If you have turned back to Psalm
46, I'd like to read verse 1 and 2. Verse 1 and 2. God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will
not we fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea. Now the subject this morning
is earthquake but not heartquake. Earthquake but not heartquake. Now I hope that I can have your
attention for a while here today that the Lord will be pleased
to use this message to help establish each one of us in the doctrine
of this psalm. The doctrine of this psalm is
that happen what may, the Lord's people are happy and secure. The Lord's people are blessed
and they are secure. Now the song of holy confidence
is what we have here before us. This is a psalm of holy confidence. Now this psalm is a song for
all who are truly the chosen of God It's for all those who
are called out of the world by the effectual calling of God's
grace, those that are His own, those that belong to Him. Oh, to have that fearless courage
that is spoken of in this psalm, to be able to rest ourself in
the Lord and to be able to encourage ourself in our God. Well, we
ought to have this. We ought to have this. God is
our refuge and strength. He's a very present help in trouble,
and whatever happens, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof,
We ought to be able to have this fearless courage and confidence
that the writer of this psalm expresses here. The peace of
God, which passeth all understanding, will keep the heart and the mind
of all who truly rest themselves in God. God will keep them. He'll keep their hearts and their
minds. If indeed the Lord be our refuge
and strength, we're entitled, I believe, to seek after a spirit
which will bear us up above the dreads of common men. We are privileged to be able
to seek a spirit which will bear us up so that we will not act
as men act in the time of earthquake, in the time of, and I speak that
in a spiritual way, in a time when the foundations are shaken. in a time when in our lives it
appears that they're coming apart at the seams. We're privileged
to seek a spirit that will stand us instead and lift us up above
the dread of common men. It is not every man that can
sing this psalm. No, to sing this psalm you must
be a believer. You must believe God. You must
be a believer. And you must have God to be your
God. Your God. Our God. Listen to what it says. God is
our refuge and strength. And you must be a prayerful soul
or you cannot sing this song of peace amid the commotion and
the calamities of this world unless you believe God, belong
to God, are owned by God, and have appropriated God to be your
God. And unless you're trusting Him
and praying to Him, you'll not have this peace and this rest. and this courage, confidence
that is spoken of here in this psalm. Now while this is a psalm
for all Israel, it was especially a psalm for the sons of Korah.
Now you might remember something about Korah, Dathom, and Abiram. You remember that they were presumptuous
souls and they opposed Moses and opposed the leadership of
Moses. And you remember that there came
a time when they were called together, and God opened up the
earth and swallowed them. And back in the book of Numbers
chapter 26, if you have your Bibles, you might want to turn
back there with me. In the book of Numbers chapter
26, and look at verse 9 and 10, and the sons of Elab, Well, let's
just start right here. These words are not necessary
for us to read This is that Dathom and Abiram which were famous
in the congregation who strove against Moses and against Aaron
in the company of Korah when they strove against the Lord
they were in opposition to Moses and to his leadership and the
earth opened up her mouth and swallowed them up together with
Korah when that company died and what time the fire devoured
250 men, and they became a sign. Now look at verse 11. Notwithstanding,
the children of Korah died not. Notwithstanding, the children
of Korah died not." Now all that appertained unto these men were
swallowed up, but the children of Korah, they died not. This is astonishing indeed because
it reveals here that They escaped, that is, the sons of Korah, the
children of Korah, escaped, and I attribute their escape to the
sovereign grace of God who spared them. Now, they were made singers
in the courts of the Lord. They were a division of the Levites,
and they were to sing this psalm. They were to sing this psalm. If you take note here, it's a
song upon Alamoth, They were to be the virgin singers of Israel,
and they were to sing that the psalm was to be pitched in a
high pitch, and these soprano singers, they were to sing this
psalm, and these were the children of Korah. And they were in the
courts of the Lord. And surely, as they would sing
this song, they would emphasize these words here in verse 2,
Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though
the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Because
surely there must have been a tear in their eyes when they sung
these words in thought of the very earth opening up. under
the feet of their ancestors. The circumstances under which
a man is saved, I believe, will influence his life, will influence
the rest of his life, and surely these singers were influenced
by what God had done in sparing them by sovereign grace. God
had delivered the children of Korah and they were spared and
became singers in the courts of the Lord to sing this psalm,
this particular psalm. And what confidence they must
have had in the grace of God that God had mightily spared
them that they might be able to live to sing out this song
of confidence unto God. Now, delivered from so great
a death as we have been, Believers trust, they learn to trust, that
the Lord will yet deliver them. In 2 Corinthians 1 and verse
10 it said, Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth
deliver, in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. Now,
beloved, our lives are one deliverance after another, are they not?
Just one deliverance after another. And we find ourselves constantly
praying unto God to deliver us anew, to resolve our problems
and to resolve our situations and to deliver us anew. Now,
if God saved us, And we know that God does save His people. He delivers them with a mighty
salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, through His redemptive
work. If God saves His people, then
certainly He has pledged Himself in that act alone to continue
to save His people, to deliver them. So it's salvation today,
it's salvation tomorrow. You can believe that if God has
saved you, that He is going to save you, He will continue to
save you right to the end. And salvation is deliverance. That's what it is. That's what
the word means. It means deliverance. Now in
Psalm 34 and 19, it says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Meaning that God
is saving his people out of their afflictions all their life long. As they continue to live and
walk in their pilgrimage, God is delivering his people. Now
then, I want us to talk a little bit here this morning. There's
three things here in this psalm that I want us to consider. And
number one is we want to look at the confidence of the saints
of God because this is a psalm of holy confidence. And the second
thing we want to look at is the courage which grows out of the
confidence of God's people. That courage which enables the
people of God to stand fearless in this world while the foundations
of the earth is shaking under them. And the third thing we
want to close by looking at some of the conflicts in life which
that courage will be sure to be exposed to. Some of the conflicts
that we're going to run into in this life that this courage
which God gives us, which is built and based upon His faithfulness,
is going to be exposed to as we live out our life here in
this world. I hope to be brief. You listen
carefully to what we have to say. First of all then, let's
consider the confidence of the saints of God. Now God's people
have a sure confidence. God is our refuge. and strength, a very present
help in trouble. Now beloved, this is the foundation
of the sure confidence of God's people. True believers, they
rest upon the rock of ages. They rest upon their God. Now in Isaiah chapter 36 and
verse 4, the question is asked, By the king of Assyria, it's
asked of the people of Israel, the followers on subjects of
King Hezekiah, this question is asked. Now, here is the king
of, he calls himself a great king, of Assyria, Sennacherib. He is going to invade Israel. And he asked the people of Israel
this question, what confidence is this wherein thou trustest? What confidence is this wherein
thou trustest? Now, beloved, it would do us
all good this morning to ask ourselves that question. And
if you were to read on in this chapter, you would find that
Hezekiah had persuaded these people, the people of Israel,
to trust in God, even though this great and powerful king
of Assyria was about to come in and invade the land and take
them over, as he had been very successful to do in other places. And this king said, neither let
Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, the Lord will surely
deliver us. This city shall not be delivered
into the hand of the king of Syria. Don't let him tell you
that. Hearken not to Hezekiah. Thus
saith the king of Assyria. And so the king of Assyria is
asking the question, what is this confidence in which thou
trustest? What is it? Well, we see that
Hezekiah, he prayed unto the Lord in chapter 37, Saying, O
Lord of hosts, that's in verse 16, God of Israel, that dwellest
between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of
all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth.
Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear, and open your eyes, and,
O Lord, see and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath
sent to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of
Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries,
and have cast their gods into the fire. For there were no gods,
but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they
have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God,
save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may
know that Thou art the Lord, even Thou only." And so the Lord
sent a message through Isaiah unto Hezekiah that he would deliver. And if you would look over at
verse 33 of chapter 37, Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning
the king of Assyria, he shall not come into this city, nor
shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast
a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the
same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith
the Lord. For I will defend this city to
save it for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
Then the angel of the Lord went forth and smoked in the camp
of the Assyrians a hundred, fourscore, and five thousand, and when they
arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpse. So
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed and went and returned
and dwelt at Nineveh, and he went to worship. And when he
went to worship in the house of Nisroch, his god, Adrammelech
and Shezrezer, his sons, they smote him with the sword, and
they escaped into the land of Arminia, and Eshraden, his son,
reigned in his stead. And so you see the confidence
of Hezekiah and the people of God in Israel was in the Lord
their God, and the Lord their God delivered them with a mighty
deliverance. God heard the prayer of Hezekiah
and delivered this people. But what was their confidence?
Their confidence, and this word needs to go out to all those
great men of the earth, the confidence of the people of God is the living
God himself. It's the rock of ages. It's the
Lord. That's the confidence of God's
people, and this is the one in whom we trust. in Jeremiah 17
verses 5 and 8. Let me read these words to you.
Jeremiah 17 verses 5 through 8. Thus saith the Lord, Cursed
be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and
whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the
heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but
shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt
land not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a
tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots
by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh. But her leaves
shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Those that trust in the
Lord. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. Beloved, that's our
confidence. The confidence of God's people,
that in which we trust, is the living God. Now the confidence
of God's people is altogether beyond themselves. The confidence
of God's people is altogether beyond themselves. They do not
now nor did they ever trust in their own virtue, their own valor
or wisdom. God's people have never, I'm
saying the Lord's people, have never trusted in their own virtue,
valor or wisdom. Now though the earth be removed,
The child of God is undismayed, and this does not arise from
his own personal self-sufficiency, but from the God who is his refuge
and his strength. Now, the child of God can be
fearless, not because of his original stoutness of heart and
natural firmness of will, but because he has a God that will
shelter and uphold him. You can afford, if you're a child
of God, to be resolute and fearless. Because you have a God that is
pledged to be your refuge and your strength and to be a very
present help to you in the time of trouble. Now, beloved, if
he does not fear calamity, if a child of God does not fear,
calamity and fear the earthquakes of life. If he does not fear
them, it is because he fears God and God alone. God is our
all in all as believers. We are trusting the Lord. And
if we are not overcome by fear, it's because we fear God and
because we trust Him. Now this psalm begins with God
and it ends with God, the God of Jacob. is our refuge. We may be timid by nature, but
God is our refuge. We're weak by nature, but God
is our strength. The Lord is our strength. Now,
beloved, we never know what strength is till our own weakness drives
us to trust God and to trust omnipotence. You never really
know what it is until you're driven to it. until God shows
you your great weakness and causes you to cast yourself upon His
strength and upon His omnipotent power. We never know how safe
we are in this refuge, the Lord, until all other refuges fail
us. And let me make this abundantly
clear to you this morning, that all other refuges are lies. All other refuge besides God
is a lie. You say, I think I've got a pretty
good hedge against trouble, pretty good hedge against problems coming.
Listen, beloved, all other refuge is a lie but the living God. If you don't trust Him and rely
upon Him, if He's not the one that's delivered you from fear
and from the fear of calamity and commotion that's going on
in the world, then, beloved, you're not delivered. When the
earth is removed, and the waters of the sea roar and are troubled,
being as it were driven both from land and sea, the child
of God hides himself in the Lord. He confides in God, he trusts
the Lord. Now if we look to ourselves for
courage, we're going to fail in the hour of trial. We're bound
to fail in the hour of trial because we're broken reeds. Broken
reeds, we're weak in and of ourselves and only God can sustain us. Now the man who trusteth in his
own heart, we read in Proverbs 28 and 26, is a fool. A man who trusteth in his own
heart is a fool. Now, I want you to look at this
with me. The next thing I want to mention
is that this confidence is gained by an appropriating faith. Don't forget this personal, possessive
word, are. O-U-R, are. Now this is very
important that we see this. Now brother, sister, peace, real
peace, divine peace, it comes to me and you, not only by what
God is, but what God is to me as an individual. Somebody said,
well I heard a great message on who God is. Well that's wonderful. I'm thankful for men who preach
who God is. But beloved, it's what He is
to me. that makes me have peace and confidence in Him. What is
God to you? Is this God? Listen to these
words. God is our refuge. There must be an appropriating
faith. Now He's our refuge and strength.
This God is our God. And you never enjoy the goodness
and the greatness of God if you look at them in an abstract manner. You must grasp them as your own. That they belong to you. That
God is your God. And that you're trusting Him
as your own. Jeremiah said, The Lord is my
portion, saith my soul. Therefore will I hope in Him. He is my portion. Now is the
Lord your portion? You'll never be able to have
this confidence. You'll never be able to rest
in this world wherein you find so much disturbance and wherein
there is so many uncertainties. You'll never be able to rest
unless you appropriate this God and unless He becomes your portion
as an individual, you'll not be able to rest. The deep peace
and the set of confidence which is our right and privilege will
not be ours unless by faith We take the Lord to be ours in all
the fullness of His love and grace. Let each of us say this
morning, and say it in faith, God is our refuge. God is our
refuge and strength. Now note that this confidence
will be strengthened, I think, and sustained by clear knowledge
of God, by growing knowledge of the living God. The scripture
says, acquaint thyself with God and be at peace. thereby good
shall come unto thee." Now poor soul, this morning, listen to
me, you would be much happier if you knew the Lord better.
If you just knew the Lord better, you would feel more secure. You
would be happier. You'd be able to rest better
if you just knew the Lord better. Now the philosophers tell us
that the proper study of mankind is man. Now this is a deplorable,
barren subject. Man, it is certainly a subject
that we're wasting our time on if we take it up and just give
ourselves over to it. We say that the proper study
of mankind is God. is God. Yet God is only known
by revelation. And you cannot really know Him
if you don't know Him. You cannot know Him apart from
revelation. Yet, my friend, He is not hiding
from His own. And we ought to know more about
God today than we did a year ago. We ought to know more about
it. We ought to be studying the Word of God, and we ought to
be asking God to instruct us. Every child of God ought to be
able to speak of the Lord with this threefold description that
we find in this psalm. He is our refuge, He is our strength,
and He's our very present help. And experientially we've learned
it, we believe it, We've experienced it in our own lives. He's our
very present help in the time of trouble. Every child of God
ought to be able to speak of God just that way. He's my refuge,
He's my strength, and He's my help. He's the one that has drawn
near to help me. We can boldly say the Lord is
our helper and we need not fear what man shall do unto us. Now the more we know the Lord,
the more we see the fullness of the blessings that are in
Him, the blessings that are in Him. If you want to know how
rich you are, my friend, know the Lord better. Just know Him
better. You all are rich in the Lord.
The man that is in a position of honor and understands it not
is like the beast that perishes. My friend, if God has blessed
you and put you in his Son and blessed you with all spiritual
blessings in Christ, then you ought to be trying to find out
something about those blessings, the blessings of that covenant.
They that know thy name, Daniel said, will put their trust in
thee. Those that know your name, they'll
put their trust in you. Listen, your peace will be far
fuller and deeper if you know the deep things of God and the
secret things which God reveals to His own by His Spirit. And
God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit. And those that
have had the revelation of God in their hearts They feel more
secure because they know who God is and they know the blessings
that God is willing and has imparted unto them. Now you'll not be
afraid of evil tidings if God is teaching you and revealing
himself to you. You'll not be afraid of them
because your heart will be fixed, trusting in the Lord. That's
the words of the Psalms. If you are a timid and fearful
believer, seek to grow. in the knowledge of God. Seek
to study this book and listen to it preached. Then you'll be
able to say, therefore will we not fear though the earth be
removed. We'll not be afraid if we one
day look up and the earth is moving under us. And my friend,
the day will come when your world will move around you. Now, God's
people are often perplexed in this world. But beloved, they're
not in despair. They are not in despair. God's
people know that God will undertake. This world we know is full of
danger, and yet we know that we're in no danger, the Lord
being near. A very present help in the time
of trouble. A very present help in the time
of trouble. The heart is placid, and that
means that it's undisturbed, that it's peaceful. The heart
is resting, fixed on the Lord, and is resting in the Lord. Now
the place or the peace that the believer has is no pretense of
peace, but it's a divine reality which the world neither created,
neither can the world destroy. It is of a divine creation. It's a gift of God. My peace
I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. I say the world didn't create
it, and the world cannot destroy it, whatever becomes of us and
whatever happens to us here in this world. And then let me say
also that this courage which arises out of the confidence
that we have in the Lord is logically justifiable. No calamity will
ever change God's love to His people. Let happen what will,
nothing will ever change this. that God from old has set His
love and affection upon His people and that nothing will ever change
that love. Nothing. You can read the 8th
chapter of the Book of Romans and you see that there is nothing
that can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Earthquake, famine, tempest,
pestilence, war. Whatever, life or death, whatever
cannot separate us from the love of God. And if God loves me,
then beloved, listen, this courage is justifiable. If God loves me, I can trust
God. Now, listen to me, these temporal
calamities do not touch the vital matters. They do not touch the
vital matter, however you want to say it. Such things have no
bearing on the love of God. The things that happen in your
life, it doesn't extract you from the love of God, take you
away from God's care. It doesn't change anything from
God's standpoint, except maybe that it makes the love of God
more clear to us. It just makes it more real to
us. These calamities, they do not
have any effect. God loves His people and that
love is unquenchable. God will never, never turn His
love away from His people. Suppose that the most awful things
were to occur. Would they not occur according
to God's decrees? Would they occur? I mean, is
there any way that something can happen and yet God hath not
in His love decreed it? For His people we believe in
a God who works all things after the counsel of His own will,
Ephesians 1 and verse 11 tells us that. Do you believe that
anything is left to chance? Has God left anything in our
lives to chance? If any event, is there any event
that's outside the circle of divine predestination? Is there
anything that can happen? My brothers and sisters, there
are no contingencies. There are no contingencies, and
I mean by that that things are not—well, somebody said things
are liable to happen, Preacher. Well, things are not liable to
happen. Things, there is no such thing
as chance or possibility, possible events with God. Possible happenings,
no, under no circumstances. God guides all according to his
infallible wisdom. And there isn't any such things
as contingencies with God. A chance, somebody said, well
there's a chance that this will happen, a chance that that will
happen. My friend, there is no such thing as that when it comes
to faith in the living God. God controls. Either He does
or He doesn't. And I believe He does. Because
He's God. And to be God, He must control
and He must guide all things by His infallible wisdom. Nothing
can happen but what God ordains. And why should we fear? Why should
we be afraid? Why shouldn't we be courageous?
Why, if we trust God, why should we fear? Now the Lord says, behold,
I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire. He says, I have created the waster
to destroy, and the most violent, and the most vicious, and the
most evil, and wicked men could not move a finger If strength
were not lent of God to that individual, not lent by God to
that individual, he could not move. Listen, face it this morning,
that God controls this thing, and it's in the hands of the
Lord. Say what you will. You say, I can't understand that.
Listen, if you could understand it, I'd be afraid of it. You
say, I just simply can't figure that out. Well, listen to me,
my friend, just worship God. Worship God. That's what we ought
to do. And if you can figure out God,
you wouldn't worship Him. And nobody ought to worship a
God they can figure out with their logical mind. We worship
God because He is God, absolutely, who shakes the earth. Is it not
God who looks on it, and it just trembles? My friend, it is. God is in control. Now, our Heavenly
Father works all things. Why should His children fear
if God's working out everything? The Lord overrules all to the
good of His people. Even what is called evil is turned
to good account. I have told you over and over
again that the good that God brings out are bad. is better many times than the
good that he brings out of good. God is the only one that can
bring good out of bad. One preacher said, the Lord's
goodness extracts the viper's truth, the viper's tooth, and
supplies an antidote to the poison. Brethren, this is true. The Lord's
goodness extracts the viper's tooth and provides and supplies
an antidote for the poison that the viper shot into the child
of God. Isn't that a marvelous and amazing
thing? Beloved, it's true. It's true. You're going to have
to face it. You're going to have to face it if you're ever going
to be able to rest. in this world, that God is in control, that
God is controlling all things. Who is He that can harm you if
you be followers of that which is good, the Bible says, and
of course that means the Lord and it means His ways. We're
followers of God and followers of His way. No weapon, the Bible
says, that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every
tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment Thou shalt condemn
as a child of God living in this world. Now, moreover, nothing
can shake the kingdom of God. And so this courage is justifiable
because nothing can shake God's kingdom. Our best possessions
lie in that kingdom. And the scripture says that a
man's life does not consist of the abundance of the things that
he possesses in this life. Beloved, our best possessions
are there with the Lord. They're laid up there with Him.
And listen to me, they're all secure and they're safe there
because they're in the Lord's hands. The gates of hell will
not prevail against the Lord's kingdom. Our most vital interests
are very safe and they're beyond the shadow of harm. Our vital
interests. I mean the things that really
matter. They're secure and they're safe. Why should we fear ever
the worst things that could possibly happen? If you were to, I'd ask
you this morning, what you would think would be the worst possible
thing that could happen to you, why should we be afraid? You
say, well, I think, Preacher, the worst possible thing that
could happen to me is that I would fall over dead. You're a child
of God and you think that's the worst possible thing that could
happen to you? My friend, listen to me this
morning. We realize that death Is an enemy you can ask the widow. She'll tell you that you can
ask the the uh, the uh, Mother and the father that's lost the
child. They'll tell you death is an enemy and death is an enemy
to the natural man But let me tell you this this morning that
the child of god here in this world that death means for the
believer that he will be forever and ever with the Lord in the
fellowship and presence of God Almighty. Death and then glory. You've got to go through the
one to get to the other. And you cannot be glorified together
with Jesus Christ except you die in this body and this body
be put off. And so that's not the worst thing
that can happen. You say, well, preacher, that
seems to me like the worst thing. Well, if it is, then mark it
off because it's death and then eternal glory for the people
of God all throughout eternity. And I'll tell you what we do.
And every one of us are guilty of it. Those that have come to
any age whatsoever in the Lord, we're all guilty of it. We ride
off. Heaven and all the glory and
the bliss that is to come and we deal with this world Just
on the basis of the of the plus and minuses that we experience
in this world and that's where we're in trouble That's where
we're in trouble either heaven is what God has promised it will
be and heaven is listen if we have hope in this life only Paul
said we're of all men most miserable and I mean there's nothing that
is in this life that would make it worth all that we have to
experience if it were not for that day that's coming when we
will be with the Lord for all eternity. Somebody said, well,
isn't life fair? No, life is not fair. Somebody
said, isn't there justice in this world? No justice in this
world. The justice is in the world to
come, and the fairness is with God. And that's when we need,
this is what we must quit writing off. Eternal glory. We've got
to get our eyes on that incorruptible inheritance that is laid up for
the people of God. And look at it, and look at it
every day. And we'll be able to deal with
the injustices in this world and those problems that arises
here. If we just look away and quit
thinking that it's so bad to die, and so bad to leave this
world, and so bad to go out into eternity, if you're a child of
God in Christ, if Christ has been made your wisdom, righteousness,
justification, and redemption, my brother, my sister, to die
is great gain for the child of God. Quit being afraid of death! Death for the child of God has
lost its sting, and for the child of God it means an eternity with
the Lord forever. Now this fearlessness is very
profitable indeed, I think, in this world. Oh, to have a whole
flock of God's people that have this fearlessness. This courage. They're not afraid. They're trusting
the Lord. I'm saying now that we're timid
in ourselves, weak in ourselves, but our strength is in the Lord.
He's our refuge, He's our help, and we're trusting Him to have
a whole church of people that are fearless, trusting the Lord. Listen, it's very profitable
because people that are trusting God and not afraid, they generally
are not foolish people. They generally are not the kind
of people that's gonna panic. They're not the kind of people
that's just gonna just jump into something, into a bunch of folly. No, they're not that kind of
people. And they're the kind of people
that their lives just magnify the Lord and glorify God because
they're not afraid. They know God is in control.
They know that if God said, you control it, they know that they'd
be more afraid than what they are right now. They know that.
And brother, sister, the day the Lord comes to me and says,
I'm just going to let you run the rest of this show, that's
the day I'm going to get mighty afraid. That's the day I'm going
to start squirming in my boots. I'll tell you that. When God
says, I'm going to leave it to you from now on. You think you've
got it in your hands, my friend? If you've got it in your hand
with your little puny brain and what you know, you got it in
your hand, you're in trouble. You're in serious, serious trouble. Now then, If the world ever looks
upon a man or a woman who has this courage, this fearlessness,
they'll have to say, well, this is a man of God indeed. This
is an individual that God has done a work in. God has done
a work in their soul. This is the finger of God. This
is God. This is what God has done. This
person is calm. Placid this person is peaceful
and at rest undismayed this person is is Resting in the Lord God
surely has done something in that purpose in that person's
life now Be still and know that I'm God he said in verse 10 be
still and know that that I am God. I'm going to be exalted
among the heathen. Yay! Not only among the heathen,
but in the whole world! I'm going to be exalted. Listen
to me. That's the purpose of God. And you say what you want
to about how you think this whole thing is going to wind up, how
it's all going to finish. But I'll tell you how it's going
to finish. It's going to finish with God being exalted among
the heathen, and it's going to finish with God being exalted
in the earth. That's how it's going to finish.
That is the purpose of God. And you say it's all out of control,
this thing is all in a mess. Say whatever you want to. When
it's over with, God's going to be exalted among the heathen
and in the earth. Be still and know that He's God. Rest yourself. Don't be so upset
about everything that's going on. Calm yourself down. Be still and know that I'm God. God's working to that end and
He knows best how to bring it to that end. Is that right? I
think it is. Okay, now listen, the last thing and we'll close.
I wanted to hear about the conflicts to which this courage will be
exposed in this world. Now, if you are fearless, which
I'd like for you to be, and if you are courageous, this courage
is going to be tried. It will be tried in this world.
Now, it will be tried in ways that are unusual. And I want
you to look at that here in this verse. Therefore will we not
fear though the earth be removed. Though the earth be removed.
Think of that if you will. Isn't that a terrible novelty
if you want to speak of it that way? The earth, though the earth
be removed. Now, brother, some of our trials
are that way, aren't they? Unusual. They're about as unusual
as we've ever seen the earth removed. But there's some more
trials that we never would have imagined in a hundred years that
that could have happened in our life. In my life? How could this have ever happened
in my life? The most unusual thing has happened
in my life. Now listen to me, my friend.
This is one of those conflicts that your courage and fearlessness
is going to have to face and deal with unusual things in your
life. Only God knows what's going to
come in your life. Only God. Some of you young people here
started out. You're believing God. You're trusting God. You're
trying to find out everything you can about your God. And you're
trying to grow in the Lord. Listen to me. As you trust Him,
there are going to be unusual things happen in your life. Expect
it. Novel and unusual things are going to happen. The earth
be removed. Now, let's go on. Think of that
if you will. Now the old earth has stood.
How old is your situation? How long has the earth stood?
Well, it's stood a long time. That's suffice to say. How old
is your situation? Oh, you say it's, you know, this
has been going on for a dozen years or 15 years, 20 years. I thought I was pretty stable.
This is stable, that's stable. Listen, the earth's been here
a long time. Don't the earth be removed? What about your situation? Brother, sister, the only security
that we have is in the Lord. Dare not. Dare not look to any
earthly situation. It can change just that quick.
The earth can be removed. You better trust the Lord. The
whole foundation, somebody said, seems to have slipped from under
us. What will we do? You trust the
Lord. Remember that new trials is going
to bring new grace and it's going to prove the value of the old
promises of God. That's what's going to happen.
God's going to prove the value of his promises. Then there are
trials that are very mysterious and seem to be very threatening
in our lives. What would you think If you were
to look out to those mountains one day and you were to see the
mountains carried off and they were on their way to the ocean,
carried into the midst of the sea, what would you think? Mysterious
indeed, right? Mysterious. You say, well, there's
some mysterious things going on. I don't know what's happening.
I don't know what's happening in my life. I know of people
this morning, if you were to go and talk to them, they'd say,
this is very mysterious what's happening in my life. Very mysterious
what's happening. I never would have believed it
could have come up to me this way or that my life could have
changed so abruptly in this way. Well, the writer of the scripture
says, though the mountains be carried into the midst of the
sea, We will not. We will not fear. We'll trust
God. Beloved, these things are going
to happen, and this courage of yours, ah, it's going to be subjected
to these trials, these mysterious and unusual happenings in this
world. Well, these mountains, been here
a long time, you say, it's probably not going to happen. That's probably
what you're going to say about your own life. You say, well,
nothing's going to happen in my life. Well, it will. It will. The most certain thing about
your life is it's going to change, my friend. It's going to change.
It will not stay the same. You can count on it. It's going
to change, and when it does, you're going to feel kind of
like an orphan. That's the way you're going to
feel. You're going to feel kind of like you're alone, and kind
of like the ground is all loose under you. Your life is going
to change, and you need this courage that we're talking about
in that time. Now, beloved, some of the afflictions
in life, we cannot understand them, but we must remember this,
that if all the devils in hell have a hand in our trouble, we
need not fear, because God is greater than all the demons of
hell. God is greater, and God is overruling. And so don't make any errors.
You say, it just looks like all the forces of hell itself has
been torn loose upon me. And my whole life is just utterly
in chaos. God is greater. God is greater
than the demons of hell. God is going to prevail. Now
some of the trials Also that we're going to face are utterly
ungovernable. They're ungovernable You cannot
govern these trials though the waters listen to this in verse
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled though the mountains
shake with the swelling thereof listen to me These waters you
cannot do anything with the sea that's raging Can you can you
settle down some way think of the noise the raging waters make? Is that not the way when we get
up some mornings, the way things seem? Everything just like a
roaring sea, like the waters that are raging, the noise. Now, beloved, you don't need
to fear noise. There's an awful lot of noise.
By that we're meaning that there's an awful lot being said. There's
an awful lot of fear about. There's a lot of people that
are that are saying that things are going to get worse before
they get better. Don't you know that, preacher? Well, you hear
a lot of noise, don't you? A lot of talk. Voices coming
from every place. But listen to me, and these things
that are going to happen and are happening, they appear to
be ungovernable. But listen, the Lord is in control. There's no need to fear the noise.
The Lord sitteth, the Bible says, upon the flood, yea, the Lord
sitteth king forever. God is king. And he said, don't
give away to panic because God is God. He's no less God now
than he's ever been. He's always been altogether God
in complete control. What is your present trouble?
Well, whatever it might be, you must not let yourself be buried
in despair. Hope on and hope forever, because
the Lord can deliver you from the jaw of the lion, and He will
deliver without fail. God's going to deliver His people.
The Lord liveth and blessed be my rock, David said. As long
as the Lord lives, my friend, our hope lives. Also, the believer
will not be forsaken because it pleased the Lord to make you
his people and he will not forsake you. If heart and flesh both
fail, God will be the strength of our heart and he will be our
portion forever. Isn't that wonderful? To know
that whatever we don't have, we do have the Lord and he is
our portion forever. The Lord Jesus has made an end
of the dread and the fear and the horrors of this world for
His people. And whether we live or die, it's
okay, because we shall dwell eternally in glory, eternal glory
with Him. We are secure in Christ Jesus,
and let the world crash around us if it will. We will not fear. We will not fear, because God
is our refuge and strength. And so, my friend, look out of
the window of your refuge. Look out at the storms of life. and rest yourself and be calm
as they're going on all around you. I want to read this poem.
A fortress firm and steadfast rock is God in time of danger,
a shield and sword in every shock from foe well-known or stranger. Well, what will we do if we're
lost? in this world, and if we're sinners, unconverted, if we have
no hope, if God is not our God, if Christ is not ours, what will
we do? Well, what can the ungodly do? The poet said, ye sinners, seek
his grace. Whose wrath ye cannot bear, fly
to the shelter of his cross and find salvation there. That's what the sinner can do.
He can look to Christ. he can come savingly to the Lord
Jesus Christ and trust him and believe upon him. May God