Unto thee will I cry, O Lord,
my rock. Be not silent to me, lest, if
thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the
pit. Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy Oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked
and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors,
but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their
deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them
after the work of their hands. Render to them their dessert
or what they deserve, because they regard not the works of
the Lord, nor the operations of his hands. He shall destroy
them and not build them up. Blessed be the Lord, because
he hath heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my
strength, and my shield. My heart trusted in him and I
am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices
and with my song will I praise him. The Lord is their strength
and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people
and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also and lift them
up forever. When you read this psalm, David's
describing two distinct people, two different types of people.
He's describing the righteous, those who trust the Lord, those
who call on the Lord, those who find Christ to be their strength
and their salvation, and those who are wicked and don't know
God and aren't interested in God. They neither regard His
works or operation of His hands. And they're not different in
degrees. They're different in natures.
They're different in time. You see, as a natural man, the
man who don't know God, don't know Christ, he cannot receive
the things of the Spirit of God. He cannot know the things of
God. He can't do it. It's just not natural to him.
But then the apostle turns around and tells us that we're made
for takers of the divine nature. We're no longer natural men.
We're made partakers of the divine nature. And it's Christ in you
that's the hope of glory. So there's not degrees in difference
between those that are lost and those that are saved. There's
a difference in kind. They got life, they're dead.
We know God, they don't. We rejoice in the Lord, they
don't. We find Christ to be everything,
they don't. And that's what Paul's talking
about. Well, the psalmist here, I don't know if I say Paul, but
this psalmist, that's what he's doing. He's showing the difference
between the two. And there is a great difference.
And it opens with a strange request. Look what he says here in verse
one. He said, Oh, Lord, unto thee
I cry out my rock. And this is what he says. Be
not silent to me. Be not silent to me. Lest, lest,
I become like them that go down into the pit. Be not solid to
me. And oh listen, and that's what
he said here. I said there's no misery. And I know this and I know you.
There's no misery like the silence of God. Nothing is so dreadful
as God making the heavens bright. and the earth like iron. There's
nothing more miserable than that. And over in Micah, let me see
if I can find it real quick. In Micah, I'll read this to you.
In Micah chapter 3 and verse 7. If I'm not mistaken, I want
to read something to you there. If I can find it myself. Here's Micah. Let me read this
to you in verse 3. Micah chapter 3 and verse 7.
It says this. Then shall the seers be ashamed,
and the definers confounded. Yea, they shall all cover their
lips. Now listen, why do they do that? For there's no answer
from God. We're calling, but God's not
answering. And that's what David said here. Please, Lord, don't
be silent. Oh, hear me when I cry. Don't
be silent to me. Nothing so dreadful. David said,
take not the Holy Spirit from me. And a child of God fears
God's silence. A dear brother told me this morning,
he said, I know it's a long way to come, an old riding road,
an old cold morning. He said, but my heart was so
cold and I needed something from the Lord. He said, I saw it,
I said, I needed something from the Lord. And that's a child
of God fears God's silence. Fears God not speaking to his
heart. Fears God not instructing him.
Fears God rebuking him. Fears God not chastening him.
Do you fear this? The very fact that God would
leave you alone terrifies you. And it's troubling when He don't
answer, when He don't hear, when He doesn't instruction, speech
to your heart. And does His silence bring misery
to you? Well, I know it does to me. And that's why we walk by faith
and not by sight. And our Lord said, in your patience
possess you your souls. And tribulation worketh patience.
And what patience is, it don't mean just sitting down waiting
for something to get through. It means that you go on about
your business and you just wait and wait and wait on the Lord. Be still in your mind, be still
in your heart. And that's what David said here,
Oh Lord, don't be silent to me. lest I go down to the pit just
like everybody else. Don't be silent to me. But I'm
going to show you the character of the wicked and then the character
of the righteous. Let's look at the character of
the wicked here in verse 3. Davis says, Draw me not away
with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, which speak
peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.
You see, the wicked have a deceitful nature. They go around speaking
peace to their neighbors, and that means with people that they
know. They go around and they speak peace to them. They act
like they really like them, act like they enjoy their company,
act like they enjoy their presence. They act like they mean well
and are interested in them, but look what the scripture says,
but mischief is in their hearts. You see, they're not really like
their neighbor. They don't care about peace with
their neighbor. They got mischief in their hearts. They plot. They're
worried, they're concerned, and they're worried about what they
can get from their neighbor. They plot, working in their minds,
how to use, how to get something from somebody else, how to manipulate
things to get things to come their way, and they speak peace
to you, but all at the same time, they're figuring out how in the
world they're going to manipulate you to get something from you.
And it means covetous. It means they're very, very polite. They speak peace. But we'll all
listen to what he said over here in Proverbs 29. Look over in
Proverbs 29. Look at this. Proverbs 29. Look what he said over here in Proverbs
29, verse 5. Talking about flattery. And that's why, you know, if
you have to be, if one of them people has to be flattered all
the time, to be kept pumped up, I feel sorry for you because,
you know, if you get around this much here, they're not going
to do it very much. They'll say something nice to you every once
in a while. You know, it's like Wayne Robinson, I mean, Wayne
Borden was telling me the other day, this old man, he's done
gone to be with the Lord. But he had been listening to
Wayne for a long time, and he's an old German man, very plain
spoken. And he told Wayne one time, he said, Wayne, your preacher's
getting better and better and better all the time. But he said,
I ain't going to tell you much because I don't want you to get
too pumped up. But you know, that's what these
fellas do. They're flattering, they're speaking
peace, when all at the same time, they're wanting something. They're
manipulating, they're desiring, they're coveting something you've
got, and they've got mischief in their minds, mischief in their
heart to get something from you. Look what he said in Proverbs
29, 5. A man that flatters his neighbor
spreads a net for his feet. You know he's bragging on you,
flattering you, because he's got some way, he's fixing to
snag you and trip you up and get something out of you. That's
what he's doing. Look over in Proverbs 20, 19. Somebody goes to flatter you
real good, be careful. What he said here is Proverbs
20, 19. He that goeth about as a tailbearer
reveals secrets. Proverbs 20, 19. He that goeth
about as a tailbearer reveals secrets, therefore meddle not
with him that flattereth with his lips. He comes around and
says something nice to you and all that, and the next thing
you know, he's got a tail and he's carrying that tail from
you and he's flattering you and all that to get something out
of you to go tell some dad about you or some secret that you've
let out. And I tell you what, men have obtained kingdoms by
flatteries. And men may have fair limbs,
but the poison of ass is in their limbs. Now look at what else
it says here. Not only are they Deceitful by nature, but they
got mischief in their hearts, and then they're fools in their
actions. Look down at verse 5. Fools in their actions. Because
they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of
his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. Now I
tell you, he's talking about fools. They regard not the works
of the Lord. Now what are you talking about
here? They don't regard the works of
God. They don't regard the works of God in His creation. And there's
no place you can go on the face of the earth where the creation
of God does not speak to me. Either man at one time or another,
every child has looked up and saw a red, red sky and looked
at that and felt something about it. Or he's looked up at a beautiful,
glorious mountain or a beautiful sunset and felt something about
it. That's God speaking in his creation. And yet they don't
regard that. They do not regard God's work
in creation. And though the heavens declare
His glory and the firmament shows His end, they do not regard God's
work in grace. You know, in my family, and I
know some of yours, God's done a work of grace in me, done a
work of grace in you, He's done a work of grace in your home,
in your heart, and your own family don't even regard it. They don't
care about the grace of God. They don't care about what God's
done for you or anybody else. All their interest is telling
you what they've done, what they've accomplished, what they've made,
and what they've done. And I tell you, you can look
any place you look in this world, you can see God's discriminating
hand seen everywhere. I mean, God discriminates, and
it's obvious that God is discriminating. There's people that are poor,
people that are wealthy. Who made the difference? God
said, I'll make a man rich, I'll make a man poor. And I'll tell
you what, in nations, look at the difference in nations. Why
in the world is you live in a nation where we got Bibles, we got churches,
and we're free to worship, and why don't we live in a place
like China or Russia where you're not allowed to care about or
you're not allowed to worship? You're not allowed to meet with
people without fear of going to jail. God made that distinction. And that's communities that way.
There's communities in this county that says nothing but a bunch
of drug heads. And then there's other communities
where folks are decent and upright and act like they've got some
sense. And so then God makes a difference in communities and
intelligence. God makes a difference in the
intelligence in people. Lots of people in here have got
some real brains. Some of us ain't got it. Hardly
enough that you know if the doctor wants to look in your ear, you've
got to put your hand over here, so the light don't shine all
the way through. We don't have to do that, do
we, Herber? That's what I'm talking about.
You can see God's distinguishing hand everywhere you go. In the
intelligence we have, the homes we have, the marriages we have,
the strengths we have, the wealth we have, It's God that makes
the difference. God leaves a man to himself and
he ain't going to do it. It's just nothing. And if God
does something for a man and makes Christ to be all, that's
all that matters in this world, really. And all beloved, not
only that, but they don't pay any attention. They regard not
the works and creation and grace. They don't do, and look what
it says here. And they don't, in verse 5, they don't regard
the works of his hands nor the operations of his hands. Now
what's the operations of His hands? That's His Providence.
Carrying on His Providence, doing His work in this world. God's
hands moving all the time. And I tell you, I love this,
I love this. God's working all the time, but
He's not moving at all. He's sitting on His throne. What's
sitting on His throne? He's absolutely governing this
world and everything that's in it. And you know, people will
say, well, and I've used this illustration before. Something
will happen and, you know, a building will burn down or somebody will
get hurt or somebody will die or something. And you'll say,
well, there's the Lord. And they'll say, no, God didn't
do that. If God doesn't do what's done
in this world, and I don't care what it is, everything that happens,
He's the first cause of it. When that sun comes up, God's
the cause of it. When it goes down, God's the
cause of it. When we get up in the morning, we got sense enough
to get out of bed and put on our clothes, God made us that
way because there's lots of people that can't do it. If you and
I got any strength, God gave it to us. And if he sends cancer,
if he sends a heart attack, if he sends a brain tumor, whatever
he sends, God's done that. That's the second cause of everything. And whatever cause God's going
to use, He's going to use it. And I say we bless His name for
it, because we're all even here. It's just according to when and
how. But God's operation in His hands in this world. And we don't
maybe don't like our government, but God put that government there.
And we're going to have to deal with it until He puts another
one there. And you just hold your breath, He'll do it. There's
never been a king that sat on a throne that God didn't put
him down. There's never been a wicked man that God didn't
send to hell. And never been a righteous man that God didn't
take his glory. And I tell you, that's what men
do. They say, well, God didn't do that. God didn't do this.
Well, who did? If you're sick, they say, if
you're sick, it's because you ain't got faith. And if you're
suffering, it's because you ain't got faith. Well, tell me why
Christ suffered then. Tell me why Paul saw that Christ
had suffered. Tell me why Simon Peter was crucified
upside down. Huh? And I tell you, see, so
men don't like God's operations of His hand. If God didn't do
it, who did? Mother Nature? You want Mother Nature to control
your life? How about old lady luck? Old
lady luck. If it wasn't for luck, we'd have
no luck at all. That's what folks say. If you didn't have bad luck,
we'd have no luck. And what about misfortune? Oh, my. Look with me over in Isaiah 45. I love that, you know, this business,
and we've all, all of us, all of us has went through things,
all of us, we've had news, we've had words, we've had news come
to us that just hit us in the gut and takes all our breath
out of us. We've had things happen to us
that just opened up the floodgates. And we hurt for people, we do.
I'm not trying to say that we're mean or that we're cruel. But
we have to say, Lord, it's You. And we bless You for it. Oh my, even in whatever happens
in this world, God's good in it. You know, if He brings some
means to take us out of this world quickly, bless His name. There would be no quicker way
in the world to leave this world than to just go to bed one night
and have a heart attack and never wake up. Say, wake up and take
a couple aspirins. No, I'm fine. If I'm going that
way, I don't want to wake up and take aspirins. Oh, listen,
I tell you, look what he said here in Isaiah 45, in verse 7. This is what God said about Himself.
I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all things. Drop
down ye heavens from above and let the skies pour down righteousness.
Let the earth open up and let them bring forth salvation and
let the righteous bring up together. I the Lord have created. Now
listen to this. Woe unto him that strives with
his maker. Let the posture strive with the
posture to the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioned it, What makest thou, or thy work, who hath no hands? Bless his holy name. And they
don't heed his voice. Look what it says there. They
don't regard the works of the Lord, the operation of his hands
here in 28.5. He says they don't heed his voice. Their indifference to what God
says, what God does in God's work in this world, to what should
be their greatest interest and best interest, they have totally
indifference to it. And why does God not regard another? Look what he said. They despise
them and act as if they don't get it. But look what God said
here. He said, He shall destroy them
and not build them up. That's what God will do to them. He said, You disregard
me, I'll disregard you. You don't pay attention to me?
I'll just disregard, I won't pay attention to you. That's
what he said. He said, I'll destroy them and
not build them up. Now look here at the character
of the righteous. Those that are the Lord's. First of all,
they're powerful people. They're people that pray. They
pray. Look what he says up there in
verse 1. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord,
my rock. I'm calling on the Lord. I'm
calling on God. Look what he said down in verse
6. Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my
supplication. Oh, I cried out to him, and he
said, don't be silent to me. Get down there in verse 6. And
he said, Lord, you heard me. You heard me. You want the silence? You heard the voice of my supplication?
You heard me crying out? You heard me asking? Look in
Psalm 116. I think we've looked at this,
I don't know how many times over the years, but I still love looking
at it. Psalm 116, verse 1 and 2. You
know, Scott Richardson, I think I've told you this too. I heard
Scott preach a message on this up in Mt. Scott, West Virginia
one time. Oh, it was so good. And look what he said here. Psalm 116, verse 1 and 2. I love
the Lord. Because he hath heard my voice
and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his
ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. He's heard me. He's listened
to me. He pays attention to what I've
got to say. When I ask him for something,
he gives it. Our Lord said, he read it tonight,
whatsoever you shall ask in my name, I'll do it. Now what are
we going to ask for? Going to ask for a new Cadillac? No. You going to ask for a lot
of money in the bank? No. You know what God's people ask
for? They ask for spiritual things. They pray for one another and
ask for blessings for one another, for strength for one another,
for health for one another, for salvation for one another. We're
not interested in material things. That's not... God gave us more
than we could ever imagine that we'd have. But when we ask the
Lord for something, we don't ask Him for things. We ask Him
for people. We ask Him for what God would
do. And we give thanks to Him. Lord, would you do something
for that man? Would you do something for that
sister? Would you please touch the heart of that soul? Would
you please open that mind? Would you please come? And we
ask for strength for people that are sick. Oh, everything we ask
for has something to do with spiritual things. And that's
why he says, the Lord has heard my voice and inclined unto me,
and I'm going to call on Him. How long? As long as I live.
As long as I've got sense enough and got breath. That's what David's
saying. Now back over to Psalm 28. He said, oh listen, he said,
blessed be the Lord, there in verse six, because he has heard
the voice of my supplication. God's not silent forever to the
cries of his people. He told his apostles, he says,
men are always to pray and not to faint. And he says, shall
not God avenge his elect who cry unto him day and night? He
may be silent for just a little while, and not say a word, but
God's child just keeps on calling, keeps on praying, because he
knows God hears every word. And that's why we pray without
ceasing. And oh, they're a prayerful people. Let me tell you something else
about them. The Lord's people, they're a boastful people. Look
there in verse 7. What do they boast about? The
Lord is my strength and my shield. What do we boast about? What
do we glory in? We glory in the Lord. The Lord
is my strength and my shield. Oh my, his boast is not in himself,
but in his God. Paul said, if of any man glory,
let him glory in the Lord. And that's what we do. Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for
thy mercy and thy truth's sake. And that's why David said, Oh,
I'm not under us. Oh, no, but under thee. For thy
mercy is not true, Saint. The Lord is my strength. I have
none at all. Our Lord Jesus said, John 15,
5, He says, Without me, you can do nothing. Now, most folks read
that and say, Without me, you can hardly do nothing. Now, I
do not understand how a free will could read that and say,
You know, without me, You know, I can use my free will when he
says, without me, you can do nothing. How can you do that?
But without me, the Lord is my strength. We have none at all.
And he's my shield. He said he's my shield. And all
shield is something that he puts around you to keep things from
harming you, to keep things from hurting you. to keep things from
doing that. And then, O Beloved, He has done
great, great things for my souls. Great things for my souls. That's
why we boast in Him. That's why, you know, we glory
in the Lord. Oh, bless His name. We brag on
God. Brag on the Lord Jesus. Boast
in Him. Boast what He's done for us.
If we boast anything, we boast of what He's done. What He's
done. Look what else He said in verse
7. Not only is they boastful, the Lord is my strength and shield,
but they're trustful. He said in the middle of the
verse, My heart trusted in Him. They're trustful people. My heart
trusted in Him. I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that what I've
committed unto Him against that day, He's able to keep. And that's
what He said here. My heart trusted in Him. There's three things involved
in commitment and trusting in someone. Faith, confidence, and
commitment. All of these are involved in
trust. You know what we do with people
that we trust? We confide in those whom we trust.
If we trust somebody, we confide in them. We seek advice from
those we trust. We'll leave our affairs in the
hands of those we trust. And I tell you what, we confide
in our Lord because we trust Him. We get all advice from His
Word because we trust Him. And we leave our affairs and
this life in His hands because we trust Him. We can trust Him
with this life and everything concerning it. And if we have
10,000 more, we can do it. The righteous, the name of the
Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it and are
saved. David, look what he says, my heart trusted in him, and
look what else he said, and I'm helped. My heart trusted in him, and
I'm helped. I'm helped. I'm helped. Oh, and I trust him. And he helps
us. He helps us. And then, very joyful,
look what else it says about him. Go on down to verse 7. It says, for my heart greatly
rejoices. They're joyful people, prayerful
people, hopeful people, trustful people, joyful people. My heart
greatly rejoices. You know, a heart that trusts
the Lord, a faith, a heart that believes God, trusts God, has
faith in God, it produces joy. Paul told the Philippians, I
say rejoice, again I say rejoice in the Lord. And look over here
in Romans 14, I want you to see this. Now, you know folks think that
joy is a bubbling up kind of a thing, just a happy giddy kind
of a feeling, but that's not that at all. No, no, joy is a
deep-seated, a very wonderful, blessed feeling. It's a deep-seated,
and when you begin to hear the gospel, and you begin to rejoice
in God, and you contemplate the Lord on your bed, and you contemplate
the Lord on your job, and you read the scriptures, this joy
comes up in your heart. It's a peacefulness, it's a quietness,
it's a restfulness. It's not just so Oh hallelujah,
Jesus is my savior and all that rigmarole. It's not that old
bubbly up business. It ain't this saccharine therapy
thing. This is a deep seated joy that
God puts in our heart. That whatever happens, we still
have this joy and this peace that nobody can take from us.
Now look what he said here in Romans 14, 17. Talking about
joy. For the kingdom of God is not
in meat and drink. I can't believe he's a Christian.
I've seen him eat that and I've seen him drink that. Listen,
the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. What is the kingdom
of God? Righteousness. Righteousness. God made you in
his kingdom, he made you righteous. What else is in his kingdom?
Peace. Oh, peace from God, peace of
heart, peace of mind, peace of conscience, peace among the brethren.
And listen to this. and joy we're at in the Holy
Ghost. The Holy Ghost gives us this
joy. Gives us this joy. And oh my,
it's a deep-seated consciousness of all is well between us and
God, and that He did it. Joy. And think back over in our
text. Let me give you a couple more.
Talk about the Lord's people. Not only are they prayerful, Boastful. Trustful. Joyful. That they're praised
for what He says. And then in verse 7 again. And
with my song will I praise Him. Now I can't say it. Everybody
here knows that. But I'll tell you what. I like to take a shot at it.
Especially when I'm by myself. Saying with my song I'm going
to praise Him. I praise the Lord with my song. Let everything that hath prayer
praise ye the Lord. Oh, and we offer thanks and praise
and thanksgiving through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, David said, and we've read this over the times, Psalm 40
says this, the Lord hath picked me up out of a horrible pit,
set my feet on a rock, and established my going, and he hath put a new
song in my heart, even praise unto our God. And I tell you,
you praise someone who is praiseworthy. You praise someone who has done
something good, something right, and God's people praise Him.
Because everything he's done is right. Everything he's done
is good. God is praiseworthy. God is honor
worthy. God is worthy of all of our worship
and praise. And Kim said that Joe Terrell
said this morning, I think she's watching him on the, and he says,
what he said, what God does is he takes out this heart that
was against him and puts in a heart. that just from then on wants
to do his will. So against his will he puts in
a new ark that all he wants to do is do his will. He didn't
want to sing his praises, now he wants to sing his praises.
And I'll tell you what, some of you are very good at it. But
whether we can carry a tune in a bucket, we're going to praise
him. Let me show you something in
Luke 19. Luke 19. That's what, you know, bless
the Lord all my soul and all that was within me. In Luke 19,
let me show you something here about the Lord's, what our Lord
said about. That's why God's people praise
Him. That's why they praise the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what
He said here in verses 37. Our Lord's on His way into Jerusalem
on a colt, a foal of an ass. And he said in verse 37, And
even as he was come nigh, even at the descent of the Mount of
Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice
and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they
had seen, saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name
of the Lord, peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. Now
listen, And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said
unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. Quick, tell them to
praise you and bless you and honor you. And he answered and
said unto them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace,
the stones would immediately cry out. If we don't praise Him,
the stones are going to. That's what our Lord said. He
said, if these shut up, the stones will start praising me. They'll
start crying out. And oh, bless His name. We're
going to praise Him. We'll praise Him for the day.
Praise Him for the night. Praise Him for up. Praise Him
for down. Praise Him for being well. Praise
Him for being sick. Praise Him for the storm. Praise
Him for the calm after the storm. Praise Him for poverty. Praise
Him for wealth. And anything that hath breath,
let him praise the Lord. Unto Him be glory both now and
forever, worlds without end. Amen. And look what else they
do over here in Psalm 28. There are praiseful people. Look what else it says about
them. They have some humility. God made them humble. Look what
He said here. The Lord is the saving strength. He is the saving
strength, in verse 8, of His anointed. They understand, they
absolutely understand that if they're saved at all, God did
it. He's the saving strength of His
anointed. He is the Savior. Who maketh
even dinner? Notice it says, saving strength. Not saved strength, though He
is. Not shall be our strength to
save, but He is. He shall be the saving strength
of His Son, Arthur. And I'll tell you something,
beloved, humility is a true estimation of ourselves in the sight of
God. You see, it's because of who He is. And what He is, not
because of what we are, that we glory in the Lord and we bow
ourselves down before Him. Listen, if we got life, God gave
it. If He gives us death, the Lord
gave it. If He gives us everything we have, it comes from Him. And
we say He's the saving strength of His anointing. You got strength
to get through the day? He gave you that strength. The
saving strength of His anointing. And let me show you something
else in verse 9. They are hopeful people. The Lord's people are
hopeful. He says, Save thy people. Bless thine inheritance. Feed
them and lift them up. Oh, thine inheritance? Save thy
people. Bless your inheritance. He says
we're in his inheritance. Feed them and lift them up. Will
all these things happen? Well, I'll tell you what. He
said in the day of his power, His people are made worthy. He
said, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causes to
approach unto thee. Oh, He has blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places. And He says, Save your
people and bless your inheritance, chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Save your people. God, Lord,
I gave them to you, and now you gave them to me, and I've saved
them. And I'll tell you, beloved earth, and then he says, and
feed them and lift them up. One of these days, there's going
to be a great, great lifting up. A great, great lifting up. And I'm going to read that. I
read it back in the study, but let's look at it just a minute.
Over in 1 Thessalonians, and I'm through. There's going to
be a great lifting up one of these days because the Lord has
been our salvation. Look what he said over here in
1 Thessalonians, chapter 4. You're talking about a blessing
lifting up. Our Lord is going to lift us up. He has lifted
us up. People sing that old song, Lord
lift me up, take me up to higher ground. You can't get on higher
ground than being in Christ. You can't get on better ground.
You can't get higher than being in Christ. And what our Lord
said here, said this, He's talking about this blessed lifting up.
Verse 13, that I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep. You remember, Stephen was there
before that bunch, and they stoned him to death, and the scripture
says that he fell asleep. That means that he, that's what
it is, you cease from, when you get tired, you cease from your
labor, you go to sleep. And that's what he said, it's just like
going to sleep. You go into rest, you go into eternal rest in time.
Blessed are they who cease from their works, and enter into the
rest, is what he says in Revelation. Now listen to what else he goes
on saying. It is that ye saw not even as others which have
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so them also which sleep in Jesus God will bring with him. For
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are
alive and remain shall not unto the coming of the Lord, shall
not prevent, shall not hinder, keep from happening, for the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of an archangel, the trumpet of God lifted up, and the dead
in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be called up together with man, then we're going to be lifted
up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. You ever heard more comforting
words than that? He said, where's more comfort you want to know?
Bless thy inheritance, save thy people. Bless thy inheritance,
feed them, and lift them up. Oh, Father, our God, our blessed
Savior, our great God and Savior, our Lord Jesus, oh, thank you
for another opportunity to preach the gospel, to honor our blessed
Master. Father, bless the word to those
gathered out here tonight. Use it to be their food, their
strength, their comfort, their encouragement as they go to their
jobs, go to their works. Go to the things that they have
to deal with through the week. Let it be nourishment for them,
food for them, strength for them, water for them, to carry them
so they can come hear the gospel again. Father, I thank you for
them. I thank you for the opportunity
and the blessed people that want to hear the gospel. I thank you
for them. God bless, God strength, God
encourage, God comfort. And work in us to love you more
and more and more and more. And to love one another more
and more and more. I ask you in the Lord Jesus name.
Amen. Amen. Let's turn to number 52
in the hymn book. I believe that's what it was,
that majestic sweetness. Yeah, we're standing here. Majestic sweetness dancing from
upon the Saviour's brow, His hands with praise and glory show,
His lips with grace so full, His lips with grace so full. upon the sons of men. Is He that over there who filled
the heavenly train? Who filled the heavenly train? He saw His blood and He displayed He beat me for the shameful cross
and carried all my grief, and carried all my grief. To Him I owe my life and breath
and all the cures I have. He makes me triumph over death
and saves me from the grave, and saves me from the grave.