Six Comforting Statements

Q: What does the Bible say about trusting in God instead of man?

The Bible warns against trusting in men for spiritual help, emphasizing that salvation is from the Lord alone. In Psalm 146, the psalmist admonishes not to put trust in princes or the sons of men, as they cannot provide true spiritual deliverance. Jeremiah 17:5-7 further clarifies this, stating that those who trust in man are cursed, while those who put their hope in the Lord are blessed. The idea is that human leaders have finite capabilities and will eventually perish, and therefore their plans and thoughts will cease with them. True hope must be anchored in the eternal God who reigns forever, not in fallible humans.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to praise the Lord?

Praising the Lord is essential for Christians as it reflects genuine gratitude and acknowledgment of God's sovereignty and grace. Psalm 146 begins with an exhortation to praise the Lord, and it emphasizes that this praise should come from the heart, not flippantly. Genuine praise indicates a recognition of God's mercy and sovereignty in our lives. The psalmist assures that praising God is an act of obedience and gratitude, acknowledging that our very existence and spiritual life depend on His grace. By praising Him, we align our hearts with His truth and give witness to His character and faithfulness.

Q: How do we know that God loves the righteous?

God loves the righteous in Christ, as His love is based on His character and the sacrificial work of Jesus. The love of God for the righteous is a recurring theme throughout scripture, particularly in the context of being 'in Christ.' For instance, Romans 8:39 states that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ. God's love is not arbitrary but is deeply rooted in His holiness and the redeeming work of Christ, who became sin for us. This means that our righteousness, which is defined by our faith and union with Christ, is the basis of God's peculiar love for His people. He cannot love unrighteousness, and so His love is perfectly holy and just.

Q: What does it mean that the Lord looses the prisoners?

The Lord setting free the prisoners symbolizes liberation from sin, the law, and spiritual bondage. In Psalm 146:7, the phrase 'The Lord looses the prisoners' highlights God's power to deliver us from various forms of bondage. This includes liberation from the law, which condemns us, spiritual captivity to sin, and the grasp of death. Just as prisoners confined by earthly laws cannot free themselves, we were bound by sin until Christ intervened. The New Testament reaffirms this with Jesus declaring in John 8:36 that whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Thus, this liberation is not just physical but profoundly spiritual, bringing sons and daughters into full reconciliation with God.

Q: Why should we not trust in mankind for salvation?

Mankind cannot provide true salvation or deliverance; only God holds that power. Psalm 146's warning against trusting in princes emphasizes that humans, no matter how powerful, cannot offer spiritual salvation or deliverance. Jeremiah 17:5 speaks of a curse upon those who place their trust in man, highlighting the futility of relying on human strength or wisdom. Only God is the source of salvation, and He has revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. When we lean on human understanding or authority, we place ourselves in precarious positions, as all flesh is finite and subject to decay. The psalmist reminds us that true deliverance comes solely from the Lord, who reigns forever.

But we have to begin at the beginning
and determine why the psalmist was led to set forth these six
comforting statements. Why was he led to say this? The
Lord luceth the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the
blind. The Lord raiseth up them that
are bowed down. The Lord loveth the righteous.
The Lord preserveth hedges about the strangers, and the Lord shall
reign forever." Now, go back to verse 1 for just a few moments. It begins this way, "'Praise
ye the Lord!' Praise the Lord, O my soul." Now, we often hear
these words today, "'Praise the Lord!' Praise the Lord. We hear these words spoken by
people quite often. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yah. Jehovah. Praise Jehovah. And I think some
of us hesitate to use these words because they're so, they're used
so flippantly and careless in our day. I hear them on television,
I hear the people on the street and other places say, well, praise
the Lord, well, praise the Lord, well, praise the Lord, well,
hallelujah, well, praise the Lord. And it seems like to me
that most of the time it's said carelessly and flippantly and
really, it strikes me as taking God's name in vain, the way that
it's used. Well, praise the Lord. But the
key here, here's the key, and I'm not excusing us for not praising
the Lord as we should. We should praise the Lord and
let the redeemed of the Lord say something. But here's the
key. It says here in verse 1, Praise ye the Lord, praise the
Lord, O my soul. The praise of the Lord that is
not genuinely from the heart, is flippant and careless and
blasphemy. Anytime I use that phrase, praise
the Lord or hallelujah, what a glorious phrase, hallelujah,
praise Jehovah, I ought to be very serious about it and very
committed to what I'm saying. And I think this, praise the
Lord, like a lot of other words, has fallen into bad company.
The word saved. I find myself reluctant to even
use the word nowadays. Saved. I hear people talk about,
I got saved, I got saved. Tell you about somebody that's
been saved. And you know it's just a, it's
just somebody talked them into a religious profession, the word
Christian. Everybody's a Christian. They
even have Christian businesses now, and Christian schools, and
Christian, everything goes on in Christian. The word, born
again, is a word that I just, I just hesitate to use. The word,
Christian, the word, born again, I know what born again is, and
what it means, and how precious it is. And the word, church,
it's tagged on to everything now. I try to use the word redeemed
instead of the word saved. I say redeemed. Instead of my
personal Savior, I say my Redeemer. I use my Redeemer. I use the
word instead of Christian believer. I do it on purpose because of
the way the other has fallen into bad company. The word born
again, regenerated is a word that means more to me now. Well,
brethren, what are we going to say if, and we feel like you
do. I'm sure you do. You feel, well,
praise the Lord, and you feel like it's just, it's not, it's
used wrongly. Well, think about these words.
And use, think about using these words in the company of other
people. Well, when something good happens,
I'm thankful to God. People aren't saying that. They
aren't saying that. I'm thankful to God. Here's another
phrase you could use. The Lord's good to us, isn't
he? The Lord's good to us. Or you could use this phrase.
Aren't we blessed of God? Aren't we blessed of God? That'll
bring some interest. Here's another you could use.
Why don't we just give thanks to God for his mercies to us?
Or that song we sing, Oh, how merciful God is to me. I'm just suggesting that these
may be alternatives to these words that mean nothing anymore,
because they're used so carelessly and flippantly by religious whirlings. It's praise the Lord this and
praise the Lord that. And it doesn't mean what David
means when he says it here. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. And everything that is within
me, praise the Lord. I think a lot of times you can
tell where it's coming from by how it's said. in the tone in which it's uttered. Well, anyway, let's go on. Verse
2 says, While I live, I'll praise the Lord. Well, I can't praise
Him after I'm dead. They that go down to the graves
do not praise the Lord. I'm going to praise the Lord
while I live. I'm going to thank Him, give Him the glory. I'm
going to exalt and magnify His name. I will sing praises unto
my God while I have any being, because I tell you why. I tell
you why. It's by His pleasure and purpose
that I do live, and by His good pleasure and purpose that I have
a being, and that I'm here tonight. And I'll tell you, I have greater
reason to praise the Lord. I not only live, but I live unto
God. I live spiritually, and that's
by His grace. A dear friend wrote me just today. I was answering his letter today,
and he was talking about how he's surrounded with false religion,
and not anything but charismatic religion. He says, I don't understand
how people can believe that. And then he drew a line, he said,
yes, I do. If it wasn't for God's grace,
I'd believe that. Who makes a difference? If it
weren't for God's grace, we wouldn't be alive, spiritually or physically. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me, bless his holy name, who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who satisfy
thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like
the air." I have a lot of reasons to thank God. All right, verse
3, "...put not your trust in princes, nor in the Son of Man,
This is not talking about the Son of Man, this is talking about
the sons of men. "...put not your trust in princes,
nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help." The word help
there is salvation, deliverance. There's no spiritual deliverance. And the reason he uses the word
princes, he's saying, put not your trust in princes, put not
your trust in men, no matter how high they are. No matter
how great they are, no matter how powerful they are, don't
put your trust in them for any spiritual benefits. Now, David
is not telling us here to not trust one another. That's not
what he's saying. He's not telling us here that
we can't have any confidence in one another. That's not right. There are people in this congregation,
everybody here, I trust you, you trust me, I have confidence
in you, you have confidence in me, sure you do. I have confidence
in your word, I have confidence in you in every way. But what he's speaking here,
what he's talking about, what he's speaking of is spiritual
health. He says, don't put your trust
for spiritual health and spiritual strength and deliverance in the
leaders, in princes and kings and leaders, nor in the Son of
Man, in whom there's no salvation. There's no salvation, there's
no deliverance in men. Salvation is of the Lord. The
salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. Salvation cometh
from God, not from anybody here. I want to show you a passage
in Jeremiah that says this very clearly. Jeremiah,
it's chapter 17. We'll put your trust for salvation,
redemption, deliverance, spiritual help in man, because it says
in Jeremiah 17.5, Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, and make his flesh his arm, and
whose heart departeth from the Lord." You can't trust man and
God, too. You can't lean on God's arm and
lean on man's arm. That's what he's talking about.
"...For he shall be like the heat," that's a little shrub,
like a tumbleweed, He'll be like a heath, a little shrub in the
desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit
the parched places in the wilderness, and 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, that spreadeth out her roots by the
river, and shall not see when the heat cometh. But her leaf
shall be green. Reminds you of Psalm 1, doesn't
it? And shall not be careful in the
year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. He'll
yield his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither. So put your... Here's the reason
you don't trust me in verse 4. Listen. Because man's breath
goeth forth. In other words, Man is just living
by such a frail, temporary thing as air, breath. Breath. And when he stops breathing,
that's the end. His breath goeth forth and he
returns to his earth. His earth, his earth. He came
from it. Dust I art, to dust shalt I return. If you're trusting men and depending
upon them for your spiritual strength and health and hope
and refreshing. When he dies, you die. In that
very day, his thoughts perish. What does that mean? In that
day, his plans, his purposes, his ideas, his schemes, his thoughts,
everything perishes with him. And you trust and depend upon
Him in that very day that He stops breathing. Oh, I tell you,
I've seen some folks lean too heavily upon the arm of flesh,
and a child or a mother or a father or a wife or a husband die, and
you'd think God died. And what you're saying here is
their God did die. Their God did die. When that
individual died, their life went out because they were looking
for their strength and help and comfort and spiritual existence
to that person. And when God was pleased to take
that person, it left a void and an emptiness and a foundation
swept up among them. And that must not be. Don't do
that. Don't put your trust, no matter
how high, no matter how powerful or influential or brilliant or
whatever in men, because when he dies, his breath stops, and all of his thoughts perish
with him. Happy, watch this. I love this
here. Happy is he, twice happy. Blessed is the man. that hath
the God of Jacob." Who's Jacob? Israel, Prince. The God of Jacob
for his help. Happy is that man that hath the
God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord, he is God. Well, that's what Thomas said,
didn't he? My Lord, my God. Happy is that man. who does not
lean on the arm of flesh, but he leans upon the everlasting
arm of God's grace. God's his help. God's his hope.
The Lord his God. The Lord his God. I tell you,
it's a good hope, too. It's a good hope through grace.
That's the only kind of hope that's any good, is the one through
grace in Christ. It's not only a good hope, but
it's a blessed hope. We're going to be like him. Not
only a blessed hope, but it's a living hope. He never dies. When our confidence is in the
flesh and the flesh dies, that's not a living hope. That's a dead
hope. But here, because I live, you
live. It's a living hope. We're begotten again into a living
hope. And all of this because it's
Christ in you. That's the hope of glory. Happy
is that man, that woman, that young person. that hath the God
of Jacob for his help, whose hope, confidence, trust is only
in the Lord his God." Who is this God? Well, He's the One
who made the heavens. Look at verse 6. He's able to
say, He's able to give life. He's able to do all that He promised,
because He made the heavens, He made the earth, He made the
sea, and all that therein is. He keepeth truth forever. He
said, I'm the Lord, I change not. I change not. Hath God not spoken, shall he
not do it? Hath he not purposed it, shall
it not come to pass? The gifts and calling of God
without change. God's not a man that he should
like. In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised
before the world began. So go back to verse 1 and underscore
the word praise. Praise the Lord. Verse 3, underscore
the word trust. Who are you going to trust? Oh,
trust me and trust Him. And verse 5, underscore the word
hope. Hope in the Lord your God. Praise Him, trust Him, and hope
in Him. Now he comes to these six statements.
This God in whom we hope, verse 7, executed judgment for the
oppressed, giveth food to the hungry, and he luceth the prisoners. In our Sunday school lesson recently,
turn to John chapter 8. John chapter 8, our Lord was
talking to these Jewish religious fellows. He was talking to them about
this blessed freedom that he came to give. He lucid the prisoners. I've come to set the captive
free. I've come to set the captive
free. And he says here in John chapter
8, verse 31, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed
on him, Now if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples
indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free." Free! They answered him, We be Abraham's
seed, and were never in bondage to any Lord. Never in bondage. Oh, I tell you, yes they were
too. They didn't know it, but they
were. And you and I were too. But our Lord came and set the
captive free. He came and opened the door and
loosed the prison. How were we in bondage? Well,
we were in bondage to the law. Over yonder in the penitentiary
and summit, there's people over there who can't get out. What keeps them there? Well,
those bars don't necessarily keep them there, or the walls.
The law keeps them there. They're there under sentence
of the law. They've broken the law, and the
law holds them in bondage. And you and I are the same thing.
We were like prisoners on a chain gang. We were sinister eternal
bondage because the law had a claim on us. We're criminals. We've broken God's law, and God's
law holds us in bondage. Cursed it is, everyone. It continues,
not in all things written in the book of the law to do that.
We were not only in bondage to the law, we were in bondage to
Satan. That's right. Turn to Ephesians. That's right.
Listen to this. Ephesians chapter 2. Talking
about Satan here, it says in verse 2, in verse 2 of Ephesians
2, in time past, querying in times past, you, you Gentiles,
walked according to the course of this world, According to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. He worked in us too. Why'd we
do what we did? Influence. Satanic influence. He leads men captive according
to his will. That's right. We were in bondage
to Satan. We were in bondage to the law.
We were in bondage to Satan. And also we were in bondage to
our flesh. to our flesh. The Apostle Paul
talked about that in Romans 7, that other nature. That other
nature reigned one time. The things I would do, I do them
not. The things I would not do, I
do. What's the problem? Flesh. There was a time when
we were in total bondage to our flesh. Not only to the law and
to Satan and to our flesh, but we were in bondage to the grave.
Man returns to his earth. He returns to the grave. How's
he going to get out? Who can help him? When we lower
a casket into the grave and put the dirt on top of it, there's
no power other than God in heaven, earth, or hell that can open
that grave. But Christ. That's right. He'll have to loose
the pressure. So here's what I'm saying. Praise
Him. Trust Him. Hope in Him, because
He loses the prisoner. Free from the law. Oh, happy
condition. Free from Satan. He can't touch
me anymore without my Lord's permission. Can't touch me. Free
from the bondage of sin, the power of sin, the dominance of
sin. And I tell you, free from death,
I'm not going to die. Oh, my body will sleep, but I'm
not going to die. When you see my body lying there
and they put it in the grave, you remember this, when this
old earthly house of our tabernacle is folded up and laid aside,
we have a building of God, eternal in the heaven. He set me free,
free from the law, free from Satan, free from the flesh, and
free from the grave. He did it. He loosened the prison. Oh, and secondly, it says he
opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord opens the eyes of the
blind. Did you know the Lord healed more blind people than
any other single infirmity in the New Testament? I'm talking
about single infirmity. There were more blind people
because he's illustrating and showing us how did he give sight
to the blind. And that's the first thing a
sinner realizes when God convicts him of sin, is he's blind. In
John chapter 9, turn over there. Pardon me, John chapter 9. Let's
look at verse 39. Now hear these Pharisees again. And you know, they're good examples
because we live in a pharisaical world. We live... Ashland, Kentucky
is a religious town. It's religious. Not much gospel,
but a lot of religion. It's a whole lot like Jerusalem
back here. And our Lord, in John chapter
9, verse 39, and Jesus said, for judgment, I'm coming to this
world, that they which see not might see, and that they which
see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with them heard these words, and they said, Are we blind also? Remember that bunch a while ago
said, We're not in bondage. Oh, they didn't know it, but
they were in bondage. Such awful, awful, helpless,
hopeless bondage. And here they said, you think
we're blind? Yeah. They were. Now listen to
what he said. And Jesus said, if you were blind,
you'd have no seeing. But now you say we see, therefore
your sin remains. What's he saying? Let me show
you. In verse 39, and Jesus said,
for judgment I'm coming to this world, that they which see not
might see. You know what that means? That
means people who are in darkness and know it, that are blind and
know it, that are sinners and know it, but do not know God,
who want to know God and realize they can't know God without a
miracle. Brian Bartimaeus cried for Christ. Why? He knew he was blind. And
people who know they're blind and know they're in darkness
and know they're sinners, Christ came to give them sight. He came
to give them life. He came to give them salvation.
But, listen, they which see, they don't really see, they say
they see. They think they see. They claim
to see. And if a man claims to see and
thinks he sees, and doesn't see, how great is his blindness! You
see what I'm saying? Here's a man that's a sinner,
and he knows it. He has no ability to Please God
in his flesh. He has no ability to come to
God. He's lost and knows it. He's damned and doomed and knows
it. And he cries to Christ for mercy.
And Christ saves him. Though you see not, might see. But here's a fellow, he's doomed
and damned and under judgment on his way to hell. He doesn't
know he's preaching. He's singing in the choir. He's one of the
deacons of the church. He's a big leader in religion.
You say to him, you need Christ. I need what? I'm all right, I'm
good as you are. I do this, I tithe, I fast, I
give alms to the poor. He's blind and doesn't know it.
And what his religion does is add to his blindness. It just
puts him deeper and darker in the sin and takes him farther
and farther away from light. If that light which is in you
be darkness, if all the light you've got is darkness, How great
is that guy? You see what our Lord is saying?
I am come that those who do not see might see. Bartimaeus, the
man born blind, all of these, then watch what they say. Well,
you think we're blind? He said, if you were, if you
knew it, if you just knew what you really are, and the judgment
hanging over your head, And the condemnation under which you
live and walk, if you knew that, you wouldn't continue in it. You would have no sin. I'd take
it away. Because you'd come to me, you'd
cry to me, you'd look to me, you'd rest in me. But since you
say, we see. We see. Oh, therefore your sin
remaineth. You understand what he's saying?
I'm sure you do. The Lord opens the eyes of the
blind. He opens the eyes of the blind.
Alright, notice the next phrase. And the Lord raiseth up them
that are bowed down. Let's see a picture over here
in Luke 13. Turn over to Luke 13. The Lord
raiseth up them that are bowed down. In Luke 13, verse 11, Luke 13, 11, let's look at it.
Oh, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity
eighteen years, and she was bowed together. I just imagine she
was just bent way over, way over, old and frail and feeble, bent
way over and could not lift herself at all. Her body was just bent
and held rigidly in that position, and she couldn't do anything
about it. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to himself,
and he said, Woman, thou art loose from thine infirmity. And
he laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight. Oh, my, my, she glorified God. Eighteen years, bowed and bent,
twisted, unable to straighten up, unable to lift her head.
He did that for me and for you. We were bowed down under the
guilt of sin. Oh, what a heavy load. Our Lord
said, coming to me all you that labor in a heavy laden, I'll
give you rest. We were bowed down under the
load of sin, heavy laden, carrying our burden, and He freed us.
We don't have any sin. He's taken our sins. Jesus took
my burden and gave me a song. I don't carry the load of sin.
He separated my sins from me as far as the east is from the
west. Remember no more. They're gone. I'm straightened
up. And then I was bowed down under
inward distress. Over here in Psalm 42, I was
looking at that today. Listen, listen to Psalm 42. You
know something about this, don't you? Listen. Psalm 42, verse
5, David said, Why are you cast down? What's the word in your
margin? Bowed down. Why are you bowed down, O my
soul? Inward distress and depression. Why are you bowed down? Why art
thou disquieted in me, my soul? Hope in God. Hope in God. I shall yet praise Him for the
help of His countenance. The last verse, 11. Why are you
cast down? Why are you bowed down, O my
soul? Why are you disquieted within
me? Hope in God. He gives grace. He gives grace. Paul said, I
had that thorn in the flesh. But His grace was sufficient.
Straighten up. Straighten up. And then I'll
tell you another thing that bows us over and bends us and is a
heavy load, that guilt of sin, but He's taken that away. And
that inward distress and depression, but He's taken that away. We
bow down with the burdens of life. To avoid these, we'd have
to go out of the world, wouldn't we? Family burdens, burdens in
the workplace, and I know many of you endure that, burdens in
the workplace. Oh, how difficult it is to deal
with the people with whom you deal daily, on a daily basis. Financial burdens, What did C. A. Tinley say? What did he write? You remember, he said, if the
world from you withhold of its silver and its gold, and you
have to get along with meager fare, if you remember in his
word how he feeds a little bird, take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. He said straighten up. the Lord
will provide. When your body suffers pain,
and your health you can't regain, and your soul is almost seeking
in despair, Jesus knows the pain you feel. He can save, and He
can heal. Take your burden to the Lord,
and leave the thing. And when your youthful days are
gone, And old age is stealing on. And your body bends beneath
the weight of care. He'll never leave you then. He'll
go with you to the end. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. He raises up them that have bowed
down. You know, it just wouldn't seem
right for me to be all bent over and bowed down under my burdens
and depression and despair and conflict in his presence, wouldn't
it? That wouldn't just, doesn't seem right. In his presence. In his presence. Because he raises them to bow
down. It says in verse 8, the last
line, it says he loves the righteous. Who's that? Well, I'll tell you,
if you're in Christ, by grace through faith is you. If I'm in Christ by grace, it
is I. I'm righteous. And God loves the righteous in
Christ. God loves holiness. You couldn't
say the Lord loves unrighteousness, could you? You couldn't say the
Lord loves wickedness, could you? No! You couldn't say the
Lord loves iniquity. No, the Lord loves the righteous. I think you'll find this true
if you notice carefully when you study the scriptures. God's
love for us is always connected with His love for Christ. For
God so loved the world, He gave His Son. Romans 8, 39 says this,
"...nothing can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ."
Herein is love, not that we love God, but that God loved us and
gave His Son. See, every time the love of God
is mentioned, as far as I can determine in the Scripture, has
something to do with Christ. So that's how He loves the righteous,
because Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us that we might
be Righteous. That's what you pray. The righteous. Oh, my, my, my, my. His love,
He loves the righteous. There's no need for the world
to get all upset over our preaching that His love is a peculiar,
distinguishing love, because He's a peculiar, distinguishing
God. He's not like man. You and I
can love evil because we are evil. But God can't lie and God
can't love a lie. God can't be unrighteous and
He can't love unrighteousness. And it's impossible for... I
wouldn't want a God who could love evil, would you? God loves the righteous. The
Lord, the scripture says, the Lord loveth the Son, and giveth
all things into his hands. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. It's connected with Christ. See,
His love is everlasting in Christ. His love is infinite, knows no
bounds in Christ. His love is unchanging in Christ. His love finds its cause in Himself. Now, always remember that, and
that's what the world can't get a hold of, and it's what you
can get a hold of. God finds reasons to love you,
not in you, but in Himself. You understand that? He loves
because He is love. He is love. The reason is in
Him. You say, why should He love me
so? You look to Christ and you'll
see why. You're in Christ. But you can't find a reason why
God should love you out of Christ. He doesn't need us. We don't
add anything to His glory. He loves us in Christ. Nothing
can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ. He
loves the righteous. You understand that. And that's
the way God loves you, because in Christ you and I are righteous.
Then the next statement. And I'll hurry here. The Lord,
verse 9, preserveth the strangers. He preserveth. The word preserveth
there is, there's a threefold meaning, protects, guards, and
here's a good one, attends to. The Lord attends to the strangers. Now, in most places, strangers
are not welcome. Of course, I know you don't believe
this, but Eastern Kentucky's got a whole lot of that in Eastern
Kentucky. They don't like strangers. That's
right. The Lord loves strangers. I'm glad of that. But people,
strangers in most places, strangers aren't welcome. Most people are
suspicious of strangers. And they're afraid of strangers.
But I'll tell you this, we were strangers. Strangers to the covenant? Yes, sir. Strangers to the covenant
promise. Aliens! Wasn't that what we were? We were aliens and strangers,
and 1 Peter 1 says, we are now strangers. Peter writes his whole
epistle to the strangers, scattered throughout all the earth. This
world despises you, and despises your God, and despises your message,
and you're strangers. But the Lord will preserve you
strangers. He'll hedge you about, He'll
attend to you, He'll guard you, He'll provide for you, and you
and I are exhorted to be kind to strangers. Turn over, let
me show you two scriptures. Turn to Deuteronomy. This is
talking about believers. attitude toward other believers,
wherever you meet them, wherever you find them. They're strangers
too. This is a tribe. This is the
Lord's tribe. They're strangers. They're elect.
They're strangers. They're born again. The tribe
of strangers. In Deuteronomy 10, verse 17,
For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, and
a great God, a mighty, a terrible, which regardeth not persons,
nor taketh reward. But he doth execute the judgment
of the fatherless and the widow, and he loves the stranger. He
gives him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger,
for you were strangers in the land of Egypt, wandering around,
and he loved you and me. That's right. Hebrews. Let's
look at Hebrews for a moment. Hebrews chapter Chapter 13, the last chapter
in Hebrews. Hebrews 13, verse 1 and 2 says,
Let brotherly love continue, and be not forgetful to entertain
these strangers. Thereby some have entertained
angels unaware. Look out for these strangers. The Lord preserveth the strangers. strangers, and not welcome in
most places, not wanted, because they're strangers. And then the
last line, verse 10, the Lord shall reign forever. Who is this
Lord? I've told you, this is Jehovah.
This is the Lord Jesus Christ he's talking about. Capital L,
capital O, capital R, capital D, every time. The Lord shall
reign forever. We're talking about Christ. There
will always be Jehovah, and there'll always be Zion, the church, and
there'll always be one. I have set my King on my holy
hill of Zion. And so he says, the Lord shall
reign forever, even thy God, O Zion, O church, unto every
generation. And I'll tell you what his exaltation
means in closing. God hath exalted him and given
him a name above every name. By himself he purged our sins
and he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
And here is what it means. Number one, his exaltation declares
that his redemptive work for which he came into this world
is complete. He sat down, finished He said,
I finished the work you gave me to do. He sat down. Secondly,
his exaltation declares that the Father is satisfied with
him and his work and his people. The Father says there's a time,
there's a day when God's going to judge the world by that man
Christ Jesus whom he raised from the dead. and exalted him to
his right hand. And the Father says, I'm satisfied
with him and with his people. Thirdly, this is awesome here,
listen. His exaltation declares that
human nature, human nature is advanced to the highest honor. There's a man within the veil. That's right. There's a man,
the man Christ Jesus. He said to his disciples, reach
out and touch my hands and my feet. A ghost does not have flesh
and bones as you see we have. And there's a real living man
within that veil in the presence of a holy God forever. That's
right. The Lord shall reign forever. That's Jehovah, who was a man,
who is a man, Christ Jesus. And I tell you, like old brother
Herman Mower said, if there's one man there, there can be two,
and three, and four, the Lord of hosts. Human nature is exalted
to its highest honor.

Six Comforting Statements

What does the Bible say about trusting in God instead of man?

Why is it important for Christians to praise the Lord?

How do we know that God loves the righteous?

What does it mean that the Lord looses the prisoners?

Why should we not trust in mankind for salvation?

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Six Comforting Statements

What does the Bible say about trusting in God instead of man?

Why is it important for Christians to praise the Lord?

How do we know that God loves the righteous?

What does it mean that the Lord looses the prisoners?

Why should we not trust in mankind for salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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