Turn with me back to Deuteronomy
33. I took our brother and sister,
Christophe and Karina, to Charlotte on Monday, Charlotte, North Carolina,
so they could fly back home. And on the way, Christoph asked
me, he said, if God's people are fed by hearing the gospel
preached, how are God's preachers fed? And that's a good question. And
I told him, I said, well, I guess, you know, we're fed in our studying. preparing a message, if it really
is a message, if it's not just a speech and if it's not just
a sermon, if it really is a message from God to His people at an
exact moment, if God has something to say to the hearts of His people,
then He speaks it to the heart of His preachers so that they
can speak it to the heart of His people. And that is true. What I said
to him is true. There have been times when I've
been so blessed in studying and then I stand up here and I fall
so flat on my face. Or I feel like anyway, I fall
so flat on my face and I leave this place in such a
depression. I'm very good. I don't know.
Maybe not. Maybe I wear my heart on my sleeve.
But I feel like I'm good at hiding it. I try to be very good at
hiding it. But often I don't. Sometimes I don't leave here
feeling blessed. I leave here feeling depressed.
So I do know that God feeds and blesses his preachers while he
is giving the message to them. But I've been thinking about
that a lot ever since he asked me that, and I'll tell you this,
I really do believe this. I believe that nine times out
of 10, I believe that I am truly fed
and blessed right here in this moment. when you are fed and
blessed. After really thinking about this,
I believe that I am fed and blessed in the same moment listening
to the message preached. I understand that sounds weird.
But while you are listening to the message preached, so am I. I am listening to the message
preached. I don't want it to be my message. I want it to be God's message. And I can't tell you how many times
I've stepped into this pulpit just so not confident in my notes
and not confident in what came about from my studying and not
confident in what I'm going to say. And the spirit of God has
opened up the word in a way that I didn't enter into it while
I was studying it. I'll step down and sometimes
you'll say, well, I never, I never got that out of that scripture.
And I'll say, me neither. But usually it becomes more clear,
it becomes more alive, and often I've walked out of this pulpit
thanking, I mean, I'm gonna say 99 times out of 100. I walk out
of this pulpit thanking and praising God for creating in this moment
what I didn't think was there. A blessing. A spiritual meal. I've told you before that I don't
bless me, and I mean that. I don't like hearing the sound
of my own voice. I don't bless me, but when God's
Spirit moves, God's Spirit blesses me. If He will move, it's a blessing. It really is a blessing. And
I honestly believe that the real answer to his question is God's
preachers are fed in the same moment that all of God's people
are fed. If the Spirit does not move in
this moment, none of us are fed. But if the Spirit of God moves
and blesses, all of us are fed. All of us are helped. All of
us are comforted. I drive to this service. Begging for the same blessing
from God that you all beg for. We're all in the same boat. That's
my point. We're all in the same boat. And sometimes I have to
selfishly tell you this message is for me. I know that this message
is for me. You know, we're here in this
particular portion of scripture because I needed this. And tonight
is one of those nights. We're here, we're right here
because I needed this. I really, really needed this.
I need the Lord to bless me and feed me right now. So y'all pray
for me. You ever had anybody say that
to you? Y'all pray for me. I need the Lord to bless me and
feed me and you need the same thing. And I'm praying for you. I pray that our Lord will do
that for all of us right now. We are here in Deuteronomy 33
because I needed to hear this and I couldn't get away from
this and. Let's see if we all need to hear
this, OK? Let's see if the Lord will let
us enter into the first part of verse 27. Deuteronomy 33 verse
27. This is what it says. The eternal God is thy refuge. And underneath are the everlasting
arms. Do you need that like I need
that? Do you ever feel like you need
a refuge? Do you ever feel like you need
a refuge? A refuge is a place to run and hide. That's what
a refuge is. It's a place to run to and hide. Do you ever feel like you need
a refuge? Listen to what Job said. Turn
with me to Job 14. Job 14. Verse one, he said, man that
is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. You want
to know what this life is? Number one, it's few days. It's few days. And it's full
of trouble. It is so full of trouble. All
right. Now watch this. Watch this. Look
at verse 13. Job 14 verse 13. He said, Oh, that thou wouldest
hide me in the grave. That thou wouldest keep me secret
until thy wrath be passed. that thou wouldest appoint me
a set time and remember me. He said, don't forget about me.
Don't leave me there. But oh, that you would just go
ahead and put me in the grave until all this is over. And then take me back out once
all this is over. Oh, that I just had a place to
hide. that had just had a place to
hide until all of this is over. But just listen to this glorious
news that Moses declared in Deuteronomy 33. He said, the eternal God
is thy refuge. You have a refuge. You really do. There is a refuge. There is a place to run to and
hide. Where is that place? What is
that place? It's not actually a where or
what. It's a who. Listen, some of you
have experienced what I'm talking about. For some, the Lord Jesus
Christ has revealed Himself to be a refuge and you have run
to Him in your time of trouble and He has hid you. The eternal God is thy refuge. Run to Him. How do you run to
Him? In heart. In soul, in everything
that you are, everything that makes up you, run to him. He will hide you. He'll hide
you. Turn over to Psalm 17. Psalm 17 verse 1 tells us that
David is praying to the Lord. Hear the right, O Lord. Attend
unto my cries, praying to the Lord. In verse 8 he said, keep
me as the apple of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. Thank God we can hear the words
of Christ in that. That's the cross. That's the
cross. The only reason we have a refuge
is because Christ cried that for us from the cross. But because He endured that for
us, we can now say in Him, because of Him, Keep me as the apple
of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. Hide me. Hide me, O my Savior, hide. Turn to Psalm 27. Psalm 27, verse 4. David said, One have I desired
of the Lord. Thing is in italics. One have I desired of the Lord,
that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in his temple for in the time of trouble he
shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle
shall he hide me. He shall set me up on a rock. That's what he did for all of
his people on the cross of Calvary. This tabernacle is our body.
And he hid all of his people in himself, in his body. We were hiding in him in that
time of our trouble, that moment that our sin had to be judged,
that moment of judgment. We were hiding in him. We were
crucified with Christ. I'm telling you, there is no
better place to be than hiding in Jesus Christ. Let me hide in him and never
come out. Look at Psalm 46. Boy, sometimes these words, they
just, they really help. Psalm 46, look at verse 1. God
is our refuge and strength. I don't have any strength. Well,
you don't need any. God is our strength. He's our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. You know what
very present means? Right now. He may not do what
I'm asking him to do because I will only bring harm to myself.
Therefore, he will help me right now by ignoring me. God is our refuge and strength
of very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear. Though
the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof,
there is a river. The streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the
Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her. And that
right early. I love this. The heathen raged. The kingdoms were moved. He uttered
his voice. The earth melted. The Lord of
hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come behold the works of the
Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh
wars to cease until the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow
and cutteth the spear and sunder. He burneth the chariot in the
fire. Be still and know that I am God. The next time you're
in trouble, listen for that. right there at the ear of your
heart. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Verse 11 says, the Lord of host
is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. The Lord of host, the God of
Jacob. Jacob is the center. Aren't you so glad he selected
Jacob? Jacob is the sinner. He's the
one who never did right. I never did like that guy. But buddy, I relate to him. The Lord, our God, the Lord,
the sinner's God. is our refuge. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the sinner's refuge. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
sinner's refuge. Are you a sinner? Do you feel
guilty over your sin? You've done bad? You've done
wicked? You feel guilty? You feel lost? You feel ruined?
Run to Jesus Christ and hide in Him. How do I do that? I don't know. But ask God to
draw you. Ask God to hide you. He'll do
it. Look at Psalm 57. Verse 1 says, Be merciful unto
me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings
will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. Lord, just hide me and get me
through it. Just hide me until every one
of my calamities be overpassed. From our God. Through Moses. To us. I have two wonderful points
of good news. This message has two points.
OK, point number one. The eternal God. The God that has no beginning
and no end. The God who is Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last. The one who was in the beginning
with God because he was God. The one who was made flesh and
dwelt among us. The one who lived for us. If you say, how in the world
am I going to make it to glory based on the life I lived? Here's
the answer. You're not. You're going to make
it to glory based on the life that Jesus Christ lived. He came
to live for us. Matter of fact, God killed your
life on the cross of Calvary. Your life was wretched. Your
thoughts were wretched. Your deeds were awful. So what
did God do? He horribly, horribly dealt justice and judgment
and condemnation and wrath to your life in Jesus Christ on
the cross of Calvary. He lived, the one who lived for
us and died as us. You know what He died for us
means? It means He died as us. In the place of us. The one who
reigns in us. Let me tell you something. Sin
is not going to have dominion over you. If Christ is your hope,
He reigns in you, and as bad as you think you are, He's going
to rule it. He's going to reign over it.
Where sin has abounded, His grace is going to much more abound. The one who is our eternal Redeemer,
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He is our refuge. That's point number one. Point
number two, go with me back to Deuteronomy 33. And that's not half the message.
We're 90% finished. Deuteronomy 33, verse 27, it
says, The eternal God is thy refuge
and Underneath are the everlasting
arms. Boy, that touches me. Number
one, the eternal God is our refuge. And number two, underneath are
the everlasting arms. Underneath what? Underneath you. Underneath you. His arms are
underneath His people, carrying His people. They are everlasting
arms because He is the eternal God. He carries his people. And he said, I'll never stop
carrying you. That's what he said. I'll never
stop carrying you. To gray hairs, I'll carry you. When you cross over, I'll carry
you. Look with me at Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40 verse 10, it says, Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand and His arm shall rule for Him. Behold, His
reward is with Him and His work before Him. He shall feed His
flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
His arm. and shall and carry them in his
bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young. He will
rule, he will work, he will gather, he will carry, he will lead with
his arm. What's his arm? Jesus Christ
is his arm. He will do all of that for His
lambs. He'll do that for every elect
lamb that His Father gave to Him. Look at Isaiah 41, verse 10. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand. And that's connected to the right
arm of my righteousness. Verse 13, he said, for I the
Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear
not, I'll help you. His arms are arms of comfort,
they're arms of comfort. Look at Isaiah 52. Verse 9 says, Break forth into
joy, sing together you waste places of Jerusalem, for the
Lord hath comforted his people. He hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare His holy
arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our God. His arm is our strength.
His arm is our comfort. His arm is our strength. Look
at Isaiah 53 verse 1. Who hath believed our report
and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? The arm of the Lord is Christ.
Verse two says, he's the one who will grow up before him as
a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. Oh, that Christ would be revealed
to us for who he is, the eternal God, the everlasting arms. Look
at Isaiah 59. Verse 15, it says, Yea, truth
faileth, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And the Lord saw it, and it displeased
him that there was no judgment. And he saw that there was no
man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. His arm brought salvation unto
him, and his righteousness, it sustained him. He did it because
there was no other man to help. He did it. Verse 1 right here,
Isaiah 59 verse 1 says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened
that it cannot save. The arm of the Lord is the arm
of salvation. The eternal God is thy refuge
and underneath are the everlasting arms. We say, we do, we say,
I'm not going to make it. I'm just not going to make it.
I'm going to fall. No, you're not. No, you're not. Underneath are the everlasting
arms. They will never leave you. They
will never forsake you. They will carry you all the way
home to glory. Jesus Christ is the eternal God. And those arms belong to Him. And that's the promise that He
has made to His chosen, redeemed people. And He cannot lie. He
cannot lie. I love that story of the woman
who got on the trolley in that city years and years ago. She
got on that trolley car and she was carrying that big suitcase
and holding on to one of those poles and that thing was just,
you know, tossing her all over the place in that suitcase. And
the man said, excuse me, miss, if you will put your suitcase
down, this trolley will get it to the same place you're going.
You're not carrying it right now. This trolley's carrying
it. You can cast your all on the
trolley. And what I say to us tonight
is cast your all on the everlasting arms. Cast your all on the everlasting
arms of God because he's our refuge. He's our strength. He's our comfort. He's our help.
He's our all. Just cast it all on Him. Run
to Him. Hide under the shadow of His
wings. Boy, there's comfort there. Amen. I hope that was a blessing. I
hope that was spiritual food.