The text for my message this
morning comes from Proverbs. It's actually where we were at
on Wednesday, it's Proverbs 30, but I will be beginning to read
from Psalm 95. Psalm 95. And Psalm 95 will begin in verse
one, where it says, O come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us
make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. This is what
we just got done doing, singing unto the Lord. And I never really
grasped that, honestly, until about a year ago, when we were
in Lexington, and Brother John Chapman preached a message about
singing unto the Lord. And it really hit me, and it
hit me hard. I hope we seek to always do this.
I've entitled this message what says at the end of that verse,
the rock of our salvation. Verse two, it says, let us come
before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto
him with psalms. He said, where two or three are
gathered in my name, there I am. Please allow us to be here with
thanksgiving, making a joyful noise with songs. He allowed
us to be here. Let's not be here in vain. Let's
not just check a box. This is more important than anything
we could possibly be doing. Salvation, it's a soothing word
to the ears and even more soothing to the heart of a new man. This
next portion was written by Brother Don Fortner, and I think it says
it. perfectly. Salvation is more than walking
down an aisle at the end of a religious service and saying what a religious
salesman calls the sinner's prayer. Salvation is an operation of
the grace of God upon a man's heart. Salvation is living, is
a living union with the living Lord. The Word of God makes it
very clear that salvation is not something you do for God.
It's something God does for you. Salvation is not accomplished
by man, not by the works of man, nor by the decision of man, nor
by the free will of man. Salvation is not a cooperative
program in which God does his part and you do your part. It
is God the Holy Spirit who quickens, he regenerates, gives life to
dead sinners. It is God the Son who redeemed,
justified, and pardoned his people. It is God the Father who chose
his own elect, determined to save them and predestinate them
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. Salvation is
not man's decision, but God's decision. Salvation is not by
man's power, but by God's power. Salvation is not by man's work,
but by God's work. Salvation is not by man's will,
but God's will. And as Jonah 2.9 says, salvation
is of the Lord. As we continue in Psalm 95 verse
three, it says, for the Lord is a great God and a great king
above all gods. He's a great God. Psalm 145 verse
three says, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. So
what we're doing right now, we're praising him, we're praising
his name. And his greatness is unsearchable. No links of anything
that you get to search him out. Psalm 147, five says, great is
our Lord and of great power. His understanding, his understanding
is infinite. It's innumerable, can't be counted. Psalm 95, four through six, it
says, in his hand are the deep places of the earth. The strength
of the hills is his also. The sea is his and he made it. his hands formed the dry land.
Oh, come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the
Lord, our maker. He is our maker. How can we question
that? Because man thinks God and him
are on the same level. The clay does not tell the potter
how to shape. Verse seven says, for he is our
God and we are the people of his pasture. and the sheep of
his hand. Today, today, if ye will hear
his voice, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart,
as in the provocation and as in the day of temptation in the
wilderness. This last verse is my prayer for us, that we are
able to hear his voice this morning and not harden our sinful hearts. My reference, as I stated earlier,
is Proverbs 30, 26. Turn there, if you like. If you remember from Wednesday
night, our pastor actually preached here, and it really struck me quite
a bit. This is the one verse that I'll
be preaching from, but of course I'll be, we'll be going to several
others. Proverbs 30 verse 26, the Coneys,
the Coneys, which we heard on Wednesday, it's like a rock rabbit.
The Coneys are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in
the rocks. The sinner, sorry, I believe
these Coneys are a picture of the sinner, and their houses
in the rocks is a picture of God, the rock of our salvation. The sinner is a feeble folk,
incapable of anything in and of themselves. If you'll turn
over to First Thessalonians 514. First Thessalonians 514. Remember, the sinner is a feeble
folk, and these coneys, they're feeble. And so 1 Thessalonians
5.14 says, now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are
unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, and be patient
toward all men. Unruly, that's insubordinate,
and feeble-minded means faint-hearted. This is the sinner to a tee,
this right here, this is me. Until the Spirit of God breathes
new life into man, he or she is unruly, insubordinate to the
commands of God. Man is falling in their first
father, Adam, falling and being ruined by all the falling they
do, and I, I am feeble-minded. I need a rock to build me up,
and if I am made perfect after new life is breathed into me
in Christ Jesus, I am, and only by him, and his perfect accomplished
work will I be made perfect. This kind of reminds me, this
doesn't kind of, it does remind me of the verse we hear often,
and it's the gospel. This is his truth in 2 Corinthians
5, 21, where it says, for he, God, hath made him, Christ, to
be sin for us, his elect, who knew no sin. He didn't know any
sin, but he was still made sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. He finished the work, he did
it all. If we were responsible for our salvation, we would mess
it up because our works are perverse. But God, who is rich in mercy
and cannot fail, sent his son to be the propitiation for his
sheep, for his elect. I'm weak, I need your support.
I need you to build me up. I'm a feeble sinner and my only
hope is Christ Jesus. There at the end it says in 1
Thessalonians 5.14, it says, be patient toward all men. patient
toward all men. I know someone who's patient
towards me, and I say it not in boasting or anything, but
even when my own man doth continually curse him, Christ, Christ Jesus
is patient with me and continues. Turn over Romans 15, please. Romans 15, we'll begin in verse
one. In Romans 15, verse one, it says,
we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the
weak and not to please ourselves. We ought to bear the weaknesses
of the weak. Your brother or sister having
low moment, build them up. Do it not to be pleasing to yourself,
but that the Lord gave you the ability to do it, to build your
brother up in the day of their weaknesses. Verse two says, let
every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. Thy neighbor is in need of being
built up. Let all of us please his neighbor. That neighbor actually
means fellow man. Do you turn your eye from a friend
or any other person because the Lord's made us to believe? No,
we are ambassadors of Christ. Let us be humble to our neighbor,
for it will be for his good that he will be edified, he will be
built up. Verse three says, for even Christ
pleased not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of
them that are reproached, thee fell on me. For whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through
patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. We see here
again a message that's constantly preached here, for whatsoever
things were written aforetime, as in predestinated, preordained,
these things were written beforehand and were written for our learning.
Isn't that wonderful? They weren't just written as
historical documents. They were written for his people's
learning. These scriptures are, as I just said, I'm already reading
my notes out, but they're not the historical documents. Every
single bit of this is inspired by men, written, inspired by
God himself. Written for our learning that
we may have patience, that we may persevere, that they may
provide comfort in these scriptures through his comfort and patience
may give us hope. What is this hope that the scripture
speaks of? Look in verse five, it says,
now the God of patience and consolation grants you to be like-minded,
one toward another, according to Christ Jesus. Our God is patient,
and he is a comforter. Psalm 94, verse 18, it says,
when I said my foot slippeth, thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. Boy, I slip a lot, but he builds
me up. not by my doing, but by his doing. Verse 19 of Psalm 94 says, in
the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight
my soul. My thoughts, that old man keeps
hitting me, but his comforts delight my soul. Jesus Christ
was patient. Blue Arrival says, in the New
Testament, the characteristic of a man who is unswerved from
his deliberate purpose and His loyalty to faith and piety by
even the greatest trials and sufferings. Jesus Christ was
patient. Through God Almighty's patience
and comfort, He will make His elect like-minded. We are made
to think the same, according to and by Jesus Christ. Because
of what the Son did for His sheep, they are made to be like-minded.
In verse six it says, that he may with one mind and one mouth
glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When
we are like-minded, we are one of one mind. We will be made
to glorify our God, our heavenly Father. Is that what we want
to do here? We want to glorify Him. Allow
me to do that today and always. He is the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Honor Him, bring glory to His name. The sinners
are feeble folk. I said this before, I'm saying
again. It's feeble folk, and I'm gonna read this verse one
more time. You don't have to turn there. 1 Thessalonians 5,
14, it says, Now we will exhaust you, brethren. Warm them that
are unruly and insubordinate. Comfort the feeble-minded, the
faint-hearted. Support the weak. Be patient
toward all men. We sinners are feeble creatures.
As our preacher has said often, frail creatures of dust. We are. We think we're 10 feet tall and
bulletproof, but when the Lord sends a trial your way, you'll
really be shown what you really are. Turn over to Psalm 39, please. Psalm 39 verse 4 says, Lord,
make me to know my end and the measure of my days, what it is,
that I may know how frail I am. I can't know my end if I'm not
under the true preaching of the gospel. I need to hear how I'm
a sinner and I need a true savior, the one and only one, the one
who was hung on Calvary's cross for his sheep, the one who, when
he gave up the ghost, he was buried in a tomb, and he slept
in his death for three days, and then he was raised, and he
is now the same place he's always been, at the right hand of his
father. I need to measure my days, not
in what I can do before I die, but in what our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, hath already accomplished for his people. I need to realize
I came from dust and one day I returned to dust. I need to
realize how frail and a feeble creature I truly am. If you're
under the true gospel, not some man-made religion, you will be
made to know how frail you are. False religion wants you to work,
work, work your way to heaven. No, I am frail, feeble creature. I have no ability of earning
my way into and before the throne of God. I need a savior. I need God. I have a need that
I cannot provide. Needs are addressed by providing
the necessary resources. I do not have the ability to
provide myself with the necessary life or death resources for my
sin. Christ, he is the one I need
and have to have. Through these last couple of
verses, I've been trying to show you the feebleness of the sinner
and that the only hope for the sinner is Christ Jesus, a person
who saves someone from danger, that's a savior. Jesus Christ
is that person. God sent his only son, Christ
Jesus, to save his people, to save sinners, those the Father
gave him. The Coneys, in our original verse in Proverbs 30,
you don't have to turn there, I'm just gonna read it one more
time, says the Coneys are but a feeble folk, yet make they
their houses in the rocks. The Coneys are a feeble folk,
and they make their houses in the rocks. The Coneys were feeble
creatures. They needed their homes to be protected within
the rocks. They needed a true foundation.
They needed true protection. They knew they were feeble and
needed those rocks. They knew they could not depend on themselves.
Sounds pretty familiar to me. I feel like a Coney quite often. Tell me how I'm a sinner and
there's no good in me and I have no hope outside of Christ. Once
I know how and what kind of sinner I am, I'll be shown a real need
for a solid foundation, a solid foundation built upon the rock
of salvation. These next couple of verses,
you don't need to turn there. Luke 6, 48 says, he is like a man
which has built a house and dig deep and laid the foundation
on a rock. And when the flood arose, the
stream beat vehemently upon that house and could not shake it
for it was founded upon a rock. Deuteronomy 32.4 says, he is
the rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment,
a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right as he. Everything
the scriptures say are true. Because we've heard before and
before, and I said it earlier, these are God-inspired written
words. They're by men, but they were
inspired by God alone. And we just read, he is a God
of truth and without iniquity, and his work is perfect. Turn
with me to 2 Samuel 22. 2 Samuel 22, and we'll begin in verse two. Verse two of 2 Samuel 22, it
says, and he said, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my
deliverer. The Lord delivered David out
of the hands of his enemies and out of the hands of Saul. David
knows he's safe within the walls of the Lord. He knows the Lord
is his rock. Verse three says, the God of
my rock, in him will I trust. He is my shield, the horn of
my salvation, my high tower, my refuge, my savior. Thou savest
me from violence. David places all his trust in
the God of his rock. The God of my rock is a place
of support and defense of his people. The God of my rock is
my shield. A shield defends or deflects
against enemy action. In Genesis 15 once says, the
Lord says under Abraham in a vision, fear not Abraham, I am thy shield
and thy exceeding reward. Fear not Abraham, fear not, for
I am thy shield. It reminded me as I was reading
that of Romans 8.31 says, what shall we say then to these things?
If God be for us, who could be against us? Fear not, I'm for
you. No one can be against you, I'm
your shield. God of my rock is where the strength of my salvation
flows from. The God of my rock is my high tower and stronghold.
He is high and lifted up. The God of my rock is my refuge.
He's where I turn to when I'm in danger. The God of my rock
is my savior. He liberates me. He saves me.
He delivers me from my enemies. He saves me from myself. Thou
God of my rock saves me from violence. Not just today, but
forevermore. Thou God of my rock, continuously
saves me from violence. Psalm 18.2 says, Lord is my rock
and my fortress and my deliverer. My God is my strength and whom
I will trust, my buckler, the horn of my salvation and my high
tower. Still in 2 Samuel 22, just look
over at verse 47. It says, Verse 47 of 2 Samuel 22, it says,
the Lord liveth and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God
of the rock of my salvation. Yes, he does. Even now, the Lord
liveth. He liveth. Blessed be my rock,
bless God, adore God, kneel before God, praise God. Exalted be the
God of the rock, magnify the rock of my salvation, lift up
thy God, high and lifted up. the rock of my salvation, and
the Blue Letter Bible says this rock is figurative of God as
support and defense of his people. Turn over to Psalm 91, please. Psalm 91, verse one. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. Dwelling in the secret place
of the Most High is a shelter, it's a covering, it is protection. Shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. On occasion, a child or someone
will say to you, someone that maybe that child has grown attached
to, oh, so you got a shadow. Scripture said he will abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. Can you imagine that being under
the shadow of our Almighty? It's just a wonderful thing to
think about. Scripture said he will abide,
not maybe, but he will, shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. If I'm in the shadow of the Almighty,
I am covered, I am protected. Verse two says, I will say of the Lord, he is
my refuge and my fortress. My God, in him will I trust. A refugee seeks a refuge where
they are in danger. Blue Letter Bible says, a refuge
or shelter of a falsehood. The Lord is my refuge of all
things false. My fortress, my stronghold, I
think of those medieval castles and how strong they were, and
you would think they could defend through anything. They keep everything
inside safe from everything outside. The Lord protects us from the
falsehood that lays waste on the outside of Him. I need and
want to be found in Him in my fortress. In Him will I trust. Outside of Christ is nothing,
but in Him is everything. In verse three it says, surely,
surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler
and from the noisome pestilence. If he is our rock, our refuge,
our fortress, he shall deliver us from danger and disease. That
noisome pestilence is a harmful and destructive disease most
often referred to as the plague. Our sin is a noisome pestilence. But he, he is our rock and our
refuge and he will not turn away Verse four, and he shall cover
thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. His
truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Can you imagine the
Lord Almighty covering you up? Covering you up with his feathers
and under his wings. It remind me, my buddy Bearman
and I, we go out hunting turkeys, and I just think of the hen protecting
her eggs, protecting her chicks. The chicks trust their mother
hen. The Lord Almighty protects his sheep. He and his truth shields
them from themselves and those who mean harm. The Lord Almighty
is truth. His truth is our buckler surrounding
us and defending us. Psalm 85 says mercy and truth
are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Psalm 91, verse five, as we continue,
it says, thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor
for the error that flyeth by day. When we are covered by the
protection of the Lord Almighty, what have we be afraid of? He
says, thou shalt not be afraid. Don't be afraid of the terror
by night. Don't be afraid of that error that flyeth by day.
Be not afraid. Verse six, nor the pestilence
that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasted
that noonday. Let's continue, be not afraid. Don't be afraid of this disease,
this dark, dark disease that walketh in the night. I, thy
Lord, am thy rock of your salvation. Be not afraid. Verse seven says,
A thousand shall fall at thy side and 10,000 at the right
hand, but it shall not come near thee. That's just wow to me. This, the thousand and 10,000,
they fall all around, but they will not fall near thee. The
pestilence that walks in darkness, the destruction that wasted away,
but many shall fall at the right hand, but it shall not come near
thee. That's the rock of our salvation.
Verse eight says, and only with thine eyes shalt thou behold
and see the reward of the wicked. Not till we are one with him,
with thine eyes, will we see the reward of the wicked. Verse
nine says, because thou hast made the Lord, because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation,
thy dwelling place. The Lord is our refuge. He is
our safe place from danger. Verse 10 says, there shall no
evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling. He says it right there, no evil
shall befall thee, neither shall any plague come near. I have
you protected beneath my wings. Nothing can harm you, because
you're inside, you're in me, you're a part of me. Proverbs
12, 21 says, there shall no evil, and that evil word means grave
trouble. There shall no grave trouble happen to the just, but
the wicked shall be filled with mischief. They shall be filled
with trouble. As we close, I want to read a
line from Deeper the Stain, How It's Gone. There's an app called
SoundCloud if you're not familiar, and Kingsport's Siren Grace has
a multitude of songs on there, and we'd listen to it in the
mornings. And so it says, Dark the sin that soiled man's nature,
long the distance that he fell, far removed from hope in heaven,
near to deep despair in hell. But there was a fountain opened,
and the blood of God's own son purifies his soul and reaches. Deeper than the stain has gone,
praise the Lord for full salvation. God still lives upon the throne.
Yes, he does. God, the rock of my salvation.
I have nothing in myself. I have a great and severe, sorry,
I have a great and severe need
for him to be my fortress, to be found
in his stronghold for his shield to cover me. The Lord God Almighty,
by the Spirit of God, sent forth an effectual call that showed
me who I am and what I am. and that I needed a savior. He
saved me by the preaching of the gospel, giving me a faith
to believe, to believe on Christ's accomplished work. He delivered
me into his son's fold, and not a one of his sheep will be lost.
I need to be kept, I need to be covered with a blanket of
God's protection. I pray the Lord will keep us
secure in him, and that this message brings glory to God,
and is good to his people.