February 8, 2015
Morning Worship
Text: Psalm 46:1-11
Subject: Kingdom Life
Title: Trusting in God – Doing Your Part
This Thursday evening at youth we are having movie night and are showing the first Left Behind movie with Kirk Cameron. I played the movie as I was preparing for this week’s sermon and it really made me think about some things.
1. As your pastor have I taught you well enough and prepared you for the difficult times that are going to come – not the Tribulation – but the “birth pains” leading up to the Tribulation.
2. Have you placed your faith in the Lord and are you trusting Him to get you through the difficult times that you will face in this life?
3. Have we committed ourselves to being a full gospel church, believing the whole word of God and acting in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us?
If you haven’t seen the movie it is the story of the events leading up to the rapture of the church and the fulfillment of prophecy that follows. I don’t want to share too much – I don’t want to spoil it for our young people who will be here on Thursday. But my point is this – as self - proclaimed believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, are we willing to be all He has called us to be?
Matthew 21:28-31 (NKJV)
28 "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'
29 He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.
30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.
31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.
James 1:22 (NKJV)
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
There is a lost and dying world outside these doors that is waiting to hear a clear presentation of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and we are called to be those messengers.
In our passage today I want to show you that God has given us a promise, He has shown us the source, and He has given an invitation.
The words that I speak today are for you.
Psalm 46:1-11 (NKJV)
1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has made desolations in the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
11 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
I appropriate it to my life today…
You can be everything God has called you to be…
I. The Promise… 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Refuge - a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble; a place of shelter, protection, or safety. Isn’t it easy for a Christian to say that God is my refuge? You know, the funny thing is that when times get difficult even non-Christians tend to run to God – looking for help in their time of trouble. But we can say that not only is God our refuge, He also is our strength. Here is a problem that we as Christians run into and we don’t even see it as a problem. We run to God in times of trouble and we cry out to the Lord and say, “God, help us!” and then we sit back and expect Him to do everything. But the Holy Spirit, through David wrote, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Now there is one word in verse 1 that we tend to ignore and that is the word “help”. God is our help right here and right now – in the present… but if we say He is a very present help doesn’t that imply that in order for Him to help we have to be doing something? Oh God, deliver me from this tobacco habit… it requires that you make the effort. Father, provide for my needs… isn’t it your responsibility to participate then in the spiritual principle of sowing and reaping? God, I need help against those who are attacking me… Matthew 5:44 (NIV2011)
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you… Do you see the pattern here? We run to our refuge and then we have to do something. Now isn’t it interesting that in between those two concepts lies the word “strength”? Is it enough for God to be your refuge? You see, we kind of get the impression but that line of reasoning that we get to just go to God and hide from all our problems. Problems do not go away from hiding. They go away when you confront them. And you confront them in God’s strength and not your own. Ephesians 6:10 (NKJV) , 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. In 2 Kings chapter 6 we see the story of how the king of Syria would go to battle against Israel and the Lord would show Elisha every strategic move that they would try to make and Israel was always one step ahead of Syria. Do you remember how the Syrian army came to look for Elisha and actually surrounded his house, and Elisha’s servant became so nervous about the enemy that had surrounded them? 2 Kings 6:15-17 (NKJV)
15 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" 16 So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Whose power was on their side? Could they have done anything on their own? Elisha dwelt in the presence of God – He was his refuge. He operated in God’s strength… and then he did something – he led the blinded Syrian army into Samaria. Then he fed them and released them. Do you think God intends that same result for his people today? Are you a child of God? Do you abide in Him and does his word abide in you? John 15:7 (NKJV) 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. Does it matter what you are going through? Can the degree of difficulty in your life be too much for God to help you through? 2Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Something else that is required on your part – faith! Faith is the opposite of fear. Faith is in agreement with what God says. Fear agrees with the devil. Millions of Christians around the world can’t see this. They get so caught up in their own circumstances that faith cannot rise up in them. Instead doubt and fear overwhelm them. David says earthquakes can come… mountains can fall into the sea… flood waters try to wash you away… Isaiah 59:19 (KJV)
19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
II. The Source… 4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God… There are so many references to the river of God in scripture. We have to understand the importance of water in mid-eastern culture. It is the river that gives life. It was the river bottoms that provided a place for crops to grow. The Mississippi River provides some of the most fertile farmland in the world. But this river that David speaks of is the river of God. There were four rivers in Genesis that flowed out of one source and watered the Garden of Eden. This was the center of a perfect world that God had created. Ezekiel saw, in a vision, a river that flowed out of the temple of God. Now this river had different levels mentioned. Coming out of the temple it was just seeping under the door. Ezekiel 47:3-5 (NKJV)
3 And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles.
4 Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist.
5 Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. Do you see how the further out into the river you went, the more significant the impact was? Revelation 22:1 (NKJV)
1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. A beautiful picture of a future river that will flow through the New Jerusalem. 4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God… Now David did not say there will be a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God… He said there is a river. The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. Throughout the bible the work of the Holy Spirit is connected with water. Naaman was washed clean of his leprosy by washing in the river. Jesus sent a blind man to wash the mud off his eyes at the pool of Siloam. All of these the work of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus himself as he was coming up out of the Jordan River. It is this Holy Spirit that Jesus spoke of to a woman at the well in Samaria when he told her about the water she could have and she would never be thirsty again. John 7:38-39 (NKJV) 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive… Now this living water can be connected with the River from Ezekiel in the sense that we as believers have become the temple of the Holy Spirit and this baptism in the Holy Spirit allows that life giving water to flow from this temple out into a dry and thirsty land. Verse 5, look at how David speaks of the holy city that receives the goodness of that river… 5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. 6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. 7 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Ephesians 2:19-22 (NKJV) 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
III. The Invitation… 8 Come, behold the works of the LORD… Does the Lord want to do anything in secret? Don’t the manifestations of His power have an impact on the world around us? Come, behold the works of the LORD… Isaiah 55:1 (NIV2011) “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters… Who has made desolations in the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. I want you to look at verse 10 very carefully with me. 10 Be still, and know that I am God; “Be still” is not as much about meditation as it is trusting in the Lord to be your helper. He has given you the promise that He would help. He has given you the source of His power in the world today. Now His invitation literally says, “to let go, or let yourself become weak. Whose strength our you trusting in? 2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV2011)
10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. David finishes by returning to his original thought. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! 11 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.
You have a promise. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved… He is your refuge and your strength and He will help you…
You have a source – the river of the Holy Spirit that is available to every believer. There is an eternal city that is coming but only those who know Christ will inhabit it.
You have an invitation… look at the works of God. His salvation. His power. His deliverance and protection and wisdom and gifts and all His promises given for you to see and become full participants in.
