I'm going to look at the last
few verses there of Psalm 90, but mainly cast our thoughts
to Psalm 91. We ended up along about verse 13. Let me start reading in verse
11 of Psalm 90, and then I'm just going to read right on through
Psalm 91. Who knoweth the power of thine
anger, even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath? So teach
us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Return, O Lord, how long, and
let it repent thee concerning thy servants, or may you have
compassion on your people. O, satisfy us early with thy
mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us
glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the
years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty
of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish thou the work of
our hands upon us. Yea, the work of our hands, establish
thou it. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is
my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings
shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield
and buckler. Thou shall not be afraid for
the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day,
nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction
that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy
side, and 10,000 at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh
thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee,
neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall
give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion
and adder. The young lion and the dragon
shalt thou trample under feet. Because he has said his love
upon me, and 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. Now all of this in Psalm 91,
as we begin looking there, is speaking of Christ. Who is it that dwells in the
secret place of the Most High? It can only be speaking of Christ
because the Lord alone is dwelling in that light to which
no man can approach. It's impossible that a man, a
mortal man, could enter into the secret place of the Most
High. Now it is true that in the mercy
of God, as revealed in Christ, and as we are hidden in Christ,
we do indeed enjoy the blessings that come from the secret place
of the Most High. But it's impossible that a man
should ever enter into that secret place of the Most High, that
is a mortal man, a man who is created from the dust of the
earth, born of Adam. It's impossible that he should
ever enter into the secret place of the Most High, because he
alone hath immortality dwelling in the light to which no man
can approach. We have an inapproachable God. Now, what we learn from that
is that had it not been for the mercy of God to reveal Himself
in Jesus Christ, to come and walk among men, to take upon
Himself human flesh, we would have had no way that we could
have ever known God or seen Him. We could not have entered into
His presence. Now, men by and large, and this
is a very common thing, I talk to men from time to time who
are of this mind, that they just have this communion with God.
You know, it's not in Christ, it's just that, you know, I got
up this morning and I just talked with the Lord today and all that
kind of stuff. And I'm not disputing anything
that they're saying or whatever, but I'm telling every man this,
that apart from coming unto the Lord in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, you can have no fellowship with God. Even though
you might, I mean, you know, the Pharisee that went into the
temple, he had fellowship with God, so he thought, did he not?
I mean, he prayed unto the Lord. But the Lord said, and he said,
that Pharisee prayed thus with himself. Now a lot of the prayers
of men, they're true, they're prayers, but they're praying
with themselves. Because apart from coming unto
the Lord in the name, and that name means in the authority,
that is that authority that's granted to us to come into his
presence, calling him Father, then we don't have any right
to enter in there. We don't have any right to pray.
I believe Brother Al brought up here a while back that one
of the Southern Baptist presidents got in trouble here several years
ago because he said the Lord didn't hear the prayers of the
Jews. And people got all up in arms
about that. Well, I'm telling you this, that
the Lord does not hear the prayers of anyone who does not come in
the authority of Jesus Christ. And that's really what he was
trying to say, but I think he actually backed up on it after
it. Well, I think it was Charles Stanley was the one that said
that. And then later on, he backed up on it, you know. We don't back up on that. That's
right. But we don't back up on that
matter that our approach unto God is through Jesus Christ and
Him alone. And so, here in the end of Psalm
90, with that firmly in our mind, and the Lord in giving His complain unto the Lord, if you
want to make it that. And as we read here in Psalm,
this is a prayer of Moses, the man of God, but yet nonetheless,
it is the prayer of Christ. Because actually, any true prayer
comes to us through Christ, does it not? I mean, you can't come
up with something that the Lord hasn't given to you. The man
who prays is a man whom God has visited. Now, oftentimes men
think that God visits them because they pray. You know, that's the
idea that people have. Well, we'll go pray and God will
hear us and He'll come down. Well, no, that's backwards. The
Lord visits men and causes them to pray. I mean, that's what
happens. I mean, God's the first cause
of all things, and so men don't pray. Prayer is the blessing
of God. Now, you hear a lot of these
radio preachers and stuff say that you need to pray so that
you'll get a blessing. Well, brethren, if you truly
pray, that is the blessing of God, because He alone can cause
you to seek Him. And it is a glorious thing when
the Lord pours out upon us the blessing of prayer. But the Lord
Jesus Christ, He had the blessing of prayer because He walked among
men, not simply as a man, but as that God-man. And so in His concern for his people, he cries
out to the Lord, return, O Lord, how long, and let it repent thee
concerning thy servants. Now, does the Lord repent? The
scripture says that he repented. But what does it mean? It doesn't
mean the same thing that it means when we're called upon to repent. Because the Lord changes not.
It'd be impossible for the Lord to change Himself because that's
not who He is. He's unchangeable. He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. And when the Scripture said that
it repented the Lord that He made man, He didn't say, oh,
I'm going back to the drawing board. I've made a mistake. You
know, He didn't regret having made men, but so that men might
understand a little bit of the concept of how much God hates
the wickedness of men. That's the measure in which it
was put forth. And so that's how Moses is writing
this and how even Christ gave him these words to write. And basically what he's saying
there is, Lord have compassion on us. Don't destroy us. You know, it appears that you're
going to destroy us. Well, when the Lord Jesus Christ
came into the world, what did He come into the world to do? To save us, to prevent us from
being destroyed. Now, the scripture also says
that we were never appointed under wrath. So actually, on
the one hand, it can be truly said that God's people were never
in danger of being destroyed. Why? Because before the foundation
of the world, God chose a people in Christ. And He gave them to
Christ. And so we were not appointed
under wrath, but we were lawbreakers. And lawbreakers deserve death. And in order that the Lord might
show Himself to be just, He sent His Son into the world to justify
His people according to the same law that they had broken. And
so it's not that the Lord changed His mind or changed horses in
the middle of the stream because He determined from the beginning
to save His people in Jesus Christ. But yet Christ prays that the
Lord might show compassion. He prayed for his people, did
he not? He said, I pray for them, Father, that thou would deliver
these people. I pray not for the world, but
for those whom thou hast given me. And he says, O Lord, let
it repent thee concerning thy servant, so satisfy us early
with our mercy that we may rejoice and be glad. See, the Lord prayed
that for us, even as Moses wrote these words and he desired that
same thing. But the Lord prayed that for
us, that the Lord might show us mercy. And that's a prayer
that was heard. How do we know? Because he dwelleth
in the secret place of the Most High. He is our intercessor. Make us glad according to the
days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have
seen evil. We have indeed. Any man who's
ever lived in this world for any period of time has had some
ailment or some affliction that's come upon him. That's just the
nature of this world. And of course we're seeing that
in a great broad sense in our time now as the Lord sent this
pestilence into the earth according to his purpose to humble men
You know, some men go along and say, well, that won't ever happen
to me. And then it happens to them. And you know, we're to pray for those who are
in places of leadership. And the Lord raises up men according
to the good pleasure of his will. But the Lord also humbles men
that he puts in those places from time to time. And so we
are thankful that the Lord shows men what they are by nature.
Because if he didn't, sometimes men would get, well not sometimes,
men would always be lifting themselves up. Exactly right. Holy Spirit goeth before a fall.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their
children, and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.
May it be so. Oh, what a glorious thing. What
a wondrous thing it is that the Lord has prayed for us, that
the beauty of the Lord might rest upon us, that his blessing
would be upon us, and that he would establish the work of our
hands. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to
do, do it with all thy might. Why? Because the Lord is the
one that directs your steps. He's that one who gives you the
things that you are able to do. And if he doesn't prosper your
way, you won't be prospered. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. Now, he dwells in the secret
place. because he is God, a very God,
and he is in that secret place, and he abides under the shadow
of the Almighty. That is, you can't separate the
shadow from the person. I mean, you know, wherever the
person goes, that's where the shadow will be, will it not?
I mean, your shadow can't be over there, and you be over here. because your shadow is that which
is cast with you in it. And so it is that he that dwelleth
in the secret place shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,
that is, under the auspices. And I've said many times, I do
not enter into any great scholarly discussions of what men call
the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. I'm
satisfied with what the scripture says, that the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost are God. He said, the Lord our God is
one God. He is God. Now, you know, men
getting all kind of arguments and cast one another out of fellowship
and all this over various means and methods that men use to describe
how that all comes together. And to me, it's really foolish,
because what do we really know? I mean, that's a concept I can't
comprehend, neither can you. I've read many books on the subject. by men that know far more about
the scriptures than I do. And I was as much confused about
the matter when I got through reading their good explanation
as anything else. Because it's, suffice it for
us to say that God dwells in a light to which we cannot approach.
I'm not gonna argue with you about how that is, but I know
this. that the Lord Jesus Christ is
the revelation of God. He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. And whenever he stood before
Philip, and Philip said, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffice,
he said, Philip, if I've been so long time with you and you've
not known me, he that has seen me has seen the Father. Now, you know, and yet the scripture
says that no man can see Him and live. Now how can that be? I don't know how it can be. But
I know this, that the Lord has seen fit to reveal Himself in
Jesus Christ and we will rejoice in Him. And apart from him we
can have no knowledge of these things. For he shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty. And by the grace of God, we,
if we're hidden in Christ, we're hidden there in the shadow of
the Almighty. And we are those who enjoy that
blessing. He's the shadow of a great rock
in the weary land. That says, you know, if you're
out in the middle of the desert and the sun's beating down on
you, what a glorious thing it is to find a big rock that you
can get in the shade, you know, between the burning of the sun
and that rock. or on the other side of the rock,
so that that rock's between you and the Son. Jesus Christ is
our mediator between us and the Father. We shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty if we be in Christ, but He dwells
there constantly. I will say of the Lord, He is
my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. Now indeed, When the Lord walked
among men as a man, this was indeed that which He confessed,
was it not? He says, My Father's greater
than I. How can that be? I don't know. But that's what He said. He said,
I came not to do mine own will, but to do the will of Him that
sent me. And so it is. He says, I will
say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. Now if He who
dwells in the secret place of the Most High has come and walked
among men as a perfect man, and He said, I will say of the Lord,
He is my refuge and my fortress, how much more are we as the offscouring
of the earth, as those who have no power of our own, how much
more is that a comfort to us? I will say of the Lord, He is
my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with His feathers." Does God have feathers? You know there are people that
they get all mad about the literal translation of the
Bible. You know, they'll get in some
of these prophetic passages, oh brother, we believe this to
be literal truth. Well, I believe the Bible's literally
true. But I don't believe that everything
in the Bible is meant to be taken literally. Okay, and so when
we read about the feathers of God, we don't imagine that he's
Exactly, he's not clad in feathers as we think of feathers, but
it's a picture. As a hen doth gather her chicks,
the Lord said. You know, it's the feathers,
that covering. He shall cover thee with His
feathers. And under His wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall
be thy shield and buckler. That is the power of the people
of God, even as it was with Christ. Who was the truth? But it was
the truth that he spoke that was his shield and buckler. Because
how many times did the Pharisees seek to overturn him, and they
would have destroyed him. But he spoke the truth, and they
were left awestruck. They didn't know what to say.
In fact, at one time it says, and no man darst ask him any
more questions. He so befuddled them that they
couldn't even come up with nothing to say. They were just without
words. Thou shalt not be afraid for
the terror by night, nor for the error that flyeth by day,
nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction
that wasteth at noonday. I thought about that, you know,
the terror by night and the pestilence that walketh in darkness. Now
these are descriptive phrases, But you know, terror is a thing,
you can't really define that, can you? I mean, everybody's
had certain measures of terror in their life, but that's just
something that comes over you, and you don't know where it's
coming from, and it can just come upon you really out of nowhere,
and you don't even know why, all of a sudden, that that has
come upon you. It's that which can't be seen.
says the terror by night, that is in the darkness, nor for the
pestilence that walketh in darkness. Now, this virus, this pestilence
that's come upon the earth, it walks in the darkness, does it
not? I mean, you don't, you can't see it. You don't know where
it's at. I mean, we might, might be, some
of us in here, that's just loaded up with it. You know, and, but
we can't see it, we don't know it. But brethren, we don't cower
in fear at it because we know these things are in the hand
of the Lord. And indeed, that doesn't mean
that we don't take, you know, proper consideration of these
things. We're not without concern about
these matters, but we don't just cower in fear in the corner.
Why? Because the Lord has promised
that he'd be with us, even if he sees fit to bring the pestilence
upon us. And so he says here, thou shalt
not be afraid of the terror by night, nor for the pestilence
that walketh in darkness. Now those are the things that
can't be seen, but then he says, for the error that flyeth by
day. Now in the daylight, I mean, oft times the temptations and
the things of this world that come upon us, they can be seen. But we can what quench all the
what fiery darts, the fiery arrows of the devil in Christ. So we're not fearful of these
things because we know that there's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Because the Lord's made provision
for us. We're not to be afraid for the
terror by night, nor for the error that flyeth by day, nor
it says, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Even
those things that we can see that are all around us, and the
outward ways in which we would be destroyed in this world, would
we not? I mean, if you dwelt upon the
wickedness of your heart, and that's the only thing you saw, you would be destroyed. But we
have a savior. We have one who's our deliverer.
We have one who has promised to save to the uttermost them
that come unto God by him. What a glorious thing! Why would
we fear? Where would fear be? We cast
it out in the name of the Lord. A thousand shall fall at thy side,
and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh
thee. Now all of these promises, you
understand, are given to Christ. And we'll see this very vividly
set forth in a few verses here. But this is the Lord speaking
of Christ, of the one who dwells in the secret place of the Most
High under the shadow of the Almighty. Because the Lord sent
Christ into the world and no man could harm a hair of his
head until such time as it pleased the Lord for it to happen. They
couldn't do it. Even in the same fashion in which
you or I, we cannot die. We cannot be killed until such
time as the Lord is pleased to cause that to occur. He said,
I kill and I make alive. I, the Lord, do all these things. Oh, what a glorious comfort it
is to know, dear brethren, There is nothing in this world that
can harm you apart from the purpose of God being fulfilled. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Oh,
what a glorious thing it is to be under the care of the Almighty
God. A thousand shall fall at thy
side, 10,000 at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee.
Now you know that's played out often on the battlefield. Because
there's men that will testify of the fact that they went into
battle and people just be dropping like flies on every side of them
and they just unscathed. Now how does that happen? You
know, there's no way to explain that. I mean, if somebody's shooting
with a machine gun and it's just going across there and it's getting
everybody in its path, but one guy's still going on, why is
that? Because this is an evidence of
the fact that a man cannot, nothing can happen to him until such
time as it's the Lord's will for that to occur. But shall
not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked, only with thine eyes.
shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Now I think
there's a couple ways we can take that, and I believe the
context and the meaning of it is that it's carried over from
the thought of seven, a thousand shall fall at thy right hand.
You can see it, but it's not gonna come to you. You're gonna
see the destruction of the wicked. But I think there's another lesson
to be learned there. Only the Lord, is the one who
beholds the destruction of the wicked. Now, that's a good thing,
is it not? I mean, I'm glad that I won't
see the destruction of the wicked. Now, some people say, man, I'll
be glad when he burns in hell. Well, let me tell you something.
That's an awful way to be considering things. Number one, the Lord
said, love your enemies. He didn't say anything about
wanting them to go to hell. I don't want anybody to go to
hell, but at the same time, I leave these things in the hand of Almighty
God. His judgment is true. It's sure
and steadfast. And, you know, some people, you
think about, people describe judgment and everything in a
lot of different ways and how it's gonna be, you know, and
everybody's gonna come up there and we're all in this line waiting
for our turn to go up and the Lord plays out our life before
us and he throws one into the fire and one over here and this,
that, and the other. Now, he did say he was going
to separate the sheep from the goats. But he's not. I don't believe that the scripture
ever indicates that we're gonna be standing there seeing men
cast into eternal destruction in the lake of fire. I mean,
that's something that's totally removed from us. He's gonna handle
that. Because, you know, if you stop and think, I mean, how would
it be that somebody you loved was cast in there and you, you
know, you're, you're over here, I mean, and of course these are
just, you know, thoughts that come to your mind, but how could
you have, how could all tears be taken away if, if you was
to behold something like that? I don't know. You know, a lot
of people have all these vivid pictures of, what that lake of
fire is going to be and how it's going to this, that, and the
other. I remember when I was a kid, there was a guy who had a record You might have seen
it before. I believe his name was Estes
Purkle. A Burning Hell, that was the name of it. And on that
record, he's just telling you all about all these details about
folks crying and carrying on and all this kind of stuff. It
was effective in getting my attention. But it didn't last. Because as
soon as the thing was over, I forgot about it. Because that's the
way the natural man is. And so all the vivid descriptions
of the destruction of the wicked is not that which God is pleased
to use to draw men unto Himself. But it's the preaching of the
Christ who died for sinners. The one who's full of mercy to
all that called upon Him. Because those, you see, who were
awakened to flee from the wrath to come, they desire to go to
Him. They're not fleeing from hell,
they're going to Christ. Oh, that he might give us such
a mind and an eye. Only with thine eye shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked, because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation. That is the place where the Lord
dwells. He is that one. And He, by the
grace of God, has caused us to delight in that. Now we haven't
made the Lord our habitation, have we? How could we do that? I mean, a lot of people think
they did. You know, they say, oh, well,
you know, I let the Lord into my heart. Well, how did you do
that? You know, I mean, what did you,
how did you cause that to occur? You can't cause that to occur.
Only the Lord can open a man's heart and give him a desire to
dwell with the Lord. That's the only way it occurs.
Because I has made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the
most high thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee,
Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling, for he shall
give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone. Now, if you recall, how do we
know that this is being spoken of about Christ? because that one who would cause
the Lord in his mind to stumble, he spoke these very words, did
he not? And that's proof that the devil
can speak the scriptures. See, the devil can use the scriptures,
but he doesn't have any love for the truth contained therein.
And that's why there are deceivers that go out into the earth speaking
from this book, and telling men things that some of them are
true enough in the book, but they don't speak the truth. Paul
spoke about them. He said, if any man come preaching
any other message, any other gospel than that which he had
preached, that he was to be accursed. Let him be accursed, he said.
That's pretty strong language. And may the Lord give us a mind
and heart to know that truth, and to walk in it, and to love
it. Because there is many gospels that are in the earth. And some
of them sound pretty good. I'm telling you, you know, they
appeal to the flesh of men. But the gospel of the grace of
God, it doesn't appeal to the flesh of men. The flesh of men
hate it. But that old man who's been broken
by the Spirit of God to know himself to be a sinner, it's
a glorious thing to hear that Jesus Christ died for sinners.
And that is not a thing in the world that they have to bring
or do or whatever, that he just purchased that redemption. What
a glorious thing. Oh, that the Lord might give
us a mind and heart to see it and know it. For indeed, even
as this is spoken to Christ specifically, that the Lord would give his
angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. And is
that scripture brother Al read there earlier this morning about
when the Lord was praying and the burden of the sin of his
people was upon him and the Lord sent an angel to strengthen him. Now can you explain that? I can't
explain that. I just sat back in wonder and
amazement at it. What a glorious thing. The Lord
shall give, or did give, his angels charge over him to keep
him in all his ways. They shall bear thee up, lest
thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion
and the adder, the young lion, and the dragon shalt thou trample.
under feet. He did indeed triumph over all
of his enemies, and he did it openly. See, he didn't do it
secretly, but he did it openly. Now, he did it in such a fashion
that the world in the flesh could not see it. They said, we got
him now. They put him in the grave. They
said, seal that tomb up, because you know some of his disciples,
he was talking about that he was going to rise again, and
we're sure that some of his disciples will come over there and steal
his body away, and then they'll go around and tell everybody
that he rose again. So we want you to put a guard there at the
tomb, and we want you to seal it up. How foolish men are. Because
at the point in time when the Lord appointed, He arose triumphant
over sin, over death, over hell, over all of the enemies of God's
people. And He made a show of them openly. Why was the tomb opened? They needed to roll the stone
out of the way so the Lord could get out. The only reason they
rolled the stone away was so men could look in there and know
for a fact that he was not there. They could look in there and
see those grave clothes folded up neatly. How'd that happen? Oh, that the Lord might give
us a mind today to believe. For indeed, he has trampled under
his feet all of the powers of darkness. The dragon, the young
lion, He is that. You know, Satan is
spoken of in the scripture as a dragon. He was a serpent. The Lord's trampled upon him.
He's bruised his head. Because he has said his love
upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high because
he hath known my name. See, the Lord Jesus Christ, he
knows the name of Jehovah. Now we know the name of Jehovah
because he has taught us that in the word, but you see Christ
knows him. Because he's one with him. And
he is that one who dwells in that secret place. And he is
set on high because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me
and I'll answer him. Thank the Lord for that. He said,
I pray for them. And the Lord, and remember what
he told Peter? He said, Peter, I have prayed
for thee. Now you know, sometimes people
say, I'm praying for you, and I appreciate that. I'm always
thankful to hear if somebody says they're gonna pray for me.
But oh, when Peter reflected back on that, he probably didn't
think that much of it at the time because Peter didn't think
He probably was thinking in his mind, nothing gonna happen to
me. I'm gonna stand firm with the
Lord here, because I'm strong. I'm a man of faith. I mean, he'd already tried to
chop one of the guy's heads off in the garden with his sword.
The Lord said, Peter, I have prayed for thee. that thy faith
fail not. Oh, and that's the only reason
Peter didn't, wasn't destroyed. I mean, why didn't he go out
like Judas? I mean, Judas, who betrayed, you see, the Scripture
doesn't tell us that the Lord prayed for Judas. And Judas destroyed
himself. But he prayed for Peter. Said,
Peter, I prayed for thee. Satan wanted to have you, to
sift you as wheat. He said, I'll let him go so far
and as far as he's gonna go. 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. Now here's another conundrum. And I can't explain it. But there was, when the Lord
hung upon the cross, And he spoke these words, he said, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And I know with certainty
that it had to be true or else he could not have spoken those
words because he is the way, the truth, and the life. But
yet at one and the same time in which it was true that The
father did forsake him in whatever manner in which he means that
he forsook him. Turned his back on him. Despised
the sin that he became in our behalf. Yet, the love of God
never departed from his son because he was that one who was his elect. That one whom his soul loved.
that one who was one with the Father. With long life will I satisfy
Him and show Him my salvation. Because you see the Lord as He
hung on that cross and on the one hand He's saying, my God,
my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Now a natural man, if he
really believed that God had forsaken him, he'd just I mean
Judas, I believe Judas was in that place. I believe Judas believed
that he had forsaken the Lord and the Lord had forsaken him
and he just wanted to put an end to it. But you see, the Lord
Jesus Christ, He hung there and His last words were, Father,
into Thy hand I commend my spirit. And He gave up the ghost. He
put off earthly life, that is the life of the flesh. He put
it off at His own time. He shall call upon me and I will
answer and I will be with Him in trouble. I will deliver Him
and honor Him. He has given Him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow and every tongue should confess that He is the Lord. With long life will I satisfy
Him and show Him my salvation. That is, I'll demonstrate my
salvation through Him. He is our salvation. The scripture
says that the Lord the Father hath given to the Son to have
life in Himself. Now, He already had life in Himself,
did He not, as being God, but yet He came in the flesh and
the Lord gave Him life in Himself. See, you and I don't have life
in ourselves. He alone hath immortality. You
and I have life because He gives us life. And if we have any life,
that is granted to us by Him. Oh, thanks be unto God that we
can rejoice, that we have eternal life because He is eternal life. He that hath the Son, the Scripture
says, hath life. Oh, that we might know Him today. That He might show us Himself.
And give us a longing, even if He had, to do His Father's will.
You see, that, I believe, is the work of the Spirit and the
sons of God as He sent the Spirit into their hearts, crying, Abba,
Father. is to do the will of the Father. Now we are very imperfect
in both our desire and certainly in our activity of doing that. But yet, at the end of the day,
because of the work the Spirit of God puts in us, we desire
to do the will of the Lord. Even as David prayed, cleanse
me, O Lord. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean. and I shall be whiter than snow. And Lord, make us
that way. Oh, that the Lord might give
us a heart and mind to be such a people as that. And we will
rejoice because we know that our God is our habitation. He is that one who gives us life
and keeps us from falling. I mean, why don't we all just
pack our bags and quit? Easiest thing on earth is to
find people that quit. You can find people that quit
everything. I've quit a bunch of stuff in my own life, and
I'm ashamed many times of some of the stuff I've quit. The Lord
Jesus Christ never quit. And he will not allow his people
to quit. Why? Because he'll pray for them
that their faith fail not. Oh, He's a glorious Savior and
Redeemer.