Let thy spirit now impart thy
salvation, that's Christ, to each heart. The Lord will be
pleased to. To answer that prayer. We will. Be most blessed when we leave
here today. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Proverbs chapter 29. You all know that Robert is pretty
much blind and not able to read from the Bible like most of us
can, so he has to quote from memory the scriptures. He came up to me Wednesday night,
he said, I know you asked me to do the call to worship, but
I don't think I can memorize all of Proverbs 29 before Sunday
morning. So, I do want us to look at one
verse in Proverbs 29, and it is verse 25. The fear of man
bringeth the snare, but whosoever putteth his trust in the Lord
shall be safe. The title of this message this
morning is the word safe. And I want to introduce this
message by saying that it is a good thing to feel safe, but
it is much, much better to be safe I will illustrate that by reminding
you of what happened on April the 15th of 1912 when over 2,200
souls got onto that maiden voyage of the unsinkable Titanic. They were absolutely confident
that they would get to their destination. We know the end
of that. They were living life as if there
was no tomorrow. 1,500 of them had no tomorrow. They felt safe. They really felt
safe. But were they? No. Now you contrast
that to what we read in the New Testament when the disciples
were on that rickety wooden boat going across the Sea of Galilee
at night and a storm comes up out of nowhere. And these seasoned
fishermen are afraid for their life. They just knew they were
gonna drown and they were all gonna die. And the Lord was asleep
in the boat. And they went back and they woke
him and they said, Lord, Lord, cares not that we perish? We're
not safe, we're gonna die. And the Lord looked at those
disciples and he said, why do you fear? Why do you fear? And then he answered his own
question when he asked them the next question, O ye of little
faith. That's why you're afraid. I'm
in the boat. Is it possible for anything to
happen to you while I'm with you? What a difference. They didn't feel safe, but they
were safe. They were safe because they were
with the Lord. I want us to be safe. And I know from my own personal
experience that the feelings of safety will come and go. As feelings do. Feelings come
and feelings go. Feelings can be deceiving, can't
they? My only warrant is the word of
God. None else is worth believing.
May God give us the faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And in so believing, be safe
when we feel safe and when we don't feel safe. You know, you
think, well, the greatest faith is when we're experiencing that
feeling of safety. No, no. Oh, no. No, the greatest faith is when
God enables you to trust Christ when you can't feel it. That's
when faith really becomes faith, isn't it? And so our Lord has
told us here, the fear of man, we all know
what that is. We all know what that is. You
know, people say, I'm not afraid. Yeah, right. You fear men just
like everybody else fears man. The fear of man will bring a
snare. It does. It's a trap trying to please
men and fearing men and living your life for men. And, uh, it
is a, the word snare there is the word bait. It is a bait to
a trap that will ensnare you, but they that put their trust
in the Lord, they shall be safe. Turn to me to First Thessalonians
chapter five. First Thessalonians chapter five.
Oh, I want us to leave here being safe. I'll delight in whatever feelings
the Lord gives me to feel safe, but oh, how much more important
it is to be safe. I'd rather be in a rickety, wooden
boat in the middle of a storm that the Lord's in that boat
and to be cruising on the high seas and the unsinkable Titanic. Look what our Lord tells us in
first Thessalonians chapter five and we'll begin reading in verse
three. For when they say peace and safety. Then sudden destruction
cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall
not escape. Is that not what the false prophets
say? Peace, peace when there is no peace. And they get you
to look at your life to get assurance of your salvation. Examine yourself. We dealt with this the previous
hour to see whether you'd be in the faith. And then they encourage
you to come away with a false hope and a false comfort, having
evaluated your life and convinced yourself that you're getting
better. Oh, what a works. This is what the Lord is talking
about here. When they say peace and safety, they tell you there's
peace somewhere outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. They tell
you there's safety in some other boat that he's not in. They lie
to you. And as travail cometh upon a
woman, you ladies that have given birth to children, you know that
All of a sudden, it's time, we've got to go right now. Wasn't expecting
this at this moment, but here it is. Has to avail the coming
upon a woman. Look at verse four, but you brethren,
here's who's God speaking to, but you brethren are not in darkness
that the day should overtake you as a thief. The Lord's coming
as a thief in the night, the scripture says. If you knew a
thief was coming, you'd be prepared for him. You'd be looking for
him. You'd be up waiting for him. And that's what our Lord
is telling us here. Look to me and live. All ye ends of the earth. Looking unto Jesus who is the
author and the finisher of our faith. who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising its shame. And he is
where? Sat down. Oh, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, who's seated at the right hand
of the majesty on high. He ever lives. We're safe if
we're in him. We're safe if we're with him. The false prophets say peace
and safety. There is no safety. Look, but you're not in darkness.
the darkness of a works gospel, the darkness of a freewill gospel,
the darkness of unbelief outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're
not there, but you, verse five, are the children of light, the
children of the day. We are not of the night nor of
darkness, therefore let us not sleep as other do, but let us
watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in
the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. Oh,
don't be intoxicated with a false gospel, a gospel that would give
you a false hope and false peace in something that you've done
or a decision that you've made or a work that you've performed. That's the darkness of this world's
faith, Look at verse 8, but let us who
are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and
love and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. Oh, here's where,
here's our, here's our spiritual armor. For God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. He not appointed his children
to wrath. Here's what we have to be safe from. What are we
talking about being safe? What are we talking about being
safe from? I'm talking about being safe from the wrath of God. That's
what I'm talking about. That's coming upon the children
of disobedience and the people who live in darkness and those
who are not looking to Christ. And so the Lord says, but let
us who are of the day be sober. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together and edify one another, even as also you do. Oh, and
you do, brethren, you edify me, you encourage me. We're here
to edify one another, to remind one another of God's precious
promises and of the perfect redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that we would find our hope and all our salvation in him. This is what it is to be safe. The oceans of this world are
full of stately vessels like the Titanic, full of poor deceived
souls. thinking that they are safe,
oblivious to the destruction that lies just below the surface
of their shallow, manmade, freewill, works religion. Our God keeps his people safe. That's what our Lord's telling
us. Oh, the fear of man. The fear of man bringeth a snare. It is a bait. that will snare
you and entrap you. There's liberty, there's safety,
there's freedom only in trusting the Lord. The prophets of this
world tell us what the people said when they got on the Titanic.
Have you paid your fare? Have you paid your fare? Pay
your fare and you can get on this ship. I'll tell you what,
brethren, if you're getting on a ship that you've got to pay
a fare to get on, don't get on it. Don't get on it because it's
going down. The ship that's safe, the fare
has already been paid. It's been paid in full. It was
paid by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ who bought
us with a price. And he wasn't paying that fare
to us. He was paying it to his father.
And the father said, it's all paid up. Everything's paid up. Come, get on this boat. Oh yeah, I know it doesn't compare
to those big boats the world's got. Not much of a boat. But it's a safe boat. It's the
only boat that's safe. Proverbs chapter 21, verse 31
says, the horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety
is of the Lord. The horse is prepared for the
day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. What's the Lord
saying to us? What's the Lord say? You want to be safe? In
this world, be responsible, make preparations, plant the seed, water the seed, but increase is of the Lord. That's what Paul said. I planted
Apollos water. God gave the increase. If God
doesn't bless it, it's all in vain. It's all for naught. That's
what the Lord, the horse is prepared for battle, but safety is of
the Lord. If God doesn't bless and put
his mercy and grace, then it's all for naught. Only the Lord can make us safe.
Psalm 4 verse 8 says, I will both lie me down in peace and
sleep for the Lord only maketh me safe. Only he can make me
safe. There's no safety outside of
Christ. There's no safety outside of
the blessings that he gives in his church through the preaching
of the gospel on his little rickety boats. Don't you love the story
in Acts chapter 27 when they were taking Paul to Rome and
the ship met up with some horrible seas. The seas were very, very
angry. The scripture says where the
two seas come together and the ship was broken up into pieces.
Turn to me there. I want you to see a couple of
verses. Acts chapter 27. Look at verse Look at verse 25. The captain
thought all was gonna be lost, and in verse 25, wherefore, sirs,
be of good cheer, for I believe God that it shall be even as
it was told me. Now there's safety. There's safety. I believe God. And people say,
well, how much of the Bible do you have to believe to be a believer?
Every word of it. Every single word of it. You
say, well, so much of it I don't understand. That's okay. Believe
it. Believe it. If you're a believer, if God's
made you a believer, you believe God. That's what Paul said. That's faith. That faith is just
believing God. Whether I can explain it, whether
I can feel it, God said it. And Paul said, the ship's not
going to be lost, the people on the ship. And look what happens
in verse 31. Then Paul said to the centurions
and to the soldiers, they were trying to escape. Remember, they
acted like they were gonna put down the light posts, but really
they were going to get off the ship. And Paul said to the centurion
and to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship, you cannot
be saved. Then the soldiers cut off the
ropes of the boat and let her fall off. There's faith, cutting
away the lifeboats, the lifeboat of your works, the lifeboat of
your will. You cut that rope loose, let
it go. The Lord's gonna have to keep
me safe. And Paul told that centurion and all those soldiers, you stay
on this boat. and you won't die. You get off the boat, you're
going to die. Look at verse 44 and the rest. Some on boards and some on broken
pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass that they
escaped all safe to the land. Oh, when the Lord told those
disciples who were so afraid they were going to drown. And
when he asked them, he said, why are you such a little faith
or why? Why do you? Why are you afraid?
Oh, you have a little faith. And then he stood and he spoke.
And the winds calmed and the sea became calm and. And the
disciples looked at one another and they said, oh, what manner
of man is this that even the wind in the seas obey his voice?
Everything obeys him. And then the scripture goes on
to say in one of the other gospels, and immediately they were on
the other side. Oh, the way of the Lord is through
the seas, brethren. And these seas can be turbulent.
And these seas can take away our feeling of safety. But what
is God saying? What is God saying? Stay with
Christ. stay with his gospel, stay with
his people, keep looking to Christ, that boat's gonna get safe to
the other side. And by the time you get safe
to the other side, you may be floating on a piece of wood, but not a single one of them
were lost. The Lord is not going to lose
one of His children. And the means by which He doesn't
lose them is to encourage them and to admonish them and to remind
them of their need for Him. To keep looking, keep waiting,
keep resting. David said in Psalm 118, the
Lord is on my side. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. The Lord is on my side. There's
what faith is. Lord, why am I afraid? It's because I have little faith.
Lord, increase our faith. Isn't that what the disciples
ask? Lord, increase our faith. And as I said in the previous
hour, you come to him for faith, not with faith. You come to him
for a broken heart, not with a broken heart. You come to him
for repentance, not with repentance. Our faith and our repentance
and our sorrow is never sufficient to sway the hand and the mercy
of God. We come to him for those things.
Lord, you're gonna have to work in me. And the Lord is saying,
you come to me, you'll be safe. Be safe from the wrath that is
to come. For the fires of hell have been
extinguished for my people. Those that are on the boat with
the Lord Jesus Christ, they don't have to worry about the fires
of hell. The Lord Jesus Christ absorbed the fiery wrath of God's
justice on Calvary's cross and he quenched that fire. He put
it out. We're safe. Only in Christ, only
in Christ. David said in Psalm 119, 117,
hold thou me up and I shall be safe. And I will have respect
unto thy statutes continually. Lord, if you hold me up, I'll
be safe. If you give me faith, I'll have faith. If you turn
me, I'll be turned. Lord, if you keep me, I'll be
kept. I'm completely dependent upon you to make me safe. Oh
Lord, I can feel the false hopes of safety in many things that
this world has to offer, but to be safe from the wrath that
is to come Lord, you're going to have to do that. Proverbs 18 verse 10 says, the
name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth
unto it and are safe. Safe. Matter of fact, this word safe
actually translated means to be set up on high. What greater
safe place is there than to be found in Christ? seated at the
right hand of the majesty on high, in whom we have all the
blessings of God. What higher place can there be?
That's the safe place. You see, safety is not our feelings.
It's not our circumstances. It's not our experiences. You
may be tossed to and fro in some turbulent seas right now. Here's
your hope, brethren, when John saw glory. He saw the sea as
a placid lake. It was like glass, the scripture
says, and there was no more turbulence and there was no more separation.
Yes, the way of the Lord is through the seas, but what God says is
that they are safe. They're safe. regardless of what
you're going through, regardless of what you're feeling. If you're
in Christ and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, resting all
the hope of your salvation on him, you're safe. The Lord is
our high tower and the righteous runneth unto him and are safe. Let me show you that again. Turn
with me to Psalm 69. Psalm 69. Verse 29, but I am poor and sorrowful. Lord, I have no righteousness
of my own. That's true spiritual poverty,
is that you've got nothing to pay the fare with. Come, without money and without
price, That's what the Lord tells us. But what do men do? They want to put down their two
cents worth in hopes that that's going to buy them a ticket on
the Titanic. But I'm poor. Lord, I don't have
the fare. I don't have anything. And I'm
sorrowful. Lord, I'm just, I'm a sorrowful
person. Before you, Lord, I doesn't mean
that you have to feel the sorrow that you ought to be feeling.
Oh, the Lord could feel that Psalm 38 makes that clear. The
Lord said, and I will be sorry for my sins. And the Lord took
our sins and they became his. And he's the only one that felt
sorrow sufficient for true repentance. We're just a sorrowful lot. I
am poor and sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set
me up in a safe place. That's the word there, on high. Set me up on high. Lord, you're
gonna have to put me in Christ. You're gonna have to put me in
that heavenly place. I will praise the name of God
with a song and I will magnify him with thanksgiving. The safe place is a high place.
What higher place could there be? Turn with me to Colossians
chapter three. Tom, you read this this morning. Colossians chapter three. Look
with me at verse one. if you then be risen with Christ. There's our safe place. Paul
said, I was crucified with Christ. Now the scripture speaking of
being risen with Christ, there's our hope. Our hope is to be found
in him so that his body is our meat. We eat of his flesh when
we look to his life, his death, his life, his resurrection. And if you be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above where Christ is seated at the
right hand of God. Set your affections on things
above, not on things of the earth for you are dead and your life
is hid with Christ in God. Now what safer place is there
than that? What safer place is there than
for your life to be hid in Christ with God? There is no safe place. That's the only safe place. That's the only high place that
there is. The threats of the law have been
silenced. The closure of the grave has
been opened. The judgment of God has been
satisfied. Life has conquered death. Light has vanquished darkness. Hope has displaced despair. And the promises of God have
replaced the threats of God. We're found in Christ the only
safe place. There is no other safe place.
The world has no safety to offer us. What are we going to offer
to God to pay our fare to get on this boat? Whosoever put his trust in the
Lord. Shall be. Safe. Turn back with me just a few
pages to Psalm 59. Psalm 59. You oftentimes when
you translate one language to another, it's. Sometimes there
are several words that can be used to translate one word and
and so. This word safe is sometimes translated
safe. Sometimes it is translated a
high place. And we understand in light of
the gospel and where Christ is and how we are found in him,
how that is our safe place. Look here, the word defend is
used to describe this same glorious truth. In Psalm 59 verse one,
deliver me from mine enemies, oh my God. Defend me. That word defend is the same
word safe. Lord, keep me safe from them
that rise up against me. Keep me safe from myself. Lord. Correct me, teach me. Give me faith. Enable me to look
on Christ. Turn with me to Ezekiel chapter
34. Ezekiel chapter 34. This is glorious. Verse 23, Ezekiel 34 verse 23,
God says, I will set up one shepherd over them. Other sheep I have, the Lord
Jesus Christ, which said, which are not of this fold, them I
must bring. And I will leave the 99 and I
will go out into the wilderness to retrieve one of my sheep. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
going to lose one of his sheep. One shepherd, I will give them.
Pastors of local congregations are called under shepherds, but
they're They understand that the church is the church of the
living God and that they have to answer to him who is the one
shepherd over them and he shall feed them. See, if all you learn
is from the voice of a man, you haven't been fed from God. I
pray the Lord will use the audible voice of a man to speak effectually
to our hearts and reveal to us Christ. He shall feed them. They shall be all taught of God.
We're dependent upon him to teach us. Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden. Learn of me and learn from me,
for my yoke is easy. Why is his yoke easy? Why is
his burden light? Because he's already bore the
burden of sin and the wrath of God. And he's made his people
safe, safe. Even my servant David, he shall
feed them and he shall be their shepherd. And I, the Lord will
be their God. And my servant, David." And you
know, he's not talking about King David from the Old Testament,
he's talking about the son of David. He's talking about the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I, the Lord, will be their
God, and my servant David a prince among them. I, the Lord, have
spoken it." What is faith? It's just believing God. I know
I've made this point before, but there's such a misunderstanding
of faith in the world. You know, men think, well, if
I just believe that God will do something for me in the future,
and if I believe it hard enough, then I can get it. And if I don't
get it, it's because I didn't have enough faith. That's not
faith. That's presumption. Faith is nothing more and nothing
less than just believing what God has already said. It's believing
God. It's believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's resting your hope in his
glorious person and in his finished work. And you have no idea what
God's gonna do in your life or with your life or apart from
your life tomorrow. We have no idea. But he causes his backside to
pass by, doesn't he? He enables us to look at where
he's been and we place our faith. in the declaration that he's
given us in his word about these precious promises established
in a covenant of grace before time ever began, before the foundation
of the world, and completed through the work that is holy and perfect
that the Lord Jesus accomplished on Calvary's cross. So we're
looking back, we're not looking forward to some some event in
this life, although we look forward in faith to his precious promise
when we see him as he is and will be made like him. We know
that from God's Word. Otherwise, we don't know what's
going to happen between now and then. Verse 25, and I will make with
them a covenant of peace and I will cause the evil beast to
cease out of the land and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness
and sleep in the woods. Now I open this message by using
the analogy of the sea and a ship that seemed safe versus one that
didn't seem safe. And now here the Lord is speaking
of a wilderness in which we live, and this is a wilderness. There's
no safe place in this world. God has given us an oasis in
the desert where we can come and drink from the water of the
river of life freely, freely. Oh, what a safe place we have.
What a safe place. The Lord says, just stick with
the boat. This is the place where the Lord
is pleased to show forth his grace and his glory in the salvation
of his people through the declaration of the gospel. I'll close with one last verse.
If you'll turn with me to Philippians chapter three, Philippians chapter
three. They that trusteth in the Lord
shall be safe. Safe from the condemnation of
the law. safe from the power of Satan,
safe from death and hell, safe from the wrath that is to come,
truly safe, a high tower, a place of refuge, a place of safety,
found in Christ, seated at the right hand of God. Finally, my
brethren, to rejoice. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. Rejoice in Him. Delight in the Lord. He's made
you safe. He didn't look to you for it.
Rejoice in the Lord. To write the same thing to you,
to me indeed is not grievous, but for you, it is what? Say it, safe. Safe. Oh, preacher, don't waste my
time with history lessons. Don't waste my time with philosophy
and theology. Tell me about the Lord Jesus
Christ. For in Him, and only in Him,
am I safe. Beware of dogs. Beware of those men collecting
their fare at the ramp of those great vessels. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware
of the concision, that's the circumcision, those who are saying,
you've got to put your hand to something. Let me ask you a question. If your salvation is dependent
upon anything whatsoever that you have to offer, how safe do
you feel? If you can feel safe there, then
you've been deceived. You've been deceived. I like
what one preacher said. He said, honest people don't
go to hell. You see, in order for you to
feel safe, having put your hand to the work, you gotta be a liar. You lying to yourself is what
you're doing. Isn't that true? But if you call upon the name
of the Lord in truth, knowing that you have no righteousness,
you have no contribution, you have no hope of salvation in
and of yourself, you're completely dependent upon Christ. To me,
to tell you that again and again and again is not grievous, because
I know that you're just like me, in that you are prone to
try to find your safety somewhere else, aren't you? The world offers us lots of enticements
to be safe. Oh, if you had one of these,
you'd be safe. If you had this or you had that, you'd be safe.
And then Satan is the accuser of the brethren saying, well,
you know, you're not safe because you have that thought or you
did that or said that. And you think, well, if I could
just fix that and change that, then I'll be safe. No, these
are all lies. Safety is only found in Christ. Now look at the next verse. For
we are the circumcision. circumcision of the heart, the
cutting away of the flesh of a works gospel. We are the circumcision
which worship God in the Spirit. In the Spirit. This is a work
of the Spirit of God. You can't just intellectually
come to the gospel. And if you're persuaded to believe
the gospel because of the voice of a man, that's not gonna work
either. This is the work of the Spirit
of God. And if we have not the Spirit of God, we're none of
His. God's Spirit, when He convicts us and convinces us that we're
sinners, and that Christ is all our righteousness, and that He's
seated at the right hand of God, not only the Holy Spirit can
do that, And we are the true circumcision, which worship God
in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus. All of our rejoicing is
in him. He's my only place of safety.
And what's the last phrase in verse three say? We can find
no confidence whatsoever in the flesh. Now that's a safe place
to be. They that trust in the Lord shall
be safe. Safe. Are you safe? Preacher,
I've got a lot of stuff going on. I don't really feel safe. Those disciples didn't feel safe
either. They were in the midst of a storm. They thought they
were going to drown. But the Lord said to them, why
are you afraid? Oh, you have a little faith.
I'm your safety. You believe that? Believe God. True faith is most glorious when you don't feel it. You believe God, even in the
midst of, you know, Lord, I'm not sure I, but I do believe
you, Lord. I can't go anywhere else. I've
been shut up to Christ, and I believe because you said it that I'm
safe. Our Heavenly Father, we pray
that you would increase our faith. Forgive us
for that sin, which doth so easily beset us. Lord, we're so full
of flesh, and we're so full of unbelief. Enable us to worship
in the Spirit, to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and strip from
us any confidence that we might falsely have in the flesh. For it's in Christ's name we
pray. Amen. Number 300 in the hardback tenor. Let's stand together. Number
300.