Turn with me to Matthew 18. We are going to look at Psalm
91 tonight. And I want to show you why we
are going to look at Psalm 91 tonight. As we were looking at these verses
Sunday morning, Verse 10 stood out to me and it blessed me.
Just the thought of this, it just blesses me so much. But I didn't have time to talk
about it, and it was not on the subject matter we were looking
at, so I didn't bring our attention to it. But I want to bring our
attention to it tonight. Matthew 18 verse 10 says, Take heed that you despise not
one of these little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven. Their angels do always behold
the face of my father. Which is in heaven. Their angels. Sam is not the only person here
who has an angel. Their angels. Doesn't that bless
your heart? Their angels. One of the references in the
center margin here of my Bible for their angels is Psalm 91
verse 11. And don't turn over there yet.
Let me quote it to you. It says, For he shall give his
angels charge over thee. to keep thee in all thy ways. He shall give his angels charge
over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. He will give his angels
charge over his people to keep them and protect them and guard
them all the days of their life on this earth. That's precious,
isn't it? That's just precious. People
think about and they talk about guardian angels. Well, God's people have them.
They do. God's people have them. How many
times throughout the scriptures did angels come and deliver instruction
to God's people? How many times did they come
and physically deliver God's people, lay hold of them and
deliver them? They pulled Lot and his family
out of Sodom. They said, we cannot touch this
city until you're out of it. The Lord sent them to smite nations. When Judas led the mob to come
take the Lord. Peter pulled a sword out, and
he started swinging, and he cut a man's ear off. And when he
did that, the Lord said, Peter, as if to say, what are you doing? That's cute and all. But don't
you know that with one word, I could call down 72,000 angels
right now, 12 legions. Now listen to this. In 2 Samuel
24, one angel, one angel slew 70,000 men. And the Lord said, don't you
realize that with one word I could call down 72,000 angels? Put your sword away, Peter. You
don't need to do that. I love the story in 2 Kings 6
where the Syrian army was sent to take Elisha. And that night they surrounded
the city that Elisha was in. This city was down in a valley. And when Elisha's servant woke
up the next morning and he went out of the house, he saw that
the whole city was surrounded by the enemy. And he ran back
into the house crying, Master, what are we going to do? And
Elisha prayed to God and said, Lord, open his eyes that he might
see. Wouldn't you love for the Lord
to open your spiritual eyes just for a moment so you could see? He said, open his eyes that he
might see, and the Lord did. He opened his spiritual eyes,
and when that young man looked around, he saw the mountains
that surrounded that city all the way around. They were completely
jam-packed full of horses and chariots of fire. Warrior angels,
ready to attack. And Elisha said, they that be
with us, are more than they that be with him. Fear not. Fear not. Turn over to Hebrews
1. Hebrews 1 verse 13 says, But to which of the angels said
he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? Angels are servants of God who he sends forth to minister
to his people. Matthew 18 said in heaven, they
behold, they do always behold the face of the father waiting
for his command, waiting for his next order to be given. When
the girls, when our girls were in elementary school, At John
Adams Elementary School, one day they had a field day. It
was a fun day thing, and the parents could come, so Hannah
and I went. And they had all these activities for the kids,
and one of the activities was the police department brought
a canine unit. And this police officer, it was
his dog that he had trained and he was letting all the kids see
the dog and play with the dog. And the dog was a dog. The dog
was having fun and running and doing all that stuff until he
gave the command, it's time to go to work. And as soon as he
gave that command, that dog ran by his side and looked at him.
And I was so impressed by this dog. I respected this dog so
much. And here's the reason why. That
dog never, ever got in front of him. He drew his gun, you
know, he was acting, putting on a show for the kids. He drew
his gun and he'd take a step forward and that dog would take
a step right beside him. Never in front, never to trip
him up. And he'd take a step back and that dog would come
right back. And he'd side to side and that dog never took
his eyes off of his face. That dog was not looking for
danger. That dog was looking to his master.
He never took his eyes off of his mat, no matter what, he never
stopped looking at it until he gave the command, go. And that
dog took off and jumped on the big dude in the puffy thing. That's what the angels do. They
stand there beholding the face of the father, just waiting for
the command. Waiting for the command. I love
how in the book of Daniel, it says in Daniel 9, when he started
praying, he realized the state Israel was in. They were in captivity.
And he just started crying and begging God, please have mercy
on us. Don't kill us. And the angel
Gabriel It says he flew swiftly with strength. So swiftly he
was tired, and I don't even understand that. But Gabriel said to him,
the moment you started praying, the command came forth. Go to
him. Before he finished his prayer,
he was standing there answering from God. Psalm 103 says they
are mighty. They excel in strength, doing
his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. And
if you'll turn with me to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13, verse 2 says. Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. Some have entertained angels. Some have had dealings and interactions
with angels and had no idea. That's beautiful to think about.
That's beautiful to think about. That is comforting. That's reassuring. That's heartwarming. Does it
not do your heart good to think as you go through this life,
mighty warriors have been stationed around you? That is just wonderful. Here's where the glory in it
goes. It's all wonderful to think about.
Here's where the glory in it goes. It all goes to our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. If we glory in this, we're going
to glory in the Lord. The glory is going to go to the
Lord. We will glory in His sovereign will for us to be cared for. We will glory in His means that
He has provided in caring for us. We will glory in the angel of
the Lord Himself. And that's what we're going to
do tonight. We're going to glory in the angel of the Lord himself.
All right. We're going to glory in the Lord. We're going to glory in the security
that Christ has provided for us from the security of his eternal
love and his eternal will and purpose to the security of the
cross, to the security of every step we take until him. We are secure. In Christ, through
Christ, unto Christ. We're secure. We are secure.
Now turn with me over to Psalm 91. Psalm 91 coming from what Matthew
18 quoted. The heading at the top of my
page says this precious psalm declares the security of the
godly. That's what it says at the top
of my page, the security of the godly, the security of those
who were chosen by God to be godly, redeemed from ungodliness. To godliness in Christ. I've titled this message, The
Security of God's People. From eternity to eternity, God
will take care of his people. He will. From eternity to eternity,
God will take care of his people. He proved that to us at the cross
of Calvary. He proved that by sacrificing
his own self. shedding His own blood, laying
down His own life. That's what it took for Him to
securely care for us. So that's what He did. And now
because of that, Psalm 91 verse 1 says, He that dwelleth in the
secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. Where is the secret place of
the Most High? It's in Christ. It's in the Lord
Jesus Christ, he or she who just sits there and stays in Christ,
that sounds so good to me. I want to sit in Christ and stay
there. The secret place of the tabernacle
was the Holy of Holies, that's the place where the blood brought
redemption to God's people. That's Christ. That's in Christ. What all of that pictured in
type and in ceremony that all illustrated the reality of where
God's people are in Christ, they are hidden in the secret place.
All dwelling safely under the shadow of the almighty, I love
that word so much, I love the word almighty, almighty. What security there is in dwelling
under the cover of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Almighty. Verse two
says, I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress,
my God in him will I trust. I will say of the Lord, Jehovah,
God, my savior, Jesus Christ. He is my refuge. My fortress,
my God. He was our refuge in judgment,
the judgment of the cross, the judgment that has already come
to God's people. You know, there is a judgment
to come. But not for God's people. The judgment has already come
to God's people. We were judged in Christ, he
was our refuge then. And because of that, he's our
refuge now. We run to him. We run to him for every need
we have, and he delivers us. He truly does, doesn't he? When
we run to him, he delivers us in heart, in mind, in soul, one
day in body. One day real soon in body. He
is our refuge, our fortress. A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing. And we trust him. We trust him
under his wings. We are come to trust. Verse two
says, I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, and him will I trust. We trust him. Verse three says,
surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.
and from the noisome pestilence. Surely he shall deliver thee. That is a promise from God. The
God who cannot lie, the God whose word will never fail. Surely
he shall deliver thee. Don't you love all the surely's
and shall's in scripture? That's a I was thinking about
this today. That's a good message title.
If anybody needs a message, surely's and shall's. But you're going
to have to do it quick because I'm probably going to do it.
Surely, goodness and mercy shall. Follow me all the days of my
life and I will. Dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Children of God, we can count on it. We can count
on it. All who are hiding in him, dwelling
in him, hoping in him, trusting in him. We can count on it. Surely he shall deliver thee. He delivered us from the curse
of the law. He delivered us from the penalty
of sin. He delivered us from the wrath
of God. He'll deliver us from everything
else. What is anything else compared
to all that? Curse, penalty, wrath. What is anything compared
to all of that? Verse three says, Surely he shall
deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome
pestilence. He shall cover thee with his
feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall
be thy shield and buckler. His truth shall be thy shield
and buckler. He will protect you. He will
defend you. He will fight for you. That's
what Moses told worried and afraid Israel just before God parted
the Red Sea for him. How many times in our lives,
honestly, can we realize and say God parted the Red Sea for
me right there? What seemed to be so impossible? He parted the Red Sea. Moses
said to Israel, fear not. This was the message then. This is the message now. No matter
what it is, this is the message right now. Three things. Fear
not. Stand still. And see the salvation
of the Lord. That's the message. Fear not. Stand still. The scripture says, be still,
the Lord said, be still and know that I am God. Just be still. And just sit there dwelling under
the shadow of the Almighty, knowing that I'm God. Fear not, stand still, see the
salvation of the Lord, the Lord shall fight for you and you shall
hold your peace. Verse 4 says, He shall cover
thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust. His
truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid
for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by
day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for
the destruction that wasteth at noonday. He didn't say that
terror wouldn't exist. He didn't say the arrow wouldn't
fly. He didn't say the pestilence
wouldn't be there. He didn't say destruction wouldn't
come. What he said is you don't have to be afraid of any of it.
You don't have to be afraid of any of it because God is sovereignly
in control of all of it, all of it, whether that's talking
about the terror and the destruction that we see in this world. or
the terror and destruction of the day of judgment. If we were
crucified with Christ, verse seven says a thousand shall fall
at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall
not come, not they. On the day of judgment, thousands
are going to fall. Ten thousands are going to fall,
but that fall is not going to come to God's people. It's not
coming. And even on this earth, Even
on this earth, without God's direct permission and without
His direct consent, none of these things will come to God's people.
He has to give the command. He has to give the order. Therefore,
fear not. He's in control of it. Might
these things come? Yes, they might. But if they
do, it'll be at His direct command. These things are in His hands.
According to His will, it's all for His glory. And we're going
to see that on the Day of Judgment. We really will. We will see that
on the Day of Judgment. Verse 7 says, A thousand shall
fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall
not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation,
there shall no evil befall thee. Neither shall any plague come
nigh thy dwelling, for he shall give his angels charge over thee
to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread
upon the lion, and adder, and young lion, and the dragon shalt
thou trample under feet. The only reason that can be said
about God's people is because Christ has been made to be our
refuge and dwelling place. If anything else was our refuge,
meaning what we ran to for safety and salvation. Men run to all
kinds of things. Women run to all kinds of things.
If our refuge was anything else, if religion was our refuge, If
the law was our refuge, if our works and our morality was our
refuge, that could not be said about us. But because Christ
has been made to be all of it. All to us, all of our refuge
in him. We are all to God because Christ
has been made to be all to us. In Him, we are all to God. With
Him, as He is with the Godhead, we are with the Godhead. And
as God's angels ministered to Him, you know, our Lord was the
substitute for His people. He lived this life for His people. And those angels came and ministered
to Him. As they ministered to Him on
this earth, they will minister to His people. Verse 11 says,
He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all
thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou
dash thy foot against a stone." I read that and I think, I dash
my foot against a stone all the time. I'm always hurting myself. I'm always tripping and fumbling. That's not what he's talking
about. He's saying they will, by the command of God, keep us
from utterly falling. They will keep us from utterly
falling. They will keep our path cleared
to Christ. And they will. They will mightily,
whatever stands between God's people and God, they'll clear
the way. They'll give us a clear path
to Christ. They'll ward off, they'll defend
us from anything that would utterly cause us to fall. God has commanded
them to do that. And they will. Verse 14 says,
because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver
him. I will set him on high because
he hath known my name. He shall call upon me and I will
answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor
him. With long life will I satisfy
him and show him my salvation. That's the promise of God to
his people who have been caused to put their hope and their trust
in Christ. The Lord said because of my love for them. Which put
love in them for me. Because of that love. For love's
sake, I'll deliver them. I'll set them on high. I'll answer
them. I will be with them in their
time of trouble, every time of trouble they have. I'll honor
them. I'll satisfy them with long,
everlasting life. And I will show them my salvation. I love that. I will show them
my salvation. That is the loving care of God
for his people. That's the loving care of God
for his people. And in that love, which is Christ,
God's people are safe, so safe.