The Good Life

Q: What does the Bible say about delivering ourselves from this world?

The Bible calls believers to save themselves from a crooked and perverse generation by coming out and being separate from worldly influences. In Acts 2:40, Peter exhorts the crowd to 'save yourselves from this crooked generation.' This call is a reminder for Christians to distance themselves from the moral decay and perverse culture surrounding them. Believers are encouraged to live according to God's standards rather than conforming to the ways of the world. John 17:15 reinforces this, where Jesus prayed for His followers to be kept from the evil one while still living in the world. This means that while we engage with society, we must not let its values shape our beliefs and behaviors. Instead, we must strive to reflect Christ in our lives, choosing to follow His teachings in a world that turns away from Him.

Q: How do we know that God protects us in the challenges of life?

We know God protects us through His promises in Scripture that He is our refuge and will deliver us from evil. Psalm 91 illustrates God's protective nature, describing Him as our refuge and fortress. The psalm assures us that 'He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust' (Psalm 91:4). This metaphor highlights God's comforting and protective presence over His people. Furthermore, Scripture reveals that no evil will befall those who make the Lord their dwelling place (Psalm 91:10). This divine protection is reassured through both physical and spiritual challenges, where God promises to be with us in times of trouble (Psalm 91:15). Additionally, Satan himself acknowledges that a protective hedge surrounds God's faithful ones (Job 1:10), underscoring the reality of God's guardianship.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to not conform to the world's standards?

It's crucial for Christians to avoid conforming to the world to maintain their distinctiveness as followers of Christ and to fulfill their calling. The call for believers to not conform to the world stems from the fundamental truth that Christians are set apart. Romans 12:2 encourages believers to 'not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.' This transformation allows Christians to discern God's will, which is good and pleasing. As Peter attested in Acts 2:40, believers are to save themselves from a perverse generation, thereby fostering a community that reflects God's holiness. By resisting societal pressures and upholding biblical values, Christians bear witness to the truth of the Gospel and promote a culture that honors God amidst a decaying world. Living differently not only represents allegiance to Christ but also serves as a light to those still lost in darkness.

All right, before we come to
the psalm, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of
Acts, chapter 2. Now, the apostle Peter preached
the gospel of Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ crucified, he said, that same Jesus whom
you crucified. God hath raised from the dead
and exalted him and made him both Lord and Christ. He preached
Christ crucified, risen, and exalted. He preached the gospel
of God's redeeming grace to this great multitude assembled at
the feast of Pentecost. And it says in verse 40 of Acts
2, Acts 2 verse 40, and with many other words did he testify
and exhort, save, save yourselves, save yourselves. Now he's not
talking about redemption of the soul, you know that, I know that,
he's talking about something else. Save yourselves, the word
save is deliver. deliver yourselves. He says,
deliver yourselves from this untoward. What is that word? It's not a word that we use,
it's not a word that we encounter very often. It means crooked. It means perverse. He exhorts
these people with many words, saying to them, deliver yourselves
from this crooked generation, this perverse generation. The message is the same today.
Deliver yourselves. Come out. Turn away from this crooked,
perverse, ungodly, wicked generation. And we've got to live in this
world. Our Lord prayed in John 17. He
said, Father, I do not pray that you should take them out of the
world. They've got to live in this world.
But I pray you'd keep them from the evil one, for they're not
of this world. even as I'm not of this world,
and you and I've got to live in this world, but we're not
to be like this world, and we're not to love this world. We must
walk through this world, as Chuck read a moment ago, 70 years of
it. And if by reason of strength
and good health, it should be 80 years, yet it's going to be
years of trouble and trial and sorrow and tribulation in this
world. We've got to walk through this
world, but we don't have to walk as this world. We don't have to walk with this
world. We do have to have daily contact
with the people of this world, you more than I. But we must
not allow them to influence us to imitate them, nor seek their
approval, nor conform to their ways. By the grace of God, the
message is the same now as it was back there when Peter preached
to this great crowd about Christ and a relationship with him.
Save yourselves, deliver yourselves, come out from among them, be
ye separate, saith the Lord. What fellowship does darkness
have with light? What accord, what fellowship
does the servants of Baal have with the servants of God? By
the grace of God, deliver yourselves from this perverse and crooked
world and generation. It is a crooked, it is a perverse
generation. Their manner of life is perverse.
It's contrary to scriptures. Drugs, alcohol, homosexuality. You pick up the paper and read
about child abuse. 62% of the black children born
in this nation are born out of wedlock. 55% of just the black families in
this nation have one parent, not two. I said 55%. Marriage means nothing anymore.
The work ethic is a thing of the past. Honesty is a thing
of the past. Leadership, statesmanship is
a thing of the past. The manner of life in this so-called
Christian nation is perverse. Isn't that right? Perverse. Not only is their manner of life
perverse, but their music is perverse. That's right, it's
perverted. Both secular and religious. The music is perverted. It's
ungodly, and it's wicked. What Peter's saying here, deliver
yourselves from this manner of life, and from this type of life,
and from the influence of it. Not only is their music perverse,
their language is perverse. It's ungodly. It's wicked. You can't just let your children
even go to a theater anymore. Used to be years ago, on Saturday,
everybody went to the Westerns, took a dime and went to the show.
Parents could relax with their children, you know, watching
Hopalong Cassidy. But now, the wicked, wicked words
and language, even on television and in the movies, is ungodly. Ungodly is wicked. You know,
they tell me that you have to have a movie with a PG or R rating
to get anybody to go to it because that's the way people talk. That's
not the way people talk. I run with. And I'm not going to run with
people that talk that way. It's a perverted generation.
And if it moves as rapidly in the next 20 years as it's moved
in the last 20 years, God have mercy on our children. Perverted. Their dress is perverted. And the ornaments they wear are
perverted. And the signs they wear on their
t-shirts are perverted. That's right. Don't be like them. Don't be like them. Deliver yourselves
from this perverted generation. That's what Peter said. Deliver
yourselves from this crooked, perverse generation. Don't allow
them to suck you in and make you conform. Don't submit to
the peer pressure. Don't do it. That's what he's
saying. Save yourselves. Their dress
is perverted. Their gospel is perverted. It's
a gospel of do-it-yourself. It's a gospel of humanism. It's
a gospel of works. It is a gospel that God has nothing
to do with. It's a gospel of salvation by
human righteousness. It's a perverted gospel. That's
exactly what it is. Paul called it another gospel. Their churches are perverted. Their methods of religion are
perverted. Their churches are social clubs
filled with entertainment and emotionalism, and their preachers
are perverted. That's what Peter's saying to
the people at Pentecost. He preached Christ, crucified,
risen, exalted, enthroned. He preached faith in Christ,
repent and be baptized in the name of Christ, and then he had
something to say to them, and deliver yourselves. come out,
be different, turn away from this perverted generation. And if you, he thought it was
perverted then, he ought to come back now. Because no man can serve two
masters. It's an impossibility. Christ
said, if you're not with me, you're against me. You can't
serve two masters. A person cannot walk in the spirit
of God and walk with a world that despises that God. It's
an impossibility. You cannot serve two masters
any more than you can walk two directions, two different directions
at the same time. It cannot be done. Let me show
you two scriptures. Turn to Romans 8. Romans chapter
8, verse 5 through 8. Listen to
this. And I'm saying these things to encourage you. to arm you,
to remind you, to warn you of the dangers about you. In Romans
8, verse 5, Romans 8, verse 5, for they that are after the flesh,
they demand the things of the flesh. That's what their mind
dwells on. That's what they think about. That's their pursuit That's
their direction of life. They think about the flesh and
the things of the flesh. But they that are after the Spirit,
those that seek God, they do mind the things of the Spirit.
They're concerned about spiritual matters. To be carnally, naturally,
fleshly minded is death. If that's the mind you have and
the direction you go and the things you think on and the gratification
of this flesh and this body and this human emotions, That's death. The end is death. There's a way
that seems right to me, and the end is death. But to be specially
minded, that's life, peace, that's the
good life. Because the carnal mind, the
fleshly mind, the natural mind, the worldly mind is enmity. It's
not at enmity with God, it is enmity. You notice that, Charlie?
There's no at in there. I hear people quote that, that
your mind's at enmity. No, it's not. It is enmity. It is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can it be. So they, they're in the flesh.
Now, you and I are in the flesh. That's not what he's talking
about. They, they're in it as a direction of life. as a concern
of life, as the thoughts of their life, as the desire of their
lives. It's a dwell on. They can't please God. They can't
please God. Now, the other scripture is Matthew
16. Let's look at this a moment.
In this same vein, come out, deliver yourselves from this
perverse generation. The direction it's going is away
from God, not to God. They can talk all they want to
about the revival of religion, but it has had no effect on this
nation. It has had no effect on most
of them. In Matthew 16, verse 24, listen,
Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man come after me, let
him deny himself, and deny his flesh. this natural mind and
manners and way of life and take up his cross and follow me. Whosoever
shall save his life, he's going to lose it. Whoever compromises
and conforms in order to keep peace, in order not to have any
trouble, in order to avoid suffering for the gospel's sake, in order
to pacify people, he wants to save his life and keep it from
being harassed and Keep him from having to bear a cross. He's
going to lose it, but whose love shall lose his life for my sake? You'll find it. What's a man
profited if he gained the whole world and lose his soul? What
shall a man give in exchange for his soul? But this is not
a negative message. I just started out that way.
This is not a negative message. It's an encouraging message.
In fact, I'm calling this message the good life. the good life. You see, God does not take away
what a man has without giving him something better. When I
say save yourselves from this perverse generation, this crooked
generation, this manner of life, this way of life that's contrary
to God, and come over to something, I'm not telling you to come over
to something unpleasant. I'm saying come over to something
that's the good life. God never takes away what a man
has without giving him something better. He said, I'll take your
stony heart out and give you a heart of flesh. In bad shape,
he just took the stony heart out, didn't give you anything
in return. I'll take out the stony heart,
I'll give you a heart of flesh. Look at Mark chapter 10. Listen
to this. I was reminded of this when I
was making this special point here. This is not a negative
message. You know, anybody who pictures the way of Christ as
a dismal, difficult way, he's not acquainted with the way of
Christ. I don't care if he's in the pulpit or the pew or sitting
here tonight. Anybody who has the idea that
the way of the believer, the way of faith, The way of the
family, the way of godliness, the way of Christ, is a dismal
way and a difficult way. He doesn't know the way. Because
Christ said, my yoke is easy, my burden is light. The way of
the transgressor is hard. He doesn't know it, but it is.
The way of the believer is not hard. Most of you here tonight
have never been happier in your life than you are right now.
You've never been happier than you are right now in Christ.
Those who look upon the fellowship of Christ and the fellowship
of his church as unhappy people, as frustrated people, as negative
thinking people, you don't know anything about that fellowship.
You might have looked at it, but you've never participated
in it, not at all. The fellowship of Christ in his
church is one of joy, it's one of peace, it's one of victory,
it's one of contentment. Isn't that true? It's contentment. The true believer who knows and
has entered the joy of his Lord, now listen to me, the true believer,
the true, the man who's had that Stony heart removed who has a
new nature. Oh, he has the old one to contend
with. But he has a new nature and a new heart and he's come
to know Christ. He's come to know his people.
Like Chuck was praying a while ago about wanting to love each
other more and enjoy the fellowship of each other more. A man, a
woman who's really come to know that even in his most difficult
times. Even in his darkest valley. Even
in his hardest trial, he wouldn't trade places with the unbeliever,
not the most successful unbeliever. That's right. He wouldn't. Ain't that right Cecil? The man
who really knows God, who knows his word, who knows Christ, who's
come to knowledge of God's gospel. I'm not talking about a fellow
that's got the doctrine, said to Jesus he's his personal savior,
made his decision for the Lord, and keep on keeping on. I'm talking
about the fellow that God's encountered and given him a new life and
a new heart and fellowship with Christ. That man, in his most
difficult hour, in his darkest valley, under his heaviest load,
wouldn't trade places with the President of the United States.
He wouldn't do it. Not with any unbeliever. Listen
to Mark, chapter 10, verse 28. You've got it open there in front
of you. Then Peter began to say, Lord, unto him, Lord, Lord, we
have left all, and followed thee. Jesus answered and said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, there is no man, there is no man that
hath left the house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father,
or wife, or children, or lands for my sake and the gospel, but
he shall receive a hundredfold right now in this time Houses
and bedding and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecution
But he'll receive them and in the world to come everlasting
life You never People talk about what they've given up for God
It's been the other way around. It's been receiving from God
What I've given up I didn't need What I've given up was doing
nothing but costing me That's right, you too, you've just given
up nothing and got everything. Now we'll turn to Psalm 91. Here
is the good life. Here is the good life. And folks
that are acquainted with it, rejoice in it. I divide this
psalm into four parts. The first part is verse 1 and
2. This is the good life. He that dwelleth. Not visited,
not comes in once in a while to see how it is. He that dwelleth,
where? In the secret place of the Most
High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Where is the
secret place? He that dwelleth in the secret
place. You know where the secret place
is? Back down in the Old Testament, the secret place was the Holy
of Holies. I'm talking about within the
veil. I'm talking about that secret place separated by the
heavy veil where they found the mercy seat and the cherubims
and the glory of God between the cherubims overshadowing the
mercy seat. That's the secret place. And
the great high priest was allowed to go into that secret place
only one time a year, not without blood. But I'm telling you this. In Christ, you and I dwell within
the veil, in the secret place, in the very presence of God.
Yes, we do. I can show you that in Hebrews
chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6 verse 19, listen
to this. We dwell in the secret place
of the Most High. We abide under the shadow of
the Almighty, right between the cherubims. I tell them the mercy
seat. That's where we live. That's
where we abide. Listen to Hebrews 6, 19. Which hope we have, as
an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which entereth
into that within the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered,
even Jesus, the high priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek,
he has entered in and torn the veil in two. And he said, let
us come boldly into the presence of God, through the veil. That's where we dwell. That's
where we dwell. By the righteousness, by the
blood of Jesus Christ, we not only come there, we dwell there. We abide there. And I want you
to notice something in verse 1 and 2. There are four names
of God given here. See if you can pick them out.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall
abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of thee,
Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. He is my refuge,
my fortress, my God. In him will I trust." Those four
names, first of all, the Most High. He is the Most High with
whom we reverently commune. within the veil, in the secret
place, in his presence. Secondly, he is the Almighty. We abide in the shadow of the
Almighty, in whom we rest securely, protected. Keep me as the apple
of thy eye, under the shadow of thy wings. And then he's called
the Lord And when you see this word in all capitals, it's the
Lord Jehovah. Jehovah, God my Savior. And as God my Savior, He is my
refuge. And He's my fortress. And what's
this? He's my God. He's my mighty God
in whom I trust. O Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. while the nearer waters roll,
while the tippeth still is high. Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
till the storms of life are past. Say unto that haven God, receive
my soul at last." That's the good life. I abide under the
shadow of the Almighty. I dwell, you do, in the secret
place. All right, here, that's the believer's
dwelling place. Now secondly, here's the believer's
confidence. Now watch verse 3. Surely he
shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, from the noisome
pestilence. He shall cover thee with his
feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall
be thy shield and thy buckler. You know something? You notice
in these, as I read these next few verses, it's not maybe. It's not perhaps, there's no
uncertainty at all about that he that dwells in that sacred
place by the blood and righteousness of Christ, he that abides under
the protection and care of the Almighty God, he whose refuge
and fortress is Jehovah God, he says, I shall deliver him. I'll deliver him from the curse
of the law. There's no condemnation to them who are in Christ. I'll
deliver him from the penalty of sin. Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? I'll deliver him from all his
enemies, and I'll cover him, verse 4, with his feathers. I'll
cover him with my feathers. I'll cover him with my righteousness. I'll keep him in all his ways,
and his truth will put to flight our every enemy. Look at verse
5. Thou shalt not be afraid. not be afraid. Now, out of Christ, we've got
a lot of reasons to be afraid. That chapter that Chuck read
a while ago, who knoweth the power of his anger? Who knoweth the power of God's
anger? But those whose refuge is the
mighty God, listen to verse 5, thou shalt not be afraid of the
terror by night. I know a lot of people who are
afraid of the darkness. You know, darkness falls and
the workers of darkness roam and prowl. But he says here,
you shall not be afraid, because the darkness is light about thee. You've got a good night watchman.
That's your father. Don't be afraid of the terrors
of the night. And don't be afraid of the arrows
that fly by day. What are these arrows? Storms,
and lightning, and floods, and earthquakes, and tragedies, and
accidents on the road, in the air? The arrows that fly by day
and pick people off here, there, and yonder? Don't you be afraid. Don't be afraid. Because He's
your refuge and your fortress. Don't be afraid. And don't be
afraid, for the sakes of the pestilence that walketh in darkness."
What's this pestilence? Disease, plagues, germs and demons? Principalities, powers, pestilence? Don't be afraid of them. Don't
be afraid, watch this, of the destruction that wasteth at noonday,
and nearly all of the writers agree that this noonday is high
noon, the day of God's wrath, the day of God's judgment, the
day of the Lord. Don't you be afraid, because there's no judgment
to them who are in Christ Jesus. A thousand shall fall at your
side, and they will and they do. Ten thousand at thy right
hand, it shall not come nigh thee. Evil may be near thee, but it
will not come nigh thee. These things may be near thee,
but they will not come nigh thee. I tell you why. Turn to Job chapter
1. If we could just lay hold of
this right here, Job chapter 1 verse 10. Satan came in among
the sons of God to accuse Job and so forth, and here is what Satan said about
Job, Job 1 verse 10, Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and
about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? There's
a wall, there's a hedge that God's put around his people.
and the terror by night, and the errors by day, and the pestilence
in the darkness. Can't touch him. There's his
hedge about him. Underscore that. Satan said that. That's not some tin horn preacher.
That's the fellow that knows what he's talking about. He said,
I can't touch him. I can't touch him. There's a hedge about him
I can't get through. I tell you, if we could get hold
of that, That's the good life. You're talking about peace. You're
talking about thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind
has stayed on thee. But if I'm thinking about the
terror by night, and the errors by day, and the pestilence in
the darkness, and doing all these different things to ward them
off, you're on your own. But I'm thinking about him. Go
back to my text. Verse 5, Thou shalt not be afraid. Verse 7, A thousand shall fall
at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. It won't
come nigh thee, only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see
the reward of the wicked." Now, here's the believer's refuge.
Here's the reason. Here's the reason why we're dwelling
in that sacred place. Here's the reason why we're delivered
from evil. Here's the reason why God's put
a hedge around us. Here's the reason why we're covered
under the shadow of his wings. Here's the reason for this protection,
because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the
most high of thy habitation. Because the Lord is our refuge,
because the Lord is our habitation, we don't have to be afraid. It's
not the law to which I flee. It's not the works of religion
which I trust. It's not some decision or doctrine. It's Christ himself. He is my
rescue. Nothing can touch me because
it can't touch him. That's the reason. I believe
this is where so many religionists are missing this whole thing.
And the preachers are adding to it, they're contributing to
it, they're pleading with people, raise your hand, make your decision,
this is your decision, come down now and accept Jesus as your
personal savior. That's not it. Salvation is a
living, vital, personal union with Christ. It's Christ in me. That's the hope of glory. You
in Christ. It's a new life. It's a new birth.
It's an act of God. It's not an act of man. People hold to a doctrine. A
doctrine is poor defense. People hold to a decision. A
decision is a bad refuge. It's a bad foundation. They talk
about their faith. Here is our protection. Here
is our good life. You made the Lord, which is my
refuge, the most high of thy habitation. You dwell in him,
and he in you. And therefore there shall no
evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling,
for he gives his angels charge over you." He gives his angels
charge over you. I wish I had time tonight to
dwell on that a little bit. I do know over in the book of
Hebrews it talks about the angels are ministers, ministering spirits. to those who are the heirs of
salvation. And I know this refers to Christ here. It refers to
his people. We're in Christ. You can't separate
Christ and his people. They're one. That they may be
one as we are one, O Father. I in them and thou in me. And when he says, you know, Satan
quoted this verse to our Lord up on the mountain of temptation.
He said, cast yourself off here, show them who you are. But it
says he'll give his angels charge over you. And that's true. The
angels of God are ministering spirits. They're guardian angels
who watch over God's people, who protect them. And you fellas
are driving down the highway tomorrow morning. I've told you
to be careful. But I tell you this, as careful
as you can be, it won't protect you. God has to. You got an angel
riding on each fender. I believe that. Oh, he's funny. He's got angels all about you.
And they can keep up with some of you fellas, too. You may not
think so, but they can. They go ahead of you. They prepare
the way. That's right. You turn to Matthew
18. Let me show you something. Matthew chapter 18. Now, if you
don't have that hedge, and you don't have that heavenly guardianship,
and you don't have that watch care of God, and He's not your
refuge or habitation, all you've got is a decision of religion,
forget this. This is to be in Christ. This
is the good life. In Matthew 18, our Lord Jesus
Christ talks about little children, little children. And he called
the little child, verse 2, and set him in the midst of the disciples
and said, Verily I say unto you, except you be converted and become
as little children, you'll not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child,
the same is great in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive
one such little child in my name receiveth me." Now what little
child is he talking about there? He's talking about the one who's
humbled himself and becomes a little child. He said to his disciples,
these big fellas, you know, quibbling about who's the greatest, he
said, you've got to be humbled and brought down and converted
and become like a little child. But he said, when you do, whosoever
receives you, such a little child in my name receives me. Now look
at the next verse. And whosoever offends one of
these little ones, which believe in me. You see, he qualified. He's not talking about those
little children now, those infants. He's talking about those that
believe on him. You offend one of these little ones that believe
on him, you've got me to deal with. You see what he's saying?
It's better for you that a millstone were hanged about your neck and
you were down in the sea. They're mine. You daddies know what I'm talking
about. You mommas. You mother lines here. Let somebody
touch one of your cubs. And they got you to deal with.
And that's what God's saying here. You touch one of my little
ones. You got me to deal with them. I protect them. See, they're
mine. You understand what he's saying?
It would be better for you to just tie a concrete block around
your neck and jump off this bridge down here if you're going to
take a shot at one of God's little ones. Now, we're down here in
verse 10. Now, take heed that you despise
not one of these little ones, that's those that believe on
me, for I say unto you that in heaven there are angels. Do always
behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. The angels
get their orders from the Father. And they're your angels. They're
your ministering spirits. And the Father sends them down
to protect you. Put that hedge on you. That's
what it says. They appear in the presence of
the Father. That's where they get their orders. And you're
the one they take care of. That's why I turn back to my
text. I'm telling you the truth. We live in a spiritual world.
Verse 10, Psalm 91, There shall no evil befall thee, neither
shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. And Dr. Smith's not the one that keeps
it away. God does. And for he'll give his angels
charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways, and they'll
bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against
a stone." Now, when the time comes for you to leave here,
then they'll let you leave. God calls you home. That's right. But up until that time, you're
immortal. In verse 13, "...thou shalt tread
upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the dragon,
shalt thou trample on the feet." That's the believer's confidence. That's the believer's confidence.
Now, here's the believer's refuge in closing. Here's the believer's assurance
and confidence. Because he hath set his love
upon me, therefore will I deliver him. Who set whose love upon
whom? Well, both are true. He set his
love upon me, and I set my love upon him. That's right. We do
love him, but he first loved us. And when he said, Peter,
do you love me? Peter said, you know I love you.
You know I love you. I love Christ. Not like I ought
to, and not like I want to, and not like I will, but I do, and
you do too. And because of that, because
he set his love upon you and you set your love upon him, God
gave seven I wills. Seven I wills. Here they are.
Therefore, I'll deliver him. I'll deliver him. You don't need
to be afraid of sin, death, and judgment. There's a ransom found. Delivering him from going down
into the pit, I found a ransom. There's a ransom found for every
blood-bought son of God and daughter. Secondly, I'll set him on high.
Now that's not talking about worldly honor. That's not talking
about worldly acclaim. That's talking about real honor.
Real, set on, seated with Christ in the heavens. Because he hath
known my name. Look at the next one. He'll call
on me and I'll answer him. You know, David kept praying,
Lord, hear me, incline thine ears. God doesn't give me everything
I ask for, everything I want. These fellows that say, ask God
anything you want to, if you ask it in his name, he's got
to give it to you. No, no, he doesn't. He'll meet
my needs. What I want usually is not good
for me. He knows what's good for me,
but the very fact he said, I'll hit him and I'll answer him,
that's the key. If God just turns and hears us,
or inclines his ear, that's sufficient. I'll answer him. He said, I'll
be with him in trouble. I'll be with him in the time
of trouble to accomplish his good and my glory. I'll deliver
him, and I'll honor him. Let me read you a scripture over
here. Don't turn to it. Over here in John chapter 12.
This is real honor here. I want you to listen to this.
John chapter 12, verse 26. If any man serve me, let him
follow me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my Father honor. That's the most simple, humble
believer in Christ Jesus. The Father's going to honor him.
That's what he says. I'll honor him. And verse 16,
he says, with a long life will I satisfy him. Well, that's not
down here on this earth necessarily. Some of God's choice men have
died very young. Brainerd, 29, McShane, 29, Toplady,
36, Spurgeon, 58. He's talking about long life,
eternal life. I'll be satisfied when I wake
with his likeness. That's the life. Now the last
one. I'm going to show him my salvation.
You talk about the good life. That's what Moses prayed for
in Exodus 33 after all that he'd seen and heard and observed and
experienced. He said, Lord, just show me your
glory. And God said, all right. I'll be merciful. I'll show you
my salvation. That's the good life. Save yourselves
from this generation, perverse, wicked, crooked, and enter, by
God's grace, the good life. It's the happy life. All right,
Mike, lead us in a closing here.

The Good Life

What does the Bible say about delivering ourselves from this world?

How do we know that God protects us in the challenges of life?

Why is it important for Christians to not conform to the world's standards?

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The Good Life

What does the Bible say about delivering ourselves from this world?

How do we know that God protects us in the challenges of life?

Why is it important for Christians to not conform to the world's standards?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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