Safety is of the Lord

Q: What does the Bible say about safety in the Lord?

The Bible affirms that true safety is found in the Lord, as stated in Proverbs 21:31, 'Safety is of the Lord.' Proverbs 21:31 declares that 'Safety is of the Lord,' emphasizing the complete sovereignty of God over our well-being. This phrase indicates that safety, or victory, ultimately belongs to God. He is the one who provides true security for His people, ensuring that they are safeguarded not only from physical dangers but also from spiritual peril. In Psalm 23, we see this principle illustrated as the Lord leads His people beside still waters, restoring their souls and guiding them through the valleys of death without fear because He is with them.

Q: How do we know that salvation is by grace alone?

Salvation is by grace alone according to Ephesians 2:8-9, which teaches that it is not of ourselves but a gift from God. The doctrine of salvation by grace alone is vital in Reformed theology, hinged on passages like Ephesians 2:8-9, which clearly states that we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. This underlines the total inability of human effort in achieving salvation. Throughout Scripture, we see that it is God's grace that chooses and redeems a people for Himself, as illustrated by the differences between the righteous, who are saved by grace, and the wicked, who are self-relying in their sacrifices, rendering them abominable to God. Thus, our hope rests solely upon God’s grace and not our merits.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to trust in God's sovereignty?

Trusting in God's sovereignty reassures Christians that He is in control and works all things for their good. The sovereignty of God is a foundational truth for Christians because it assures us that God is in complete control over all aspects of life. Proverbs 21:30 emphasizes that there is no wisdom, understanding, or counsel against the Lord, underscoring His supreme authority. This belief provides comfort and hope, especially in troubling times, knowing that God orchestrates all events for His purpose and glory. Understanding His sovereignty leads us to a restful dependence on Him, as seen in Romans 8:28, which affirms that all things work together for the good of those who love Him. Therefore, trusting in God’s sovereignty allows believers to navigate life’s uncertainties with confident assurance.

Q: What does Proverbs 21 teach us about the difference between the righteous and the wicked?

Proverbs 21 contrasts the righteous, who receive grace, with the wicked, whose sacrifices are an abomination to the Lord. In Proverbs 21, there is a clear distinction made between the righteous and the wicked. This passage illustrates that the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to God, emphasizing that God does not accept offerings based on self-righteousness or deceitful motives. Conversely, the righteous are the ones who have been made upright through God’s grace. Their lives reflect acknowledgment of God’s mercy and a reliance on Christ for their righteousness. This stark contrast serves to remind us that true righteousness comes from faith in Christ alone, highlighting the critical role of grace in salvation and life's conduct.

Tonight we're in Proverbs chapter 21. Proverbs 21. Here we have a simple message, a simple message, a simple declaration, but that's how the Lord has ordained it to be, he said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast hid these things from the wise and proved it and revealed them unto babes.

What does he mean by babes? Well, he said, suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of heaven. If I want to come to Christ, and if you want to come to Christ, we have to come as a babe. We have to come as a babe, not confessing what we know, but confessing him as if a child to their father, needy and completely dependent. That's the only way we can come to Christ is as a babe.

We have in this passage, the unregenerated sinner and the sinner God chose to save by his grace as he goes back and forth. And we're going to look at the difference in that tonight. And you already know what the difference is. It's Christ, it's grace alone. But in looking at this, we realize that salvation truly is all by his will, his choice, his power, or there would be no salvation.

And He's the difference maker. He's the difference maker. He's who maketh thee to differ. He's who makes his people differ from everybody else. Somebody said, well, what's the difference? Do you know what the difference is between a believer and a non-believer?

And I said, yeah, believer believes, that's it. because the Lord didn't save our flesh for it to get better and better. It's not gonna get better. It will be constrained by the love of Christ that's on the new man. The elder shall serve the younger, but this old man, it ain't getting better. It's getting worse as day by day goes by. Here we have the sad, self-righteous, wheel worker, And then we have those that are saved by grace alone. That's your difference. So let's read this together. Proverbs 21, 22 through 31 says, A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof.

Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. Proud and haughty, Scornor is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath. The desire of the slothful killeth him, for his hands refuse to labor. He coveteth greedily all the day long, but the righteous giveth and spareth not.

The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination. How much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? Let me read that again. The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination. How much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? A false witness shall perish, but the man that heareth speaketh constantly. A wicked man hardeneth his face, but as for the upright, he directeth his ways. There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord. I like that. There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety, safety is of the Lord. I've titled this message, Safety is of the Lord. And it could have said safety is in the Lord, but it doesn't. It says of the Lord, which brings us to the only possible conclusion that it's by him, he owns it, it's his to give, safety. That word also translates victory, and that's just as fitting, isn't it? As the Lord's people, we are thankful that our Savior was victorious in the redemption of his people, and we're thankful of the safety that he gives to us, knowing that we're in Christ, not left to ourself. It says, safety is of the Lord. means it belongs to him. He's absolutely sovereign over all things, even the safety and well-being of his people.

Don't you love that? He's, he, uh, Psalm 23 is a fantastic example of that. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He's the, he's the one that safely bring us in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Um, that's the only way when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you don't have to fear evil because our Lord is safety. Safety is of the Lord. He is our safety.

The difference here between this proud man and this arrogant man, the deceitful man, the false witness, man, the ones that are the wicked, that it's an abomination unto God and the righteous is the Lord. It's the Lord because outwardly you wouldn't be able to tell the difference because God's not a respecter of person. Meaning they're not, God did not choose to save one because they were this or they were that. God chose to elect a people and to save those people according to his grace and mercy for his own glory and for his purpose. Most people believe that they have prepared to meet God. by what they do or what they do not do.

And that's what we're seeing here by the boaster and the proud. And it even said at verse 23, who so keep us his mouth, keep us his and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. Well, what does he mean by that? The words that we say, well, what is your confession? What is our confession? There's always a spiritual viewpoint of this. What's our confession?

So the Lord keeps his people speaking the same thing that he speaks. But he says down here, verse 28, a false witness shall perish, but a man that heareth speaketh constantly. And there was a verse that I wanted to, I wanted to read, but can't find it. We'll get back to that later if the Lord's purposed it. Um, Lord told us about these people that he calls wicked here, being left to themselves. He said that they're going to say, Lord, I've done all these wonderful things in thy name. So the works that these men do, the false speaking, the false doing is actually their righteousness. We see how sad that is. It's a very sad state for the soul. And what does the Lord say to them? Depart from me, you that workers of iniquity, I never knew you. So what's my hope?

Verse 31, but safety. of the Lord. He keeps His people safe because He satisfied the law's demands. He keeps His people safe because He supplies all their need according to the riches and glory by Christ Jesus. He keeps them safe because He is our high tower. He is our ark. He is our cleft of the rock. He is the surety substitute of His people.

Let's read 27-29. The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination. How much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? A false witness shall perish, but the man that heareth speaketh constantly. A wicked man hardeneth his face, but as for the upright, he directeth his way."

That was what I was looking for. He directeth his way. Well, who's the he? Who are we talking about? Well, the very next verse says, there's no wisdom or understanding nor counsel against the Lord. He directeth his way. The ones that can hear, The ones that have, has been made upright in Christ, the Lord keeps them, keeps them. This is what we are describing the absence of the Lord's grace and mercy. And then the evidence of the Lord's grace and mercy or the, or what we can see is the Lord's grace and mercy. The one that's upright, the Lord directed his ways. He says, I'm never going to leave you and I'm never going to forsake you. I'll go with you all the way, even to the end. He's not going to leave us to ourselves.

If we are in Christ, that's good news. As soon as we, because we just read the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination. That means it's disgusting. So I better be the one that's upright and righteous. And the only way I can do that is have Christ as my righteousness because I can't produce any. The only way that I can be upright is if the Lord has picked me up out of the mire, the scripture says, and put my feet on the solid rock and established my going. The only way I can be upright is if Christ made me such. And if he did, if he did, he will keep me safely. He will keep his people.

The scary and sad state for the souls that we're reading about here is they're the ones that don't know the precious lamb. They don't know the Lord Jesus Christ and yet they profess to know him. And you all remember, I know most of us came from false religion and the baby Jesus that we had in our mind or the image that we had in our mind was really just a reflection of ourself, wasn't it? In a lot of ways. Whatever we needed that particular God to be, that's how we manifested it to be in our minds. We didn't even know we were doing it, did we? That's the sad and scary part.

But when the Lord comes in and says, live, he gives faith, looks to Christ, repentance towards God, we see everything totally different. No, we see him as God. Not the God that we thought he was, but we see him as God. That's the gift of grace. Look at verse 30.

There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord. I've already said this once, but He's sovereign over all. Nothing I can do can harm Him. Think about that. Nothing I can do can harm Him. Nobody can. He's God. He's higher than the heavens. Nothing I can do can threaten Him. Nothing I can do can challenge Him. And did you know there's nothing that you can do in and of yourself and nothing I can do in and of myself that actually impresses him?

There's only one that impressed him, and that was the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if we're in Christ, And we're looking to him by faith. He's well pleased with that because of who we're looking to. We're looking to Christ, but he's not pleased with this corpse that we carry. He's not pleased with what we do in and of ourself, especially for righteousness, because the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination.

That's what that is. That's self-righteousness. That's all that that is. That's what Cain was doing. He was sacrificing unto the Lord, but not what the Lord required when he brought the fruit of his hands. The Lord said, no, unto Cain and his sacrifice I have no respect. But who had respect? It was Abel. Why? Because Abel was looking to the Lamb, looking to the same thing God was. He was resting on the same Sabbath as God was. They had the same viewpoint. I love that he makes his people differ.

He causes us not to point to self, not to offer self, not to look to our works, not to try to do in order to gain righteousness, but we plead the blood alone. We sung that song, there is a fountain. We claim the fountain that the Lord Jesus Christ shed for his people that's put away their sin. That's our only hope. And that's why our hope this evening is safety is of the Lord.

We were guilty. We were not in safety. We were doomed. We were condemned and dying. We were born dead and trespasses and sin. And yet the Lord has brought us into his Zion, his place of safety, his city of refuge. You remember in the old Testament, whenever somebody, uh, murder, I'm pretty sure it was accidental murder, I don't think it was on purpose, but I could be wrong. They could go to the city of refuge and the avenger of blood, or the nearest of kin, or whoever that may have been, the one that had the right to avenge, because by the Law he had the right to avenge, could not enter into that city of refuge. That's what God said. Do we not see that that is the Law coming after you and I who are dead and trespassing and sin? And we are guilty. We're guilty of all that sin. We're guilty of all that iniquity. And the law says death. The law demands death.

And yet we are in the city of refuge now, built by our Savior, who is also the chief cornerstone. We are in that city of safety. The law can't get to us any longer. The law can't say anything against the child of God because God satisfied the law. The Lord Jesus Christ satisfied the law on the cross of Calvary once and for all.

Notice verse 29 again. A wicked man hardeneth his face, but as for the upright, he directeth his ways. I don't direct my ways. Not spiritually speaking, that's the Lord that does that, isn't it? The Lord directs his people. What does it say? Way is singular. He directeth his way, singular. Not ways, because you and I have a lot of ways, don't we? A lot of ways. I have certain ways of doing things and you have certain ways of doing things and I might get on your nerves if you saw all the ways that I do things and you might get on my nerves if I see all the way, but it's singular way because there's only one way.

Christ said, I am the way. So what he's saying is, is he sets our course, so to speak. He puts our direction aimed at Christ, who is the way. There's the hope. That's how we can have safety against the law. That's how we can rest knowing that justice was satisfied. It's because he, he directeth his people's way.

Steps of the upright. He says the steps of the upright. Well, that doesn't mean that he's keeping the law. Some people would say, well, the upright man or the upright woman are the ones that do this and do this and don't do this and don't do this. That's not what he's saying.

The ones that are upright are standing in Christ complete, period. Standing in Christ complete. That means you're upright. If you're not standing in Christ complete, we're just upside down. We're just dead in trust, hesitance, and sin. We're upside down. But the Lord makes us upright.

What was the maniac of Gadara? How was he found whenever the farmers came to him? He was clothed and seated and in his right mind, he was upright. He was upright. He hadn't been upright, I don't know how long he had been possessed, but he hadn't been upright. He had wrong thoughts about everything.

And you can see picture after picture of false religion there where he's cutting himself, and he's trying to, the chains that he broke, that's the promises that men and women make unto the Lord. That's the sacrifices that they make. But the sacrifices of the wicked are abomination. Do we see that? So what is our hope? Our hope is found in verse 29.

As for the upright, he directeth his way. No, it's not the upright who keep the law. It's those that the father elected, those that the son redeemed and those that the spirit in time regenerates. That's the upright who gets all the glory for that. He does. He does not us, not under us. Oh Lord. Psalm 37 23 says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way.

Do you like that word ordered? I like that word ordered. When now you, that's not talking about the same kind of ordering that you do if you go to a restaurant and you say, I want this and I want this. Well, you might not get it exactly the way you want it.

When God orders something, he's declaring it. He is making it sure. He's saying it and therefore it is. He's ordering it. It's going to be thus. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Well, why is he good? Well, because there's safety in the Lord. Safety in the Lord. We say all the time that there's none good but God, and that's true. The good man he's referring to is the one found in Christ, because Christ is the only one good. Safety is of the Lord. Noah was safe in the ark, wasn't he? He was safe from the storm and the flood.

Can you imagine how deep that water would have been to cover up the entire earth, mountains, and everything? And we don't know exactly geographically, geologic, you know what I mean? I shouldn't use long words. We don't know how the mountains and things were Back then, I don't know. Earth may have changed. I don't know all this stuff. What I do know is, is there was enough water to flood the entire earth and kill everything.

And the only ones that survived was the eight men and women that were on that ark, according to the word of the Lord and the animals that the Lord told him that he, that, well, he didn't bring them in. God brought them in. Were they safe? There's two reasons why they were safe. Number one, that's what the ark was designed for. But number two, they put something on the outside called pitch. That pitch is like a tar that is waterproof. And that pitch is the same word as atonement. They had a covering. They had an atonement on them. This is a picture of Christ on the cross enduring the wrath of God for his people. And as wave after wave of the wrath of God beat upon him, we were in him safe because safety is of the Lord. Geological. That's the word I was trying to say. Geological. We don't know how it was geologically back then. That's going to drive me crazy. I'm sorry. And we've been saved from the punishment. So think about this.

Noah was, this, that chapter starts out, Genesis chapter six, it starts out by saying, every imagination, it's just a few verses down, every imagination was on evil and that continuing. Every imagination. And I've said this before, but so many people miss this. Did Noah have an imagination? Yes. Every imagination was only on evil and that continually.

Well, what made the difference? But Noah found grace in the eyes of God. There's the difference. Noah found grace. Grace was bestowed to Noah. That's how he found it. He wasn't looking for it. It was the Lord that was merciful. That's the only reason that the wrath didn't fall upon him and his family is because of that word grace.

That's our hope this evening, that the Lord would give us safety in Christ alone. The Lord would give us protection from the wrath that Christ endured, and that he would give us safety from the consequence of our sin. If Christ took them unto himself and put them away, we have nothing to fear because we are kept by our Lord safely. Brethren, you know this is true.

He must save me or I'll remain lost. I'll remain lost. That's exactly what he did for Noah. If he hadn't saved Noah, Noah would have died with the rest of them, but he chose to have mercy on Noah. He is our ark. Christ is our ark. Safety is of the Lord. It's only found in the person of Jesus Christ. Safety from wrath, safety from judgment, safety from hell, you can't, you won't find that by what you do or don't do. You find that in Christ alone. He's the cleft of the rock.

You remember whenever Moses told the Lord, show me your glory. And the Lord said, no man can look upon me and live, but there is a place nigh unto me. And he says, I'm going to put you upon a rock and put you in the cleft of the rock. And I'll call my, I'll call my goodness, my goodness to pass before you. What is his goodness? Christ. Christ is his goodness. That's his, that's where the glory happened is on the cross of Calvary.

When he say we, when he just successfully redeemed his people, everyone he was dying for that day, he successfully redeemed them. That's why we're safe. That's why we can rejoice when we read safety is of the Lord. That means if the Lord's keeping me safe, he's keeping me safe from my sin, keep people away. He's keeping me safe from myself. He's keeping me safe from my adversary, our adversary, Satan. He's keeping us safe from the world. He's preserved us unto him. He's predestinated us in Christ. That's good news. He's not going to leave us to ourself. Why is that? Well, he was made sin and we were made righteous, the righteousness of God in him. That's why the scripture can clearly declare and we can believe it. There is now therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. There's now therefore no condemnation.

Everything about Moses, that was all grace. The Lord showed him his hinder parts. That's the goodness and mercy. That's what David said over in Psalm 23, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever. If you want to see the Lord's goodness, look back at the cross. That's the point, isn't it? There's his goodness.

Everything about God's salvation here, whether we are talking about the righteous, the upright, the wise man, Every bit of this is based upon grace, entirely God's amazing grace. We were elected by grace. We were redeemed by grace. We were regenerated by grace and we're kept by that same grace. That's the same grace we're with. He keeps his people.

Scripture says he that spared not his own son but freely delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? What things do you want? Grace, mercy, the blood, forgiveness of sin? He said he'll give you all things. No wonder Paul said in Romans 8, what shall we say to these things then?

If God be for us, who can be against us? If God be for us, who can be against us? If God is for us, what or who could do anything to his people that he has not purposed? Now you think about people in false religion, how sad it is because they think that they do something and it causes God to do something.

Or what I mean by that was, They call, what do they call New Orleans? I can't think of it now. I'm not on my A game tonight. Remember that hurricane that came through there and it was devastating. They said, well, all the people that were in false religion, well, we know why that happened. It's all the sin that's in that city. That's why that happened. It's all the sin that's in the city. Brethren, we can't make God do anything. He's purposed. Hurricane was ordained before time ever began. He's God. He's God. This is all by grace. You remember the disciples asked the Lord.

There was storming, and the Lord, I love the fact that it actually reads that Jesus was asleep. Jesus was asleep, and there was storming. And the disciples were panicking, because they came up to the Lord and said, Lord, you care not that we perish? Care us not that we perish? And what'd the Lord do?

He rebuked the wind. He rebuked the storm. It stopped. Peace be still. They said, what manner of man is this that even the winds and seas obey his voice? And he said, O ye of little faith, wherefore did you doubt? They're talking to God, I might remind us. Are you, carest not that we perish? You ever thought that before? You feel like you're dying? You feel like you're in trouble and there's no help? Carest not that we perish?

He's God. He's God. He's not the problem. We are. He's the solution. He's the solution. He made the winds and the waves. He is the cause of the storm. He's the first cause of all things. Nothing happens without his purpose and his will coming to fruition.

You know what he was teaching them when he said, O ye of little faith, wherefore did thou doubt? You know what he was teaching them while he was asleep? Stop looking at your circumstances. Stop looking at what you can see and start trusting the master. That's what he was teaching them. That's a lesson we can all learn. We all should learn.

There's safety with him because safety is of the Lord. They were safe in that boat as long as Christ was there, perfectly safe. He was asleep and they were perfectly safe. We so often forget that everything is for our good and his glory, but I would remind us tonight, safety is of the Lord.

He's going to protect, he already has provided everything that we need, but he's going to give everything according to his will and his purpose, all according to his grace. No wonder David prayed Psalm 17, keep me as the apple of thy eye, hide me into the shadow of thy wings. The Lord is our refuge. The Lord is our strength, the very present help in the time of trouble.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and is safe. I like that it's not was safe, it's right now. You wanna feel safe, come to Christ. Safe from your sins, safe from the law, safe from death, come to Christ. We have a refuge, a covering, a righteousness. We have an ark. We have a cleft of the rock. that saved his people from their sin. Salvation's accomplished, brethren. Nothing else to be done.

Nothing else to be done because salvation is of the Lord and safety, safety for his people is of the Lord. Because we've been saved by grace, we'll be kept by it, by his power. Why are we gonna be kept? Because safety's of the Lord. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would take this and bless it to understanding for your glory in Christ's name. Amen. In closing, let's turn the number to 58. He hideth my soul and let's stand together.

Safety is of the Lord

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about safety in the Lord?

How do we know that salvation is by grace alone?

Why is it important for Christians to trust in God's sovereignty?

What does Proverbs 21 teach us about the difference between the righteous and the wicked?

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About Caleb Hickman

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Safety is of the Lord

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about safety in the Lord?

How do we know that salvation is by grace alone?

Why is it important for Christians to trust in God's sovereignty?

What does Proverbs 21 teach us about the difference between the righteous and the wicked?

Sermon Transcript

About Caleb Hickman

Comments

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