Good morning, everybody. Would you turn to 46th Psalm. Psalm 46. This was my grandfather's favorite
song. And I remember I read it in his
funeral 40 years ago. And this is a wonderful. All
are wonderful songs, I wouldn't want to pit one against the other,
but what a wonderful song this is. 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, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof,
Sela, there is a river. The streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the
Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her. And that
right early. The heathen raged. The kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice. The earth
melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Sheila, come behold the works
of the Lord. What desolations he hath made
in the earth. He maketh wars to cease under
the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariots in the
fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Silat, third time that is mentioned,
Silat. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
with thanksgiving. We're so thankful for thy son
and the salvation that's in him. We're so thankful for his glory,
the beauty of his attributes, the completeness of his salvation. Lord, what a amazing gift of grace that we
would be privileged to know him and to be found in him and to
love him. We give thanks. We pray for our
friends that aren't here, those that are sick. We pray for your
mercy and blessing and grace upon them. Lord, we ask that
you would give us a double portion of your spirit in preaching and
in hearing that your gospel would be preached in the power of your
spirit. Meet each need here, those that
are going through trials of health, mental anxiety. We pray for your
blessing of grace upon them for Christ's sake. Forgive us of our sins for his
sake, in his name we pray, amen. Six times, God's name is used. in this song. And I love the
way he begins with God. God is our refuge. God. God, the father, is our
refuge. God, the son, is our refuge. God the Holy Spirit is our refuge. We know God in the Trinity of
his sacred persons. God is our refuge, our hiding
place, our security. God is our refuge. What a blessed
thing to be able to say that. More blessed it is to believe
that. God is our refuge and strength. It's God. Listen to the scripture. It's God that worketh in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure. You're surrounded
by God in every respect. God is our refuge and our strength,
a very present help in time of trouble. Very present. Why he doesn't seem very present
to me, he is though. He is though. He's a very present
right now help in time of trouble. I don't much know of any time,
it's not a time of trouble in our experience. Always there,
but he's always a very present help. I love that scripture,
the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man can
do unto me. Therefore, he says in verse two,
therefore, Because God is our refuge, because God is our strength,
because God is a very present help in trouble, therefore will
not we fear. You see, if God be for us, who
can be against us? Let me repeat that. If God be
for us, who can possibly be against us? Therefore will we not fear,
though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Now, though the earth be removed. Well, these heavens and earth
that we're presently in will be done away with. The earth
will melt with a fervent heat. That is very clear from the scriptures,
but you know what? We look forward to that, don't
we? The second coming of Christ, we long for that time when there's
a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
What this is talking about when it talks about the earth being
removed, It means something to do with every earthly support
is taken away. Everything that we count as secure
is taken away. Every foundation is removed. The spouse sitting beside you
is going to die. You may lose your job. You may
lose everything. That's just the truth. Boast
not thyself of tomorrow, for you don't know what a day brings
forth. But you know even if every earthly foundation is shaken,
God still is. Now that is just the reality. God is. I am that I am. And if the earth is removed,
everything that we find secure is taken away, God is still there. And though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea. Now, mountains are landmarks. That's what this represents,
landmarks. we see by, we guides, though
they're all removed. Now, one day, this church, I hope
it doesn't happen in my lifetime, But it's true with regard to
every local church that you find a place of security, hearing
the gospel preached. One day this church will be removed
and you may still be alive while it happens. God continues. God continues. Look what he says
next. Though the waters thereof roar
and be troubled, verse three, though the mountains shake with
the swelling thereof, waters roar and be troubled, times of
trouble, times of trouble. Man that's born a woman is born
to trouble as the sparks fly upward. Every one of us are facing
times of trouble. Verse three, though the waters
thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with
the swelling thereof. Now, remember this with regard
to trouble. Peter put it this way. Now, if
needs be, you're in heaviness through manifold temptations. You're going to have trouble.
That's the prime of your faith. That's the purpose of the trouble. Now, God's good. And whatever
trouble he brings your way is for your good and his glory. Just write that down. You're
going to have trouble. And it's the kindness of God. I never will forget. This was
such a blessing to me. Donnie Bell came to visit me
in the hospital and I was so sick. And he looked at me and
said, God must really love you. That's the truth with regard
to all trouble. The Lord is in control of that
trouble for your good. Now look what he says in verse
four. There is A river. You know, God has called the
fountain of living waters. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
the fountain opened in Zechariah for the cleansing of sin. I love
this imagery. The Holy Spirit, the Lord said,
he's a well of water springing up in you. to everlasting life. This fountain, God called a fountain,
God called a river, streams of mercy never ceasing. God, this
fountain, there is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad
the city of God. Now the streams, streams of forgiveness,
Now this is a fountain that never runs dry. You can't exhaust God. Streams of grace. Streams of
mercy. Streams of love. Streams of acceptance. Streams of justification. Just
go on and on. The streams that come out of
this unceasing fountain which is God. The streams thereof make
glad the city of God. Now, the city of God is the church. There is such a thing as the
city of God. The city of God is the church. Notice what it says with regard
to the church, the city of God. There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. I wish And I don't think we really
understand this. We believe it. We don't understand.
But I wish we had some understanding of what the church is. It's the
city of God. God is in the midst. He's there. He's here. Christ said, I walk
in the midst of the golden candlesticks, where two or three are gathered
together in my name. There I am. in the midst of them. Do you
realize that every time we meet together, Jesus Christ is in
our midst? He has promised. I don't wanna
presume on that, but he has promised. He is in our midst. He's here right now, walking
in the midst of the golden candlesticks. He promised where two or three
are gathered together in my name, there I am. in the midst of them. He's here. He's here. Now, I realize that some people
can look at church attendance and think, well, that's my right. You know, I go to church every
service. And you can be legalistic about that. There's no doubt
about it. But can you be legalistic about wanting to be where he
is every time without exception? He's here. He's here. That's what church is. He's here. It's not just going
through some kind of religious exercise. He's here. His word
is here. His spirit is here. His gospel
is here. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. No believer will be moved from
the gospel. Now, if I can be moved from the
gospel, it's because I'm not a believer. No believer will
be moved from the gospel. Now, remember this with regard
to a gospel church. There's only one reason to ever
leave because the gospel is not preached. If you get mad at somebody,
if somebody offends you, keep going. That's no reason for you
to leave. The only reason to leave a place
is because the gospel is not preached. Because when the gospel
is not preached, he's not here anymore. That's the issue. He's not here
anymore. But as long as he's here, as long as his gospel is
preached, she shall not be moved. God shall help her. That's speaking
of the church. Every believer. God shall help
her and that right early. He's not going to wait. He's
gonna come at just the right time. God is in her midst. He shall help. Haven't the Lord
is your helper? The Lord is my helper. I won't
fear what man can do unto me. Verse six. The heathen raged. The kingdoms were moved. He uttered
his voice, the earth melted. Now this summarizes all of the
events of time. The heathen raging against God. You reckon God's disturbed by
that? The heathen rages against God. Hates him. The kingdoms were
moved. Unstable. Look at how unstable
this world is. The kingdom's removed. You know, I can't even express
how it grieves me every day I read everything I can about the Ukraine.
Doesn't that bother you to think of all this stuff going on? I pray for them. I pray for Lord's
mercy to them. But who's in control of everything?
Him who is too wise to err and too kind to be true, who doeth
all Too kind to be cruel. I said that wrong, didn't I?
Too kind to be cruel. He doeth all things well. And I trust him. I don't understand
what he's doing. But I trust him. He does. And
that's what counts. He understands exactly what's
taking place. The heathen raged. The kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice. The earth
melted. You see, the speech Speaking
of the power of his voice, it's impossible. Now listen to this.
It's impossible for his will to not be done at all times. That's what's going on. His will. Verse seven, the Lord of hosts
is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. The Lord of hosts means the Lord
of all. He's Lord of everything. I love the way Peter said to
that bunch waiting to hear the gospel at Cornelius' house. He
says he came preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He's Lord of
all. I love saying Jesus is Lord.
I just, I love it. He's Lord. He's Lord. He's everybody's Lord. He's most
especially the Lord of the believer, and since they love him being
their Lord, but he's the Lord of the unbeliever too. He's the Lord
of the dead and the living, the scripture says, and we love his
Lordship. The Lord of hosts, the Lord of
all is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Now, the title God calls himself
the most in scriptures is the God of Jacob. And we're gonna consider this
morning in the service, the birth of Jacob and Esau. But Jacob,
you know what his claim to fame is? God loved him. How? Because God is love. God loved Jacob. Jacob was a, he was a sinful man. He was a
swindler. He cheated his brother out of
his blessing and out of his birthright. He was a deceitful man. You say,
well, how could God love him? Same way he could love me or
the same way he can love you. His love is in Christ. And what
a glorious love his love is. And God calls himself by this
title, more than any other title in the scriptures, the God of
Jacob. I love that. He's the God of
Jacob. He's our refuge. Now he says
in verse eight, come behold the works of the Lord. Now, come
and By grace, intelligently consider. Don't just let it go over your
head. Behold the works of the Lord in creation. Think of how
Jesus of Nazareth, he wasn't flesh at that time, but it was
him who said, light be. And light was. He controls everything. Behold his creative power. Behold his works in providence,
how he controls everything. And it's not hard for him. It's
not difficult. He controls everybody, everything,
every event. He's completely sovereign over
the free and uncoerced actions of men. You do what you want
to, you only do what he determined for you to do. Known unto God
are all his works from the beginning. Yes, you do what you want to,
but you do what he has determined. And oh, behold, his works of
salvation, salvation is of the Lord. He did it all. And if you're
a believer, you know that. So if you're saved, it's because
he saved you. It's real simple. He saved you
and he did it by himself. You didn't have any contributions.
He by himself. purged our sins. Come behold
the works of the Lord. What desolations he hath made
in the earth. Shall there be evil in the city
and hath not the Lord done it? What desolations he's made. And
he's in control of everything for his glory. He maketh wars
to cease until the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, he
cuts the spear and sunder, he burneth the chariot in the fire.
Now he's talking about wars. He's in control of those wars.
But you know what I think he's talking about more than anything
else? The war in here. The war in here. Do you know
he's gonna make it to cease? You're going to die. and the
war's over, and you're going to be perfectly conformed to
the image of Christ, and there will be no more sin. No more unbelief. He makes the wars to cease. The chariots, he burns them up. The bows, he destroys them. The spears, he breaks them asunder.
All the conflict that goes within, it's not forever. He makes it
to cease. Now here's the, I wish the Lord
would enable me and you to do this, be still. Be still. And no, be still. Now that word
be still means cease, desist, let it go. Forsake all your plans and scheming
and manipulating. Be still and know that I am God. Be still. Quit working, quit
doing, quit trying to control the situation. I don't think
there's anything more interesting than a control freak. When we're
control freaks, we try to control that which we have no control
of at all. You know, God's out of control
in the sense that he's out of our control. He controls. He controls, but he's out of
our control. We can't manipulate him. We can't
get him to do whatever it is we think he ought to do. He's
God. Be still. Cease. Don't worry. Don't fret. The world, even the little world
of our hearts, whatever you're scheming about, whatever you're
worrying about, whatever you're fretting about, whatever you're
trying to manipulate, stop it. Cease. That's what God says. Cease. This is God speaking too.
This is not me speaking. God is speaking when he says,
be still and know that I am God. Oh, what rest there is knowing
he is God. Not only in name, but in deed
and in truth. He is God. Now look what he says, be still
and know that I am God. I will be exalted. among the heathen. You see, every
knee's gonna bow. And every tongue is gonna confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the glory of God the Father. Be still and know that I am God. I'll be exalted among the heathen.
I love that song, This is My Father's World. Oh, let me ne'er forget that
though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my father's world. The
battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied. He is satisfied. And heaven and
earth be one. I will be exalted. You know,
the Lord's in control. There's nothing to worry about,
is there? Worrying and fretting and scheming and
trying to manipulate things is just plumb-dumb, isn't it? God
is God. He will be exalted. I will be
exalted in the earth. The earth is the LORD's, and
the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein.
And he repeats himself in verse 11, the LORD of hosts is with
us, the God of Jacob. There he is again, the God of
Jacob. Aren't you thankful for that?
Can't you identify with Jacob? Jacob, we're going to consider
him more this morning when we look at the birth of Jacob and
Esau. The God of Jacob is our refuge,
our hiding place, our place of security, our place of safety. Therefore, will we not fear? Amen.