The Lord preserveth the simple. The Lord keeps, protects. It means to stand guard over. He stands guard over the foolish, the weak-minded, the open-minded. That's what the word means. And
this teaches us something here. The root word there, to have
an open mind, teaches us an important truth. To be easily persuaded. to be easily deceived. It's what the Apostle is speaking
of in Ephesians 4.14 when he says that we henceforth be no
more children. Children are simple until they're
taught. They just believe whoever they
hear. But Paul said we can't be like that as believers. No
more. No more children tossed to and
fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
That's the idea here in our text. Open-minded. Just whatever. That sounds good. That sounds
good too. That sounds good too. And of course in reading that
verse in Ephesians 4 there we jumped right in the middle of
the context of a passage of scripture that we need to look at. That
we henceforth be no more children. God has done something that so
that we won't be that way. So let's find out what it is.
We won't be open-minded or easily persuaded as Paul put it there,
easily persuaded. So let's look at it together,
Ephesians chapter 4. What has God done so that we
won't be that way? David said there in our text,
he keeps those who are naturally that way. He keeps us. But how does he
keep them? Paul tells us how in Ephesians
4. We'll start with verse 7. But unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore
he saith when he ascended up on high he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended what is
it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth. So the one that went up to heaven
for us to bless us from there is the one that came and died. Gave himself for us. He that
descended is the same also that ascended up far above all the
heavens. The one that died is the one
who sat on the throne. These are important things. Up
far above all heavens that he might fill all things. So he's
identifying who he is now. The Son of God, from the bosom
of the Father, from the very right hand of God, he descended
into the lower parts of the earth. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And from
there, though, he ascended back up. That's where he is now, on
the throne of the universe. And here's the gift that he gives.
He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists
and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of
the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, a mature
man, a taught and well-established believer. unto the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Christ so that you see that he
was he was on high he was ascended then he descended did what the
father gave him to do ascended back to the throne and gave these
gifts so that we wouldn't be sinful anymore
not with regard to the things of God that we be not simple,
that we be henceforth no more children tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of
men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie and wait to deceive.
But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things."
That's what will keep us from being simple. Growing up into
him. How does that happen? By the
speaking of the truth. And it's got to be done in love,
doesn't it? God always does it in love. He
always sends somebody that loves you. And Christ, who is our head,
growing up into Him. Now understand that it's not
so much the preachers themselves. We're not saying, you know, preachers
are God's gift to mankind. It's the preachers deliver what's
really valuable. It's not the preachers that are
valuable. It's God by his word, by the
ministry, verse 12. You see that? By the ministry.
You've got to have a preacher to have a ministry, but it's
the ministry. By the truth, verse 15. Speaking
of the truth. Somebody's got to speak that
truth, but Paul said, we're nothing. We're nobody. His word is delivered by his
messengers, and the gifts are sent to be these men, but they
are nothing special in themselves. Paul said, he that planteth is
not anything, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. And so it's the gift from God.
Really, the gift is his word, his ministry, his truth. And
you notice all of these things. He's going to talk about different
gifts later as we saw when we studied this. But every one that
he mentioned there, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors,
teachers, what do they all do? They all have one thing in common.
The word. They teach the word. So these men are given to that
end to deliver God's word to his people. God gives the increase,
but this is how he does it. And this is why, in Acts chapter
6, the apostles said what they did to the church. And you'll
remember this when I quote it. Well, let's turn there, Acts
chapter 6, let's look at it, it's just a few verses. But the
apostles said when there were things that needed to be done
in the church, there were some business that needed to be taken
care of, They said, let's look out seven men of good and honest
report to take care of these things. And look at why. Acts
chapter 6, verse 3. Wherefore, brethren, look ye
out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost
and wisdom, whom ye may appoint over this business. But we will
give ourselves continually to prayer. and to the ministry of
the word. You see that? And the saying
pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man
full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus,
Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, I'm butchering these names, but
you get the point, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of
Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had
prayed, and they laid their hands on them, And the word of God
increased. You see that? The apostles said,
our business is to minister the word and to pray, to be intercessors. We're ambassadors of Christ with
a message, and we'll give ourselves to that, to finding out what
God said and delivering that to you. In this other business,
somebody else is gonna have to take care of it. And when they
did that, the word of God prospered. It increased and the number of
the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly and a great company of
the priests were obedient to the faith. So you see, God blessed
that because by the ministry of the word, that's how God makes
it so that we're no longer easily persuaded. We're not fools anymore. Now we count ourselves fools
in the sense that we don't know anything as we ought to know.
But by God's grace, we're not fools in this respect, that we
don't know who God is. And that we are just carried
about, just whoever says something that sounds like they know what
they're talking about, that we believe it, you know. No, not anymore. The Lord gives us some discernment.
He gives us some maturity. He gives us some roots. And he
blessed that, what the apostles did there. They were the ministers
of the gospel. And God makes it so by those
means that we're established. And not easily persuaded by those
who are, you know, always coming up with some kind of new doctrine,
you know. They're talking about things
now that I never even heard of when I was young. And newly rehashed,
they're not new, they're newly rehashed. You know, it's the
issue of the day, you know, whatever people feel like arguing about
that day. Of course, those who don't know
the gospel at all, we're not going to hear them. Notice carefully
in all of this that it is As we saw in Ephesians 4 there,
the ministry of the Word that anchors us. It's the simple truth
preached in love, the truth of Christ, that is our foundation
so that we can't be moved. That's how God keeps the simple
right there. That's how Paul said he did it.
By giving that gospel, by what we're doing tonight, so that we can't be moved. Other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. Our foundation is him. Our message
is him. What profits the believer is
to hear of him. What profits the souls of the
lost is to hear of him. Our foundation is the God-man
himself. And listen to the language of
the Apostle. I'm going to read you a very, very familiar passage of scripture here. But
listen to the language of the Apostle Paul when he finds himself
to not be so simple anymore, not be so easily tossed. What is it that he's holding
to? What is it that anchored him when he was made him able
to say this? He said, for the witch cause,
because he preached the gospel, he said, I suffer all these things
that I suffer nevertheless I'm not ashamed for I know you know the next word don't
you not I know this this and then
I know him I know who I have believed and I'm persuaded I'm
not going to be easily persuaded by anybody else because I've
already been persuaded about something else. What? I'm persuaded
that... You know the next word again,
don't you? What are you so convinced about? What are you anchoring
your soul to, Paul? I'm persuaded that he... I'm persuaded of these points
and these issues and I've taken these stances. I'm convinced that Christ is
who he said he is and that he is sufficient, that he is capable,
that he is sovereign. I'm persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him, my soul. Against that day, Hold fast the
form of sound words which thou hast heard of me. You see that,
how he went right back to that? And this is a different passage
than we read a while ago, but exactly the same. Hold fast.
I am persuaded, Paul said. I'm convinced. I'm established. Christ is my rock. He's my foundation.
Now you hold fast the form of sound words. Now you latch on
to the truth and don't let go. By the truth, Solomon wrote,
and sell it not. Hold fast the form of sound words
which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ
Jesus." You see that? It's the truth of God that is
our foundation. And then, once we're anchored
there, once Christ is our rock, we shall not be greatly moved.
We're not going to be moved about, tossed about, easily persuaded,
open-minded. I'm closed-minded, aren't you?
With regard to the things of God. I'm persuaded that He, that He
is all, that He is able, that He is willing, that He is sovereign, that He
is God. And don't let us miss Him. Lord,
I pray, don't let us be ever learning and never able to come
to a knowledge of the truth. That's the simple. Always learning
something. But once you learn him, once
you learn of him, he said, take my yoke on you and learn of me. Then all you want to learn about
is him. More about Jesus, let me learn. That'll be our song
then. Don't let us search the scriptures
and think we have life in our knowledge of the scriptures and
miss him of whom the scriptures are written. who is the message
of the whole word of God. God wrote a book so that sinners
might believe on his son and have life in his son and may
he give us grace as we study this book together to believe
on his son. I pray that our Lord was speaking
of you and I when he said this. Remember what we're talking about
now. Listen to this. When he putteth forth, when the
shepherd putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them.
And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger
will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know
not the voice of strangers. May we recognize one voice, and
one only. That's how the Lord Our Lord
keeps simple fools like us. And my prayer is, Lord, keep
us close to you. Guard us, preserve us. And we will persevere if he keeps
us. Maybe you would ask tonight,
will the Lord preserve me? Will he keep me? Will he be my
anchor? Will I fall away? Will he be
my foundation and my rock? Well, I'll tell you this, here's
my testimony. This is what David says next. I was brought low
and he helped me. You can take some encouragement
in that. If he can save me, I guarantee you he can save you. And that he helped me proves
that he's willing and able to save the farthest away, the very
farthest away, Farthest. But Chris, I thought
you were pretty religious when you were younger. Exactly. The
farthest away. The farthest. Which was farther
from Christ, Saul of Tarsus or the woman taken in adultery? Which was the farthest away,
Nicodemus or the thief on the cross? Well, I'll tell you this. I know
what the scripture says about this, but I also know this. It
doesn't matter. Christ will save you either way if he's pleased
to do so. It doesn't matter how far away
you are. Will Christ save you? Well, here's my testimony to
you. He saved me. He saved me. I was low. You see
that? I was low. I was as low as low can be and
he reached way down for me. His blood can wash the foulest
sinner clean. I can tell you that from experience. He delights to show mercy and
you can't show mercy to a good person. Mercy is not for good
people. The Lord told that Gadarene Demoniac
to go home and tell how great things the Lord had done for
him. and had compassion on him. And that's what David's doing
here. The Lord helped me. I had hit
rock bottom and Christ reached down to where I was and pulled
me out of the pit. And in order to come where I
was, he had to humble himself. He had to come way down, didn't
he? To come where we were. And he did that for me, became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, humbled himself.
Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. We'll look at the next verse,
but the word help, by the way, doesn't mean he met me halfway.
It means he saved me. He saved me. Then David gives himself some
good advice. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. Have you ever given yourself
advice? David did this fairly frequently in the Psalms. He
said in Psalm 42, 5, Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why
are you disquieted within me? Hope thou in God. Quit leaning
on the arm of the flesh and trust the Lord. That's pretty good
advice. No wonder you're depressed, talking
to himself. No wonder you're You're depressed,
you're cast down. Did you really think you could
manage on your own? Did you think you were man enough
to get by on your own? Make God your hope and lift up
your heart. Be cheered. He cares for you.
He's able and willing to keep you from falling. Quit being
a fool. And by the way, the Lord preserveth
even fools like you, but quit being one. That's pretty good
advice to yourself right there. And you know how people ask this,
they say, you know, if your, if your 50 year old self could
say something to your 15 year old self, what would you say?
You know, you've heard that before, or some form of that. What advice would you give your
younger self? Well, that's kind of fun to think
about, isn't it? But that can never happen. I'll
tell you what can happen. You can give yourself some advice
right now. By God's grace, this is my right
now self saying to my from now on self, return to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Go back home. Go back home. Go to the place of rest and safety. Place where you know you're safe
and have everything you need. The place of plenty. The place of peace. Return unto
the Lord. Quit wandering away. Don't wander
away anymore. Return to Him and stay there.
Oh my soul, that's good advice. Prone to wander, Lord. I feel
it. Do you? Prone to leave the God that I
love. What can we do about it? What can be done about it? Here's
my heart, Lord. You take it and you seal it.
That's a good prayer. Seal it for that courts above.
Preserve this fool. Keep me close to you. Return under thy rest. Oh my
soul look at the last part of verse 7 for the Lord have dealt
bountifully with thee all your life all your life the Lord has
blessed you and protected you and provided for you and taught
you and Rescued you how bountiful the Lord has been toward you
for 52 years. I'm still talking to myself for
52 years And you're still worried about tomorrow? God has carried you for 52 years. He's been carrying me all my
life. But, oh, you know, my insurance
premiums are going up next year. What am I going to do? It's time to go home. And when
you get to thinking like that, it's time to go home. It's time
to return to him who is your rest. to him who has provided
everything you've ever needed for 52 years. It's time to return. I've never
lacked anything in all of my days. Oh, but this job is killing
me. I just don't know what I'm going
to do. Or this trial or that trial. Just too much for me to
bear. Go home. Go home! look what God has done for us
look at verse 8 for thou has delivered my soul from three
things in this verse you've delivered my soul from death you've delivered
my eyes from tears and you've delivered my feet from falling
you think about that that just about covers it doesn't it number
one at the priceless cost of his own life of his own soul
He delivered my soul. How? By making His soul an offering
for my sin. He saved me from death. While I was yet a sinner, Christ
died for me. I was bound for hell and richly
deserved it and didn't even want to be saved. Not by Him. I hated him so much that if God's
not going to recognize my goodness and my will, then hell it is.
That's where a sinner is, right there. The only thing a sinner
hates worse than God's law is God's grace in Christ, His Son. But you know what? He saved me
anyway. He saved me anyway. He gave me repentance. In other
words, By His grace, I changed my mind about all that. That's
what repentance is. I changed my mind about all that.
All the things that I counted as gain unto me before, now I
count them but dung, but loss, that I may win Christ and be
found in Him not having my own righteousness. I wouldn't have
anything else before. I trusted my own righteousness
so much before, but submitting unto the righteousness of God
in Christ alone by His grace, through the gift of repentance. In Christ alone am I righteous
before God. And all... Here was Paul's testimony. How'd you come to that place,
Paul? What changed your mind? Well, he arrested me on my way
to hell. He stopped me in my tracks. I
was running to hell as fast as I can. And now, Paul said, I'm
pursuing Christ. I'm running after him. If I might
obtain, if I might apprehend the one who apprehended me that
day. Secondly, he's delivered my eyes
from tears. Well, Chris, I still cry sometimes. Well, I'll tell you this, one
day our God will wipe away all tears. He personally will wipe
away every tear from your eye for good. But you know there's
a great sense in which He's already done that. He's already done
that. Because even in sorrow now there's
joy. We sorrow but not as others.
We'll never cry like we did before. Never the same. Those tears are
gone. Listen to what Peter, the Apostle
Peter said in 1 Peter 4, 12. Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some
strange thing happened to you. God has broken your heart. He's
broken you. He's afflicted you somehow or
given you some horrible, terrible trial that just breaks your heart,
maybe. But rejoice. Inasmuch as you
are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be
revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. Even when
you are cried, it's cause for rejoicing, isn't it? So you see
how he has delivered our eyes from tears, and my feet from
falling? This kind of goes with number
one, doesn't it? He saved me. my soul from death and that can
never change. He's lifted me up and I can never
fall. He took me out of the pit and
I'm not fixing to go back. You see that? Keep my feet. He
saved me and that's permanent. He not only saved me but he is
saving me and he shall save me. That's what it is to have your
feet not fall. Romans 510, for if when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son,
much more now that we are reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
He's not going to let us go. If he didn't reject us when he
found us in our sin, he's not going to cast you off because
of your sin now. And remembering all that he has
done for me, As he did in this psalm, and
in the first five verses there too, remembering all that he's
done for me, and knowing all that he is doing for me, and looking forward to all that
he's going to do for me, I walk. That's the next verse, the final
thought tonight. I walk. You can't read that verse
without keeping in mind everything that he said, remembering what
he's done for me. He saved my soul from death. He wipes my tears away. He gives
me joy even in the prison I can sing of his grace with all in
silence. Even on the ash heap I can rejoice
and say I know that my Redeemer And even if he kills me, I'm
just going to keep trusting him. And remember all that he's done
and knowing all he's doing. And looking forward to all that
he shall do. We walk in this world and by his grace, we walk
among the living. That says a lot right there.
Version 9, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I'm under attack, y'all. I don't even know what that was.
Is it still on me? Alright. I will walk before the
Lord in the land of the living. Think about that. We haven't
always been in the land of the living. We thought we were, didn't
we? But the scripture says, she that
liveth in pleasure. I'm pretty sure you could put
a he there too. It just happens to say she right
there. That liveth in pleasure is dead while she lives. If that's
what we live for, is to please ourselves. We're dead while we
live. What we call life is death. Paul
said, I'm in the body of this death. And what we call death
for the believer is life. But we walk in the land of the
living right now. We're alive under God. Like that
madman of Gadara who walked once among the tombs. That was us.
Unconsolable. Uncontrollable. Miserable. Self-destructive. Insane. Living in the graveyard. That's where we were comfortable
because we were just as dead as they were. But I've come out of the graveyard
by the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, who came where I was,
who sailed an ocean to get to me. He crossed the great gulf,
didn't he? To come where I was. And by his
grace, I'm resting in him, clothed in his righteousness, and I'm
in my right mind. I'm not a fool anymore. I am,
but I'm not. What does it mean to walk in
the land of the living before the Lord? Well, as always, let's
try to have scripture answer that question. Romans chapter
6, and I'll be through. Romans 6. Listen to this now. Remember
our verse as we read this. This is how we learn now. In
the word of God, what is what is God talking about? When is
what is David talking about when he says I will walk? Before the
Lord Since he saved me from death and keeps me from falling. I'm
gonna walk before him in the land of the living What does
that mean? Listen to listen to Romans 6
1 what shall we say then shall we continue in seeing that grace
may abound? God forbid How shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into
his death? Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life, walking before the Lord in life, in the
land of the living, in the land of God's living saints, living
stones, he called us. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness
of his resurrection. We live because he lives. Knowing
this, that our old man, who's he talking about being dead?
The old me. Now he's still kicking a little
bit, but as far as God's concerned, he's a goner. And so he's saying
here, then you reckon it that way too. God says he's a goner,
so you need to Reckon yourself that way to look at it knowing
this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin
might be destroyed That henceforth we should not serve sin for he
that is dead is freed from sin Now if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him Knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead doth no more death hath no more dominion
over him For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in
that he liveth, he liveth unto God. And look at this beautiful
verse. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
that to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. You see what David was talking
about? I'm gonna walk before the Lord in the land of the living. That's what it means to walk
in Christ and being found in Him. Let's
pray together.