Sermons
12
Jul, 2020
Someone to Believe
- Dow Welsh
- Psalm 46:11
- Download
- Permalink
- trusting God
- confidence
- Selah
- chaos
Someone to Believe
Psalm 46:11 | July 12, 2020
Have you ever lost your confidence?
Someone once said you can’t lose your confidence if you don’t have any.
Then again, some people have a smorgasbord of confidence like the guy that said, “I’m in shape – round is a shape.”
Two weeks ago, Carmen Vertner, hosted a conference on confidence.
It was an outdoor conference that observed community guidelines for social distancing.
Carmen will be holding another conference this coming Tuesday, but this one will be an online Zoom conference.
Incidentally, Carmen is 7 years old.
She was talking with her mom recently about how some girls she knows are made fun of because of the color of their skin or their hair or a disability or just because they are a little different.
Not long after their chat, Carmen gave her mom a handwritten letter addressed to parents, inviting them to send their daughters to her very own conference called “Confidently BeYOUtiful”.
Part of her invitation letter to parents said, “Is your daughter not liking her for her? Like maybe she sees lots of white or brown girls and thinks, ‘Oh, I am not perfect like that girl. She is so pretty, and I am ugly.’ I can meet with your daughter and make her like her for her. So, we will have a conference and have a talk.”
Her Zoom conference for Tuesday is already full.
Carmen’s mom said this about her…
Lindsey Vertner (Carmen’s mom)
She can definitely make you feel like you are the best thing in the world, and she does it with such a sweet soul that you have no choice but to believe her.
We could all use a Carmen in our lives, right?
Someone to help us when we are losing our confidence.
But what if we are talking about a different kind of confidence?
What if we need the kind of confidence that goes beyond just our looks and our abilities?
What if we need something to believe in when it feels like the world around us is completely falling apart?
What if we need confidence in something bigger than ourselves?
There is a way for you to have confidence like that.
How?
Let’s find out.
Listen to Psalm 46, verse 11…
11 The LORD of hosts is with us;
This psalm, this poem, was written by a psalmist who was familiar with war and violence and injustice and political corruption and plagues and pandemics and natural disasters and family dysfunctions and personal tragedies.
And in all of the highs and lows and back and forths and changes and hardships and heartbreaks he had discovered one thing…
God was with him.
What God?
- Not just some random higher power
- Not just some mystical spiritual force
- Not a Hindu river god
- Not the golf gods
- Not a superhero god created by a college art student
No, the psalmist was confident that the one, true, God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the Lord of heaven and earth, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the One who was and is and is to come – that God was with him.
And that’s why he uses this language – the Lord of hosts.
That means the Lord of armies.
What armies?
All of them.
What does that mean?
It means that the entire universe obeys his voice.
Now, for many people that just sounds irrational.
The idea of anyone actually obeying someone’s voice sounds like something from cloud cuckoo land to many people.
Sure, in the military world, we might agree that obeying your commander is a way of life and a necessity.
But outside of the military, even on their best day, many parents feel like they can’t get their kids to obey their voice unless it includes bribes of new video games or Ring Pops.
So, the idea that the entire universe, everything in heaven and earth and under the earth, obeying the voice of the God of the Bible is hard to connect with – and that’s why we call it faith.
Not blind faith – the truth of the God of the Bible is not blind faith.
It is faith based on evidence.
- Historical evidence
- Archaeological evidence
- Theological evidence
- Mathematical evidence
- Scientific evidence
- Metaphysical evidence
I’m not smart enough to give detail to all of those evidences, but there are some super smart people who are.
If you want to see a pretty good sampling check out my friend Jim Albright’s book Everything Says, “Glory”!
Faith in the God of the Bible is not blind faith – but it is faith.
It is believing in something and relying on something and trusting in something and clinging to something.
So, what are you believing in today – where is your faith today?
Steven Cole
A crisis does not make a person; a crisis reveals a person. In a time of trial, you turn to what you trust.
Where are you turning?
- Your job?
- The economy?
- Yardwork?
- Home improvement?
- Vacation?
- Video games?
- Netflix?
- Sports?
- Exercise?
- Social media?
- The government?
- Your family
- Your friends?
- Your opinions?
None of those things are evil, but are you turning to those things first and most right now?
In a time of trial, you turn to what you trust.
How much are you trusting in the Lord, right now?
Where is your faith?
How much are you depending on the truth of the Bible today?
Why is it that we as professing Christians seem to have no trouble remembering the statistics of our favorite sports teams or the movie lines from our favorite movies or the lyrics to our favorite musical songs or the details of a revolutionary war battle or how to rebuild a six-speed transmission with nothing but a set of pliers and a crescent wrench, but we seem to have very little capacity or desire to remember things from the Bible?
I’m not trying to give us tickets for a guilt trip, I’m trying to help you build your confidence in God.
- That’s why our church has an online campus
- That’s why are live streaming right now
- That’s why we have Zoom Sunday school classes
- That’s why we posts things on Facebook and Instagram
- That’s why we post videos on the church YouTube channel
We want you to be confident in God!
In the middle of all of this chaos and craziness and fear and anger and aggravation, we want you to have a deeper confidence in God.
In times of trouble you will turn to what you trust.
So, where are you turning today?
Where is your trust first and most?
The psalmist learned that no matter what was happening in his life he knew he could turn to the King of the Universe!
He knew he could turn to the only One that is holy, holy, holy.
And he knew that he could turn to the Lord of hosts because the Lord of hosts was with him.
Again, someone might ask…
“How do I know God is with me?”
By faith.
In the face of trial and troubles and even death itself, Paul gives this advice…
2 Corinthians 5:6
Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord –
Bless his heart, Paul has lost his mind.
Does he not know what you are going through right now?
How can we always be of good courage?
Here’s how…
2 Corinthians 5:7
for we walk by faith, not by sight –
We don’t walk primarily by what we see on social media.
The wife of a friend of mine got off Facebook a year ago and…wait for it…she’s still alive and her heart is not shriveled up with fear and anger and apathy over COVID statistics or links to candy games or links to TikTok videos.
Listen, I think social media is super and great and helpful, and I also think that maple bacon doughnuts are super fantastic, but I don’t eat maple bacon doughnuts for an average of 4.5 hours a day because that would be terrible for my body.
Dear Christian, we have been called to walk by faith not by the sight of social media or the sight of the school updates or the sight of the stock market or the sights and sounds of your favorite talk radio host, but we have been called to walk by faith.
And we have been called to walk with courage.
Why?
2 Corinthians 5:8
we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
In other words, if we have truly repented of our sin and have been redeemed by Christ, then while we are alive on earth we have Christ and when we die we gain Christ all the more – it is the ultimate win-win!
About 2,800 years ago there was a prophet named Elisha.
The king of Aram (ayy-ram) was very angry at Elisha.
So angry that he found out Elisha was in the city of Dothan and he surrounded the city with his soldiers and his chariots and his horses to ambush and kill Elisha.
Elisha had a helper and his helper came frantically running into Elisha’s office and said, “We got trouble right here in Dothan City, Trouble with a capital “T”! We are completely surrounded, and they are coming after us!”
Elisha didn’t even look up.
He took a sip of his cappuccino and said this to his servant…
2 Kings 6:16
“Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
That, my friend is confidence!
That’s like something Chuck Norris would say.
But what did he mean?
Well, Elisha prayed something and then something overwhelming happened…
2 Kings 6:17
“O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
The king of Aram thought he was fixing to crush one of God’s messengers, but he had no idea that his army was surrounded by the army of the Lord – with fire!
If they tried to touch Elisha they were going down.
Can you imagine how much confidence that gave that helper?
Listen, I can’t promise you that the armies of God are going to conquer COVID or heart disease or cancer or unemployment in your life.
But I can tell you that if you are in Christ you have every reason to be of good courage because no matter what ultimately takes your life here on earth, you are safe.
How?
Because Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Son of God.
And he came from heaven to earth and was born in a manger and grew up and became a man who voluntarily gave himself up to die on the cross to satisfy the just and right cost of my sin and your sin.
Jesus regarded your helpless estate and shed his own blood for your soul and if you have truly surrendered your life to him then your sin, not in part but the whole, has been nailed to the cross and you bear it no more.
That’s why you are safe.
So, have you truly surrendered your life?
Or are you still living in the pride of your sin?
Jason Meyer
The glory of God and the pride of man will collide at one of two crash sites: hell or the cross. Either we will pay for our sins in hell or Christ will pay for our sins on the cross.
We plead with you to collide with the cross today for in the cross of Jesus you will find safety and you will find courage because in the cross of Jesus and only in the cross of Jesus you will find a faith that will not fade and a faith that will not falter and a faith that will not forsake you because it is faith in the Lord of hosts.
And the Lord of hosts will reign forever.
- You can turn to God
- You can trust in God
- You can have faith in God
- You can be confident in God
The psalmist gives us another reason those things are true.
11 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Who is Jacob?
Jacob lived about 3,800 years ago and he was a punk from what we would call a dysfunctional family.
- Trickster
- Huckster
- Manipulator
Those are some of the names that describe Jacob.
And yet throughout the Bible we hear that God was his God.
The eternal, self-existent, Commander of the universe, was a stronghold and a refuge for a punk like Jacob.
Why?
- Because Jacob was handy and hard working with his hands?
- Because Jacob was good with numbers?
- Because Jacob was creative and inventive?
- Because Jacob was a strong leader?
- Because Jacob was charismatic and well-liked?
- Because Jacob was weak and slow and needy?
No, God helped Jacob by grace.
No matter if you are angry or afraid or apathetic about all that is happening in the world right now…
No matter if you are terrified of COVID or you think it is all some political hoax…
No matter if you think state governors and college football commissioners are somehow demonically possessed…
No matter who you are and what you have done or what you have not done, you are never out of reach of the grace of God.
The amazing grace of God can find you no matter where you are and his grace can take your heart and your mind and your soul and keep them safe.
- God can be your refuge
- God can be your stronghold
- God can be your safety
The King of the Universe and the King of Love are one in the same – and if you are in Christ that King is your Shepherd.
We have a hard time believing that.
Our senses are so tuned to what we can see with our eyes that we struggle to believe that God is with us and for us and keeping our souls safe.
And that’s why we want to be sure we collide with the cross, because the cross is this deep, amazing reality that God is for us.
Listen to this prayer that Paul prayed for people like us…
Ephesians 1:18
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
Epheisans 1:19
and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
Ephesians 1:20
which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Ephesians 1:21
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
You can have confidence in God because in and through the cross he has conquered sin and death and made the only way for you to be saved and safe and satisfied and free!
There’s one more word the psalmist uses to encourage us…
11 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
What is Selah?
Well, it is not a random Bible word.
It occurs 71 times in the Psalms and 3 times in Habakkuk.
What does it mean?
Well, we don’t know for sure.
It could mean rest or pause as in be still and cease striving and lay down your weapons.
Or it could be some kind of musical term that means pump up the volume…dance, dance.
Either way it seems like Selah is a word that is trying to help us soak up what we have just been reading.
5 letters that are basically saying, “Don’t miss that!”
With apologies to anyone who works in TV or radio or internet or social media, we can afford to miss the next headline and the next breaking news story, but we can’t afford to miss what our souls need the most – we can’t afford to miss God.
If you are not a Christian, we long that you would know the Lord of hosts, the God of Jacob, the King of the universe, the King of love.
Repent and turn to Christ now so that you can have the confidence that comes with knowing you are always safe.
And if you are already a Christian, don’t miss this.
Almost everything in your life will try to pull you away from it, but don’t let it.
Tattoo these truths on your brain.
Make “Selah” your new word this week.
- In the hospital, “Selah.”
- At work, “Selah.”
- With your kids, “Selah.”
- With your spouse, “Selah.”
- With your parents, “Selah.”
- Reading that social media post, “Selah.”
John Wesley was a pastor, theologian and evangelist.
He established gospel fellowships in England and the United States and those fellowships became the foundation of what we know as the Methodist church today.
I was reading this week about the day John Wesley died.
He had nearly lost his voice and it was hard to understand anything he was saying.
Just before he died, with all the strength he could muster he called out, “The best of all is, God is with us.”
Then, raising his hand slightly in triumph he called out again, “The best of all is, God is with us.”
Message by Dow Welsh |
July 12, 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
Have you ever lost your confidence ever lost your confidence? I think it was Jack Handy that once said, You can't lose your confidence if you don't have any, yeah, think about it. We'll treat their other People are loaded with confidence. They have tons of confidence, Like the guy that said, Hey, man, I'm in shape. Round is a shape, You know Some people. They got confidence. Carmen Verner hosted a conference own confidence two weeks ago. It was an outdoor conference. It followed community guidelines for social distancing, and she had a good conference. She has another conference scheduled. The next one is not an outdoor conference. It is a zoom conference this coming Tuesday. Own a long zoom call, so she's out having a conference own confidence. Now the thing about this is Carmen is seven years old. Yeah, she said it. She's get radio host. Her second conference or confidence Carmen was talking to her mom recently, and in the conversation she told her mom that she knew girls who were made fun of because of the color of their skin because of the style of their hair. Because of some kind of disability, they may have, or even just because they're a little bit different. And not longer. After that conversation, she went to her mom, and she handed her mom Ah, hand written invitation. It was a letter to parents that was an invitation, she said. I want you to help me find a way to get this invitation to people's parents. And it was an invitation for her conference, which she is calling confidently. B u T Fall Nice. Here's just a part of that handwritten invitation. Is your daughter not liking her for her? Like maybe she sees lots of wide or brown girls and thinks, Oh, I'm not perfect like that girl. She is so pretty and I'm so ugly I could meet with your daughter and make her like her for her. So we will have a conference and have a talk. Just don't it gotta love it. Incidently Her zoom conference on Tuesday is full pact. No more space is available. This is what Carmen's mom said about her. She can definitely make you feel like you're the best thing in the world, and she does it with such a sweet soul that you have no choice but to believe her. We could all use a Carmen in our lives, right? When When we're losing our confidence, we can all use a Carmen, someone who's going to build us up and encourage us. And cheers on. But what if we're talking about a different kind of confidence? What if we're talking about a confidence that's beyond just our looks and our abilities? What if we're looking for something to believe in when it seems like it's hard to find something to believe in? What if we're looking for something to believe in when it it seems like the world is completely falling apart? What if we need confidence in something bigger than ourselves? Well, there is a way for us to have confidence just like that. How? Let's see if we can find out. Listen to some 46 Verse 11. The Lord of Hosts is with us. This song. This point was written by Somis, who was familiar with things like war, violence, injustice, political corruption, things like plagues and pandemics and natural disasters, things like family conflict and personal tragedies and all the highs and lows of life and all the back and force and all the change and all the hardships and the heartaches and the difficulties in all of those things. There was one thing, but he had discovered one thing that he couldn't shape. And that one thing is this. God was with him. God was with not just any guy, not just some higher power. Not just some mystical spiritual force, not a Hindu river God or the golf gods or a superhero God created by college art student. The Psalmist was having confidence in the one true god, the Lord of hosts the Great I am the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the creator of Heaven and Earth, The one who waas and is and is to come that God was the Godthat was with him. His confidence was in the Lord of hosts. What does that mean? Well, it means the Lord of the Army's. Was that me? Which armies that we're talking about? All of it means that the universe obeys the voice of God. The universe obeys the voice of God. No, Let's just be honest, that that's a little hard for us to believe, right? It sounds a little irrational. Little ludicrous. I mean, this idea that anyone would obey anyone else's voice in 2020. That sounds like something from cloud Cuckoo Land. Sure, we might be able to go a little ways in the military life, right? Sure, we might see somebody obeying a voice there because because you have to obey your commanders of a way of life. It's It's the only way things work. But out here in the normal world, where there's not this understanding of duty and command and obedience, we have parents that many times can barely get their kids to listen to them, much less obey their voice. And listeners robs of new video games and ring pops. So this notion that the entire universe obeys the voice of the God of the Bible, the Lord of Heaven and earth. That sounds a little out there, too. It's it's it's a struggle. But that is why we call it faith. Faith, not blind faith. Belief in the God of the Bible is not blind faith. It is faith based on evidence. What kind of evidence? Historical, archaeological, practical theological, scientific, metaphysical, you name it. It's all out there. I'm not smart enough to give details of all those different evidences But there are some amazing Christians out there that are smart enough, and they are giving details to those things. Just a sampling you could find in my friend Jim Albright's book. Everything says Glory. But faith in the God of the Bible is not blind faith, but it is faith. It's believing in something. It's trusting in something that's relying on something that's clinging to something. So what do you believe in him today? Where is your faith right now, Stephen Cole said. This crisis does not make a person a crisis reveals a person in a time of trial. You turn to what you trust. So where you turning? Where you turning right now? What do you trusting your job, the economy, your yard work, home improvement, TV, social media, video games? Netflix. Are you turning to sports or or exercise? Are you turning to the government? Are you turning to your family, your friends or your opinions? What do you turning to right now? None of those things that I mentioned or evil. But are they where you are turning first and most in a time of trial? You turn to what you trust. So what do you trusting? Where are you turning? Where is your faith right now? Are you turning to the truth of the Bible? Why is it that we is professing Christians? We way seem to be able to remember all the stats of our favorite sports teams games from 20 years ago? Weaken. Remember random lines from movies? We can remember details of a Revolutionary War battle. We can remember the details of how to rebuild a six speed transmission, but for some reason we we seem to be distant or have a lack of capacity to remember or even desire to remember God's word. Truth of the Bible. Look, I'm not trying to give us a guilt trip on reading the Bible. That's not it. I'm warning to build our confidence, but that's why we're live streaming. We are doing this to entertain you. That's why we have an online campus. Were were live streaming, were zoomed Sunday school class and we're posting on Facebook and Instagram. We're putting videos on our YouTube channel where we're doing all of this because we want to build your confidence in the midst of all of this chaos and all this craziness and all of the anger and the fear and the apathy. We want you to have a deeper confidence in God. That's why we do this. In times of trouble, you turn toe what you trust. So where you turning? Where are you trusting? Where is your faith? Today? Psalmist learned that no matter what was happening in his life that he could always turn to the king of the universe. He could always turn to the one who is Holy. Holy, holy, other other other. He could always turn to the Lord of hosts because he knew the Lord of hosts was with him. He knew it. He had experienced it. He didn't just know it is information. Although he did know it is information. He knew that there were Christians of many years long past who had confidence in God they had seen got proved himself over and over again. Osama saw it too. And we can hear it and see it and know it and see it too. Someone my at school had honor God's with me by faith. My faith Not not blind faith, but faith. The evidence, the proof of the existence of God. What he has done what he is doing, what he has promised to do my faith. Paul was giving some advice in the face of trials and troubles in the face of even death itself. And this was his advice said in Corinthians. Five or six, therefore, being always of good courage and knowing that while we're home in the body were absent from the Lord, now bless his heart. Paul has lost his mind, right? Always of good courage. Does he not know what's happening in our world right now? This Paul not know what's happening in our lives right now, Always of good courage. Listen, I gotta be honest, shepherding my family and shepherd in the church and and shepherding my extended family and friends and strangers. During this time, I'm not 24 hours of good courage. I get beat down a little bit mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, But I don't have to stay beat down. I don't have to be there 24 hours a day. Why? Paul tells us for seven four. We walk by faith, not by sight. It's too. That's the call in our lives. See, we're not supposed to be living primarily by what we see on social media or what we see on TV or what we read on the Internet. We're not supposed to be primarily working that way. I saw this week where the wife of a friend of mine got off of Facebook a year ago and wait for it. She's still alive. She's okay, and she's not overwhelmed and bogged down with with Covitz statistics. And she's not overwhelmed and bogged down with links to candy games. And she's not overwhelmed and bogged down with links to TIC Tac videos. She's she's not overwhelmed. She's she's made it. Listen, I think social media is fantastic. It is so helpful in so many ways. It's it's why we use it as a church. But you know what? I also think Maple bacon doughnuts are fantastic, but I do not eat them on average of 4.5 hours a day, because if I ate that many maple bacon donuts, it wouldn't be good for my body. So the the average time right now is it's 4.5 hours of screen time for the average adult. Truthfully, I think it's probably higher than, but let's just go with 4.5 and listen. 4.5 hours of downloading information from the world is not good for your body. It's not good for your mind. It's not good for your heart. It's not good for your soul. We have not been called toe walk by the site of what we see on social media and the sight of what we see on TV, the sight of what we see on the Internet. We've been called not toe walk, not toe live, not to function by the sight of the updates to school. We haven't been called to live by the updates of the stock market. We haven't been called to live by the sights and sounds of our favorite talk radio host. We've been called toe walk and to live and to function by faith, not by sight but by faith. By faith. It's not easy, it's it's hard, but it's rewarding. Here's why. Because when we walk by faith, we've also been called toe walk with courage. See walking by faith increases our courage. Walking by sight well calls us to lose our confidence. So we walk with courage. Why do we do that? Paul tells verse eight. We're of good courage, I say, and prefer rather be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. In other words, if we've repented of our sin, if we've truly turned to Christ and we've been redeemed by Christ than while we're alive on the earth, we have Christ, we have gained Christ. And when we are no longer alive on earth, we gain Christ all the more. This is the ultimate win win. If we're in Christ, here we have Christ. When we're no longer here we have Christ all them or win. When? About 2800 years ago, there was a a prophet named Alicia. The king of a Ram was super angry at Alicia Fact so angry at him that he found out where he was and he was in the city of does. And the king sent all of his chariots and his soldiers and his horses to surround for the purpose of ambushing and killing election. Now, like a had a helper and his helper came running into the office one day. Frantic Alicia last way got trouble, right? Endorphin city trouble with a capital T The king and his armies. They've surrounded us and they're coming to kill us like she didn't even lift his head like took a sip of this cappuccino, Put it back down. And this is what he said to his helper. 17 6 for 16. Do not fear for those who are with us arm or than those who are with them. That's confidence right there. That's like something Chuck Norris would say, right? I mean, he's there. So what does it mean? Well, a life prayed something, and and then something else happened. Here's here's his prayer and here's what happens next. For 17 Lord, I pray open his eyes that he may see and the Lord opened the servants eyes and he saw and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around alive. Great king of ahram. And he thought he was getting ready to dispose of one of God's messengers. He had no idea that his army was surrounded by the Lords armies and that fire. They have changed that of fire. If he even tried to touch election, they were all going down. Can you imagine the confidence that helper had? He wasn't frantic anymore. He heard the man of God speak about God then and her, the man of God pray to God and then in his eyes, opened and he saw guy at work. Listen, I can't promise you that the armies of the Lord we're going to protect you from covet or from heart disease or from cancer or from a dysfunctional family or from anything else in the world. I can't promise you that you're going to be protected from from all the different things that happened in life. But I can promise you this. If you are in Christ, you have every reason to be of good courage. Because if you are in Christ, whatever ultimately happens to your body and your life on Earth, you are safe. Safe. How? Because Jesus of Nazareth was and is the son of God. And he was born in a manger knee. He grew to be the man who voluntarily was crucified for the just and right penalty of my sin. And you're saying Jesus, He he looked and he saw are helpless estate And he shed his own blood for our souls, for our sin. And now our sin, Not in part but the whole has been nailed to the cross and we Bert no more. And that's why you're safe. That's why you're saying so. Have you surrendered your life to Christ? This is safety, your greatest treasure in Christ Or are you still living in the pride of your sin? Jason Meyer said this the glory of God and the pride of man will collide at one of two crash sites. Hell with Cross. Either we will pay for our sins and hell or Christ will pay for our sins on the cross. Listen, we are pleading with you. Collide with the cross because it's only in the cross of Jesus that you can find courage because it's Onley in the cross of Jesus that you will find a faith that will not fail a faith that will not falter. A faith that will not forsake you because it is a faith in the Lord of hosts, the one true God and the Lord of hosts. He will reign forever. So listen, you can turn to God. You can trust God. You can have faith in God. You can believe in God and you can be safe in God. It's it's who he is and it's what he does. It's almost gives us another reason those things were true. Verse 11 The Lord of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Who's Jacob? Well, Jacob lived about 3800 years ago, and he was a punk. I mean a punk. And he would be with what we would call coming from a dysfunctional family trickster, huckster manipulator. Those were some of the words used for Jacob. Yet throughout the Bible way, see that God was his guy. Help, I mean, was this Jacob, hardworking guy who was handy with his hands. And so that's why God was is gone. Was Jacob good with numbers? Was he creative? Did you have a good, charismatic leadership style, or was he week and and slow and needed you? What was it about Jacob that May God be his God? There's none of those things. God was Jacob's God by grace. But grace by grace. Listen, no matter if you are angry or afraid or apathetic about everything that's happening in the world right now, no matter if you are terrified, terrified of cove it, or if you think it's all some political hoax. No matter if you think that state governors and college football commissioners somehow are being demonically possessed, right, No matter who you are, no matter what you've done, no matter what you have not done, it is impossible for anyone to be too far away from the grace God, you are not out of the reach of the grace of God. That is fantastic news that you to today could be captured by the grace of God. The amazing grace of God confined you no matter where you are and his greatest could take your heart and your mind and your and your soul and he can keep them safe. God can be your refuge. He can be your stronghold. He could be your safety. That's who he is. The king of the universe is also the king of love. They're one in the same. And if you're in Christ, if you've surrendered to him than that King is your scheper, he's he's yours. But we don't believe it. I mean, any for honest way. Don't believe it. We just struggle Were were so defined by our senses and where we really do walk by sight. We don't wanna admit it, but we do, and so this this notion that that God is with us, that he's for us, that he's he's keeping our souls safe. We struggle with it, and that's why it's so important for us to collide with the cross. Because the crosses this amazing, beautiful, stunning reality that God is with us and God is for us. It's the most stunning reminder the God is for us. Listen to this prayer that Paul prayed for. People like like me and you Ephesians Chapter one, beginning with verse 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? And what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us, who believe these are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might, which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him as a right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and Dominion and every name that his name, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. You can have confidence in God because in and through the cross in and through Jesus he has conquered sin and death. He has made the only way for you to be saved and safe and satisfied and free. You can be confident and him. I can't line up a lot of people, a lot of things that you can be confident in. But you can be confident in God. He's the lord of hosts. He is the Godof Jacob. He is a stronghold because he's strong because he's the commander of the universe and the universe obeys his voice. It's almost gives this one more word to encourage Is the Lord of Hosts is with us. The Godof Jacob is our stronghold. Salem. What does say LA? It's not just a random Bible word. It occurs 71 times in the psalms occurs three times in the back. So was it me? Well, we don't know for sure. It could mean some kind of rest or appalls like be still know that I am God. Just you see striving later. Weapons down. Just just be still. Could be a pause and arrest. You're It could be like a musical term. That means pump up the volume Dan stands, you know, just come on, get in there. Either way, it does seem to be a word that says, Hey, don't miss this. Whatever you just heard. Whatever you just read. Those five letters seem to be saying, Don't miss this. If you are not a Christian, we don't want you to miss this. Listen, with with apologies to anybody who works in the areas of TV or or in and at a radio or social media or any of those things please know this we can afford to miss the next news story. We can afford to miss the next breaking social Media Post. Trust me, it'll be there again. Environments way afford to miss the next one. But we can't afford to miss this. We can't. We can't afford to miss guy. If you're not a Christian, we don't want you to miss got way. Want you to feel this. We want you to know that the Lord is the Lord of hosts. That he's the king of the universe. But he's the king of love that he's the God of Jacob. We want you to know him as your shepherd. So we would plead with you. Whatever you been turning to turn away from and turn to Jesus, Turn to Jesus, have faith and God he watches over his own. If you are Christian, don't miss this. Don't Don't miss this. Listen, everything in your life is going to pull you away from all of this is going to put you away from the songs were saying in the prayers that preaching to pull you away. If soon as this stream is over, something will pull you away. It might be a maple bacon doughnut. You know something will pull you away. So So that's why we do this now. It's why we're gathered now. It's why own line is not a waste of time were gathering to help each other. Be confident in God. So don't miss this tattoo. These truce on your brain. Let's say lobby your word this week in any moment. Whatever you find yourself in at the hospital. Salem at work, Salem in an argument with your spouse sales in an argument with your kids in an argument with your parents. Salem, when you're looking at the de het statistics. When you're looking at social media or watching the news, I'm saying, no matter what you face, no matter what moment you were in, let it be your word. We're not trying to do some mystical thing here, but it's it's real word. It's a real word in the Bible. It it really has meaning, and it could draw us back in a moment. Those five letters can draw us back in a moment toe. Have confidence in God. John Wesley was a pastor, a theologian, an evangelist. He organized and created gospel fellowships and in England in the United States. And those fellowships became the foundation of what we know today is the Methodist Church I was reading this week about the day that John Wesley died. It lost his voice pretty much. It's hard to understand him, but but not long before he died, kind of mustard his strength together, and he called out This. The best of all is God is with us. And as the story goes, he lifted his hand with a moment of triumph. And again, he said, The best of all is gone is with us their friend. If you're losing your confidence. You can in Christ still call out even if you're by yourself in the car. The best of all is God is with us. He is the Lord of hosts. He is the Godof Jacob. He is a refuge. He is a stronghold. He is our Godse la sale.
