The life of a saved sinner in
this world is described in several ways in the scripture. For instance, in Hebrews chapter
12 and verse 1, our life is called a race. A race. That is, after a person has been
saved by the grace of God. After you have come to know the
Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior, you are entered
upon a race. Let us run with patience the
race that is set before us. In 2 Timothy chapter four and
verse seven, the apostle Paul referred to the Christian life
as a fight, as a battle. He said, I have fought a good
fight. That's what he said when he came
to the end of his life in this world. The Apostle Peter speaks
of believers as strangers and pilgrims. A pilgrim, of course,
is a traveler. Pilgrim is one on a journey.
And that's what this life is. From the time that the Lord reveals
Christ in us, we begin a journey. You remember John Bunyan in his
allegory spoke of Christian as pilgrim and he traced his walk
from the time that he left the city of destruction. That's where we all are by nature. We're in the city of destruction.
We're in God's world. We're enmity with God. We're far off from God. We have
no peace with God. But for the grace of God, we'll
continue in that city of destruction until our life ends in this world
and be cast into hell. But Pilgrim was warned, and as
I said, the grace of God, even though he was counted a fool
by his kinsmen and the people there in the city. Remember,
he put his fingers in his ears and he ran and he said, life,
life. He was running for life. And
of course, he immediately fell into the slough of despond. But
eventually, by the grace of God, he made his way to that light. to Calvary, to the cross. And
that burden that he felt, others left the city with him. They
didn't have that burden, so they could easily turn and go back,
but Pilgrim couldn't. And that burden, of course, is
sin, isn't it? Have you ever been burdened because
of your sin? That you've sinned against God?
that God is such a holy being. The scripture describes him as
a fire, a consuming fire, that he is of purer eyes than to behold
evil. Have you ever felt a burden of
sin? Well, Pilgrim did, didn't he? And the only place where
that burden fell off was at the cross. when he was able to look
up and see one crucified, one dying in his place and in his
stead. And that burden on his back came
off and tumbled down into that sepulchre. And he bore that burden
no more, but he had a journey, didn't he? He had a journey until
he was able to cross that river. in the end, and enter into the
celestial city. We think of our spiritual life,
our Christian life, as a walk, and we are exhorted among other
things, first of all, to walk in the Spirit. That is, in the
Spirit, the Holy Spirit, walk in the Spirit. And we are to
walk in love. We are to love one another. And we are to walk circumspectly. And we're told that we have many
enemies as we go along this journey. Some time back, my wife and I,
we were traveling and driving, I believe, in West Texas. And we wanted to stop and stretch
our legs. And we came upon one of those
places where you can turn off a scenic spot. And there was
a walking trail. And we thought, well, we'll just
stretch our legs and walk a bit. And you know, the first thing
we saw was a sign warning us what to do in case we encountered
a mountain lion. In other words, there was danger
on that trail. And the same thing is true on
the journey for every Christian, every child of God. There's danger
as we go along. There's a big warning sign which
says, beware, beware of the fact that you still have a heart,
a principle of evil. Yes, you have a new heart. But
still you have that old heart and the world and the allurements
of this world would not affect you in any way if it were not
for that old heart. That old heart that may be enticed
by these things. We have warnings as we go along
the way. Then we know that there is a
real being called the devil. And I often think of the words
in Luther's hymn where he said, for still our ancient foe does
seek to work us woe. His craft and cruel hate with power. We know that we have
an enemy in this world. He's real. Recently, as you know, I was
not here last Sunday. And I hate to even mention the
fact that I have been sick because we have people in this congregation
who've been sick for years and suffered for years. And I feel like a wimp if I even
mention the fact that I was sick. But in my sickness, I began to
reflect one day on my life, my walk through this world. And
four, well actually three words came to me and they all began
with the letter P. And then I've added a fourth
one. But these are four encouragements to me and I believe to all of
God's children as we walk through this world. The first word is
the word presence. The Lord Jesus promises us his
presence. Look with me in Hebrews chapter
13, if you will. If you want to turn there, Hebrews
chapter 13 in verse five. The Lord Jesus promises us his
presence. In other words, we don't walk
alone. Yes, we're walking. Yes, we're journeying, but we're
not alone. That gives us comfort right there,
doesn't it? It does to me. In Hebrews 13
in verse 5, the apostle wrote to these believers, let your
conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things
as you have. For he has said, here's the remedy
for discontentment. For he has said, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee. Let's break that down. He has
said, who? Who has said? Who has said, I
will never leave thee nor forsake thee? Well, this is God. This is God Almighty. This is
God who spoke the worlds into existence. This is God who is
the truth. This is God who cannot lie. This is God who has taken an
oath that by two immutable things we might have a strong assurance. Those of us who have fled to
Jesus for refuge, he has said. Well, that gives substance to
it, doesn't it? He has said. He has said, God
Almighty has said, and He has said this, I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee. Now, to whom has He said this? Well, it's difficult to know,
reading the word of God, it's difficult to know the first person
to whom the Lord spoke those words. Most believe that it was
to Joshua in Joshua chapter one after Moses had died and here
he is in charge of the nation of Israel to lead them into the
land of promise that God said unto him, Joshua one in verse
five, I will be with thee. I will not fail thee nor forsake
thee. But I read a message many years
ago by Charles Spurgeon And he found about six, maybe five,
six or seven different people in the scripture to whom the
Lord had said this, I will not leave thee nor forsake thee. But I remember this and that
message, he went on to say that no promise, no promise is of
any private interpretation. Whatever, this is what Mr. Spurgeon said, whatever God has
said to one saint, he has said to all. When he opens a well
for one, when he opens up a well, there
he is out in the wilderness, no water, God opens up a well. When he opens up a well for one,
It is that all may drink. You, me. This is a promise to
all of God's children. We have no doubt that this promise
is to all of God's children because the Lord Jesus Christ in John,
he said, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. That word comfortless could be,
and is in some translations, translated orphans. I will not
leave you orphans. Years ago, I read that Spurgeon,
you know, they had orphans homes. They had homes for girls and
they had homes for boys, orphans. And they had a meeting one time
and And the discussion was, what do orphans need? And of course,
they were thinking about clothes and food and medicine, all those
things. And one person said, no, what
an orphan needs is a mother. Is a mother. Think about that. If an orphan has a mother, He'll
have all these other things. He'll have clothes. He'll have
food. He'll have medicine. The Lord
said, I will not leave thee orphans. I will come to thee. His presence
is assured to every child of God because we know that God,
the Holy Spirit, lives in every child of God. If any have not
the Spirit of God, he is none of his. Romans 8 tells us. How would anyone ever become
a child of God apart from the work of God the Holy Spirit?
It's just, that's not going to happen. It's amazing how some
people you've heard over the years thought people were saved
somehow in the Old Testament by keeping the law somehow apart
from God the Holy Spirit and the work of Christ. What foolishness. There's never been but one way
of salvation, one savior, one blood that atones for sin, and
one spirit of God that quickens dead sinners and gives life that
man might believe and repent of their sins and follow Christ. No, you're not, the apostle wrote
to the church at Corinth, the believers there. And remember,
the church at Corinth, they had their problems, didn't they?
I mean, they did. They had their problems there,
taking one another to law, suing each other. One man was living
with his wife, with his mother, rather, his stepmother, I mean,
there was just one thing after the other there in that church,
but still Paul wrote to them and said, what? Know you not
that your body is a temple of God and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you? I like that word dwelleth, don't
you? He didn't just say the Holy Spirit
dwells in you, that's true, but know he dwelleth in you. He's come to take up residence
in you, and He will live in you. The presence, the Lord Jesus
Christ has promised us His presence. The second word that I thought
of, and I don't know where these words came from. I mean, they
just came to me. I may have heard someone use
them or read a message or something, I don't know. But I'm calling
them mine. The second word is the word protection. The Lord Jesus promises us his
protection. Yes, we're on a journey, and
yes, there's many dangers, but the Lord promises us his protection. And just as I said, we don't
walk alone, we don't walk unprotected. I want you to look back to the
Psalm 91 with me. Psalm 91. I know that this psalm, like
all of the psalms, speak of Christ, but yet when you see verse two,
this is the truth, this is a confession of all of God's children. I will
save the Lord. He's my refuge. Isn't that what
you say today? If you're one of His children,
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge. The Lord is my refuge. He's my fortress. He's my God. We confess Jesus is God, don't
we? There's no question. There's
no debate. He that has seen me has seen the Father. Yes, I will
say of the Lord, he's my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him
will I trust. That's the confession of every
child of God. Every one of us here today who
are saved, we make that same confession. Well, let's look
here at several things. First of all, he has taken us
under his peculiar care. In verse four, he shall cover
thee with his feathers. And under his wings shalt thou
trust. His truth shall be thy shield
and buckler. He's taken us under his peculiar
care, hidden us under the cover of his feathers. And you know
the analogy there is from fowls, how that they protect their young. I remember reading many years
ago about a tornado that across Kansas or one of those states
there, and miles away from the farm, they found this hen. There
she was, and her little chicks were all underneath her. The
tornado had taken her miles away and had destroyed her life, really,
but she had protected. And that's just a picture, isn't
it, of how the Lord protects his people, his children. He's
taken us under his wings to keep us safe, to raise us. When we
went to Mexico as a family many years ago in 1996, I believe
it was, we had memorized this psalm. Pat and I, Winna and David
and Jonathan, We had memorized this psalm. This was our psalm
as we looked for God's protection. And it would amaze you, my friends,
if you knew how God protected us in so many different ways. And I'm sure you could, you have
a story just like that in your history, how God has kept you
and protected you. Those of us who are parents,
how God has watched over our children and kept us. That's
amazing, isn't it? God, yes, it's a journey, but
the Lord Jesus has not only promised us his presence, but his protection. And he will deliver us from the
powers of darkness. Yes, surely he shall deliver
thee. Verse three, from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome
pestilence. Verse seven, he will preserve
thee from all evil. A thousand shall fall at thy
side and 10,000 at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh
thee. And down in verse 10, he shall
give his angels charge over thee. Verse 10, there shall no evil
befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling,
for he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee
in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread
upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt
thou trample under feet. In Hebrews chapter one, we are
told that the angels are ministering spirits, spirits sent forth to
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. And how many
times, if you look back in your life, how many times has it It
seemed to you that an angel just snatched you from the jaws of
death or from destruction. I mean, it was so close and so
evident, and yet God kept you. Yes, he has promised us his protection. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper, we read in Isaiah 54. And that doesn't mean
that believers do not use means. It doesn't mean that we do not
lock our doors at night when we go to sleep. You know, people
that say, well, if God has determined you're going to live so many
years and so many days and so many hours, yes, I believe that. I do. I believe on God's calendar,
the time of my death, the time of your death is already marked
there. Well, let's just not eat anymore. Let's not buy groceries anymore.
We're going to live to a certain time anyway. That's foolishness,
isn't it? That's foolishness. But yet we
have God's promises of His protection. The third word is the word provision. The Lord Jesus promises His provision. And you will want to turn with
me to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 10. Paul is writing
to this church at Philippi thanking them for their help that they
had sent to him. Begin with verse 10. But I've
rejoiced in the Lord greatly. Philippians 4 verse 10. But I've
rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care
of me hath flourished again. wherein you were also careful,
but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of
want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased,
and I know how to abound. everywhere and in all things
I'm instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me, notwithstanding you have well done that you did
communicate with my affliction. Now you Philippians know also
that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from
Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving
and receiving, but you only. For even in Thessalonica, you
sent once and again unto my necessity, not because I desire a gift,
But I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all
and abound. I am full, having received of
Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of
a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. But my
God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. Have you ever considered Paul's
statement there in verse 18? Can you see him in a prison?
You see him as he wrote this letter, and he said, I have all,
and I abound. Did you know that every child
of God here this morning can say the same thing? I have all. If you have Christ,
you have all. And if you don't have Christ,
it doesn't matter what all you have. You have nothing. Every child of God here this
morning can say with Paul, I have all. I have all, all that my
soul shall ever need. I have in Christ. I have righteousness. I have righteousness that God
accepts. I have cleansing in His blood. I have all. I have adoption into
the family of God. God is my Father. Christ is my
Savior. I have all. I abound. Oh yeah, I often think of that
little jingle that Spurgeon told, I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. You remember that story, don't
you? Man wanted to join the church and the elders had to question
him on his conversion and his testimony was, I'm a poor sinner
and nothing at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. And the elders thought, well,
you've got to do better than that, buddy. If you want to be
baptized and become part of this church. Well, about three months
later, they interviewed him again, and his testimony was still the
same. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. And isn't that our testimony,
no matter how long We may have been on this journey. That's
still our testimony today. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all and all. And he has provided and will
provide. One last word is the word providence. The Lord Jesus promises his providence. Look with me in Ephesians 1.
This will be the last place I ask you to turn, but Ephesians 1.
And this is part of a prayer that the Apostle Paul prayed
for the believers in the church at Ephesus, beginning with verse 15. Wherefore,
I also, Ephesians 1 in verse 15, wherefore, I also, after
I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all
the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention
of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation and the knowledge of him, The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his
calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
and the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to us were to believe. according to the working of his
mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him
from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places far above all principality and power and might and dominion
and every name that is named not only in this world but also
in that which is to come and hath put all things under his
feet. That's my Savior. That's my Lord,
Paul's talking about. That is the Lord of Lords and
the King of Kings. That is the Lord Jesus Christ.
God hath raised Him to His right hand and put all things under
His feet. In 1 Corinthians, we're told
God is accepted, of course. But everything is under the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice those next words.
And gave him to be head over all things to the church, which
is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. God has put all things under
his feet, who is the head of the church. head over all things
to the church. In other words, God's providence. What is God's providence? It's
God working out in time what he ordained in eternity should
come to pass. That's the reason that verse,
Romans 8, 28, for we know that all things work together for
good to those who love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. How can that be true? How can
that be so? Because all things are put under
the feet of Jesus Christ. And he's making all things work
for the good of his people and for the good of his church. May
the Lord bless these thoughts.