Psalm 91. We're going to turn a little bit this evening. I didn't think we was going to
until I skimmed through my notes. That's why we kind of turn every
one of these points. It's a little bit of turning,
but that's okay. This is a messianic psalm as they all are. David
wrote this. David had a life. And he had to live that life. And you have a life. And you
have to live your life. We have to go through this world.
We don't just sit in our home with our hands in a funny position
and hum all day. Hum, yes, Lord. Oh, we got to
get up and go do things, go grocery store. There's things that have
to take. We got to deal with the phone company. We got to
call AT&T sometimes, Bob. And we walk through this world,
and we have trouble. and we get distracted and we get discouraged,
but the Lord's made promises to his people. He didn't make
promises to everybody, but he made promises to his people,
and that's who I want to talk to tonight. I think it's to bless
his people. This is concerning us. This is
about the Lord Jesus Christ, but this affects those that's
in his hand. Verse 14, Psalm 91, verse 14. Because he hath set his love
upon me, the Lord said, because my children, my sons and my daughters
have set their love, I'm their love, on me. Therefore will I
deliver him. I will set him on high because
he hath known my name. He shall call upon me and I will
answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him
and honor him. With long life will I satisfy
him. and show him my salvation. Lord, give us seven promises
here, seven points he has. I'm going to have seven points
as well. And then at the end, we'll look at who these seven
points are to, who these promises are to. It concerns somebody.
If I make a promise, I can't promise something to a tree.
I make a promise to people. Some, I was always raised to
do best you could, keep your promises. Some say we're going
to see if the Lord will and we will, but let's keep our word. I think that's appropriate to
say to folks. These young people need to hear
this. When you grow up, son, keep your word. If you get, tell somebody
you're gonna do something, do everything you can in your power to do it. If the Lord wills. We might do it, we might not,
but the Lord's the one making these promises. And that's to
somebody, it's us, his people. And they're sure promises. If
he made a promise, it's a sure promise. It can't fail. Let's
look at this first one there in verse 14. This will be a blessing
to you. Because he has said his love upon me, Lord speaking,
therefore will I deliver him. Deliver him. The Lord is going
to deliver his people. He's going to deliver us. Now
that's important. We need to be delivered. People
talk about their Savior all the time. What's he saving you from?
He's just helping you have a bad situation, a predicament, save
from sin. Save from sin. The Lord's going
to deliver us. Paul wrote there in Galatians
3, he says, For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse. We're under a curse. The Lord's going to deliver us
from that curse. For it's written, Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. But that no man is justified
by the law on the side of God, it's evident, for the just shall
live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us. He's delivered us. He's purchased
us. He's went and got us and took us out from a curse of the
law, being made a curse for us. That's how he did it. We're delivered.
He took our place. We were waiting the balances.
He got on those balances and took that judgment that we rightly
earned. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come to the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ. Are you a Gentile? Now, are you
Gentile dogs? Well, I'm a Great Dane. I'm not
a Chihuahua, I'm a Great Dane. Well, it don't matter, still
a dog, ain't ya? Gentile dogs. that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith. Lord, promise this. Paul's talking
about that promise in Galatians 3 that was promised in Psalm
91 that was promised before the world began. In fact, the timeline,
I should have walked this way. This is before time. This is
good if we need deliver, don't it? Don't that make us have joy? We talked about having joy this
morning, didn't we? You ever been happy? You ever had joy? This is joy. He delivered us
from the law. He said, therefore will I deliver him. We're delivered
from death. David told us in Psalm 56, thou
hast delivered my soul from death. God teach us the value of our
soul. This ain't picking the right car brand that's going
to get us till we die. This ain't picking the right
washing machine that won't break down in two years. This is a
soul. This ain't life and death, buddy.
This is eternal life and death. You get that? This ain't getting
through high school, children. This is something that never
ends. This is eternal. And the Lord's
delivered us from death. David said, for thou hast delivered
my soul from death, will not thou deliver my feet from falling?
Now, he's kept us. He gave his son's blood for us.
You reckon he'll get us through a Tuesday? You think he can get
me through that dentist appointment? Can I pay my taxes? I don't know
if the Lord can handle that. I think he can. Ain't nothing
he can't handle. If he's done all that for us,
how can he not through his son freely give us all things? He
already gave us him, that I may walk before God in the light
of the living. He ain't gonna have, David said, I've been young
and I'm now old and I've never seen the Lord's people begging
bread. I've seen a lot of people begging bread. Well, he wasn't
talking about a lot of people, he was talking about the Lord's people. It ain't happen.
Why? The Lord wouldn't embarrass himself that way. He said he
ain't gonna provide for his own, be mocked like that. It ain't
happen. It ain't happen. The Lord's delivered
my soul, he'll deliver my feet, he'll deliver my belly, he'll
deliver every bit of it. He will. And he from the power of darkness,
not just the prince of darkness. Don't trifle with Satan. I have
to tell these young people this. You old people already know,
or you already did it, and I can't do nothing about that, but somebody's
gotta tell you, leave them Ouija boards alone. My pastor told
me that in 1993, I'll tell it to you in 24. Don't fool with
Satan, don't fool with them dark arts things, and curious arts,
and all that. Leave it alone. But, it ain't
no match for him, but the Lord's delivered us from the power of
darkness. Not just the prince of darkness, but the power of
darkness. All of it. The influence. the entertainment
of it, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son." Now, you've heard Don say it, and you've heard me say it,
and you've heard Clay say it. Remember who you are and whose
you are. The Lord's translated us. He's
bought us with a price. We're his children. That fella cut
me off in traffic. I want to hop out and have a
talk with him. Well, hold on now. What's my last name? Well, if it's Thacker, I may
bring reproach on Paul and Sue, but if it's the Lord our righteousness,
I don't want to bring reproach on the Lord our righteousness.
The Lord's delivered us from these things. I ain't got no
fight in it. The war's over. Sin hath no more dominion over
us. Well, ain't that good? That's what Paul asked, wouldn't
it? Didn't he want to be delivered? He said, oh, wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Oh, I
thought it's this death. And he immediately said, I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That too, the Lord said,
I will deliver them. Sin has no more dominion over
us, why? He said in Romans six, for sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you are not under the law, you're under grace.
Can you imagine that? The Lord's took us, we's gonna
die. He delivered us from death. Satan's got us, he delivered
us from Satan. We got us, he delivered me from
me. The law can't do nothing for
it. He's delivered us. And he took us out of that law,
and he put us right in a big old green pasture of grace. Grace
is what put us in grace. He was gracious to be gracious
to us. You can wear that word out as many sentences as you
can. And he said, I'll deliver them. He promised. Now I ask
you, will he make good on his promises? I'll be there Thursday. You'll take off in the morning
from my airplane. You might not. Delta's in trouble, ain't they?
I booked Delta two months ago. I didn't know that. Lord said,
I'll deliver you. Do you think you'll be delivered?
Do you believe him? He said so, didn't he? Let's
look at this second one, verse 14. "'Cause he has set his love
upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high."
Who's doing the work there? Lord said, I will. He's the one
doing, not us, he's doing it. He's gonna set us on high, not
just free, but on high. You think about it, all right,
you ain't in prison no more, but don't sit too close to me.
We'll look at felons here in a minute. You're not under that stuff anymore,
but now you got a lot of learning to do. He set us on high. Where'd
he set us at? One place, he set us at his table. At his table. We get to eat at
his table, Bob. I've had a general's mess and
a captain's mess on a USS Sullivan. I got to sit down, I got to eat
with the captain of the ship. And I got to sit down and eat
with these big generals. That's something. That's the first time
I ever had creme brulee. Fancy. I've never seen nothing
like that. God says, I'm going to set them
on high. Is that good enough for you? at that wedding feast. He's gonna
set us down, we're gonna show up to glory, we're gonna cry
for about 30 minutes, and then after that, no more tears. We'll
be silenced for 30 minutes, he's gonna hug us, and he's gonna
dry off all of our tears, there'll be tears involved, and then we're
gonna sit down at that wedding feast, and he's gonna serve us.
He's gonna walk around and say, here, here's your glass of wine.
He said, I ain't gonna drink of this fruit till you're with
me. Here's some wine, have some bread. Ain't nothing in it, it's
gonna bother us. My hands ain't gonna swell in
the morning. Be fine. He's gonna feed us. Set us on
high. And another place we're set right now. In this life,
if we're his children, we're gathered together. It's like
the beginning of this psalm says, like Biddy's underneath a hen,
underneath his wings. Well, they ain't scattered all
abroad, are they? No, they get picked off by hawks. They're
underneath the wings. That's where we find solace.
And we're at his feet. That's where it's underneath
the wings, isn't it? What happened to Mary and Martha? Martha's
working and working and working and working and working. And
the Lord, she said, why don't you make my sister get up and
help me? You know how much I'm doing? It shouldn't, I'll be
burdened and she be eased. And the Lord said, she's chosen
the good part. And it ain't gonna be taken away from her. If we're
brought to his feet, we're gonna cling to his feet and it ain't
gonna be taken away from us and we ain't gonna wanna leave. We
wanna stay right there where his feet are. Set on high, man,
here's point number three, another promise, keeps getting better.
He's delivered us and he set us on high. We come out of that
dung heap. He's put us at the finest table
right by his feet. Verse 15, he shall call upon
me and I will answer him. Don't let that become old hat.
Let's not take these things for granted. We can call on the Lord.
The almighty. That thief did, didn't we see
that Sunday? The thief was on the cross right
when that hour, this hour was taking place. Whoa, you talk
about busy. We don't understand those things.
And he said, Lord, remember me. And he said, you'll be with me
in paradise today, buddy. You'll be right there with me. Be right
there with me. He hears us and he answers us. Look here in Isaiah 65, to the
right a little bit, Isaiah 65. Verse 23, Isaiah 65, 23. You ever feel
like you've done something and you gave it all you had, and
you couldn't get it right, whether it's working on the engine, like
you try to get that bolt in there, and you say, well, I'm going
to take a break. And you walk around the block a little bit, and then you go,
all right, I'm going to do it this time. And you're just trying
and trying and trying, and it ain't going nowhere. You ain't
making no progress. Verse 23. They shall not labor
in vain. nor bring forth for trouble.
They are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring
with them. And it shall come to pass that
before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking,
I will hear." The Lord said in another place, He said, I'm going
to perform all this. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to
do everything, but you're going to inquire of me. You're going
to ask me to do it. And so he's saying here that
he answers us. He hears us and he answers us.
But before we even call, he's answered. What was the answer? He made us call on him. He made
us call on him. Cry out, Lord. Didn't we read
that in Exodus? Prayer scripture with scripture.
He said, I've heard them by reason of their taskmasters. Oh, don't
you want rid of those taskmasters? Don't you want those burdens
of daily life to go away? Don't you want family trouble
to stop? Lord said, because I sent those, they called to me and
I answered them and I've heard them while they're yet speaking.
Done. Father, I need done. If we need it, he'll give it
to me. Back in our text, there's Psalm 91 verse 15. Here's the
fourth one. He's delivered us. He sat us
in high places. He hears us and answers us when
we talk to him. No man's ever looked on his face
and lived. And he said, tell me what you want. Christ came,
the Godhead in a body, and they said, Lord, teach us how to pray. He said, okay, sit down, I'll
teach you. If the Lord does this work in somebody, if he delivers
them, he'll make them teachable. They'll have two ears and one mouth.
Said two miles in one ear. He'll do that, but it keeps getting
better He shall call upon me verse 15 and I will answer him.
I Will be with him in trouble in trouble We're gonna have trouble. Did you know that? There's people
I've met in this world that not that they have a good attitude.
There's some believers I know that have a really good attitude
and you can't get them down and on outside looking in their last
miserable and And I pray for him, I feel so sorry for him,
I can't stand it. But you talk to them and you can't get them
down. They have joy. They're happy because the Lord's
done these things for them. And he's answering them, and
they're in trouble. And he's with them in trouble. He ain't
with everybody in trouble. He's with them in trouble. Some
people's left themselves in trouble. He said, I'm with them. Paul
told Timothy, if we suffer, We shall also reign with him. If
we deny him, he'll also deny us. Boy, that's trouble. Have
you ever denied the Lord? I have. To a great and mighty
warrior? No, to a teenage girl. I ain't
no different than Peter. Peter ain't no different than
me. I read that and I thought, oh, I haven't suffered nothing
with him. I ain't suffered nothing like the Lord has. Peter and
John were so happy when they gave him 40 stripes, save one.
They rejoiced on the way home. If I deny him, he'll deny me.
And he's told him in 2 Timothy 2.13, if we believe not, if we
have unbelief, yet he abideth faithful. And I have no faith. He said, why ain't you got no
faith? Why do you have such little faith? Yet he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. We're
one. You're part of the body. Now,
if you're a flower pot on the front porch, you ain't part of
that body. If you're a scaffolding, you ain't part of that body.
But if you're part of that body, he can't deny himself. He provides
for us. We're in trouble. We may not
have enough sense to be with him in times of trouble. But
he's with us, he's with us. Or in Job 14, it says, man that's
bore of woman is a few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth
like a flower and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and
continueth not. Just like a vapor, just like
a shadow. Ain't much substance in the shadow,
is there? That's us, that's a lot of trouble. What kind of trouble
we gonna have? Now we'll have aches and pains
just like everybody else has, but the believer, the child of God,
this is who that's talking to, who this promise is to, Turn over to John 15. This is
the kind of trouble believers will have. It's different than
the kind of trouble everybody else in the world has. We need
comfort. We need to remember these promises
when this trouble comes. John 15. The Lord said, Lo, I'm with you always. John 15, verse 18. If the world
is mildly displeased with you, I know what it says. If the world
hates you, if it gnashes their teeth at you and says, stop it,
just like it did with Steven. Oh, I got family members right
now mad at me because of this. They hate you. You know that
it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love us all. but because you're not of this
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the
servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted
me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my say,
they will keep yours also. If they persecuted you, me, they're
gonna persecute you. Now, if you go preach to them
and they listen and they hear what you have to say, they'll
hear what I have to say. They'll believe the truth, because
God said so. Thus saith the Lord. Good enough
for me. But all these things will they do unto you for my
name's sake. Oh, I want to serve the Lord.
Well, we do. It don't shine up as a new penny,
does it? It doesn't look like it. I'm
delivering portions for the Lord. No, you're going to be hated
and persecuted. Might be drug out. by the hair of our head
and our heads chopped off and put on pikes out in front of
the place. Maybe crucified upside down. Maybe cast to an island
to be all alone until we just die of starvation. So that happened
to a lot of the apostles, wouldn't it? They were murdered and killed.
But this is for the Lord's namesake. Verse 21, but all these things
though they do unto you for my namesake because they know not
him that sent me. They're going to do it because
they don't know God. If I had not come and spoken unto them,
they had not had sin, but now they have no cloak for their
sin. Lord said, they're gonna be angry. Why? Because sin's
revealed. You ever seen somebody guilty?
Or do they just say, oh, I'm guilty? Is that us by human nature? They get angry, and they'll go
through a Rolodex in their head, everything bad you've ever done
in your entire life, and tell you all about how bad you are
when they are feeling guilty. Lord's saying this right here.
He said they're facing sin. That's what they are. Remember
what them Pharisees said? You calling us sinners? You saying we don't
know? You saying we ain't educated?
We can't read and we're born of sin? Conceived in adultery? He says if you was sin, you wouldn't
have any. If that was the case. He that hateth me, hateth my
father also. If I had done among them the
works which None other man did. They had not had sin, but now
they have both seen and hated both me and my father. But this
cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written
in their law, they hated me without a cause." Every bit of that,
the Lord's saying, this is fulfilling the scriptures. They hated me
without a cause. It's still being fulfilled in
this day. Nothing's changed. Verse 26, but when the comforters
come, that's trouble, isn't it? That's trouble. You tell people
what God says, your family members, your loved ones, your friends,
your coworkers, whatever it is. And they go, no, no. And they hate you for it, because
the Lord ain't there to beat up on those stones at. And you
feel alone. That's trouble. Verse 26, but
when the comforters come, Whom I will send unto you from the
Father. Even the Spirit of truth which proceeded from the Father,
he shall testify of me. We'll remember the sufferings
of Christ during that time. We'll remember the trouble that
he went through for us. And ye also shall bear witness. You're
gonna tell about him again. Because ye have been with me
from the beginning. That's taking somebody out of trouble, isn't
it? Leave a marker there in John. We'll be going to John 5 here
in a second, but look back at our text, Psalm 91. This is precious. Psalm 91 verse
15. He shall call upon me and I will
answer him. I will be with him in trouble.
I will deliver him. Didn't he say that already? We
need to hear it twice, don't we? We need to hear it more than
every day. Lord deliver his people. I can't. If I had an option, I probably
wouldn't. He will and he can. I will deliver him and honor
him, and honor him. You think about a felon being
set free in our country. Someone commits a heinous crime
on a federal level, they're found guilty, and they're put in a
federal prison, and they go to jail. They go to prison. And
they serve their time, or they get paroled, or whatever, and
they come out of that prison. You're free. You ain't under
that bondage no more. You ain't got to listen to that
warden no more. You ain't got to live with those prisoners
no more. You're free. You're out of that prison. But you know
what? You can't vote. You can't serve as a juror. Some
people, that might be a good idea. I wouldn't go to prison
to get out of jury duty. But you can't serve as a juror. You
can't possess firearms. You can't buy body armor. Some
states can't drive, depending on what the felony is. Depending
on the state, can't hold public office or the level of it, apparently.
And you can't travel abroad. We traveled abroad. They ask
you, you committed any felonies? Well, if you say, yeah, I committed
a felony. Can't come here. Better pick another place to
visit. You ain't coming to this. You ain't going to Australia.
And that's a penal colony. They won't let you in. That ain't
honored, is it? We might set them free. But don't
set clues too close to me. We might say, oh, that's all
right. They're saved. But hold on now. There's some
limitations to that. We say that. The Lord eats with
them. He receives sinners and eats
with them. And he says, sit down, I'll bring the food to you. What
a thought. Hannah prayed, this woman that
gave birth to Samuel. At the right time, she took him,
turned him over to the Lord. She prayed and first Samuel 2
said, he raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifted the beggar
from the dunghill. That's getting us out of that
prison. We're felons. That's getting us out of there,
right? Two, I did it for something. To set them among princes and
to make them inherit the throne of glory. Make us children. He honors us. He's talking about
honor. It ain't just that, well, you can live out there in a hog
pen and keep watching the dogs in glory. No, he brought us out
of that dunghill, took us out of that dust pit, and he set
us among princes. That's why he did it. That's
a promise. John 5. Verse 22. John 5, 22. For the Father judgeth
no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. What's
the reason for that judgment? Speeding tickets? You did 56
in the 55? Oh, it's more serious than that.
Man born of Adam don't think so, but this is it. That all
men should honor the Son. Now, the Lord's promised He's
gonna honor us. How? and all men should honor
the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not
the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily,
verily, truly, truly, I say unto you, he that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life,
unto life. It's not pulled out of that dung
hill, took out of that mirey pit, to set us among princes,
to no condemnation, to have everlasting life. You went from death unto
life. What an honor, isn't it? What
an honor. Down in verse 44, it says, how
can you believe which receive honor one of another and seek
not the honor that cometh from God only? Mankind, by nature,
wants accolades and titles and all these things. I do. I don't
want people to disrespect me or my family. I want them to
honor me and my family. But we're more concerned about
what our shiny little garments have instead of honoring God. Ain't that right? We might look bad. What about
making God look bad? If we know better, do we want
to willfully sin against God? I don't. All the things that
I do want to do, I don't do. All the things I don't want to
do, I do. Who will deliver me? He told
us twice. He will. He will. Told us twice. Sixth one. Psalm 91. With long life, verse 16, Psalm
91, 16. With long life will I satisfy
him. We're gonna be real healthy and
we're gonna live to a ripo age. That wouldn't do us no good.
I got to think about that a lot. Would you be satisfied with a
really long life on this earth? I just imagine we'd regret that.
I really do. If you got three wishes out of
a genie's lamp or something, I wanna live to 200. You may
change your mind. We see what sin does to this
body, don't we? This body ages and there's pain increases. And
then if it wasn't, if it was physically was okay, doesn't
sorrow increase? More people had a 20 year reunion
for my first deployment this week in Kansas. A bunch of friends
got ahold of me and a bunch of guys were there and it's reliving
a bunch of memories I don't want to relive. A bunch of them ain't
there. If we have a 40-year reunion,
guess what? Fewer's going to be there. And that's family members,
and loved ones, and everything else. It keeps getting less,
and less, and less, and less. And everybody you know is dead.
And all your animals, and all your everything. Your favorite
car rusted out. Imagine being 114 years old. That ain't what he's speaking
of. The Lord does honor. If we do live to an old age,
that's the Lord doing that. That's the first commandment
with promise, Paul said. Children, he's talking to children.
Somebody's got to tell his children. He told them again. Moses already
told them. He said, honor your mother and
father. He said, this is the first commandment with promise.
There's a promise attached to that. Lord gave that. That it
may be well with thee and thou mayest live a long life on earth.
He's talking about earthly things too. Brush your teeth. Mommy and Daddy says brush your
teeth. Brush your teeth. You ain't gotta be a rocket scientist
to figure out you're gonna have dental problems when you get
older if you don't brush your teeth. Now brush your teeth.
You'll have a better life and you'll be longer on this earth.
But does that really satisfy? It says there, with long life
will I satisfy him? That ain't too satisfying, is
it? This speaks of eternal life. That's what satisfies. That's
what we need. Does that satisfy you? Have eternal
life? Be made like Christ? We looked
at Isaiah 65, but it was speaking of that new heaven and new earth.
And it says, there shall no more thence be an infant of old days,
nor an old man that hath not filled his days. We don't have
these problems. The length won't matter. If there's
a difference or old or whatever, that don't make a difference.
They asked the Lord about a woman who married seven brothers, this
hypothetical situation. For that resurrection, whose
wife is she going to be of the seven? And he said, ye do err,
not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For the resurrection,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels
of God in heaven. They're not going to be angels,
but they're like them. They ain't getting married to nobody. Christ
is our husband. But as touching the resurrection
of the dead, have you not read that which is spoken unto you
by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but the
living, the living. That's a long life. That's a
life that satisfies. If you can be satisfied, that's
the kind of life that will satisfy you, the one that he gives. And
when a multitude heard of this, they were astonished at his doctrine.
Told the truth. What an interesting doctrine
he has. I want that life. Don't you? Or do we want to have
our doctrine right? They just comment on some doctrine.
I want to comment on that one who is life. Be with him. That's a long life. And it's
the length of anything we can comprehend. And it's not just
the quantity of life, the quantity of it, it's the quality of it.
It's being made holy. being made like Christ and being
with Him, being eternal and being with Him. I like being with my
wife. We went to go do some things
the other day and I said, she said, thank you for going with
me. And I said, I like being with you. I do, I'd rather, she's
my favorite person. If I have to hang out with somebody
on this earth, I prefer, she's number one. I like other people,
I like you all fine. I ain't gonna lie to you, that's
my preferred one. Does that satisfy if the Lord
gives us a life with Christ for eternity? He said, I'm gonna
give him a long life and he'll be satisfied with it. And if
he says we're gonna be satisfied with it, what do you think we're
gonna be? Will we have joy with that? Or will we say, well, that's
an interesting doctrine. We'll have joy with it. Period. He
gives it. Number seven, verse 16. Psalm
91, 16. With long life will I satisfy
him and In fact, six is pretty good,
isn't it? Look at seven. And show him my salvation. What's the Lord's salvation?
Give me 3,000 words on that by Saturday. Who's the Lord's salvation? Salvation's a person. A person. I hope I never get tired of saying
that. It's a person. I'm a person. And salvation isn't just a verb. It's a noun. It's a person. It
is. Look at Luke 2. I love this. This just... Simeon's an old man. Walked with
the Lord a long time. But the Lord promised him something.
I thought about the names of the Lord. We say, well, there's
seven names of Jehovah. The Lord's got a lot of names.
Didn't he say his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor
of the Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father? That's
a bunch of them right there, isn't it? He's got a lot of names.
The Lord made promises to his people, made a lot of promises.
He can keep them all. Luke 2, I lost myself there.
Luke 2, verse 25. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost
was upon him." That's the same thing Paul told the church at
Thessalonica, wasn't it? I know you believe God. I'm not
a fool. I saw the power of God working
in you, and you're waiting on His coming, ain't you? He's our
righteousness. He's our holiness. He's our sanctification,
our redemption. He's everything, our wisdom, and we're waiting
on Him to come. And this right here is exactly
what Simeon was doing. It ain't no different. He was a just man,
devout, he was committed. Waiting for the consolation of
Israel and the Holy Ghost was upon him. This is a man filled
with the Holy Ghost. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy
Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the
Lord's Christ. Now who's it talking about? It
didn't say until you see salvation. He said the Lord's Christ. Until
you see him, you ain't gonna physically die. And so Simeon
was just sitting there waiting. The Lord said he's gonna do something. Do you believe him? Yes, when
I wait on him. I wait on him. Now he's a God
of means, isn't he? He is. The Lord said he'd provide. You
know the Lord's gonna provide, and I know the Lord's gonna provide.
Now let's ask the Lord to grow us in grace a little bit, and
let's go step two. How's he gonna do it? He's a
God of means. Magic fairy dust ain't gonna sprinkle down and
do something. No, the Lord's gonna use means to do that. Now Mary
and Joseph brought the Lord Jesus Christ to this place. That's
the means God used. Verse 27, And he came by the
Spirit to the temple. And when the parents brought
the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
this was the custom to do, they brought him by the temple. Then
he took him up in his arms and blessed God, saying, Lord, now
let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word,
just like you said, Lord, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. What was he waiting on? The Lord's
Christ. He's holding this baby. He says,
you kill me now, Lord, I've seen your salvation. That infant in
his hands, that person, is salvation. Lord said, I'm going to show
my people that. He ain't going to show everybody that. And you
can't make them see it. You can get calipers or cranks
and pop their eyes open and put all the video screens you want
or whatever. People can't see that. They're blind. They're
blind unless the Lord gives them eyes. And he said, my people,
I promise. You're gonna see my salvation.
You're gonna see Christ high and lifted up. Hold that face. Yes, Lord. I can go home now. I've seen him, just like you
said. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast
prepared before the face of all people. A light to lighten the
Gentiles and the glory of thy people, Israel. This light shining
on the Gentiles It's like seed being broadcast. Some see, some
don't see. Some grow, some don't grow. But this is the glory of
your people. What's your glory? Him. Him. And you're going to see that.
You're going to see that. Now, who's these promises to?
That's seven promises the Lord made. He declared he will do
this. I'm going to do it. Hide and watch him. It's going
to happen. Who's this to? This ain't for
everybody. This ain't for everybody. This ain't universal. Well, put
your bumper sticker on, say God loves you, and then go to baseball
practice all day Sunday. Do what you want. No. No, this
is to a people. To a people. Look back in our
text, Psalm 91. Peter told us that. This is for
people. He said, according as his divine power hath given unto
us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby
we are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.
We, we are. These are exceeding and great
precious promises. Is that precious to us? What
time does the game come on? Is the football game on? Who
cares? It don't matter. This is precious.
Not that being precious. He is precious. That's what Peter
said. One, that ain't in our text,
is to those that find Him precious. If you can do something else,
do that. But if you find Him precious, you're gonna be where
He is. That's your desire. He's all your hope, all your
joy. Verse 14, Psalm 91. Because He hath set His love
upon me. It says He, but that's men and
women. It's the body of Christ. We set our love upon Him. Therefore
I deliver Him, I will set Him on high, because He hath known
my name. he shall call upon me. And I
will answer him, and I will be with him in trouble. I'll deliver
him, and I'll honor him. Who is it that these promises are
to? Those that set their love upon the Lord. Apostle, don't you know yourself?
Don't you know if the Spirit of God's in you or not? Do I
know if I love my children? Well, give me three weeks to
really consider these things. I love them. I love them. They may not think so sometimes,
and I may not think so sometimes, but I love him, don't I? I know
these things. You love the Lord? You love him?
You have to have him above all things. Now why? If we love him,
why? He first loved us. How could
you not fall in love with him? I mean, this is, I'm a matchmaker. I'm telling people, I won't be
like Eliezer. I just want to tell the bride, ain't everybody
going to get married to him. A lot of people, I'm already
married. They ain't got no interest. I'm
just going to keep telling about this great son of Abraham. Oh,
let me tell you about him. He's wonderful. And then whenever
we get there, get close enough, it's in eyesight. That bride's
going to hop off that camel and get down low and say, who's that?
That's him. That's him. We love him, why? We in love?
Because he first loved us. And it said, those that know
my name, because he hath known my name. That's not just the
seven names of Jehovah. That's all of his names, isn't
it? Isn't he wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace, our banner, Jehovah Nissi, Is he? I was a God arm
bearer. That's a fellow that carries
a little tiny stick with a flag on top. That thing means things.
When you do up, which way you do it, there's something going
on. Is he what we lift up high and it commands the armies of
heaven? Do we know him? If we know him,
not just factually know some names, do we love him? I love
all his names. I wouldn't have him any other
way, he's perfect. He's perfect. You don't pick a spouse, this
is the perfect spouse. And shall call upon me. Verse
15 says, he shall call upon me. All those that call upon him. He said, you asked me, I'll give
you life. You want water? Water that you'll never thirst
again? You'd ask me, I'll give it. And we do, we call on him.
And when we call to him, as he answers us, he answers before
we even speak, and he hears while we're just in the middle of talking.
I need life, Lord. Save, Lord. Two words, save,
Lord. Already done. I done heard you. It's done. And we call upon him,
shall call upon him. shall call upon him. That means
it's gonna happen. You know what else that means?
There's no decision to be made. Make a decision for Jesus. It's
done been made. It just ain't been revealed yet. That's probably the problem.
It's done and we'll call on him when he does those things. Those
are precious promises, isn't it? I tell you what, if you find
Him precious, you'll find His promise precious. His promise
is precious, and you'll find those that's in Him precious,
too. We will. We'll need it, won't we? All
right, Brother Mike.