Good morning. It's a pleasure
to be here, and I'm thankful you all have me. I know some
of you a little bit, some of you well, and some of you not
enough, so I hope I get to know you a little bit more. If you
will be turning to Psalm 56, I wanted to let you know as you
turn there, Psalm 56, I just want to look at one verse. I
want to thank you for having me and my wife here, I pray the
Spirit's with us this morning. That's what our brother just
read there in Psalm 145. It said, The Lord is nigh unto
all them that call upon Him, to them that call upon Him in
truth. I want to call on Him in truth.
I want Him to be nigh unto me and nigh unto you. I want that
this morning. I'm confident the Lord gave me
a message to comfort His people. I hope it comforts them. I want
to thank y'all, too. I'm in California in great measure
because of many of you. Paul said, we preach Christ.
If I just stood out there and talked to a telephone pole, I
might be telling the truth, but it ain't accomplishing too much,
is it? Because of your labors and your
prayers and your efforts, your pastor went out there and preached
to groups of people, and that turned into me going out there.
They appreciate you, they say to tell you hello. I got text
messages this morning from all over the country it seemed like.
Folks were praying for us. I pray the Lord be with us. Here
in Psalm 59, I want to look at one verse briefly. I'm sorry,
Psalm 56 verse 9. Psalm 56 verse 9. David writes here, when I cry
unto thee, Then shall mine enemies turn back. This I know, for God
is for me." David writes, this I know. That means I am sure
of this. I'm certain. I have confidence
beyond shadow of a doubt. God is for me. Think about that. The Almighty God is for me. What a thought! What a thought! Did you know that God is not
for everyone? He's not. He told Jeremiah, He
said, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. He said,
Before you came out of the womb, I sanctified thee and I ordained
thee a prophet unto the nations. He'd ordained this prophet from
before time, before he was born. But then we read over in Romans
9, Paul said, whenever Rebecca had conceived by one, our father
Isaac, the children not being yet born, either having done
any good or evil that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that
calleth, the elder shall serve the younger. So it's written,
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. People get so wrapped
up in it, how could he hate Esau? Sinners say, how could he love
Jacob? How could he be for us? David said, I know, he's for
me. Hosea, he was after Gomer, and the Lord told Hosea, he said,
I'm going to allure her. And he said, I'm going to say
unto her, she shall abide with me many days, she shall not play
the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man, so will I
also be for thee. The Lord told Gomer someone before
that. He didn't tell that to every harlot in the nation. He
told that to Gomer. How could David know? He said,
I know God is for me. How can I know? How can you know?
How can you know? How can we know that God is for
us? Look at him in verse 10. Psalm
56 verse 10. He says, I am God, will I praise
His Word? And the Lord will I praise His
Word." It's going to be through the Lord's Word. It's going to
be in truth through His written Word. Through the Word being
preached across the Word. I believe what this Bible says
about me. That's a miracle of God, isn't
it? For mankind to believe what the
Bible says about everybody born of Adam. I believe what He says
about Himself. Who He is, what He's done. I
believe on what He says about it being finished. He's God Almighty. He came to
do something and He did it. He said, it's finished. I believe
that. You do too, don't you? He's given me faith to believe
Him and to take Him at His Word. And He's given you that faith
to do that. You who believe. You that He's worked in. His
sheep. And He said, God's for us. David said that. I believe him,
I've read his word. He said over Psalm 147, he sendeth
out his word and melteth them. If I can scream it, I can whisper
it, it don't make a difference. If the Lord's pleased to speak
to your hearts, it'll melt you. You'll say, that's what that
says. It'll melt you. You'll know he's for you. I hope
this blesses you. I want to tell you what God says
in his word about him being for his people. And you can jot these
down or I'll give them to you later, these references. I'm
convinced this will be good for us. I'm convinced this will melt
our hearts. I really do. It'll burn in us.
Look here in Psalm 62. Just a couple pages over. Psalm
62. He's our refuge. He says in Psalm
62.8, Trust in Him. At all times, ye people, pour
out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. For us. I know you've faithfully
been taught about that city, those cities of refuge. When
them manslayers, they needed to run there. And they didn't
need to go count the bricks outside. They didn't need to tell you
about the hinges on the door. They needed to go in the city. That
city ain't for you unless you're in the city. I need a great city
of refuge. I don't need walls this high.
I need to be completely surrounded and completely covered. Do you?
The Lord says I'm for you. I'm the refuge. And for my people,
that refuge, God is a refuge for us. A great Savior of great
sinners. I'm a great sinner. I need a
great Savior. That gives great peace, doesn't it? He's for us. Isaiah 26. That peace he gives through being
our refuge is for us. And it's ordained. Isaiah 26
verse 12. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace
for us. He ordained peace for us. He will. He will. I want, you
want peace. I know you do. I want peace.
The Lord ain't going to offer it, or if you can make it over
here, you can have it. He ordained it. He commanded
peace. For who? For us. For us. Luke 1. That's strong, isn't
it? Luke 1. He's the strength of
our salvation. Luke 1, verse 69. That's where Zachariah wouldn't
be able to speak the whole time John the Baptist was in the womb
and then John the Baptist was born and he started talking and
started prophesying. He says in Luke 1 verse 69, speaking
of the Lord said, he's raised up and horn of salvation for
us in the house of his servant David. That's what John the Baptist
will come proclaim. He wasn't that lot. He was just
going to tell you about that lot. They said, are you him?
He said, I ain't him. I'm just a voice. I'm just a
mouthpiece. That's all I am. He's going to
speak to you. He's going to speak to you through
me, but he's going to have to do the talking. And what's he
going to proclaim? That horn of salvation. That
horn means strength. He's the strength of his salvation.
That's the message he sent. That's what he did. And that's
for us. Horn of His salvation for us.
I need a strong salvation. Do you? I need a refuge that's
strong, that'll withstand time. Because if it can be undone,
I'll undo it. He has to be strong, for I'm weak. How is this King,
a refuge that's ordained to peace, that has this strong, this horn
of salvation? How is this? Look here in Galatians
1. Galatians chapter 1 verse 4. Speaking to Christ, he gave himself
for our sins. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sins. This can't be as if. This can't
be pretend. I can't teleport myself or scout
myself into that city refuge. I have to be in there. I have
to experience that strength. He gave himself for our sins.
Look here in chapter 3, verse 13. Galatians 3, 13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse For us. For us. I won't have you turn
there. I was trying to keep all these
in order, but I'm going to skip to 1 John. He said, Hereby perceive
we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought, that's just out
of a debt of gratitude, we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren. Because He laid down His life for us. For us. That's the good shepherd laying
down his life for the sheep. That sounds good. Does that smell
good? We're gonna smell like him. Scriptures
tell us that. They ain't a cologne on this
earth that smells as good as that's gonna smell. Smell like
redemption. Smell like righteousness. Look here at Ephesians 5. Ephesians
5 verse 1. It says, be ye therefore followers
of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved
us and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet smelling savor. A sweet smelling, to be in his
presence, we have to be holy without blame. We have to be
there in love. We have not just, we have to
be cleaned up and then we're okay, you can come in now and
you better keep it cleaned up. The possibility of sinning has
to be removed. And you have to smell good. He
said, that's a sweet smelling savor. You smell like my son,
you look like my son. That's what happened in the Old
Testament, wasn't it? One of them twins, he looked
like his brother, put a coat on to be hairy like his brother,
and he brought the venison of his brother, and he said, you
smell like him. You smell like him. This death
we have in store that's appointed to us, that's leaving this body
of sin. I've never died before. And I don't like doing things
I ain't never done. I'd have some apprehensions about that,
wouldn't you? I don't have to worry about that. Our Redeemer,
He'd live us, and He's our forerunner into that grave. Look there in
Hebrews 6. Hebrews chapter 6. Verse 19. Hebrews 6.19, which hope we have
as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which
entereth into that within the veil, whether the forerunner
is for us entered. How am I going to approach that
throne? There'll come a day I'm gone. I don't know what that's
going to be like. There's words here, but our language
can't enter in. There's no words to describe
what that'll be like going into glory. We have a forerunner.
He's for us, already entered into it for us. That's a comfort,
isn't it? That empty tomb. That's proof
that that Lamb of God who came and laid down His life willingly,
our kinsman redeemer who was related to us and able to redeem
and willing to redeem, that tomb's empty. That's the proof that
lamb was accepted. Look here in Hebrews 9, verse
12. That was for us too. It says,
neither by the blood of goats, Hebrews 9, 12, neither by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. Christ is on his throne. And
David was still surrounded by his enemies there in Gath when
he wrote Psalm 56. You are still in this body of
death. We have a refuge, we have the horn of our salvation, we
have propitiation for our sins, we have a forerunner that's already
there at that throne for us, we have one that intercedes for
us. I'm still here, are you? I may have 30 years left, 40,
I don't know. I still have to get, tomorrow's
coming. I got a Monday morning coming,
don't you? Afflictions come, trials come,
worries come, needs come. What about that? Hebrews 9 verse
24. For Christ does not enter the
holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us." You talk about representation. About having an advocate. The
Son advocates for us. We don't have to speak a word.
You don't have to say a word. I'll do the talking. He's in
the presence of God for us. Knowing that. Knowing it. Not
this ain't, well, that's a good thing, I'll go home and consider
it. Knowing it. That's what the Word says. David
said, I know. Paul didn't say, I think I know.
He said, I know whom I believe. I know this. Why? His Word says
it. I believe Him. You believe Him?
Knowing that. We come boldly to that throne
of grace in times of trouble, and we come there boldly to that
throne of grace in times of joy too, don't we? It's easy to beg
whenever we're hurting, but when we're happy, the Lord did that
too. We've had seasons of joy and decades of joy or 10 minutes,
it don't make a difference. Thank you, Lord, you've done
that. We'll come begging for mercy too. Hebrews 10 verse 19. to have been having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through
the veil, that's to say, His flesh, through His own body.
The Lord's done these things for His people. What love! What kind of people? This kind of people. That's what
me and Brother Mark's talking. Moses was the meekest man that
was on the earth. They know what the scriptures
say. And he killed a fellow and hid the body. That's what I'll teach
us about what mankind's meekness is. Sinners, people that were
at war with, I don't want to get ahead of myself, people that
were at war with God. We hated him. We might have been
playing religion, we may have owned Bibles, we may have said
some churchy stuff. I hated God and I was wielding
the sword of five-point Calvinism as hard as I could. I was apologetic
because I wasn't apologizing to nobody. I wanted to argue
everybody because I wanted to be right. I wanted to win. And
then Lord come save me. That whole time I was looking
for the glory. I was looking for being right. I was looking
for people to know my name. He was for me. What love, buddy? What love? He says it in His Word, and the
Lord changes not. Everything He said to the saints
of old, He says to the saints in this day and the saints to
come. Peace, please. It's one of those real simple
things. If the Lord decides he's going to do something some way,
a better way ain't coming. There's going to be no better
way. By the foolishness of preaching, this is how I'm going to save
my leg. A new way ain't coming. That's the best. He don't learn
from his mistakes like we do. He don't make mistakes. It's
right for eternity. He tells his people, I'm for
you. I'm for you. if believers, if we, would really
get a hold of that. Real simple things. The almighty
triune God of heaven, earth, and the universe is for us. For
us. That'll change everything. That'll
stop our fears, that'll ease our sorrows, it'll put away anxiety
and worry. What's tomorrow hold? My God's
on His throne, who cares? It'll be fine. Now it may be
uncomfortable, Poor Job, he lost everything he had, didn't he?
Family's gone, property's gone, cattle's gone. His wife stayed.
Good picture there. His bride, she said, she said,
curse God and die. I didn't know that. Now he rent
his clothes and he shaved his head and hit the ground. He said,
the Lord gave and the Lord took away. Bless be the name of the
Lord. He was in pain, but he knew God was for him. God was
for him. Remember Matthew 28? Contentment
and rest comes with that. He said, Go ye therefore teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all the things
whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always. How long, Lord? Wouldn't you
think that? I'm for you. How long are you
for me? Children ask stuff like that, don't you? He said, you're
going to be like a child in my kingdom. How long, Lord? He said,
even unto the end of the world. All the way to the end, buddy.
Amen. That word there, I am with you always. You know what another
translation of that is? You go looking up in words. I am for you. You go preach and
you know. Don't think about it. Don't remotely
consider it to be a possibility. Know I am for you. I'm with you,
I'm for you until the end of the world, until you're with
me. I'm for you until we're looking at each other face to face and
you're just like me. There has never been and nor
there will ever be a moment when Christ was not for His people.
From eternity past to eternity future. Never. He's always been for His people.
And I know some would say, well what if I'm a bad sinner? What if I'm a chief of sinners?
Paul wrote in Romans 5, for God commendeth His love towards us.
All this love, all this being for somebody. This mercy. He commended that love towards
us in that while we were yet sinners, we didn't want nothing
to do with Him, we hated Him. Christ died for us. We're all
on the same boat. You get on a plane, go down to
Mexico, or you go over to Africa, or you go down to India, or you
go to Australia, go wherever. The Lord's for His people. And
they say, I can't believe it. For me? For a sinner like me? I know what I am. He's convinced
me of sin. When we see Him and His holiness
and His greatness and His mercy, then we start getting an idea
of what we are. More he's lifted up that he must increase. I must
decrease what John the Baptist said wouldn't Because he's for
us He was for us before we were even here and he told like just
like I told Jeremiah in the womb He said I put you there because
I'm for you I'm for you He said, I know the thoughts that I think
towards you, saith the Lord of Peace, not of evil, not to be
mean to you, but to give you an expected end, an expected
outcome. I'm going to conform you to the
image of my Son. Then, when He tells us He's for us
in the heart, not in the ear, not in the head, when it goes
down to the heart, then you shall call on me and you shall go and
pray unto me and I will hearken unto you. He hears us. I think it's amazing I can call
Brother Angus Fisher on a cell phone and there ain't no lag.
Years ago there used to be a lag when I talked to you on the other
side of the earth. God hears his people. He said, you'll call on me then
and I'll hearken to you and you shall seek my face and find me
when you'll search me for all your heart. You want to do that? I want to, I don't think I can.
I know I can't. He's gonna have to do that for
me. That's what David prayed too, wasn't it? He said, when thou
sayest, seek my face, my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord,
will I seek. Now you make me seek you. Make
me trust you. Make me believe your word when
your word says I'm for you in any way, shape, it's every angle,
isn't it? I'm your redemption, I'm your refuge, I'm your strength.
He's everything. If we are in Christ, our hope
is solely in his person and his work, and we're given a new heart
to solely lean on his word, then God's for us. And we'll seek
his face, and we'll seek his word, and we'll seek his will.
Lord, thy will be done. Because he's right. What he does
is right. Before time, God was for His
people. Before we were born, before that
Roman cross was ever there, before all these scriptures were fulfilled,
God was for His people. Is that legitimate? That's good news and it gets
better. Will that stand the test of time? Him doing that, Him
being for sinners that hated Him, a horrible bride, that we
are. Is that holy? He's justified
us and He's for us. Is it just? Is it right? Is it righteous? For the God
of heaven and earth to be for me, He had to be against Christ. He had to take everything that
He's against in me and make Christ that so that I'd be made the
righteousness of God in Him. This past six months, his face
was marred more than the image of any man. His mother didn't
recognize him. I've seen some people banged up pretty bad.
I've been through war a couple times. And I thought, how bad
could that be? And I thought, in the sight of
the father, he looked like me. That's how marred he was. There's a lot of verses where
the Lord tells us what he's against and it would do this generation
good. It do all mankind good to be taught in the heart that
God's against the people outside of Christ. There's no such thing
as unconditional love. It's conditioned on his son and
us being in him. There Mark 15, ninth hour, Jesus
cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lam the sabachthani,
which is interpreted, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? He said that so we would know
he was forsaken. He was forsaken because the triune God was for
his people. Does that make you abhor yourself? Sin? Well, let's go out and sin
more so grace may abound. God forbid! We start understanding
what those things mean. All that vain iniquity in the
religion. We don't see our loatheness until
we see the Lord Jesus Christ exalted high. That's why it had
to take place. Now, there's a question. We understand
those things the Lord's taught us those things. I want to ask
a question turn over Romans 8 Romans chapter 8 Based on what we know David said
this I know only how do we know God's Word says so Romans 8 verse
31 What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? Is God for us? If we're in Christ, he's for
us. And if he's for us, who can be against us? You know, I wrote
down in my Bible next to that, even me. I can't mess this up. It's good
news. Even me. Even me. Look at verse
32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? We're made joint heirs with Christ. All spiritual blessings and heavenly
places in Him. We're joint heirs with Him. But
on this earth, while we're here, salvation's accomplished, eternity's
set. It can't be undone, it's finished.
But I'm still here. You're still here. There's some
hard times. Y'all in the middle of hard times right now and you've
been in them for a while. I know, things are tough all over. Man's
days are short and they got nothing but trouble in them. Full of
tribulation. Right now, if we have a need, all of heaven will
be opened. And all the resources from that
high holy command at his disposal will be instantly used to provide
every need that his people have if he's full. We won't lack anything. We won't. My soul is his. He gave me a
new heart. He's preserved it forever. While
I'm on this earth, he provides everything I need. Now, like
a child, I have children. They want a lot of stuff. And
they don't want what they ought to want. They don't want to go
to work and they do want toys or whatever. But I love them
and they don't like me too much because I say no to some things
and I say you are going to do some other things. But they'll
thank me when they're 30. I hope. He's a faithful father. He knows what I want, but he
knows more importantly what I need. And we had a need that only his
son could provide. And he spared not his own son,
he delivered him up for us all. And along with his son, he'll
also give us freely anything we need in this corner. whatever
in our lifetime. And that, I always see the pattern
of it's, the Lord changes not, and he's a God of order, and
it happens in the home that he's established, it happens in a
local assembly, and it happens in that church throughout time.
It's systemic, it happens all the way through. In the home,
a trusting parent and teenagers, they don't seem to trust for
nothing. They question everything mom and dad says. And I've not
once have I had one of my teenagers come up and say, dad, did you
clip some coupons for the grocery store? Do you have an adjustable
rate mortgage? How's that working for you? How's
the homeownership? Not once have they asked me about
those things. They don't worry about the food.
They don't worry about the shelter. They enjoy it. They worry about
all the stuff that don't matter, don't they? But they trust me
in those big things and they don't trust me in the little
things. What happens in a local assembly? God sends a faithful
man to preach, and you bring your families in, those you love,
and you trust their souls to God to speak through that fellow,
and God might save your family and your loved ones and your
friends. And he says, you know what, I think we ought to have
green carpet. And what heaven in the world could you know the
deal? Or whatever, I don't know, pick something. The lines on
the parking lot ought to go this way. I don't trust you to make
him decisions. You trust him to preach to your souls. They
can swing a parking lot, can't they? How much more our Lord. The body of Christ was provided
for us. He was made sin for us. And then I foolishly worry about
carnal things. How am I going to make ends meet
next month? You think he can't take care
of that? Biggest enemy I got in this world
is the fellow that shades my face every morning. Elisha, the
king of Syria wanted to kill Elisha. He was chasing him down.
And he had a servant with him. And that servant said, Elisha,
I think we're in trouble, buddy. They've got us surrounded. And
he said, fear not, for they that be with us are more than they
that be with them. Lord's sent angels have charge
over you and your feet, every step you take. And Elisha, he
wasn't speaking in a metaphor, he wasn't having a spiritual
application he was trying to impart to this young servant.
He was speaking physically, literally. And he took him outside and he
said, Lord, I pray, open this boy's eyes and let him see what
was on them heels all around. Flaming chariots of fire. Did
you see that, son? He prayed his eyes be opened
and they was. Elijah prayed also for them Syrians,
they'd be blinded. And he talked to them, he led
them away. He said, come on, you look for somebody, I'll help
you find him, come on. And he took them right smack dab to
Samaria where Israel was, their enemy. And then they opened their
eyes again. And the king of Israel said to
Elisha, he saw him, he said, my father, shall I smite them?
And he says it again, shall I smite them? You brought them right
to us, we'll kill every one of them. Lord's took care of us,
ain't he? And Elisha said, he answered,
he said, Thou shalt not smite them. Wouldst thou smite those
whom thou hast taken captive by the sword and the bow? You go set bread and water before
them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master. Now wait
a second, there's chariots of fire all over this place. The
Lord's for us. And then we want to be like them
sons of thunder and call down fire. I do. And the Lord said,
you ain't got to write the Spirit in you. The spirit's wrong. And so Elisha told that king,
he said, you go prepare a great provision for them. And when
they've eaten and drunk, you send them back to their master.
And so they did so. If the Lord teaches us, he's
for us, and he'll provide for our eternal souls and this carnal
body he has me in right now. He'll teach us to go tell others
God's for them, for our brethren, for the furtherance of the gospel,
won't he? Your enemies, there's compassed all about you, so praise
for those that despitefully use you. And you've set out a great
provision. You set out bread and water for
them, Christ the living bread, Christ the living water. Give
that to them, and maybe they'll turn to their masters, won't
they? David said in Psalm 56, when
I cry unto thee, there will be tears involved, then shall mine
enemies turn back. This I know, God is for me. You still in Romans eight? Look
here in verse 31. Romans 8, 31. What shall we then
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who's
he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress,
persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sores, hard times going
to make this stop? As it is for written, for thy
sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep
for the slaughter. That's real bad. No, that's real
good. I'm a sheep. I'm defenseless. I have no natural
ability. I need a shepherd. And that shepherd's
for us. And in our trouble we'll cry.
Verse 37, Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through
him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, this is sweet to me, nor life. We're at that age in our,
we're running around with heads with their chickens cut off.
There's teenagers going everywhere. Life gets in the way, don't it?
No, it won't. Life ain't gonna get in the way
if God's for you. I'm persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now David said he knew, didn't he?
Look here at chapter 9 verse 1, what's it say? I say the truth
in Christ, I lie not. Paul says, I know too. Do you
know? Do you? Has He made you to know,
has He made you to believe what He says in His Word? I pray God
will comfort us. I pray He'll be for us and with
us and He'll make us know it. I need Him for me and I want
Him to tell me He's for me too, don't you? Alright, I appreciate
y'all. We'll be with you and hopefully
meet again Tuesday. Thank you.