1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:07,000 Well, we have been in the series about hope and talking about 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:08,920 what does it mean to have biblical hope. 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:10,880 Well, how is that different than worldly hope? 4 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:12,560 And we looked at why we need hope. 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,680 And I unpacked that over the the first three weeks. 6 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,560 And then we had the wonderful Clare Mulroney, who spoke last 7 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:21,520 week. Yeah, we can give her a whoop. 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:28,160 Just so blessed by looking at hope in his provision. 9 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,439 And just love the way that Claire spoke into that and that 10 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:36,360 place of surrender as we surrendered to him to be our 11 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,920 provider. And if you missed that, you can 12 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,200 catch up on our YouTube channel. Do watch that. 13 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,840 If you missed it, I'd really encourage you to to watch that. 14 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:47,400 And as Claire said, over the next number of weeks, we're 15 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,360 going to be looking each week on those promises of God that we 16 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:56,480 can put our hope in. And I have a subject here and it 17 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:00,680 is entitled Hope in his protection, Hope in his 18 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,720 protection. And the way we're going to do 19 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:09,240 this is by looking at a very famous Psalm and it's probably 20 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:13,400 one of the most quoted Psalms. You will, you will have heard 21 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,880 it, I'm sure. And and it's typically used in a 22 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,160 form of a prayer. Many people will pray this Psalm 23 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:26,400 because it provides language for us to express a desire that we 24 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:32,320 have to be protected by God. And you know, one of the things 25 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:36,000 I spoke about a few weeks ago was the need for us to be real 26 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,280 with God, about our situation. To I think I use a phrase to 27 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,600 walk through the pain, don't let the pain walk you. 28 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:49,400 In other words, we need to not just be an optimist by ignoring 29 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,800 reality, but saying to God, this is what I'm feeling, this is the 30 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,920 reality that I'm walking through, and then give that to 31 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,120 God. And this Psalm allows us to do 32 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,560 that. It's also a Psalm that I'm sure 33 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,600 you've heard or maybe you've read to someone who is in need 34 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:10,600 of comfort, someone who is in need to feel that the Lord is 35 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,440 looking after them. And I know that as a parent, 36 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,920 Steph and I have often times quoted this Psalm. 37 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:22,080 If that hasn't whetted your appetite, I don't know what 38 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,080 will. Are you ready for the Psalm? 39 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,320 It's Psalm 91, I heard. Yeah, there you go. 40 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,080 I knew it was that Mark knew you're going to talk about Psalm 41 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:34,280 91. Well done. 42 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:39,640 So I'm going to read that it's going to be on the screen if 43 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:41,160 you're in the room, and if you're online, it'll be on your 44 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,800 device. However, you may want to close 45 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:50,280 your eyes as I read this. Maybe for you you need that 46 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,480 comfort this morning. Maybe for you you need to hear 47 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,960 the promise of protection. And so, rather than read it, why 48 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,640 don't you just listen to it as I read it? 49 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:08,080 To us, he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will 50 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,840 abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 51 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:20,360 I will say to the Lord my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom 52 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,800 I trust. For he will deliver you from the 53 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,120 snare of the Fowler, and from the deadly pestilence. 54 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:33,200 He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you 55 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,160 will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and 56 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:41,400 buckler. You will not fear the terror of 57 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:47,440 the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence 58 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:52,760 that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at 59 00:03:52,760 --> 00:04:00,160 noonday. 1000 may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, 60 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,680 but it will not come near you. You will only look with your 61 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:11,720 eyes and see the recompense of the wicked, because you have 62 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,960 made the Lord your dwelling place the Most High. 63 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:20,440 So is my refuge. No evil shall be allowed to 64 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,320 befall you. No plague come near your tent, 65 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,800 for he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in 66 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,840 all your ways. On their hands they will bear 67 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:37,920 you up, lest you strike your foot against the stone. 68 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:43,560 You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and 69 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:48,240 the serpent you will trample under foot, because he holds 70 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,240 fast to me in love. I will deliver him. 71 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:59,080 I will protect him because he knows my name. 72 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,520 When he calls to me, I will answer him. 73 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:08,480 It will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honour him 74 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:14,120 with long life. I will satisfy him and show him 75 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,080 my salvation. Amen. 76 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:26,360 That is the word of the Lord. There is so much to unpack in 77 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,440 this Psalm, so rich in its meaning and so diverse in its 78 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,040 application. And I would be lying to you if I 79 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:38,080 didn't say that I struggled much with this Psalm this week as I 80 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,520 prepared. And I have wrestled with the 81 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:47,760 word as I have sought to try and convey the truth that is in this 82 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:49,840 word. Because there is much in here 83 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,040 that I believe the Lord wants to speak to us this morning. 84 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,480 And what I want to do is maybe just track through the Psalm 85 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,720 with you and and maybe point out some thoughts that the Lord has 86 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,880 given me. And the first thing that struck 87 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:07,720 me as I read this was simply verse one and two. 88 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:09,560 Let's let's read that again. It says this. 89 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:15,440 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the 90 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,600 shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord my refuge 91 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,640 and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. 92 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:26,200 Now, I don't know about you, but when you think of protection, 93 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,320 what do you think about? Maybe you think about your seat 94 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:31,760 belt when you put on. I hope you put your seat belts 95 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,920 under the car. Maybe you've got an alarm system 96 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,240 with back to base monitoring. Maybe that's your protection 97 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:41,480 while you're at home. You know, when we had COVID, 98 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,200 everyone was wearing masks thinking that that would, you 99 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,920 know, protect us from germs. There are certain things to give 100 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:51,480 us protection from certain things and the way we use those 101 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,040 things, How many times can I use the word things? 102 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,760 Probably a few. When we have those times where 103 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,600 we need those things, we grab them and we use them. 104 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,800 But I want to say this, When we talk about and we think about 105 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:08,640 the protection of God, it's an altogether type of different 106 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,320 thing. It's not something you call upon 107 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:13,960 and put on. It's not something that you use 108 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:19,080 just in the moment. Yes, there are places and there 109 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,160 are times for arrow prayers. I love a good arrow prayer. 110 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,440 Help. And there's a place for that. 111 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,080 But you see, what the psalmist is suggesting here is that there 112 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,480 is a different approach to protection when we think about 113 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,440 God, rather than it being a one off thing, it's about 114 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:39,200 cultivating a lifestyle. And he says it here so well, he 115 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:43,200 says this. He who dwells in the shelter 116 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,040 dwells. What does it mean to dwell? 117 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,960 I think it means practising the presence of God, you know, 118 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:58,440 recognising that he is with us, you know, this week Ellie, our 119 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:03,840 middle child, she was struggling with some night terrors and as 120 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:09,360 as recently as last night she came into into our room and she 121 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,160 was, she was scared. And I said let me come with you 122 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:13,640 darling. And and I came with her to her 123 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,160 bedroom and she got into bed, and I just curled up on the end 124 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:22,360 of her bed and I dwelled with her, and she dwelled with me. 125 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,160 And the fact that she was dwelling with me, I didn't do 126 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,200 anything. I didn't have to do anything. 127 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,640 But the fact that she was dwelling with me, she was, she 128 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,720 felt protected and she was able to go to sleep. 129 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,840 And I think that's a rather beautiful picture of what the 130 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,679 Psalmist is talking about here. He's saying he who dwells with 131 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:47,960 God, He who walks with him, He who recognizes that God is with 132 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:51,800 him, that communes with God. You see, the protection that 133 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:55,360 we're talking about here is a result of communion with God, 134 00:08:55,560 --> 00:09:01,800 relationship with him. It's about being in prayer. 135 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:06,160 It's about being in his word. It's about recognizing that he 136 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:10,680 sees all things and that he is wanting to be with us. 137 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:16,040 That's what it means to dwell. And I rather think in our 138 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,880 present modern day it is so difficult to dwell. 139 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,160 We skip from one thing to the next. 140 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:25,680 We snack on this, that and the other. 141 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:28,720 But have we lost the art of dwelling? 142 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:33,360 I think I'd rather have. But what's very interesting 143 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:39,320 about this Psalm you see, is that it moves from he to I. 144 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,840 Let me show you what I mean. Verse one is a general statement 145 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,720 of trusting God. He who dwells in the shelter of 146 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:49,400 the Most High will abide in this shadow of the Almighty. 147 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:55,360 And then verse two says this. I I will say to the Lord my 148 00:09:55,360 --> 00:10:00,240 refuge and my fortress. You see, verse 2 is a personal 149 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:05,560 testimony. It's easy for us to declare God 150 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,280 is a protector. God is almighty, but the 151 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,440 question is, is it personal to us? 152 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:18,160 We can know about God, We can declare his character. 153 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,000 We can even tell ourselves. We can tell other people. 154 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,040 But actually the challenge in this Psalm is not do you know 155 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,960 that God protects? The challenge in this Psalm is 156 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:28,560 this. Do you know that he wants to 157 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:32,080 protect you? The challenge in this Psalm is 158 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,920 not to declare that those that abide with God are protected. 159 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,400 The challenge is this. Are you abiding with God? 160 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:43,800 You see, as Claire mentioned last week in her talk, when we 161 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:49,240 talk about surrendering to God, it's ultimately about trust. 162 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,320 Who do we put our trust in? And I've said it before, I said 163 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,800 that which you put your trust in is ultimately that which you 164 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,480 have hope in. You trust in your money, in your 165 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:02,920 bank balance. You have hope that your money 166 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:06,480 will solve your issues. And so fundamentally the 167 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:11,960 question here is, do you trust God enough that you can 168 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,240 surrender to him and dwell with him? 169 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,400 And I couldn't even get past one and past verse one and two in 170 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:24,280 preparing this word before I got unstuck, because I've seen 171 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:29,840 commentaries on this verse and I've heard sermons about this 172 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,880 verse and it's all about declaring who God is. 173 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,160 And let me just say we should do that. 174 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,720 But where in that is the personal challenge of saying 175 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:43,880 have you made it personal to you and said that he is, are you 176 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:46,280 dwelling with God? I think that's the first thing I 177 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:51,280 wanted to highlight. And then let's look on as we 178 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:53,800 read further. We get to verse 5, and there's 179 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,160 this wonderful 2 verses that says this. 180 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,640 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that 181 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,920 flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor 182 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,480 the destruction that wastes at new Day, noonday. 183 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:12,080 I mean this is quite a comprehensive protection list. 184 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:14,760 Think about it. You know when you if you ever 185 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,840 meet these these people that sell you alarm systems with back 186 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:20,480 to the base stuff, we don't personally have one. 187 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:23,880 But you know like package one, you've got this. 188 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:25,680 Package 2:00 is way more comprehensive. 189 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,440 Package three will come round in a van with the dogs. 190 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:30,800 Package four will have a helicopter for you hovering 191 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,600 above. You know, package 5 we can set 192 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:38,040 some armed guard around your perimeter, you know package 6 193 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:40,600 and on and on. This is like package 10. 194 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:42,760 This is like the gold package of protection. 195 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,360 I mean, what do we see? First thing we see that it is 196 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:47,320 all the time. What do we see? 197 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,880 Terror of night by day. And just so we're not confused. 198 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,280 And noon in the middle. I love that. 199 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,040 Why is that the case? Well, we read in Psalm 121. 200 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,840 I'm going to read this because this is a very similar Psalm in 201 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:03,840 many ways. It says this. 202 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,280 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come 203 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,080 from? My help comes from the Lord who 204 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,960 made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be 205 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:14,440 moved. Listen to this. 206 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,640 He who keeps you will not plumber. 207 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,800 You see, that story I told you about Ellie is a good analogy, 208 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:28,520 but it slightly falls short because I did doze off. 2 hours 209 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,960 later I woke up and thought, oh she's asleep. 210 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,320 I better come back to bed a little bit cold. 211 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:37,920 But you see, that's not our God. He dwells with us, but he 212 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:41,960 doesn't fall asleep like talk about monitoring. 213 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:49,000 Our God does not slumber. He is actively protecting you. 214 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,520 He's actively looking at you. He delights in you. 215 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,440 He wants to be with you. Some of you may feel like that. 216 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,440 No one wants to be with me. I want to tell you right now, 217 00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:58,880 this morning, God wants to be with you. 218 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:01,840 Maybe you only came this morning to hear that one thing. 219 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:07,120 God wants to be with you. He wants to lie on the on the 220 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,000 bottom of the bed with you, so to speak, To use that analogy, 221 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,280 because it's a very comprehensive protection plan. 222 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:16,200 What else we see? Second things. 223 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:18,960 It covers all things. We've got fear there, emotion, 224 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,760 protection of our emotions. Then we've got physical, 225 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,320 personal attack. The arrow that speaks very much 226 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,920 of A of a targeting to you, doesn't it? 227 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:34,000 So we got, we got emotion, we got a personal physical attack, 228 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,560 then we've got what else? Physical, General danger, 229 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,000 pestilence. I mean, that covers it. 230 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,000 That's quite broad. And then it goes on. 231 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,400 What does it say? Destruction that that wastes as 232 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,080 a result of what's around you? I feel like this is a very 233 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,040 impact. In two verses, we can see a lot 234 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,960 about the heart of God towards us, for his protection for us. 235 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:00,800 It's a very comprehensive plan. And then let's read on a bit 236 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,040 verse 11. For he will command his angels 237 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:08,120 concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 238 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,280 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your 239 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:15,080 foot against the stone. Now, interestingly enough, I'm 240 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,400 sure some of you know this Psalm 91. 241 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,480 This point here is actually quoted or probably misquoted by 242 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:23,600 the devil. The only bitter scripture that 243 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:24,600 the Devil quotes. When? 244 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,360 When does he do that? Well, Jesus is in the in the 245 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,560 desert being tempted and we read about it in Matthew 4 verses 5 246 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:35,560 to 6 and Satan quotes his verse and essentially tempts Jesus. 247 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:37,960 Say, listen, if you're good, climb up to the top of this 248 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:42,160 temple and jump down and the angels you know will will come 249 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,720 to protect you. Now how does Jesus respond? 250 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:49,440 Deuteronomy 616 Jesus replies, do not put the Lord your God to 251 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:51,360 the test. He's quoting Deuteronomy. 252 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:53,240 Do not put the Lord God to your test. 253 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:57,440 And I think this is a very important point, a lesson for us 254 00:15:57,600 --> 00:15:59,720 when we talk about the protection of God. 255 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,120 You see, the protection we're talking about is a trusted 256 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:09,080 obedience in what God is calling us to. 257 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,160 But what it's not is a sinful presumption that God will 258 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:20,200 protect us no matter what we do. And I think this is important. 259 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:27,280 God has given us ways in which we live our lives not to limit 260 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:31,560 our freedom, but to protect us, whatever that might be. 261 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:41,320 And so often times I meet with Christians and they've come out 262 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,840 of God's will. Maybe they've had relations 263 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,840 outside of marriage and they've they've had issues resulting to 264 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,720 that. Maybe they're in a habit of 265 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,600 getting drunk. Maybe it's whatever it might be, 266 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:56,840 these things that God says this and don't do that. 267 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,520 And yet they find themselves out of God's will. 268 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:03,120 And they say, why didn't God protect me in that? 269 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,880 Now hear my heart here. I'm not saying that the by the 270 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,480 grace and the love of the Lord, He doesn't come in and save us 271 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:11,319 in spite of ourselves. And I've seen that. 272 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:14,079 But what is Jesus telling us in this? 273 00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:15,440 Don't put your Lord God to the test. 274 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:18,599 I don't say. Well, God will protect me no 275 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:20,400 matter what. I'll just do it anyway. 276 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:24,400 It's fine. God loves me. 277 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:28,280 We call this hyper grace. And it doesn't matter what I do, 278 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,080 God will always. But I think there's a bit of a 279 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,680 stark warning from Jesus here that we can learn from. 280 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:39,520 And so I want to. I want to encourage you to say, 281 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,360 Lord, would you help me? Would you show me by your spirit 282 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:47,960 those things that I'm doing in my life that are outside of your 283 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,320 will, that are not dwelling with you? 284 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:54,840 But I'm going contrary to what it means to surrender my will 285 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,640 and my obedience to you. And I realize that that comes 286 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:00,760 comes across as a little bit hard, doesn't it? 287 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:05,000 But if we want to walk in the truth of the word and to walk in 288 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,200 the protection of our Lord, I think this is a really important 289 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:09,840 message for all of us this morning. 290 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,360 But at this juncture, we've covered a lot here. 291 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:22,280 This is where I got to struggling and wrestling with 292 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:27,600 the word, because we've talked about this very comprehensive 293 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:31,720 protection plan. We've talked about how if we 294 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:36,760 dwell with God, of which many here do, we'll be protected. 295 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,760 But here is why don't we address the elephants in the room? 296 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:48,200 Why doesn't that always happen? I could have just preached this 297 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:53,160 and got you excited and energized and and ignored this 298 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,960 fact. But I think we need to ask the 299 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:00,960 question because I suspect that just like me, where I've done 300 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:06,920 all this in spite of and I have had pestilence or my child has 301 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,240 had a disease or whatever it might be. 302 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,400 You say, Lord, help me understand. 303 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:16,280 What does it mean that I, I I've done all you've asked me to. 304 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,920 I I I've sought you in prayer. I've worshipped you. 305 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,760 I've lived my life in obedience to you as much as I'm able. 306 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:28,760 And yet why does this happen? I'm sure I'm not the only one 307 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,840 that's cried out to God and said that same thing. 308 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:36,040 And so I want to look at why that could be the case, and I 309 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:37,800 want to give you some possible reasons. 310 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:40,640 The first one is, this is what you may hear. 311 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,040 You don't have enough faith or you're not dwelling enough. 312 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,320 There are certain streams that would suggest that if you're not 313 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:54,160 walking in the promises of God to its entirety, it's down to 314 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:58,520 your lack of faith. I have been part of churches 315 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,240 where that was the message. And someone would say why am I 316 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,200 still sick? I pray to God. 317 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:08,000 I believe that God can can heal me and the and the and the 318 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:14,160 person said, well it's because you lacked faith and that's just 319 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,480 been a body blow. Now I don't want to undermine 320 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,960 the importance of faith. We know that in Jesus hometown 321 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,000 he wasn't able to do anything because they lacked faith. 322 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:26,120 I'm not talking about the fact that faith isn't important. 323 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:28,480 Absolutely is. What I'm telling you here is 324 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,320 that is not always the reason why we don't see this fulfilled 325 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,840 in our lives. So it's not necessarily that. 326 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,560 And some of you probably in some of these pestilences or some of 327 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,680 these issues and you've had faith and you haven't been 328 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,680 outside the Lord's will #2. This is another way in which 329 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:50,400 some people will help manage that tension by saying this, it 330 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:55,040 isn't a real promise of God, that the Psalm is just a poetic 331 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:59,840 desire, and it's poetry, and you need to read it with that lens. 332 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,280 So you can't claim this as a promise of God. 333 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,120 I disagree. Yes, it's poetry and it's 334 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:08,080 beautiful, isn't it? Yes, it gives us language to 335 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,040 express our desire. But here's the thing of it. 336 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,120 Does it express the character of God that you know and love? 337 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:19,840 Yes. And so this is a promise of God. 338 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:24,440 So OK, Mark, if it's not because I don't have enough faith, 339 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,920 although faith is important, and if it's not because these aren't 340 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,000 real promises, something else must be going on here. 341 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,400 Absolutely. And in order to understand this, 342 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,960 we need to understand it through the lens of His Kingdom breaking 343 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,920 in and the tension of the here and the not Yet. 344 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,400 What do I mean by that? The Lord's prayer? 345 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,640 Lord, would your Kingdom come here on earth as it is in 346 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:55,680 heaven? Now Jesus, when he came, he he 347 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:57,800 proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is at hand. 348 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,880 It is near, right? And when he died on the cross, 349 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,200 and if you've been here for any length of time, you would have 350 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:05,920 heard me speak about this before. 351 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,680 When he died on the cross, he inaugurated his Kingdom. 352 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,920 OK, that was the define decisive blow to the enemy. 353 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:16,880 And I've used the analogy before. 354 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:19,480 It's like D-Day and V day. That was the D-Day. 355 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,920 That was it. There was the the the battle had 356 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,280 been won. But there's the the battle had 357 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,920 to play out until we got to V Day, Victory Day. 358 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:34,560 And that is when Jesus comes again, and that is when his rule 359 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,640 and his reign is established here. 360 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,480 But until that time, we pray, Lord, with your will be done on 361 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:43,520 earth, in heaven. There are other wills at stake 362 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,240 here in play here. There's the devil's will. 363 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:48,600 There's our will. There's the world's will. 364 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:53,560 We're we're not in that place yet of the fully consummated 365 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:56,360 Kingdom. But you see, we live in this 366 00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:59,200 tension that we see His Kingdom breaking in. 367 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,920 We have those those moments where we see miracles of 368 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:05,440 healing. We see those miracles that come 369 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:10,680 through, and sometimes we don't. And as painful it is as it is, 370 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,720 we live in that tension point. You hear me? 371 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,920 And that's why and we see and we grapple with this struggle. 372 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,120 So what does that mean, Mark, because you're talking about 373 00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:27,640 hope here and all of a sudden I feel like, well, what's the 374 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,280 point? That's a fair question. 375 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:35,840 I get you What I would say to this is this, we're called to 376 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:37,840 live in the here, not the not yet bit. 377 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:39,680 Sorry, I'll say that no way around. 378 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:41,920 Shall we? Thank you. 379 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,920 What I'm pointing out, we're here to live in the not yet bit, 380 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,400 not the here bit. In other words, we're here to 381 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,120 declare the Kingdom, to embrace the Kingdom and to seek His 382 00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:53,320 Kingdom. Because what's there for the 383 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:54,680 point of praying the Lord's Prayer? 384 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:56,000 And I bet you pray the Lord's Prayer. 385 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,640 Sometimes our desire is to see His Kingdom come. 386 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:05,520 And I would propose that a lot of the issue is, is that we camp 387 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,960 in the here bit and we don't embrace the not yet bit I've 388 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,320 seen in my life. It normally goes like this. 389 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,800 Well, what's the point? What's the point? 390 00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:17,840 You know, Wimber when people used to come to him and say John 391 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,160 Wimber, the founder of Vineyard, say, listen, I pray for people. 392 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:22,920 I'm not seeing them healing healed, he said. 393 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,840 Listen, go pray for 5000, then come back and tell me. 394 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:29,280 Could have been a number higher or lower. 395 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:33,720 But the point here is that we give up so quickly, but we can 396 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:37,440 place our hope that he loves us and that that are his promises 397 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,240 and we've got to stand on those promises. 398 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:42,480 We declare those promises, we seek those promises. 399 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,280 And I suspect that in my life I will see more breakthrough if I 400 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,360 push into the not yet and embrace His Kingdom coming that 401 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:52,400 if I just give up and say, well, what's the point Because that's 402 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,880 the option we've got. But you see, there is hope in 403 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,840 God, and I want to encourage you this morning to fix your eyes on 404 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:05,240 God and say, listen, #1 I recognize that my protection 405 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:07,880 from the Lord comes out of a place of dwelling with him. 406 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,720 And for me that is where it starts, a personal challenge to 407 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,640 put my trust in him, to surrender in him, and to dwell 408 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:17,880 with him. And maybe for your question this 409 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,720 week is Lord God, can you just show me what does it mean to 410 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:22,400 dwell with you? Simple. 411 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:24,880 What does it mean to dwell with you? 412 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,640 #2 It's about then taking that as a personal testimony and 413 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,720 saying I'm not just declare who God is, I'm going to declare 414 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:37,840 that he is my God and I'm going to walk in that. 415 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:43,040 Number three, it's about saying and recognising that God's heart 416 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:49,440 towards us is to protect us from all things and #4 do a bit of an 417 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:51,400 audit in your life. How do you do this? 418 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,320 You say, Holy Spirit, would you come and convict me of all those 419 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:56,960 things in my life that are not right with you, that are 420 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,840 contrary to your will? You see, if you're praying the 421 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,880 Lord's prayer, Lord your Kingdom come, your earth be, your will 422 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:04,480 be done on earth as it is in heaven. 423 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:09,080 It has to start with you first. That prayer has to start with 424 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:11,960 praying it for yourself. You're not just saying, oh man, 425 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:14,480 that world's crazy. I wish they would do your will. 426 00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:17,400 And yet we go on sinning in different areas. 427 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:21,480 That doesn't make any sense. The challenge here is to pray 428 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,680 the Lord's Prayer in our life and say, Lord, would you show me 429 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:26,680 that those areas that I'm not in your will? 430 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:30,720 And lastly, I want to say this as Kingdom people, we have been 431 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:35,200 called to extend God's Kingdom in faith and so we need to push 432 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,880 in and I often will pray this as a prayer. 433 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:41,560 As I said, Steph and I before have prayed this over our 434 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,720 children. That's a challenge for us to do 435 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,720 it more. But why don't you take this 436 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:51,560 Psalm and use it as your daily prayer and claim it for 437 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:53,760 yourself? Lord, thank you that your word 438 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,280 says that you will protect me during the day. 439 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,680 Thank you, Lord God, that your promise towards me is that 440 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:01,400 you'll protect me from pestilence. 441 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,440 Thank you, God. So turn that promise into a 442 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:08,760 prayer for your life and I and I guarantee you'll see, I 443 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,400 guarantee you will start seeing God move in ways you have yet to 444 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,440 see. And lastly, I would say this, I 445 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,720 know there'd been many times where God's protected me, which 446 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,440 I won't even know about until I get to heaven. 447 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:23,680 I mean, I remember this one occasion. 448 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:27,600 I do remember this time, it was about 25 years ago and I was in 449 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,880 London with some friends after work having a drink at a bar and 450 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:32,840 I had to go to the cash machine to get some more cash. 451 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,360 For whatever reason. I came out there was a part, 452 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,120 part van here, and I just stepped out and I went to do 453 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:42,440 this and literally as if someone held me back. 454 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,520 And in that moment, this bus went right by. 455 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,440 And I was like, oh, my word. I think an Angel just protected 456 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,440 me from that. I suspect there are many, many, 457 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:57,280 many occasions in your life where you look back and God has 458 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:03,200 saved you in that moment. So I've just been encouraged to 459 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,840 say, you know what, Thank you, Lord, that you protect me. 460 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:08,320 Thank you that you've protected me from myself. 461 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,120 Thank you for protecting me from the world. 462 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,680 Thank you Lord, for for the for the way in which you protected 463 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,520 me from other. Like God is there actively 464 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,120 working, but either A we don't give credit to it because we're 465 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:22,880 still disappointed about other stuff, or B we don't take the 466 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,680 time to recognize it. Thank you, Lord, that you're my 467 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,600 protector. And as we thank him out of that 468 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,320 lifestyle of thankfulness, our hope builds. 469 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,120 Our hope builds in God to be our protector. 470 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:44,560 I'd like us all to stand, if that's OK.