INTRO.- ILL.- Week after week, a man came to his preacher with a big problem. He said, “When I go to bed, I can’t sleep because I’m afraid of monsters under my bed. I know it’s silly, but I can’t help it.”
His preacher recommended prayer, reading the Bible, singing hymns, keeping the lights on, but nothing worked. One Sunday the man came to church happy and well rested. He told his preacher that he got help from his friend the carpenter. The preacher asked, “What did he tell you to do?” The man said, “He told me just to cut the legs off my bed!” I guess that took care of his monster problem!
Where do you go for help in life? When you’re up against something you can’t handle, monsters real or otherwise? Where do you turn for help? I guess it would depend on the situation.
ILL.- Perhaps you remember this incident. It happened around September 2011. According to a report in Salt Lake City, UT,Brandon Wright was riding his motorcycle on U.S. Highway 89 near the Utah State University campus on a Monday morning when a black BMW pulled out of a parking lot in front of him. Wright intentionally grounded his cycle to avoid getting hit — but his bike went up in flames and he slid underneath that BMW, which was also on fire. A witness and several others, including students and construction workers, watched it unfold. They called for help, but had no time to wait for emergency workers to arrive. "If we wait, we could lose him," the witness said. Rather than stand by, the group gathered together, lifted the vehicle up, and pulled Wright to safety. "It was a very big fire," the witness said. "When I lifted the car, it was very, very hot under there."
When your house or your car is on fire you don’t take time to pray! YOU GET OUT IF YOU CAN! If you offer any prayer at all, it might be, “Lord, have mercy” or “Lord, help us!”
There are many times in life when we don’t know where to turn and who to seek for help. So what do we do? Or what should we do? If we are smart, we should turn to the Lord and seek His help.
Psalm 9:9 “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.”
Psalm 10:14 “But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.”
Psalm 32:7 “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”
Psalm 34:17 “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.”
Psalm 34:19 “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”
Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Do you know where your help comes from? Do you know who cares about you the most?
PROP.- We look to the Lord for help in life. And what does He do for us?
1- The Lord will keep us from slipping
2- The Lord will watch over us always
I. THE LORD WILL KEEP US FROM SLIPPING
3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber.
Have you ever slipped and fell? I slipped on the ice one winter and fell on my hip, the hip that was replaced 15 years ago. When I hit the sidewalk on that hip, I thought, “Oh no!” I was just sure that I fractured it. Fortunately, for me, I got up and walked off with no damage that I know of. No one wants to slip and fall. And I hope that no one would wants to slip and fall into sin but it does happen. It happens to us all. How does this happen?
Proverbs 1:10 “My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.” Did anyone ever entice you to get involved in their sinful ways?
ILL.- Backed in the 60's I walked out of the Safeway store one night at 10 with the manager. He had a six pack of beer with him. He opened one and started to drink it. Then he said, “You want a beer?” I said, “No, thank you. I’m sorry but I don’t drink.” He said, “What are you sorry for?” He wasn’t a bad guy, but he did entice me which could have led to trouble.
ILL.- I know when we were young many boys would tempt other guys, saying, “Let’s go get some beer and get drunk.” Or on Halloween some would say, “Let’s get a BB gun and shoot out some street lights.” Or, “Let’s go chase some girls.”
Some sinners like to entice others to join their wrongdoing. The real tempter is Satan who uses people to tempt others.
II Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
The serpent deceived Eve in the beginning of time and he is still at work today, only not as a serpent. He uses people to tempt us into sin and away from Christ. People have no idea how powerful and controlling Satan is!
I Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
ILL.- George Washington said: “Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your reputation, for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
I John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
This world is not our friend. What’s the message? Don’t let people or this world lead you away from Christ and into sin! Don’t slip into a life of sinful living. It can happen to anyone, including Christian people. These verses were written to Christians, warning them not to be led away from Christ and into sin.
I John 2:1-2 “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Jude 24 “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—” He is able.
What do we do when we find ourselves tempted to fall into sin? We look to the Lord for help! We humble ourselves and pray! We have the best defense lawyer there is! He will come to our aid and plead our case.
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Jesus is the only one who can help us when we slip and fall into sin. He’s been tempted just like we are, but He never gave in. He’s the victor and He alone can help us! When we humble ourselves and look to Him He will demonstrate mercy and give us grace to experience victory in the days ahead.
The Lord will keep us from slipping but if we let Him, if we look to Him always, if we walk with Him, and spend much time talking to Him.
II. THE LORD WILL WATCH OVER US ALWAYS
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
ILL.- When my kids were small I would always pray with them as I put them to bed. My son Shane would always say, “Dad, would you pray with me.”
DO YOU WONDER WHY? He wanted God’s protection over him while he slept. And we all need God to watch over us and it doesn’t hurt to ask Him to do that. And I do ask God to watch over people, especially those with problems or are suffering because of illness.
ILL.- During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades. Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed. As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."
After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going to help me out of this one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave. As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.
“Hah, he thought, "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor."
As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider’s web is stronger than a brick wall."
It’s utterly amazing how the Lord works at times to take care of His children here on earth.
ILL.- In Minnesota, during the summer of 1876, there was a swarm of grasshoppers destroying the crops. There was a fear that the grasshoppers would return, so Governor John S. Pillsbury proclaimed a day of prayer and fasting on April 26, 1877, urging every man, woman and child to ask for God's protection. When the appointed day arrived, schools and businesses were closed as people prayed for Divine intervention.
The next day began a series of days that were unseasonably warm. It was more like summer than spring. The three days of warm weather triggered the hatching of the grasshopper larvae. People wondered why God had not responded to their prayer and fasting.
However, the fourth day brought a sudden dip in temperatures. The entire state of Minnesota was covered with frost that night. The vulnerable grasshopper larvae perished in the frost, and the crops and the economy of Minnesota were rescued from certain devastation. True story. God does answer prayer!
Job 10:12 “You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit.”
Psalm 1:6 “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”
Psalm 142:3 “When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me.”
Psalm 145:20 “The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.”
CONCLUSION-----------------
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Sounds like a good promise to me!
Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Could it be that the more we go about God’s business of making disciples, the more He will watch over us, be with us, care for us, and protect us? That’s what it sounds like to me. God is saying, “If you take care of my business I’ll take care of you.” What a deal!
ILL.- Roy Weece was a preacher friend who passed from this life in 2007 at the age of 74. Roy preached for the church in Eldon, MO, for many years and then became the director of the Christian Campus House ministry in Columbia, MO, for nearly 40 years. During Roy’s lifetime it was said that he baptized 10,000 people into Christ. That’s how many disciples he made. And the Lord always took care of him and his family and today, all of his children are involved in some form of Christian ministry.
Roy took care of God’s business of making disciples and God took care of him and his family.
Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God...”
How many disciples have you made? The beautiful thing is that God goes ahead and does His part even when we don’t do our part. He continues to watch over us, protect us, and provide for us.
It seems to me that we need to be about His business!
