if your

circumstances change, then maybe you can get up and walk. and faith is snatching your trust away from your circumstances and putting it in the one true God who is king and sovereign over all your circumstances and understanding that God, no matter what your circumstances look like, that God is at work in all things for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. You will not fear. And then there are some sentences in the Bible that just in English make your head blow up. I mean, if you take it seriously, listen to this. You will not fear. You would think if I was writing this, which would be a terrible idea, If I was writing this, I would write, you will not fear because God is going to make everything awesome,

and I can see clearly now the rain is gone and buck up scooter, you got it, or whatever it is. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noon day. That's some terrifying things. He's not saying that there aren't circumstances that'll freak you out. He's just saying that the one who dwells, the one who abides, the one who knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, fear cannot survive in the presence of the Prince of Peace. Why? Because perfect love drives out fear. Just like coffee grinds in a coffee cup cannot survive when you put it under the faucet because of the lavish water just runs it out. of the father on his children just makes fear go in the other direction.

That's just what happens. And then you and I, as Jesus followers, we're going to walk through these things differently. We're going to just handle these circumstances differently. A thousand may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You see, what this means is when the scuba line hits the fan and everybody else in the world falls down, you ain't falling down. And here's the thing, you ever seen somebody go through it? I mean, one of the things about being a pastor, I get to walk with people all the time, and they are going, I mean, they get the worst news ever from the doctor, from their spouse,

from their job, from their kids, whatever, the worst news you've ever heard. And you're like, who are you even making it? And here's what they honestly will say. They're like, you know what, I don't even know, man. I don't even know. And then I go, oh, I think I know. You see, Paul says, be anxious for nothing. What about pestilence and rotting at the noon day

and the attack of the arrows? He's like, yeah, don't worry about that. Be anxious for nothing. But by prayer and supplication, make your request known to God and the God of peace that, check this out, transcends understanding. That means I don't even know how to explain this.

We'll guard your heart and guard your mind in Christ Jesus. You see, the reason the world falls down all around us This is the way Jesus closed the sermon on the Mount. It's like two dudes built houses. There are sweet houses. They're at the beach. One built his on shifting sand. The wind, the storm, the rains came, the house flat fell, and this is sad.

And great was the fall of it. There was another dude. And he built his house on the rock. But it does not say that he did not endure the storms. Same storms hit that brother, too. But when the storms came and the rain came, his house stood tall because his life was built on the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, though thousands may fall around us, but not us.

Then he says, you will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. That's a Bible way of saying the godless will stand judgment. Because, this is, I mean, such a bold and audacious prayer. Ready for this? Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the most high, who is my refuge. New Testament would say, because you've put your trust in Jesus Christ, here's the promise. no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.

Now what does that mean, man? Does that mean Christians can't get COVID? I wish, wouldn't it be awesome? Sir, where's your mask? Oh, I'm a Christian. Well, get on the plane, go ahead. That'd be awesome, man. Be awesome. So many Christians can't get cancer?

That's not what it means. Why not, God? Here's why, man. because if Christians couldn't get COVID, people would say they follow Christ, not for Christ, but to be anti-COVID. If you got wealth, health, and happiness, then that would be your God,

and you'd be trying to use the almighty king and sovereign as a means to your own end, and he will not play in your idolatry game that makes it all about you. He just don't play that, man. He don't share his throne with anybody. So then what does it mean? Now, again, again, listen,

for sure, this will be fully and finally realized in glory when we get to heaven. There's no doubt about it. We step into heaven, all right? And God wipes away our tears. And there's a banquet table for us all. And nobody walks with a swagger or a limp and they got so much gold, they use it as pavement.

Okay, this is for sure fully realized in heaven. But listen, I'm telling you, I want to be the kind of people that believe the promises of God right here and right now. Because eternal life doesn't start when you die. Eternal life starts when you believe that when Jesus died on the cross, it counted for you.

So how do we say no evil shall be allowed to befall me? No plague shall come near your tent. Listen, man, when you call me and say, I need prayer, man. Here's what the doctor said. This is exactly, this is what I'm praying. No plague will come near your tent. You better get a tent, get in it. I'm praying, God, don't let it come near the tent.

How does that work? Here's what I know, man. That I have read the whole Bible, and I have yet to find an expiration date on the miracle healing power of the Almighty God right here and right now. And I know, man, I pray with some people that were in the 9 o'clock service.

Ben Williams, they told him he had 18 months to live. That was a year ago. Now they can't find cancer in his body. Hey, man. We pray Psalm 91, okay? At 9 o'clock service, Hunter Brandt's here. When his kid was born, his kid's name's Christian, He had this infant leukemia.

They said he ain't going to make it. I watched him hold his dad's hand. He's like six years old now and walk out of this place today. Okay, this is, hey listen, you have not because you ask not. And so the way we pray, there's no guarantees, but the way we pray is this. I think you pray for healing and miracles like the three Hebrew boys did in the book of Daniel. Shatterat Mishak and Abed to go.

Nabricanezer captured them and Daniel. The Nebrich Nebuchadnezzar makes this big old idol to himself. It says when the music play, you're going to bow down. And the boys were like, I ain't bowing down to nothing. I bowed down to the one true God that's all I bowed out to. And they played the music, and they were like, what? They just stood there.

And so we're going to throw you in the fires. In the fire. He's like, whatever, man, do what you got to do. They crank it all up hot. And then here's their prayer. Here's their prayer. We know God can deliver us. Like, we know it.

And we are believing in this instant that he will. And even if he doesn't, I ain't bowing down to your idol. That's how you pray, man. That's how I know he can. I've read about it. I've read that dead people came back to life and lame men walk and blind men can see. And I'm believing that he can. I mean, one time he accidentally healed a woman.

Remember this? Dude, Jesus is walking through town and this woman fights her way through the crowd, touches the hem in the garment. He's like, I have felt the power has left me. Who was that? So if he can do that accidentally, for sure he could do it if his children ask, right? And then even if he decides not to for his own glory, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood. and righteousness, because I don't put my faith in my circumstances, I put my faith in my Savior.

So we pray this like we mean it because we do. And then, oh my gosh, the Bible is so incredible. Because right now, man, right now you're about ready to attack hell with a water gun. I am. And then he puts this right here, 11 and 12, for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways and on their hands, they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against the stone. This is what the enemy quotes to Jesus in his temptation.

Takes him up on a high place that says, hey man, jump off and show everybody what a big deal you are. And Jesus says, it's also written, do not put the Lord of your God to the test. So you pray for miracles. You just don't pray for miracles for your sake. You pray for miracles for the glory of God. You pray for miracles that the world may know that the one true God is alive and well. You pray that God heals you so that other people will see the works. of God and give him the glory.

You pray that God blesses you financially, not so you could get some more stuff to make you more comfortable, but so we could get the gospel to the ends of the earth. You pray that your marriage will be healed, not so you'll quit crying every day, but so that other people could see what a redeeming picture of a groom loving his bride looks like so that the world may know and then may come to faith in Christ. That's the deal, man. That's why we pray for miracles. And then he shifts gears towards the end.

He's in the home stretch And listen to this promise He says you will tread on the lion and the adder That's a snake The young lion and the serpent You will trample underfoot Now we're about to We about to break out the snakes

Nope, not that kind of church Because that ain't what he's talking about man You don't need to trample on a snake head You got a 12 gauge, shoot it in head Like Jesus would like for you to shoot it, okay? Some translations translate that last that second line serpent to dragon there are three animals in the bible that the devil is equated to a lion he prows around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour a serpent an adder

a snake shows up more crafty than everybody else lying to adamanty and a dragon in the book of revelation john describes the enemy as a great dragon check this out with a mortal head wound that when jesus died on the cross he inflicted the mortal wound to the enemy and now he's just flailing around bleeding out, then we're just waiting for him to go to hell. That is the reality. And we, here's the promise, man, you, this is y'all. This is in Hebrew, if I was translating this into Jacksonville, the you there is plural. That's all y'all. That's pluriful y'all. You know that? For you Yankees that have moved to town, welcome, bless your heart. That's you all, okay? But here, it's all y'all. And all y'all will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the

serpent. You, y'all, all y'all will trample under foot. This means that God has given us dominion over this enemy that is attacking us. And for sure, man, he's vicious and he's coming after us, but the Almighty sovereign king has that dog on a chain, and he can jerk and knotting him any time that he wants to. And then even though it's when Jesus died on the cross and said, it is finished, that the enemy bruised his heel, but Jesus crushed his head, but then he allows all of his children to take a head stomp to. Romans 1620, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under all y'all's feet. That's what it says.

Now, if you have Pentecostal, y'all have done a lap of glory right there. I'm just telling you what. And then, and this is how he brings it to the finish line. Because he, that's us he, because he holds fast to me in love, there are seven promises from God. Because he holds fast to me in love. Holds fast is a sailing term. When you hold a rope fast, that means hold it tight.

And what would happen is that a boat would hit some storms, would hit some rocky waves. And the commander would say, hold fast. And that means everybody goes and they grab a rope and they pull it tight and they wrap their hands up in it and they hold onto it. In fact, early sailors would tattoo the letters hold fast on their fingers. So when it got hard to hold on to, they would be reminded. If I can just hold on to this, I'll stay alive. And what a lot of sailors would do is they'd wrap up one hand and hold fast to the rope with this one and leave this one wide open so they could grab onto the.

the brothers that they needed help. And God says, if you hold on to me like that, no matter the circumstances, if you just hold on to me. Now, let's be honest, it sounds hard, doesn't it? Sounds hard. Yeah, but here's what makes it easy. The reason you can hold fast to God, because he's the one holding fast to you. You are in the palm of his hand, and there is nothing that can snatch you out of the hand

of God. This is the way Romans 8 ends. What can separate us from the love of God? Short answer? Nothing in this world. Not adders and snakes and serpents and lions and pestilence and attacks. Nothing, nothing, nothing can separate us from the loving hand of our Father. And the reason we can hold on to him is because he's never, ever, ever, ever going to let us go.

For anybody that puts their faith in Jesus, because he holds fast to me in love, here's what we are promised people. And may we be a church that walks in these promises. Number one, I will deliver him. some of us need to be delivered from the enemy and some of us need to be delivered from ourselves but Jesus delivers number two I will protect him

because he knows my name church do you know him do you know his name that does not mean for you to go yeah his name is Jesus that's not what it means man do you know his character and nature because you know him because not only have you discovered a relationship with him

but you're in an abiding, deepening, dwelling kind of relationship with him. Because when we know his name, he says, I will protect him because he knows my name. Verse 15, here's the third one. When he calls to me, I will answer him. Not I may. Not if he does enough faith works previously that week. Not if he's good enough. No, no, no, no, man.

Then when Jesus died on the cross and he says it is finished, an earthquake cracks through Jerusalem, right through the middle of the temple. And there was a curtain that separated the people of God from the presence of God. And that thing was torn, not from the bottom to the top, like we work our way up there, but from the top to the bottom, because it was the almighty sovereign king of the universe saying, kids, come on in and tell me what you need. When we call upon the Lord, he will answer us. The fourth promise, I will be with him in trouble. I will be with him.

I know he's with you in church, but I will be with him in trouble. We were in the 23rd Psalm a few weeks ago, remember? And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because you are with me, your rod and your staff comfort me. God, Jesus is not on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death going,

come on, come on, come on, come on. I'm the light at the end of the tunnel. If you can just make it through, no, no, no, no. And the peace that we find is not because our circumstances out there one day will change. the peace that we find is because he is with us walking through the circumstances. I will be with him in the trouble. Then we get a little double blessing here. The fifth one, I will rescue him and honor him.

Even if what you need to be rescued is from you. You realize that? The Apostle Peter and the disciples are in the boat, Sea of Galilee. They're crossing at night. A bunch of storms come. They're freaking out. Jesus comes walking by on the water. Why?

Because that's what he does. Just water ski and no ski. you know what I'm saying? The disciples are scared. It's a ghost. Who's going to talk first? Who's going to talk most? Peter.

Peter's like, well, Jesus, if that's you, how about I can walk home to the world with you? And then Jesus is like, come on, big boy. Lose translation. This is what happens. Matthew 14. Jesus, the Bible says, Peter, gets out on the water and walks.

Do you ever think about how many steps he takes? You ever think about the kind of walk he walked? I'm thoroughly convinced through my theological training. It was like the Rick Flair walk. He was a woo like that. If you don't know, Rick Flair was an evangelist in the 1900s used to travel around with his family. And then what happens?

He takes his eyes off of Jesus. This is the sermon about this is Psalm 91. He takes his eyes off of Jesus. He put his eyes on his circumstances. And because of the wind and the waves, he's filled with fear. And fear paralyzes. And because of the paralyzation of fear, he begins to sink. And as he is sinking, and it's his own fault.

He cries out, Lord, save me. And then the Bible says, that Jesus immediately reaches out his hand. He doesn't say, I told you, come here, hey, where are you going? Come here, that's not what he does. He rescues him. And then two chapters later,

the guy that screwed up the walking on the water, miracle, he honors him. He honors him in Sessori of Philippi. He says, who do you say there I am? Peter says, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And he's like, ding, ding, bro, I'm changing your name. Your name's Rocky, and upon this rock, I'm going to build my church,

and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And then he gives to the guy that screwed up two chapters earlier, he gives him the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And he honors him. If you put your faith in Jesus, not only are you rescued by him, but you are honored by him. And then the sixth promise, with a long life, I will satisfy him. Not because long life is satisfying.

Ask anybody who's got one. There's nothing on this world that can satisfy except the one that created us to be in relationship with him. And he says, I will satisfy you. and I will show him my salvation. Are you saved? Anytime I go to church, I'm not talking to, I'm not talking about

being a better version of you, are you saved? Have you surrendered your life to Christ? That's what Psalm 91 is all about. I don't often tell you the behind the scenes nature of how I put the sermon together because I don't think it would interest very many people, but this week was different.

From Sunday to Tuesday, we hosted a retreat for our Nehemiah, a bunch of our Nehemiah volunteers, at the retreat center. Nehemiah is like our safety and security team. Invite like 25 guys out. We're just saying thanks because they're awesome and they serve a lot and I went up to hang out with them and on Sunday night I said guys this is just a thank you. So I'm not preaching and teaching everybody's just hanging out but whatever you do don't waste your time because you're going to be in a tree stand multiple times and this is where I write my sermons and if you'll open your ears God

will speak to you here I promise. And then I told them last Sunday night I'm preaching Psalm 91 this weekend So everybody in the tree stand, you read Psalm 91, and then around the, you can be like my research team, tell me what you think, okay? And so later, that night and the next day and the next day, like good Christians, they marched out with a gun at a Bible, praise God, and they went into the tree stand. And if that offends you, you're going to hate it here so much,

so just save yourself some time and go ahead and go somewhere else. So that'll get in the tree, right? So on Monday night, I'm taking one of the guys to the tree stand, and his name's Dr. Val B, and I was like, oh, I know you, I recognize you. you, didn't you have cancer? I prayed for you. What's going on? And he said, I can't believe you would ask.

And then he begins to share in the cart as we're going to the tree stand, his story against his battle against cancer. And I'm like, and literally, it's like, it's like line by line the last few verses of Psalm 91. And he's crying and, you know, some people cry, but I work out, I have hobbies. And so, bro, I'm like, I don't think you can kill stuff and cry at the same time. I don't know if you can, okay? And I was like, man, you got to stop. And so he goes to get.

This is Trees staying. I come back Tuesday morning. We've got a little meeting, I have a little office right back here. And my team is meeting. I'm like, all right, listen, normally when we do like testimony videos, we get the video team three, four months in advance

to get it all together. And I told my crew, hey, call the video team and say, can you do a video by Thursday? This is Tuesday. I need to show this video on Thursday. They make sure, we'll get on it. They start texting. I get up from that meeting and I'm going to all staff

and I walk out of my office. And there's Dr. Val B with my book going, will you sign my book? I was like, I need you to do a video. And he's like, I can't do a video. I'm going to Alaska in one hour. I have to be on the plane in one hour, but I want to give this book to my brother. And I was like, sure, I'll sign it, but you got to do a video.

And he's like, I can't. I got to go to public. So I've got to run a bunch of errands. My team said, we'll do all your errands. So I don't know, it may be illegal, but whatever. They went and got his prescription. They did all his things. He went into the video room.

He recorded this video on Tuesday so that you could hear what Psalm 91 means to him in the battle. through check this out psalm 91 is a lot of a lot of violence and wartime language in that but of course battles take many forms and as i'm reading it i couldn't help but interpret it through the lens of my cancer story and then when i got to the end it felt like god was talking to me directly when he calls to me i will answer him I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and I will honor him.

With long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. My world changed in 2017 with the call from my dermatologist. And he said, the biopsy is back. You have Merkel cell carcinoma. So he said, I'm going to schedule you for an emergency evaluation with a surgeon tomorrow. clear your schedule and be there. So I did a course. He's about 20 seconds into his exam,

feeling my face. And he says to me, we're going to do another emergency procedure tomorrow. It's a full-body pet scan. And if we find anything south of your jaw line, you're into what we call palliative care. I know what that means. That means we're going to keep you comfortable

and you put your fares in order and say your goodbyes. So I come home, And I go next door to my dear friend, Rick Bowler. And Rick prayed with me, and he invited me to his discipleship group that night. So I went. And an hour later, I had about a dozen very scary-looking men standing around with their hands on me. And I had a theme to my prayer. That theme was hope.

Let me know this battle's not done. So I go to bed, and I grab my Bible off my bookstand. I'm going to pull out the bookmark right where I left off. is Romans chapter 15 and the first passage, first paragraph, ends with Romans 1513. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and hope. I can't tell you what that meant to me. And I didn't really interpret that as a guarantee of survival, but just that God was with me,

that he heard me. And now he's answering me. And he's going to be with me in this trouble. So I went to the appointment, and lo and behold, it was not anywhere south of my jaw. It was just on my cheek and in that lymph node. So had surgery, there followed a course of radiation. It went underground for three and a half years.

And then, April 2021, liver biopsy scans from head to toe. And a week later, I have an appointment, my first appointment with the oncologist. He gives me the diagnosis. This is your Merkel cell came back. And he said, this is actually a very good thing. We have what's called immunotherapy. They started my infusions right away.

And within days, I could feel the symptoms dropping away. So that was that was April 2021. Two weeks ago, I get another call from Mayo Clinic. This time it's a, it's a cancer researcher. And she invited me to participate in a pilot study that they are developing a cancer vaccine. I mean, I've already seen God's work in this thing, my own sanctification, putting me in a place to reach out and pray with people. Courage people with cancer. And now I could play a key role in countless people beating cancer.

All I got to say is, thank you, my great healer, my savior, Jesus Christ. And interestingly enough, those that are developing the cancer vaccine are a bunch of Mayo doctors that are 1122ers, and we're sitting on the second row at 722, man. That's what they do. So here's how we're going to end. If there's some folks in here and you're just like Dr. Val, and you need to cry out my God, my refuge. I need you to be with me in trouble. I need to trust that you will hear me when I cry out.

We are not going to deny the current circumstances that we find ourselves in, but we are going to stand on the word that comes from our sovereign Savior that loves us. So if you need him as your rock, as your refuge, as your fortress right now, as a safe place, If you need God to cover you like a mother hen would cover his chicks in times of need, would you just stand up right where you are? It could be a medical condition. It could be a marital condition. It could be a depression. It could be anxiety.

Whatever it is, man. Only the Lord could tell you what it is, okay? And so you, and then, listen, you don't, you're not going to do this alone. That God has surrounded you by a faith family. So if you're sitting next to one of those folks, would you just stand up with them? Would you put your arm around them if it's appropriate? Would you grab them by the elbow if it's appropriate? And now there's still some of you.

Man, I get it. I get it because the enemy is whispering to you right now like, I came with my neighbor. What would they think if I stand up, okay? That is not coming from the voice of your Heavenly Father. Your Heavenly Father is going, come on, come to me. Come to me. All you who are weary and heavy laden. And this world can lay some stuff on us.

And he's saying to you, and I will give you rest. and I'll give it, I'll give you rest for your soul. It's what we're going to do, man. We're going to do what I would do if you filled out a prayer card. We're just going to pray Psalm 91. And if you're into it, man, if you're sitting around them, why don't you just start praying out loud right where you are? As I pray a prayer that began in heaven, would you pray with me?

Our good and gracious, heavenly father, I pray for every single man, woman, student that is standing right now. And I pray that they would dwell in the shelter of the most high, that they would abide in the shadow of the Almighty, that we would say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God, we're going to trust in you. Lord, we claim that you will deliver us from the snare of the fowler and you will deliver us from deadly pestilence. God, we ask once again that you would cover us in your pinions

and under your wings would we find refuge. God, we claim that your faithfulness is a shield and a buckler. God, we will not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day. We will not fear the pestilence that stalks in the darkness. We will not fear the destruction that waste at noonday. And though a thousand may fall at our side and 10,000 at our right side, it will not come near your children. God, may we look only with our eyes to see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made you our Lord.

our dwelling place. God, you are our most high and you are a refuge. No evil shall be allowed to befall us. No plague shall come near our tent. And God, we know that you will command your angels concerning us, your children, to guard us in all of our ways. And on the angels' hands, they will bear us up lest we strike our foot against the stone. God, that you will call us because of the blood of Jesus to tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent, we will trample under our foot. And because we hold fast to you in love, because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, that you will deliver us, that you will protect us because we know your name. And when we call to you, you will answer us. And you will be with us in trouble.

You will rescue us. You will honor us. And with a long life, you will satisfy us. And may you show us once again, your salvation. We pray all of this in the good, strong name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and all God's people said, amen. If you're not standing, would you please stand? And we are going to respond. We're going to respond. And maybe you didn't stand up. I get it, man. This is why we make such a big deal about responding in prayer. Won't you come pray? The altars are wide open, and maybe don't come alone, man. Don't come along. And if you, if you came here by yourself, no problem. Just grab some rando 1122 beside you. They'll come pray for you. I promise they will. And come and cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you. And we're going to sing.

We're going to sing a song and a half. We're going to sing about the goodness of God that all our life he's been faithful. And all our life, he's been good to us. And we're going to sing about the victory that we have through the blood of Jesus Christ. So let's respond. Let's pray. Let's sing. Let's bring. Let's go.