Invite your attention to the
27th Psalm. Psalm number 27. My text is in verse number 10.
My title for the message is, Jehovah Aids the Forsaken. And begin reading In Psalm 27,
verse 1, Jehovah is my light and my salvation,
whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my
life, of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies
and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled
and fell, though an host should encamp against me. My heart shall not fear, though
war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the
Jehovah, that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house
of Jehovah all the days of my life to behold the beauty of
Jehovah and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble
he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle
shall he hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock
And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about
me. Therefore, while I offer in this
tabernacle sacrifices of joy, I will sing, yea, I will sing
praises unto Jehovah. Hear, O Jehovah, when I cry with
my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer
me when thou seest Seeking my face, my heart said unto thee,
thy face, Jehovah, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me. Put not thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help, leave
me not. Neither forsake me, O God, of
my salvation. Here's my text. When my father
and my mother forsake me, then Jehovah will take me up. Consider that. When my father
and my mother forsake me, then Jehovah will take me up. When they let me down, he will
take me up. In the year of our Lord, 1993,
I accepted a call to pastor a church in Louisville, Kentucky. and
my family moved into a house directly across the river in
Clarksville, Indiana. It was 490 miles from the door
of my house to the door of my parents' house in North Carolina.
I had not lived this close to them for years. For the preceding
14 years, I had resided with my family in the West Indies
where I was pursuing an evangelistic ministry. But now I was only
490 miles, interstate, highway, all the way. During those preceding 14 years,
I rarely saw my parents. maybe two, three, or four years
before we were able to make a trip back to the U.S. But now, I'm
only 490 miles. I visited them multiple times
every year. This was during my late forties
and my fifties. A number of those trips were
made solo because my beloved was pursuing a career and was
unable to accompany me, and so I would make quite a few solo
trips during those years to visit my parents. I almost always retired
for the evening before they did, so I would go to my bed. After I had gotten into my bed,
my mother would come in, bend over, Kiss me on the forehead
or on the cheek and say, good night, sweetie. I love you. Good night, sweetie. I love you. I was in my 50s and my heart
melted every time she did it. I would also add that I was blessed
to visit her on her deathbed. and there to bend over and kiss
her on the forehead and say, good night, sweetie. I love you. Let me say this. Parents, your
children are never too old for you to let them know how much
you love them and to show your affection to them. And children,
Your parents are never too old for you to let them know you
still love them and that your affection is still toward them.
I might also add that I retire almost every evening before my
wife does. She comes to my bed and bends
over like my mother did, kisses me and says, good night, I love
you. And should she ever go to bed
when I am awake, it happens sometimes. It's the same way. Husbands and
wives never miss an opportunity to let your spouse know you love
him, you love her. Be not like the woman who said
to her husband, do you love me? Of course I do. Well, you never
tell me you do. He said, woman, on the day I
married you, I told you that I love you. And if I ever changed
my mind, you will be the first to know. We are Christians, folks. We parents love our children.
We children love our parents. We husbands and wives love each
other. And it should never be doubted. Am I right? Thank you. Now back to my subject, my mother. My mother bending over to kiss
me on the cheek and saying, good night, sweetie. I love you. That
scene comes to my mind every time I read this text. When my
father and my mother forsake me, then Jehovah will take me
up. Every time I read this text,
that scene of my mother showing her love and affection toward
me comes to my mind. And I have the blessed privilege
of telling you that I have no experiential knowledge of what
the first part of that verse means. Both my father and my
mother ever loved me, ever cared for me, and ever let me know. Neither my father nor my mother
ever failed in their love and care for me. So when the psalmist
says, when my father and my mother forsake me, I have no idea what
that means experientially. But I do know this, that if Jehovah's
love and care for me is greater than my parents' love
and care for me, and they're both gone, but I remember it
so well. If his love and care for me is
greater than theirs, and theirs was beyond my measure,
then his care for me is beyond any comprehension. When my mother
and my father or my father and my mother forsake me, then Jehovah
will take care of me. Two points we're going to consider.
The Christian should be or should expect to be forsaken by others
and Jehovah, second point, will take care of his forsaken ones.
First point is this. The Christians should expect
to be forsaken by others because the psalmist says, when my father
and my mother forsake me. Now he does not say they will, and it is quite likely that they
never did. He had a son forsake him, oh
absolutely, but his father and his mother evidently never did
forsake him. But he admits that possibility. It is possible that they could
do so. If it is possible that your parents
may forsake you, then it is likely that others will. Others who
do not care for you quite as much as they do. Do not be surprised
if you are forsaken by family members and people whom you thought
were very close to you. Jesus says you will be betrayed
even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends and they
will put some of you to death and you will be hated by all
for my name's sake. Jesus said that to his disciples. It's going to happen to you,
folks. If you believe this gospel of
God's free and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ, count on it,
you're probably going to have even some family members turn
against you. You're going to be strange to
them. You're going to be called stubborn, whatever. they're going
to say things about you. There's something about believing
this gospel of God's sovereign grace that just turns the world
off and even religious people. Now, you may not be killed because
of your testimony, but many of the Lord's people have been killed. He's talking to his disciples. Every one of them But John died
a martyr's death. There was at one time in the
American colonies, three books were found in almost
every house in the American colonies. Three books, the Holy Scriptures,
Pilgrim's Progress, and Fox's Book of Martyrs. Now if you have
never read Foxe's Book of Martyrs, you need to. You need to. Read that first chapter about
the death of the apostles, Thomas and Peter, Paul. The world killed them all because
of their testimony. Almost everyone knows about the
crusades that Ecclesiastical Rome waged against the Muslims. Very few people know about the
same crusades that were waged against the Waldensians and others
in Europe, Northern Italy. Our forefathers, Anabaptists,
slaughtered and killed. Read about the massacre in the
Valley of the Piedmont and how that at last Geneva, the city,
opened up its gates and let the men, that is the ones that were
still left, our forefathers, our Christian forefathers, our
forefathers who love this gospel have been hated in this world.
And sometimes even their own family members turned against
them. Jesus said, it'll happen, it'll
happen. You may not be killed for your
testimony, but somebody, even a close family member is going
to dislike you because of it. Jesus Christ is the foremost
example of being forsaken by others. So bear this in mind,
when you are forsaken and you go to him and say, Lord, I've
been forsaken, do you have any idea what this is like? I've
been there, done that. I have been forsaken. It's always
good to know that when you go to our high priest and talk about
being forsaken, he knows what you're talking about because
he was forsaken. He was forsaken, disbelieved
by his own brothers. He prophesied, or it was prophesied
of him, I have become a stranger to my brothers and an alien to
my mother's children. This was fulfilled. We read in
John 7 verse 5 that even his brothers did not believe in him.
Think about that. Raised in the same house. He's the firstborn of his mother.
Raised in the same house. They watched the God-man grow
up. They knew there was something
different about him. He never sinned. He obeyed his
parents. He was subject to them. Might be one of the reasons why
they didn't care for him too much. Even his own brothers did not
believe in him. These were his half-brothers. came from the
same womb. They had a different father.
The Holy Spirit was the father of Jesus and Joseph was their
biological father. Grew up in the same house with
Jesus and they did not believe in him. Jesus knew what it is. that a
man's enemies will be those of his own household. Do not be
surprised if members of your own household have turned against
you. Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot,
one of his apostles. Betrayed by an apostle, one of
the twelve he had chosen to be with him, betrayed by one of
them. That also had been prophesied,
but you know the prophecies and you know the fulfillment. Jesus
says, my own familiar friend, we ate bread together and you
lifted up your heel against me. Do not be surprised at who betrays
you. Do not be surprised. Jesus was
deserted. by his disciples. That was also
prophesied. Indeed, the hour is coming. Yes,
it has now come that you will be scattered to each to his own
and will leave me alone. And you can hear the disciples,
us? These are you? No, no, no. Well, there they are in the garden. Here comes the betrayer. He's
got the temple guard with him. He walks up to Jesus and betrays
him with a kiss. The soldiers take their action
and the disciples of Jesus fled. They're gone. They're gone. He was denied by Simon Peter,
a foremost disciple, that also was prophesied. Jesus answered
and said to Simon, Peter answered and said to Jesus, even if all
are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to
stumble. And Jesus said to him, assuredly
I say to you that this night before the rooster crows, you
will deny me three times. It's prophesied. It fulfilled. Jesus is there in the house of
Ananias. in a kangaroo court at an illegal
hour being tried. And there's Peter warming his
hands at the devil's fire. Someone says, you know this man? No. Nope. Got no idea who he
is thrice. He denies him the rooster crows. Jesus heard that rooster crow. He knew what had happened. Out
there in the court, he turned around and looked at Peter as though to say, you denied
me, Peter, my foremost disciple, you have
denied me. He was rejected by his countrymen. The Roman governor wanted to
turn Jesus loose. And Jesus' own countrymen said,
no, crucify him, crucify him. He has done nothing wrong. Crucify
him, crucify him. His own countrymen. He was rejected by all men in
general. He is despised and rejected by
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it
were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not
esteem him. Every man of his own will and
volition will reject Jesus Christ. No man will, apart from divine
grace, accept Jesus Christ. And I might add that even we
that believe in Him might be tempted to forsake Him were it
not for God's restraining grace upon us. There is Here at Antipas, king
of the Jews, there is Pontius Pilate, Roman governor. These
two hate each other, but in Jesus they have a common enemy, and
they rejected him together. There in Jerusalem, there are
the Jews and there are the Gentiles, and they hate each other. But
when it comes to the subject of Jesus, they join forces to
reject him. So, his own brothers disbelieved
him. One of his closest associates
betrayed him. His foremost disciples or all
of his disciples deserted him, one of them denied him, his own
countrymen rejected him, and so did mankind in general. Yes, what is it to be forsaken
by men? Jesus of Nazareth can tell you. He has been forsaken So do not
be surprised if you are forsaken for his sake, but remember this,
when you are forsaken, then Jehovah will take care of his forsaken
ones. If my mother and my father forsake
me, then Jehovah will take me up. Now Jehovah took care of
Jesus and he was forsaken by all. Jehovah took care of him. Now someone's going to say, now
wait a minute, preacher. Now wait a minute. Did not Jesus
on the cross of Calvary cry out, my God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? Yes, he did. Yes, he did. Well,
then God forsook him. Yes, he did. But you just said
that when men forsake him, God will take him up. Yep, that's
what the scripture says. It's contradictory. No, it's not. No, it is not. Note very well, listen to me
carefully. Jesus on Calvary's cross said,
my God, why have you forsaken me? He did not say my father. Why have you forsaken me? And
there is a vast difference. There is a vast difference. The
answer is found in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah's prophecy. There is a man of sorrows. A man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. Jehovah has laid on this man
all the sins of His elect. Jesus is bearing the sins of
all God's elect, all the sins of all God's elect of every age. He bears those sins to Calvary. There on Calvary He is the substitute
for sinners, numbered with the transgressors. There He is on
the cross of Calvary, a man on that cross, a substitute
for sinners, bearing all the untold millions of sins of God's
elect, That cross of Calvary was the
most sinful place this world has ever seen. And it's all on
one man. One man. And God, who is a purer eye than
to behold evil, looked on Calvary and said it's too much sin and
just turned his head. He cannot look. God dealt with
that man on Calvary in strict justice and showed no legal favoritism and says to that man on that
cross, you've taken all the sins of my people, now you must be
stricken. smitten of God and afflicted. And he bears the strict justice
of God and cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? I'll tell you why. Because he's being treated the
way I should have been treated and the way you should have been
treated. And every person disbelieving
in Jesus Christ needs to realize Jehovah's gonna treat you that
way one of these days. Oh, do not be one of them. Jehovah
dealt with Jesus, the man, in strict justice and forsook him. But the father who loves that
sinless son Never forsaking. It was just the opposite. Just
the opposite. Jehovah as a loving father did
not forsake his sinless son. He himself had earlier prophesied
of this. Jesus said when he declared to
his disciples, indeed the hour is coming, yes has now come that
you will be scattered deep to its own and will leave me alone
and yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. He's letting
them know when you have forsaken me, my Father has not. He's still with me and I'm still
with him. Jesus said so. John 16, 32. Jesus, God's Son, knew more,
better than anyone else ever knew what it is to say, Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil. For my Father is with me. Jehovah
is with me. He will take me through. I may
be forsaken of all else on this earth, but my Father will not. I'm going through the valley
of the shadow of death, and He is with me. His rod and His staff,
they comfort me. Even when Jesus was made to be
sin, And he was treated as sin with regard to his manhood, but
even when he was made to be sin, he was still sinless, for God
made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. He's still in his
divine nature sinless. The Son of God is still sinless
in his divine nature. His divine nature cannot be touched
with it. And even there on that cross,
when He's forsaken by God, the righteous judge, He is not forsaken
by Jehovah, the loving Father. Before the foundation of the
world, He said, I was daily my Father's delight. He is still
His Father's delight when He's hanging there, that sinless Son
of God hanging on that cross. He is still his father's delight. This father who on at least two
occasions parted the clouds of heaven and
said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased could
have done the same right there on Calvary because he was still pleased
with what his son was and was doing. God, as the righteous judge,
visited justice upon him and forsook him. But God, as the
loving Father, never forsook him. Indeed, what did the psalmist
say? When my father and my mother
forsake me, then Jehovah will take me up. He will help me when
no one else will. Well, do you know that Jehovah
helped Jesus there on that cross? Read what we read in the Scriptures. Jehovah said in Psalm 889, verses
19 through 21, I have given help to one who is mighty. with him
my hand should be established also my strength on my arm also
shall strengthen him even on that cross of Calvary Jehovah is giving strength to
Jesus his loving son his well-beloved son and thereby the divine aid
and strength that Jehovah's given to him because Jehovah has taken
him up. He's able to endure all God's
wrath until he finally says, it is finished. It is finished. God's wrath has been satisfied
and Jehovah's love has conquered. Jehovah took him up. Everybody
else had forsaken him. Jehovah took him up. Now, I'm
going to happily report to you five truths. Jehovah not only took Jesus up,
but he took up others as well with regard to Jesus. Remember
that Jesus' brothers did not believe in him? They did not believe in him until
after his resurrection. Paul makes a point of telling
us Jesus arose from the dead and then appeared to James, that's
his half-brother. Can you imagine what went through
James' mind when he, an unbeliever in Jesus, and Jesus shows up
to James and says, I'm Jesus in whom you have not believed.
Well, I believe now. I believe now! James, he wrote one of the epistles
in the New Testament. Did not believe in Jesus until
after Jesus' resurrection. Jude, another one of the brothers, he wrote an epistle in the New
Testament. He was not a believer in Jesus
until after the resurrection. You go to the book of Acts and
in the first two chapters you can find their names. They're
in that congregation in the upper room. They're in Jerusalem, his
own brothers. Well, I happily report to you
that at least some of the brothers of Jesus believed in him. His forsaken disciples returned
to him. It took a while. They wanted nothing to do. I
would add that there was one disciple who stayed with Jesus
and that was John. He was right there at the foot
of the cross. along with Jesus' mother, who never forsook Him.
John the Beloved and Jesus' mother, Mary, there at the foot of His
cross, they never forsook Him. But the others did, but they
came back. They came back. Peter denied Jesus. Jesus said
to Peter, and oh, I hope he can say this to me, I have prayed
for you. Satan's going to sift you like
wheat, and I'm going to pray for you. Well, folks, I am always
blessed when any of you ever say, Moose, I'm praying for you. But if I could only know that
Jesus is praying for me, what a blessing that would be. Jesus
told Peter, I have prayed for you. Satan's going to sift you.
but I'm going to pray for you and when you are converted strengthen
your brothers. Well he did just roughly 50 days after Peter denied Jesus in Jerusalem The Holy Spirit comes down and
descends on Peter. And it is Peter who preaches
that message on the day of Pentecost. Peter, the man who denied Jesus. Peter, who denied Jesus. Jesus raises up Peter and says,
okay Peter, you got a few thousand people in front of you, now preach
to them. And Peter did! A glorious message
about the resurrected Christ. And in that congregation were
people who just 50 days before had said, crucify him, crucify
him. Peter preaches to them and they
start weeping. Oh, what shall we do? What shall we do? And it is Peter
who says, repent and be converted. A few thousand people were saved
that day. Through the ministry, by the
way, a few thousand people who had rejected Jesus Christ were
converted under the preaching of a man who had denied Him.
Now, if God can do that with that kind of people, what can
He do with us? What can He do with us? takes a preacher who
denied him and causes a few thousand who have rejected him to become
Christians and multitudes of Gentiles. He was despised and rejected
by us, and now we say, well, he has no former comeliness. that any physical eye should
behold him, but he is the most beautiful person we ever saw
in our lives with the eyes of faith. And we who rejected him have
now received him, and he received us. So Christian, bear this in mind. You're going to be forsaken. It may surprise you how close
to you some of those who reject you are. Maybe relatives, siblings. Do not be surprised. Jesus said
do not be surprised when it happens, and it will, it will. You cannot believe this gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ, and you cannot
believe this gospel of complete liberty from the bondage of the
law without being hated by someone even close to you. Remember this, that even if your
father and your mother forsake you, then Jehovah will take you
up. Now you take great confidence
in that. And let me repeat something I said earlier. You parents let
your children know today and for the rest of their lives how
much you love them. You children, let your parents
know how much you love them and care for them. Never forsake
them. Never forsake them. and never
forsake this Jesus who has never forsaken
you and has saved you. If you have never trusted Him,
do it now. Then you can know that even if
all the world forsakes me, He will not. He will take me up. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look
full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow
strangely dim. in the light of His glory and
grace. Let us pray. Our Father, if the world forsook Your Son
who went about doing good, never did wrong, then they'll forsake
us who follow Him when they do. Take us up. When they drop us,
pick us up. When they reject us, gather us
to your bosom. To your glory in Jesus' name
we pray. Amen.