Someone to Win

Psalm 46:8-9 | June 28, 2020

Have you ever looked in the wrong place for something?

Like standing in the parking lot looking in your pockets for the keys to your 1986 Honda Prelude and then you suddenly realize the car is still running and you already locked the doors?

Or like standing in the kitchen looking on the counter for the paper plate lined with the paper towel that was caring for the last piece of thick-cut applewood smoked bacon and then you look over and suddenly realize that in what was surely a moment of temporary insanity someone had thrown the plate with the bacon in the trash?

Do you know how hard it is to look for the last piece of bacon in the trash can?

That’s just rhetorical question, of course.

Usually, when it comes to looking in the wrong place people are talking about love.

Musical philosopher John Lee Ham once crooned that he was looking for love in all the wrong places and looking for love in too many faces – searching eyes and looking for traces of what he was dreaming of. 

Animated philosopher Maxine, once said:

Maxine (John Wagner)

I look for love in all the wrong places, but I always know where to find a donut.

Truer words have never been spoken.

But what if its not keys or bacon or love or donuts?

What if we are talking about all that is happening in the world right now?

What if looking in the wrong place right now is burning your mind up with impatience and anger?

What if looking in the wrong place right now is pressing your mind down with fear and anxiety?

What if looking in the wrong place right now is locking your mind out with self-centeredness and apathy?

Looking in the wrong place can paralyze your mind and mess things up in your family and create conflict at work and school and church and in your neighborhood. 

Looking in the wrong place can hurt and harm other people. 

Where you are looking matters.

So, where are you looking?

Are you looking in the wrong place or the right place?

And where is the right place?

Let’s see if we can find out.

Listen to Psalm 46, beginning with verse 1:

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD,

So, the psalmist is giving us an action statement. 

We all need to do something right now, today, without delay and without hesitation. 

What do we need to do?

We need to look at what God has done. 

We need to look at his work.

How can we do that?

Well, in one sense we can’t – there is no way to truly look at all the works that God has done, but we can catch a glimpse.

Have you ever been up in the mountains on a clear night or walking out on the beach one night during the summer or just in your back yard making smores on your chiminea and looked up at the sky?

Isn’t it amazing to gaze at the infinite-looking numbers of stars in the sky?

About 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote this about God.

Isaiah 40:26

Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name;

How many of you parents can’t even get your kids names right?

You do that roll call thing where you go through all their names until you finally get the right one?

God has a name for every star.

And how many names are we talking about?

Our planet sits in the galaxy known as the Milky Way. 

I was reading this week that there is somewhere between 200 and 400 billion stars in the Milky Way.

And it has recently been estimated that there are about 150-250 galaxies in the universe.

But the data from the Hubble Telescope points to the reality that there may be more like 2,000 galaxies in the universe – and every one of those galaxies more than likely has just as many stars as our Milky Way has.

That is a lot of stars and bless God’s heart if he ever had to go through the roll call with them!

But he doesn’t have do that – why?

Isaiah continued…

Isaiah 40:26

Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.

Not one star missing!

That is beyond our ability to comprehend – and that’s what makes it so great!

I don’t know what has shaped your primary view of God. 

• Maybe it was your parents or your grandparents
• Maybe it was the church you grew up in
• Maybe it was something you learned from a patriotic song
• Maybe you don’t believe in God

Regardless of what your view of God is, if he is not great enough and mighty enough and strong enough to make sure that no star in the universe goes missing from him and that no event in the history of your country goes missing from him and that no pain in your family goes missing from him and that no cell in your body goes missing from him then, dear friend, I must graciously share with you that you do not have the right view of God.

If you think for one millisecond that God has somehow been caught off-guard by the events of America in 2020, then you do not have the right view of God. 

A decade ago, I came across a prayer that was prayed about 160 years ago at the end of a church service here in South Carolina and it super similar to the words of the psalmist and Isaiah…

John Girardeau

Look up. God, your redeemer and deliverer reigns…suns and systems of light are but the sparkling dust beneath His feet…Infinite empire is in his grasp…

John Girardeau

See, see, He comes, riding upon the wings of the whirlwind, wielding His glittering sword bathed in the radiance of heaven,

John Girardeau

driving His foes like chaff before His face, and hastening to the succor (help) of His saints with resources of boundless power and unlimited grace.

John Girardeau

See He sits on yonder throne. 

God created and owns and named the stars – that’s one of his great and mighty works from yonder throne.

Psalm 147 describes God just like Isaiah did…

Psalm 147:3-4

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.

God created and owns and named the stars – that’s one of his great and mighty works from yonder throne.

But what does that have to do with you?

• Have you ever been brokenhearted?
• Have you ever been angry-hearted?
• Have you ever been anxious-hearted?
• Have you ever been afraid-hearted?

Marshall Segal

Why would he name stars? Not for their sake (they’re stars!), but for ours – so that we would know that he knows and attends to each and every one of us, especially the brokenhearted…

Whatever your view of God is today, I plead with you to know that according to his own character and his own declarations about himself in his own book, you are not missing from God and he knows you and he desires to heal your broken heart and your angry heart and your anxious heart and your frightened heart and he longs to bind up and bandage the wounds of your heart and your mind and your soul. 

I can’t promise you that means that he will answer your prayers the way you want or that he will change things in your family or at your school or at your job or in your church or in your body or in your country the way you want them to be, but based on who he is and what he has done and his greatness and his might and his strength I can promise you that he knows you.

And for some of you that should bring you great comfort because the most serious problem in your life has already been resolved – you have surrendered to Christ. 

But if you have not yielded your life to Jesus, please know that God has made a way to fix the most serious problem in your life – sin and death.

And the way he has fixed it is through his Son, Jesus, the Christ. 

And the amazing announcement to you and for you has been the same for more than 2,000 years – unto you has been born a Savior who died for your sin, was buried, and was raised.

And because of his crucifixion and resurrection there is a real and lasting and final way for your heart and your mind and your soul to be saved and safe and free and satisfied. 

So, please repent and come to Jesus today. 

God created and owns and named the stars – that’s one of his great and mighty works from yonder throne.

And God created and owns and initiates salvation – that’s his greatest and mightiest work for you from yonder throne.

And the psalmist says, “Look at that!”

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD,

So, looking at the Lord is looking in the right place. 

And looking away from the Lord is looking in the wrong place. 

And why is that so important?

Because life is hard and difficult and divided and troubled and tragic and deadly, and we need a level of hope that goes beyond the pastors and the politicians and the pundits and the protestors and the policies and the pandemics.

There must be something greater and mightier and stronger, and that something is a someone and that someone is for real. 

Listen to what the psalmist says next…

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has wrought desolations in the earth.

What is a desolation?

It is when the enemy is utterly and completely destroyed.

The psalmist had been through wars and rumors of wars and had seen how God delivered his people and destroyed their enemies.

Our problem is that we are so self-sufficient and self-absorbed and self-centered that we can’t ever see past our bootstraps.

We may not always admit it out loud, but we are convinced that what we have and what we accomplished is more about our hard work or our creativity then it is about the grace of God. 

That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t work hard and be creative, but it does mean, especially if we are Christians, that we should have the right perspective.

Last month, I shared what is known as the Paradoxical Commandments and this is one of them…

Kent Keith

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. 

• Build
• Work
• Create
• Learn
• Lead
• Legislate
• Volunteer
• Invest
• Rest
• Play
• Pray
• Do good
• Do it all

But don’t do those things looking in the mirror or hoping someone will like your picture on Instagram – they might like it as a social media reflex without watching or reading or knowing who you are.

No, do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with God and help your neighbor and work hard and do your best looking toward the One who sits on yonder throne. 

And watch the news (or don’t) and listen to talk radio (or don’t) and scroll through social media (or don’t) remembering that our God is still great and strong and mighty.

What we are really doing is someone called “pre-remembering”. 

We are remembering the character and nature of who God is and taking that into any and every situation we find ourselves in.

And remember the character and nature of God includes desolations. 

In the end, God wins.

If you are a believer, let that calm and comfort your attitude. 

If you are not a believer, let that rattle and invade your attitude.

If you are not a Christian, come, behold the works of the Lord.

He is God and there is no other – there is no other.

What does that mean?

Listen to what the psalmist says next…

9 He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire.

That is desolation. 

The mightiest weapons of the mightiest armies God breaks over his knee like a piece of spaghetti.

He burns their tanks like they were a jumbo marshmallow. 

During WWII the German Tiger Tank was one of the most heavily armored tanks and it had immensely strong firepower.

The Germans used it to wreak havoc and desolation all over Africa and Europe.

Sometime around August 21, 1944, during the final days of the Battle of Normandy, a German Tiger Tank ran out of gas trying to escape the Allied forces.

The German soldiers planted explosives on the tank to disarm and burn out the tank and then they abandoned it. 

When the 2^nd Canadian Division was advancing through that area the tank was bulldozed off the road and into a ditch. 

In probably less than 3 minutes, that powerful war machine that destroyed people and places became nothing more than a piece of burned-out, armored trash in a ditch.

There is coming a day when every medical pandemic and every flawed policy and every questionable politician and every violent protest and every unjust practice and every piece of property and every financial profit will run out of gas.

And the only thing that will matter on that day is where you are looking today.

So, where are you looking today?

Are you looking at the works of God?

Are you pre-remembering how he has revealed himself?

Are you pre-remembering how he has proven himself over and over and over again throughout history?

Are you pre-remembering what he has done in and through Jesus?

Dear Christian, are you pre-remembering that tomorrow morning no matter what the news says you can always grab your “nay”?

What’s your “nay”?

Romans 8:37

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

 

Romans 8:38

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

 

Romans 8:39

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How you use your “nay” matters.

There are a lot of strong opinions out there right now on the pandemic and on the protests and on the power of politicians and on the new policies for work and school and church and sports and getting coffee from your barista.

Be careful with how you use your “nay”.

• Don’t say “nay” against every person wearing a mask
• Don’t say “nay” against every person not wearing a mask
• Don’t say “nay” against every guideline from the CDC
• Don’t say “nay” against every guideline outside of the CDC
• Don’t say “nay” against every person protesting
• Don’t say “nay” against every person not protesting

Rather give yourself some freedom to trust the Lord. 

And give yourself from freedom to remember another one of the Paradoxical Commandments.

Kent Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.

How are you able to love people anyway?

Because you are looking in the right place.

You are pre-remembering your “nay”.

You are pre-remembering to look at the works of God.

What does it mean to pre-remember like that?

Lig Duncan

Remember what the battlefield's going to look like when God is done.

So, what do we do with all of this?

Let’s try to step into this personally with some questions…

What army do you need defeated in your life right now?

• Are you being defeated by anger and exasperation?
• Are you being defeated by fear and anxiety?
• Are you being defeated by self-centeredness and apathy?

Whatever is defeating you right now, do you think that the God who created and owns and named the stars is sufficient for you?

Not sufficient to help you, but is God himself sufficient for you?

Sorry, this might hurt your feelings a little bit, but for some of you the answer is a very strong “no”.

God is not sufficient – you want what you want, and you aren’t going to calm down or cooperate or help out or trust anyone except yourself. 

It has been militarily and spiritually proven that an attitude like that will ultimately self-explode and leave you burned out in a ditch on the side of the road. 

There is another way.

A few weeks back, I told you about John Erickson. 

John is a guy I met in Raleigh, North Carolina, years ago.

John and his wife are white and if my math is right, they have 7 kids – 2 white sons and 2 black sons and 2 white daughters and 1 black daughter.

John leads Jubilee Community Church in Minneapolis and their community is now overrun with burned out, destroyed businesses from the riots last month. 

John gave an update this weekend that said the aftershocks have not disappeared. 

At least a dozen times a day someone in his home now asks, “Were those gunshots?”

This past Friday there was car accident right in front of their house and one of the people in the car got out and shot a person from the other car and his daughters were out front and came running in to get his wife. 

He said that police and an ambulance were quick on the scene as the shot man lay bleeding on their front step with his head on a blue towel from the house.

There are a lot of defeats around John and his community.

This is what he posted yesterday…

John Erickson

The last 24 hours have been a time of processing and praying. Trauma affects each person and family member differently. It affects children and families and pastors.

John Erickson

This morning on my front porch, all was quiet as I read from Psalm 93, “The Lord reigns.” Indeed he does. On our block, in our city, and in our nation.

John Erickson

The floods have lifted up, and yet His throne is established. He rules, He reigns. With Christ our Solid Rock, we are safe, everywhere and at all times.

How can John write those things?

Because he keeps looking in the right place.

And he knows how to use his “nay”.

Come, behold the works of the Lord!

Message by Dow Welsh |

June 28, 2020 © Holland Avenue Baptist Church

 

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Above are pre-sermon manuscript notes, not sermon transcript

Sermon scriptures NASB unless otherwise noted

Lots of help from many pastors and theologians

Weekly help from Bruce Hurt at www.preceptaustin.org

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/nature-is-anything-but-natural

Have you ever looked for something in the wrong place? Ever look for something in the wrong place? Like maybe you're standing in the parking lot and you're looking in your pocket for your car keys. The ones that go to your 1986 black Honda Prelude and you're searching in your pockets. And then suddenly you realize that the car is still running and you've already locked the doors. Yeah, you're looking in the wrong place. Keys are in the car. Or maybe you've looked in the wrong place because you were looking on the counter and you were looking on the counter for that paper plate that had that paper towel that was caring for that last piece of thick cut applewood smoked bacon. And you're looking on the counter for that. But But then you look over and you suddenly realize that someone and what had to be a moment of temporary insanity had already thrown away the paper plate in the paper towel and the bacon in the trash can. Do you know how hard it is to find a piece of bacon in the trashcan? I don't know. That's a rhetorical question, but usually we heard somebody say, looking in the wrong place. It's It's often about love. Looking in the wrong place for love. The fact musical philosopher John Lee Han years ago he he crooned about such a thing. He said he was looking for love in all the wrong places, looking for love and too many faces searching their eyes, looking for traces of what he was dreaming of. Looking for love animated philosopher Maxine once said this. I look for love in all the wrong places, but I always know where to find a doughnut. Yeah, truth, never a truer statement could be spoken. What if we're not talking about keys and bacon and doughnuts? What if we're not talking about love, although when you think about it Keys, bacon, love and doughnuts that is a country song. Somebody needs to write that, Brad, we're going to work on that together. What if we're not talking about those things? What if, rather than those things we're talking about looking in the wrong place when it comes to everything that's happening in the world right now? What if looking in the wrong place is actually burning your mind with impatience and anger, What if looking in the wrong place right now is actually pressing your mind down with fear and anxiety? What if looking in the wrong place right now is is locking your mind out with self centeredness and apathy? You see where we look matters looking in the wrong place can paralyze your mind. Looking in the wrong place can cause problems in your family. Looking in the wrong place can create conflict at work or school or church or in your neighborhood. Looking in the wrong place can actually lead to hurting and harming other people. Looking in the wrong places is kind of a thing. It seems to matter where we are looking. So where are you looking? Where you looking right now? In the midst of everything that's going on? Where you looking? Are you looking in the wrong place? Are you looking in the right place? And and where is the right place? Well, let's see if we can find out this morning. Some 46 beginning with verse eight, will be walking through versus eight and nine today. The Psalmist writes. Come behold the works of the Lord Skeletal action statement Here There's something right now, no matter where you are, no matter what's going on, there's something right now that you need to do. We don't need to delay in doing this week. We need to do it right now. What is that one thing we need to look to God. We need to look at the works of God. How do we do that? Well, in a sense, we can God's works or two months, you know. There two massive there. They're historically amazing. So we can't see all the works of God. We can't look at all the works of God, but we can catch a glimpse of the works of God. Have you ever been up in the mountains? On a clear night. Have you ever been walking out on the beach During the summer? On a clear night? Have you ever been in your backyard making s'mores on your Germania? On a clear night And you looked up and you saw the stars. Can't you just get that moment? Didn't you remember? Just looking going? Goodness gracious is an infinite number of those little lights. You can't even imagine how many there are. About 700 years before Jesus was born the Prophet Isaiah said this about God, Isaiah 40 Verse 26. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars. The one who leads forth their host by number. He calls them all by name, calls them all by name. If you have more than one kid, do you ever get your kids names, right? I mean, never do the roll call thing. Bailey Baird. Car holding You go through the list. And God, he knows all the stars by name. Okay, so how many stars are we talking about? Well, we're in the Milky Way. That's our galaxy. And it has been estimated there is about 200 to 400 billion. Had a look at my notes. Goes like this A 1,000,002 100 to 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, Okay? And it's also been recently estimated there is about 150 to 250 Galaxies in the universe. No, the Hubble telescope is telling us something different. It's saying there might be like 2000 Galaxies in the universe, So 200 to 400 billion stars in each of those 2000 Galaxies is a lot of stars, so bless God's heart if he ever had to go through roll call for the Stars. But he didn't have to. Why? Isaiah tells us next part of verse 26 because of the greatness of his might and the strength of his power, not one of them is missing. Not not one star is missing that that goes beyond our comprehension. That is difficult for us to understand. And that's a good thing. And here's why. I don't know what shaped your view of God. Maybe it's shaped by what your grand parents believed or or what your parents believed may be Your view of God has been shaped by the church that you grew up in. May be your view of God has been shaped by a patriotic song that you sing. Or maybe you don't even believe in God. But if your view of God does not include that, he is great enough and mighty enough and strong enough to make sure that not one single star is missing to him. And if your view of God is not one that includes him being great enough and strong enough and mighty enough to know every event that happens in the history of your country, the nose, every single moment in history that knows every moment of pain in your family, one that has not, for a single second missed a single cell in your body. If your view of God does not include that, he is great enough, might enough and strong enough to make sure that any of those things are missing from him that I graciously share with you. Your view of God is wrong. If your view of God says that somehow God has been caught off guard with anything that has happened in 2020 than your view of God is wrong. At the very least, your view of God is weak. It's probably about a decade ago I came across a prayer that was prayed at the end of a church service right here in South Carolina, about 160 years ago. And this prayer sounds just like the language of the Psalmist. And just like the language of Isaiah and it's for me, it's invigorating. This is how the prayer goes. Look up, God your Redeemer and deliverer rains, sons and systems of light are but the sparkling dust beneath his feet. Infinite Empire is in his grasp. See, see. He comes riding upon the wings of the whirlwind, wielding his glittering sword, bathed in the radiance of heaven, driving his foes like Shaft before his face and hastening to the help of his saints with Resource is off boundless power and unlimited grace. And then he afraid this. See? He sits on yonder, Thrown God, created and owns and named the stars. That's one just one of his works that he has done from yonder from Thomas describes the similar Seen that Isaiah did listen to someone 47. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars. He gives names, toe, all of God created he owns, and he named all the stars. That's just one of the mighty things. One of his mighty works that he's done from yonder thrown. But what is after with you? Well, did you hear the first part of that? Listen again. He heals the broken hearted and binds up their winds. The master question Have you ever been broken hearted? Have you ever been anxious hearted? Have you ever been angry hearted? Have you ever been apathetic hearted? Have you ever had your your heart messed up and you needed your heart to be helped? Marshall Segal says this. Why would God name stars? Not for their sake your stars, but for hours so that we would know that he knows and attends to each and every one of us, especially the broken hearted Whatever your view of God. Today I plead with you know this that according to his own character, according to what he has done through history, According to his own book, God is wanting you to understand that he desires to heal your broken heart. You're angry heart, your apathetic heart, your anxious art. He desires to heal it. He desires toe bandage it up. He desires to care for you. That's as part of who he is. It's his character. It's his nature. No, I can't promise you that. That means that God healing your broken heart means that everything's going to go the way you want it to go. I can't promise you that whatever change you're looking for, whatever normal you want to get back to or whatever new normal you wish would happen. I can't promise you that God, healing your broken heart is going to change everything on the outside. But according to his character, I can say that in his greatness and in his might and in his strength, he knows you. He knows you. He knows how put out you are with your spouse right now He knows how put out you are with your parents right now He knows how put out you are with politicians or your pastor or he knows he knows and he knows how overwhelmed. You already knows how frustrated you are. He knows how confused you. He knows that that you're tired of having to not have freedom to do all the things that he knows. He knows. He knows he knows your grief. He knows your pain. He knows you're hurt. He knows how you feel like nobodies, texting or calling or emailing or checking on you. He knows how anxious you are about money and finances in the future. He knows in his desire is to heal and to help. It may not be the healing and helping you're looking for, but it's the healing and helping you need. He knows and he knows you Just like he knows the name of every star. He knows you and he knows your name. Now, if you're a believer, that should be a fantastic comfort. I mean, the fact that you know that God knows you because you have already dealt with the most serious problem in your life. You've already surrendered to Jesus. But if you're not a Christian, then I pray that there should be something about God knowing you that it helps you. Because he he knows that because you haven't yielded to Jesus. He knows about your most serious problem in life. And because he knows you because he loves you because he cares for you. He's done something about that problem. He's done something. What has he done? Well, God has made a way to make everything right through his son, Jesus. God has made a way to change your story through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God has made a way for things to be right between you and him. So what your heart needs the most to be healed and rescued from sin and death. God has dealt with because he knows you. Jesus I was born for you, a savior. And he was crucified. He was buried and he was raised again for you so that you might be transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and anger and apathy and fear and transferred into the Kingdom of light. And you cannot be transferred out of that kingdom once you're That's what God has done to heal your broken heart. So if you haven't yielded to Jesus, we plead with you. Come to him today. Look to him. That's what The psalmist. The scene, Right? He said, Look, look. A god. Just consider his works. Take a gander at the Bible. Just see this. This picture, this comprehensive picture off what he has done, he has proven himself over and over and over again. Islamist is. Look at him. Look at it. See, Looking at the Lord is the right place. Looking at the Lord is the right place. Not looking at God is the wrong place. And so the goal is to look at the right place. Why? Because life is hard and life is difficult and life is stressful. And if we consume ourselves with looking at the wrong place nowhere is not looking at God. If we consume ourselves with looking at the wrong place than all off the pandemics and the protest and the polities policies and the politicians and the health issues, anything else you want to put in that list will overwhelm you will overwhelm your heart, and your mind will press you down and push you back and paralyzing. There has to be something my dear and stronger and greater than all of the things in life that we look to thinking that they're going to fix everything. There has to be something. Might Thomas helps to see that. Listen the next part of her state. Come behold the works of the Lord who has wrought desolation ins in the Earth. What is a desolation? It is the utter destruction of the enemy, the utter destruction of the enemy. The the enemies is completely destroyed. Remember Tom Out Somis here, Someone who knew about wars, experienced wars and rumors of wars. And yet, over and over again, he had seen God deliver his people and destroy the enemy's. Our problem, though, is that were so self sufficient, so self absorbed, so self centered that we can't see past our bootstraps If we're honest, I mean in our in our own personal moments. If we're really honest with how our mind works, were convinced that whatever is happening in our life is a result of our work of what we've done of our creativity of our ingenuity. Mawr. Then it's a result of the grace of God in our lives were convinced that that what we have and what we've done is primarily about what we've done and not about the grace of God in our lives. Now, does that mean we shouldn't work hard? We shouldn't be creative number. It just means that especially if we're going to be Christians, we need to work hard and be creative with the right perspective. What is that perspective? Last month I shared what is known as the Paradoxical Commandments. This is one of them. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight build anyway. Build anyway. See, Perspective doesn't mean don't work hard. Perspective doesn't mean don't try hard. No build, work, initiate, create play. Pray rest, Invest. Do it all. Do everything, do everything to the glory of God. Do it with all that you have. Do your best, but don't do it with an attitude that's looking in the mirror at what you're doing. And don't do it with an attitude that's hoping somebody is going toe like your instagram post. You know why? Because I've just learned this this week that sometimes when people like your post, man, it's a social media reflex. Then you watch your video. They didn't read your quote. They didn't read anything about what you and your kids and your grandma never. They just they just liked it, you know, they just like So. So don't build your life on the potential that someone might like your picture on Instagram. No, work hard. Do your best. Do justly love mercy. Walk humbly with God. Be creative, but do it looking toward the works of the Lord. Do it looking toward God and listen. This week, watch the news on TV or don't listen to talk radio or don't scroll through. Social media are don't but but do all of those things. Remembering that goddess still strong, he is still mighty. He hasn't changed. This is who he is, it's it's his character. Somebody has said what this is really pre remembering. We're pre remembering what we already know about God for what's about to happen or what's coming next were pre remembering. We're remembering the character and nature of God, and we also remember that the character in nature got includes desolation ins. It includes destroying the enemy. In other words, in the end, God wins. But this is the message of revelation that the God wins, and if God wins, that should comfort you. If you're a believer that should comfort your attitude, you should look at the strength and the mind of God and say, I'm OK, I'm good. And if you're not a Christian here for not a believer that should rattle and invade your attitude a little bit. It should help you to see that there is only one God and there is no other. There's no other God. What does that mean? Well, think of his power and think of what it means to be separated from him, and it means that we hope that the spirit would quick in your heart to turn to him. Listen what Psalmist says next, in Verse nine, God makes wars to cease to the end of the earth he breaks the bow and cuts the spear into. He burns the chariots with fire. That's desolation. I mean, the mightiest weapons of the mightiest armies. God breaks over his knee like a piece of dry spaghetti. The mightiest machines of war God burns like they're a jumbo marshmallow. This is his power. This is his authority. Over all things, door to German Tiger Tank was one of the most heavily armored and most full of firepower tanks that there waas this one tank and and it's brothers and sisters in war wreaked havoc all over Africa and Europe. Stories told that sometime around August 24 21st 1944 during the final days of the Battle of Normandy, there was a German Tiger tank that was trying to escape and flee the Allied forces. But it ran out of gas, so they soldiers kind of pulled it a little bit on the side of the road, and they put some explosives on the tank, and they set the tank on fire. They tried to burn out, disarm it so it couldn't be used, and then they just left it there on the side of the road. Eventually the second Canadian Division came through and and pushed it off the side of the road down into a ditch. So maybe cumulative. Cumulatively, In less than five minutes, this war machine that destroyed people and places became nothing more than a piece of burned out trash in a ditch on the side of the road. If you to go to that same little community in France, that tank has been pulled up. It's sitting on a little piece of concrete there for people to see what it means to be destroyed, what it means for power on this earth to be gone in a Millicent. So if you're looking to any power on this earth, the power of a tank, the power of an army, the power of a nation, you need to understand that power can come down in a moment under the power of Almighty God. That is who he is. His character and his nature is one off authority. Ultimate authority. There is coming a day when every medical pandemic, when every flawed policy, every questionable politician, every violent protest, every unjust practice, every piece of property, every financial profit, we'll run out of gas and in that moment. What will matter most is where you are looking today. So where you looking? Where are you looking? When the things of this world ultimately are destined to not have final power? Where you looking today for power? Where is your hope today? Are you looking at the works of God? Are you pre remembering that God has revealed himself? Are you pre remembering that God has proved himself over and over again in history? Are you pre remembering what God has already done in and through? Jesus Christ. Are you pre remembering that tomorrow morning If you're a Christian tomorrow morning, no matter what's happening tomorrow morning or we can do this afternoon whenever pick a time, whatever is happening in any moment of your life If you're Christian, are you pre remembering that you can always pull out your name? You can always grab your name. So what's your name? Paul tells us. Romans 8 37 Nay, May in all these things list, Um, whatever is on your list today ticked off about college football. Put it in the list. Are you ticked off because you can't go to the guards story? Meantime, you won't put it on your list. Are you upset because your quarantine more than you want to be? Put it on the list. Whatever you want to put on your list, put it on that list. And Paul says nay, in all things, we as believers, arm or than conquerers through him that loved us more than conquerors. That's a nay right there. Okay, whatever is happening in this moment, I'm in Christ, So I'm more than a conqueror right now that can't change Paul Guzzone, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life nor angels, nor Principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ. Jesus, our Lord. Then you got nay. You got a name and how you use your name. It matters if it really matters. So don't say nay against every person wearing a mask. And don't say nay against every person not wearing a mask. Don't say nay against every guideline that comes out from the CDC. And don't say nay against every guideline from outside of the CDs. Don't say NATO. Every person protesting and don't say NATO Every person not protesting. Use your nay wisely. Use your name to give yourself some freedom. Use your name to give yourself some freedom to just trust the Lord to trust him. Use your nay to give yourself from freedom to remember. Another one of the paradoxical commandments goes like this. People are illogical, unreasonable and self centered. Love them anyway. Love many way. Let me rephrase that. Dow Welsh is illogical, unreasonable and self center. Sometimes, hopefully not. Most of the time you know what you are. Illogical, unreasonable and self centered. Look, we all are. The president is your pastor. Is any person in your neighborhood is and the person in your mirror is we? We all have these tendencies, but the call because of Christ been in us is this. We just love anyway. We'd love anyway. And how can you do that? How can you love people anyway? Here's how. Because you're looking at the works of God because you are grabbing your neigh and you're using your name right that that's how you continue to love even when it's hard. Even when it's tough, you pre remember the works of God. You pre remember your name. Like Duncan says this. Remember what the battlefields going toe look like when God is done, Might drop. This is this is what it means to pre. Remember. Remember what the battlefield will look like when God is done, remember? So what do we do with all this? Well, let's try to look at some questions, okay? Just just think through these for you. What Army is defeating you right now? What battlefield are you on right now in your life? What army is defeating? Are you being defeated by impatience and anger? Are you being defeated by fear and anxiety? Are you being defeated by self centeredness or apathy or these things Defeating Whatever is defeating you right now? This is the question. Do you think that God, who created and owns and named every star do you think that God is sufficient for you not sufficient to help you see that? That's where we run. We go while believe in God. If you fix this or I'll pray Mawr, If you fix this, you know I'll be a Christian mawr if God will fix this. But that's that's really not the call. The call is is the God who names and owns and cares for and maintains the stars. 200 to 400 billion just in our galaxy. Do you think that God is sufficient for your battle? Him himself? Is he sufficient for you? Now, let me hurt our feelings a little bit for some of us. The answer. That question right now is a strong note. I mean, it is. I mean, we we kind of want what we won't. You know, whatever that is, there's something we want. We want it just like this, and and we're just not going to cooperate unless we get it. And we're not going to see God as sufficient. Unless this thing happens. It has been militarily and spiritually proven that an attitude like that will ultimately self explode and leave you burned out on the side of the road. So don't go there. So is there another way? Yeah, there is. There's another way. Grab your name. Grab your name. A few weeks back, I told you about John Ericsson. John was a guy that in Raleigh, North Carolina, years ago, and John pastors in Minneapolis, their community was destroyed during the riots there. Businesses were destroyed and their whole community has changed. John and his wife for white. And I think if I've got my math right, they have seven kids. They have to white sons and two black sons. They have two white daughters and one black daughter. And this week he gave an update of what's happened in their community since the riots last month. And he said the aftershocks have not stopped. He said that now probably a dozen times a day. Someone in his own home says, Hey, were those gunshots? The violence has not disappeared. The unrest has not disappeared this past Friday, there was a automobile accident right in front of their houses. Daughters were out in the front. One man climbed out of one car, walked over the man in the other car and shot his daughter's ran inside to get his wife, the police and the ambulance, where they're pretty quickly to care for. The man had been shot, and Johnson, you know this This man who was shot was sitting on their front steps of their house using one of their blue towels while they tried to care for him. Paramedics were there. So John, his family and his community there, they're surrounded by a lot of defeats, A lot of defeats. This is what he posted yesterday. The last 24 hours have been a time of processing and praying. Trauma effects, each person and family member differently. It affects Children and families and pastors. He goes on this morning on my front porch, all was quiet. As I read from Psalm 93 the Lord reigns again. Get the math. So Friday there's an accident in front of his house. A man is shot, bleeding policeman, ambulance, everything. The next morning he's sitting on his ports, same porch, and he says, What? All was quiet, as I read from Psalm 93 with Lord Reigns. Indeed he does. On our block, in our city and in our nation. The floods have lifted up, and yet his throne is established. He rules. He reigns with Christ, are solid rock. We are safe everywhere and at all times. How can John right those things? Here's how. Because he's looking in the right place. He's looking in the right place, and he knows how to use his name. he knows how to use his name. Do Christian dear non Christian to your listeners. Come behold the works of the Lord Go!