Turn with me, if you would, to
Mark chapter four. Mark chapter four. Our text tonight
is going to be one verse in particular in Psalm 56. But let's begin
by reading something here in Mark chapter four. Mark 4 verse 35 says, and the same day when the even
was come, he saith unto them, let us pass over unto the other
side. And when they had sent away the
multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there
were also with him other little ships, And there arose a great
storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship so that it was
now full. And he was in the hinder part
of the ship asleep on a pillow. And they awake him and say unto
him, master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose
and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, peace be still. And the wind ceased and there
was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly. and said one to another, what
manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? Let's enter into something for
a moment. You are afraid. And I am afraid. We are a fearful people. We are a very fearful people. We're a people that are full
of fear. Very full of fear. Now our fears
may differ to some degree. I may be afraid of something
that you're not afraid of. You may be afraid of something
I'm not afraid of. But all of us are completely full of fear. We truly are. We are full of
fear. We are fearful. We are afraid
of dying. We're afraid of dying. We say,
well, I know whom I have believed. and am persuaded that He's able,
I'm not afraid of dying. That's what we say. When that
moment comes in God's appointed time, it's appointed unto man
once to die, and when that appointed time comes, He will most certainly
give dying grace to His people. and He will most certainly comfort
them through it. But until that time comes, let's
get ourselves into a situation where we think we might die,
and then let's see how much courage we have. This flesh is afraid of dying. We are afraid of judgment for
our sin. Judgment for the things we've
done, Judgment for the things we still do. We're afraid of
it. We believe, we do believe. Lord, help our unbelief. Help our gray unbelief. We're
afraid of getting sick. If it's not COVID, it's cancer.
But we're afraid of getting sick. We are afraid of pain. We're afraid of physical sufferings,
struggling of any kind. We're afraid of any kind of struggling.
We're afraid for our safety. That's why we buckle our seatbelt. That's why we lock our doors.
And that's why we question whether we ought to be in certain places
at certain times. We're afraid of not having enough. We do, but we're afraid of not. We're afraid of the future. We're afraid of the future. We're
afraid of what tomorrow might bring. All of the uncertainties, the
unknowns that, that's what we think they are. We're afraid
of all of this for ourselves and we're afraid of all of this
for our loved ones. We're afraid of these things
for our parents and our children and our siblings and our friends. We are a fearful people. That's how our lives spent on
this earth can be defined. They're spent in fear. Spent
in fear. But turn with me to our text
now, Psalm 56. Psalm 56 verse 3, this will be
our text. David said, what time I am afraid,
I will trust in thee. That's what God's people have
to get them through the fears of this life. They have Him. I don't know what I'd do if I
didn't have Him. I don't know what I'd do. God's people can look to Him. And they can listen to Him. They can listen to what He has
to say. And they can trust Him. They can trust His Word to them. Our Lord said to the disciples
there in Mark 4, He said, Why are you so fearful? You don't
have to be. They were anyway, the next verse
says they were sore afraid, they were so fearful, they feared
greatly. But he said, you don't have to
be, just trust me. Just trust me, just have faith
in me, just look to me, trust me. Verse three right here says,
what time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. In God I will
praise His Word. In God I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can
do unto me." Flesh of another or my own. Flesh. David said, and we can say this
with him, when I'm afraid, when I'm afraid, That's what I have. That's all that I have. I have
Him. Now, I want to show me and I want to show you what God has
commanded His preachers to say to His fearful people. Turn with
me, if you would, to Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35, verse 3. It says, Strengthen ye the weak
hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of
a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come
with vengeance. Even God with a recompense, He
will come and save you. He will come and save you. Fear not. Fear not. Don't be afraid. Be strong. He
will come and save you. Who is the God who came? Who is the God who saved? His
name is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the God who was manifest
in the flesh, and justified in the spirit, and seen of angels,
preached unto Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received
up into glory. Christ our Savior. He's our God,
He's the one who came, He's the one who saved. And in His work,
because of His work, the only reason I can say this, I was
writing this, which is what I always write, but it was really hitting
me that the only reason I can say this is because of what He
did. The only reason I can say this with confidence is because
of what He accomplished, what He did for us on the cross, what
He secured for us. Because of everything He accomplished
in His life here, in His death here, in that burial, in that
resurrection, in His ascension, in all of His
work, because of His finished work, I have five things to say
to us, five things to declare to us that I pray will strengthen
our fearful hearts. With that commandment given to
me, I want to endeavor to do that by telling us these five
things, all right? Number one, here's number one.
In Christ, eternity is secured. Eternity is absolutely secured. I pray God will open blind eyes
to see this. I truly pray He will. Look with
me, if you would, at Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40 verse 1, he said, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Does that strengthen your
heart? Like it strengthens my heart.
That is so encouraging. He said, your warfare, your battle
with sin is accomplished, totally accomplished. We say, I feel like I'm battling sin. I feel like there's a, Paul said,
there's a war inside me. And we say the same thing. I
feel like there's a war going on inside me, raging inside me.
I feel like I'm constantly struggling to win the battle over sin. Well,
we may feel like there's a war going inside of us. It may feel like we're losing
the battle to sin. It may feel like sin is defeating
us, but it's not. It's not. Christ has already
won that battle on the cross of Calvary. That battle's over.
Totally over. He said, you cry to my people
that her warfare is accomplished. And the reason is because, He
said, her iniquity is pardoned. He said, you tell them in Christ, in His life He gave and in that
blood He shed, in the death He died, Sin shall not have dominion
over them. You tell His bride that. Sin
will not have dominion over you. He went on to say, for she hath
received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins, all the sins
that she committed against Him. She has received double grace.
He's poured double. Double mercy, double forgiveness. In Christ, eternity is secured. It was promised that it would
be secured. Look with me at Isaiah 42. Verse 1 says, Behold My servant,
speaking of Christ, the Father says, Behold My servant, whom
I uphold, Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth, I put my
spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth." Verse 4 says, he shall
not fail nor be discouraged. till he upset judgment in the
earth and the isles shall wait for his law." It was promised
that our eternity would be secured. It was carried out that our eternity
might be secured. Look with me at Isaiah 50. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking right here. Isaiah 50 verse five, he said,
the Lord God hath opened mine ear and I was not rebellious,
neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting." That's what happened to our Lord when
He was condemned before Pilate. Look at Isaiah 52 verse 14, it
says, Many were astonished at Thee. His visage was so marred more
than any man. and His form more than the sons
of men." You know, those soldiers beat Him and beat Him and beat
Him and beat Him and beat Him and beat Him. But do you know
that it was our sin that marred Him? You know that? You think about what they did
to Him and what they did to Him. They couldn't do anything to
Him like we did to Him. Our sin in Him and our sin on
Him, that's what so marred Him more than any man. Look at Isaiah
53 verse 4, it says, Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God,
and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes
we're healed. In Christ, our eternity is secured. That's the first thing. I pray He might give some strength
to our fearful hearts. In Christ, it's secure. Here's
the second thing. In Christ, our temporary is secured. Our eternal is secured, our temporary
is secured. Look with me back 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 carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young." He said he will come and he will rule
and he will work. Therefore, He will feed, and
He will gather, He will carry, He'll lead, and if He does all
of that, what more do we need? What more do we need? Psalm 23
verse 1 says, The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. I shall not lack for anything. If I could ever get a hold of
that, a lot of my fears would go away. The Lord is my shepherd and I'm
not gonna lack. Psalm 23 verse six says, surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. If
I could ever get ahold of that, a lot of my fears would go away. Can't we say to this point that
only goodness and mercy has followed us all the days of our life?
Has there ever been a time that He has not fed us or led us? Has there ever been a time? And
I'm not just talking about spiritually, I mean physically too. Has there
ever been a time? Look with me at Psalm 37. Psalm 37 verse 25 it says, I have been young and now am old,
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken. Who are the righteous?
It's every soul that God the Father put in Christ. In Christ, David said, I've been
young and now I'm old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken
nor his seed begging bread. Even at our lowest points, even
at our lowest points, even if we have to say, I lost it all.
I lost it all. We can still say, he didn't forsake
me. He didn't forsake me. And usually
we end up saying, that's the best thing that ever happened
to me. That was actually good. He was actually mercy. It wasn't
him forsaken me at all. He fed me, he led me. I hope this will calm our fears
just a little bit. In Christ, our temporary, three
score and 10, maybe 80, if by reason of strength, Our temporary is secured. It's
totally secured. Eternally in glory, we're going
to be taken care of. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that once we get to glory, everything will be taken care of? Everything
will be paid for? Well, that's how it is right
here. Everything's taken care of. Everything's paid for. Just like whenever they needed
to pay their taxes, and the Lord told Peter or whoever the apostle
was, he said, go fishing. First fish you pull up, reach
into his mouth, pay our taxes. Well, we have taxes that have
to be paid, and he tells us, go out there and go fishing,
and I'm going to give it to you, and then go pay your taxes. Same
thing. Same thing. It's taken care of.
Here's the third thing. Right here in Psalm 37, look
with me at verse 23. It says, the steps of a good
man. The only way a man can be good
is if he's in Christ. There's none good but God. The
steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth
in his way. For those who are in Christ,
everything is going according to his providence and predestination. Everything. If we belong to him,
Every step that we have ever taken, I know this is hard to
understand, but every step that we've ever taken and every step
that we take and every step that we will take, all of them were
ordered by the Lord. Nothing is by chance. Nothing
is by chance. And I'm actually preaching to
myself at the moment. Nothing is by chance. Nothing
is by chance. Nothing. In our fearfulness,
we say constantly, yeah, but what if? Well, what if? There are no what ifs with God.
There are none. There are none. The disciples were constantly
in what they thought were perilous moments. That's what they thought. Perilous moments. Trouble, tribulation,
ships in the middle of storms. The Lord kept telling them, fear
not, it is I. Fear not, it is I. All of those
wars and rumors of wars that He told us would happen. This is what he said concerning
every bit of that. He said, fear not, it is I. When you see all
that happen, you remember, I kill. Remember, I make alive. I wound. I heal. I the Lord do all these
things. Right down to His very own death
on the cross, He said every detail in that event. And we have the
Old Testament Scriptures to read about it. The Old Testament said,
they're going to do this, they did that. Next, they're going
to do this, they did that. Every detail, everything that
happened in it, He said was determined before to be done. In Christ, we can rest in the
fact that eternity is secured. And our temporary is secured. And everything is going according
to His providence and His predestination. Here's the fourth thing. In Christ, everything that is
happening is happening to bring good. Turn with me if you would to
Genesis 50. Genesis 50 verse 18. And Joseph's brethren also went,
and fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we be
thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear
not, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you thought
evil against me. But God meant it unto good. to bring to pass as it is this
day, to save much people alive. Now therefore, fear ye not, I
will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them and
spake kindly unto them. Why is pestilence in our land? The good of God's people. Why is rioting in our streets? The good of God's people. The
furtherance of the gospel. It's for the purpose of making
much people alive. That's the whole reason. It's
for the salvation of men's souls. Everything that's happening is
for the purpose of calling out His sheep. bringing good to God's
people. It's so good when He calls one
of His own. Heaven erupts over it. The angels
erupt with joy over it. We know, we may not understand,
but we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called, according to His purpose. They may mean it for evil, and
they do. But God means it for good every
time. Every time. So in Christ, eternity
is secured. Our temporary is secured. Everything is according to His
providence and His predestination. Nothing is according to chance.
Everything that man means for evil, God means for good. And I pray this last thing will
give us the strength to finish the journey, all right? For all
who are in Christ, Christ is with us every step of the way. He's with us every step of the
way. It is amazing to me. It's full of awe to me, but I
believe it to be so. If right now two or three of
us are gathered in His name, He is with us. He's with us. He's right here. Right here with
us. Look with me at Isaiah 41. Isaiah 41 verse 10. It says, 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 of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed
against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. They shall be
as nothing, and they that strived with thee shall perish. Thou
shalt seek them and shalt not find them, even them that contended
with thee. They that war against thee shall
be as nothing as a thing of naught. For I, the Lord thy God, will
hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob, and
you men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord,
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I'll be right there
with you, and I'll hold your hand through it. Look at Isaiah
43, verse 1. It says, But now thus saith the
Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not. For I have redeemed thee. I have
called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. Your Savior is saying this to
you. Look with me at Isaiah 46. Isaiah
46 verse 3 says, Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all
the remnant of the house of Israel, which are born by me from the
belly, which are carried from the womb, and even to your old
age, I am He. and even to your gray hairs will
I carry you. I have made and I will bear,
even I will carry and deliver you. David said in Psalm 23 verse
4, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I'll fear no evil, thou art with me. In Christ, we truly can say,
we truly can say, what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In those moments when fear takes
hold of me, I'll look to you, I'll trust
in you. In Christ, eternity is secured, temporary is secured,
nothing is by chance, Everything is for good and Christ will be
with us every step of the way. I pray that's an encouragement.
All right.