PRESERVED, NOT PICKLED
Ps. 121:1-8
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. 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.”
2. His preacher recommended prayer, reading the Bible, singing hymns, keeping the lights on, but nothing worked.
3. One Sunday the man came to church happy and well rested. He told his preacher that he got help from his friend the carpenter.
4. 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!
5. Where do you go for help in life? When you’re up against something you can’t handle? Where do you turn for help?
B. TEXT: PSALM 121:1-8
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. 3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; 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. 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.
C. THESIS
1. As a little boy, I remember going to my grandfather’s house in Waco, where he lived with his sister out on a farm. Aunt Bess was one to put up fruit and vegetables in jars. Looking in her storage cupboard one day I asked, “What’s that?” She pointed out the various items of vegetables or fruit and said, “This jar is preserves and these jars are pickled.”
2. I discovered that the words pickled and preserved are used interchangeably, but there’s a big difference! Ask an old country person and they’ll say, “Preserves are sweet and things pickled are sour.”
3. Today we’re talking about God’s preserving power. It’s wonderful if we’re preserved unto the end as Christians, but God also cares how we are during the process: are we sweet or sour?
4. Some Christians have been described as “baptized in pickle juice” because they’re bitter, judgmental, unhappy, a long face, or negative attitudes. Who would want to be a Christian if that were the perception?
5. God wants us as Christians to get sweeter as we go through our journey of life, not increasingly sour.
6. It’s amazing how some people have gone through terrible experiences – such as Nazi prison camps – and still be sweet, while others can have a fairly prosperous life and yet be bitter people.
7. Much of the time it’s an attitude we decide to adopt! If we cultivate a thankful attitude, then even the little things we get are appreciated and a thankful soul is a happy soul.
8. God’s intention is for us to be sweetening agents rather than sour agents. The title of this message is “Preserved, Not Pickled.”
I. GOD: THE REAL SOURCE OF POWER (1-2)
A. LOOKING FOR HELP
1. When we get into trouble, it’s natural to start looking for help.
*We get loans for financial help
*Call the Police for criminal help
*Hire Lawyers for legal help
*See a Doctor for physical help
*Visit a Psychiatrist for mental help
*and Marriage counselors for marital help, etc.
So when do we need God?
2. What do we do when we get in a pinch? Do we take our problems to God or try to deal with them ourselves?
B. CHOOSING THE RIGHT “HILL”
1. When the Psalmist says, “I lift my eyes to the hills…”, he was looking over the many different sources of help available to him; but the key thought is, that He chooses the Lord exclusively and rejects other sources as ineffectual.
2. He highlights the extreme difference between God and other sources by adding, “The Maker of heaven and earth”. Wow! What a difference.
II. THE CAREFULNESS OF GOD’S PROTECTION (3-4)
A. THE PILGRIM’S DANGEROUS JOURNEY
1. THE BACKGROUND of this passage is that during Old Testament times, pilgrims had to travel great distances over rugged terrain to get to Jerusalem for the holy feast days 3X a year.
2. There were many dangers along the way; thieves & bandits, no water, snakes, cliffs & ravines, mountain lions and other wild animals, to name a few.
3. God begins Vs. 3 by promising to protect them (& us) from even the least of mishaps – even the slipping of their foot! That must have been a wonderful encouragement to them.
B. A WATCHMAN WHO DOESN’T SLEEP
1. For protection, the pilgrims often traveled in caravans and had guards who stayed awake all night to defend against possible attack of marauding robbers.
2. Books written by travelers of that period state, “We found it exceedingly difficult to obtain a tent guards who could keep awake all night.”
3. One gentleman tells of discovering a thief in his tent, and when he went out to call the watchman, he found that the man had gone so soundly to sleep that he could only be aroused by one or two gentle kicks.
4. What a comfort it is for God to say, “Behold, He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
C. THE MOTIVATION OF THE WATCHMAN
1. It turns out the motivation of the watchman is all important. OUR watchman is no hireling who only watches so he can collect a paycheck.
2. Our God is watching over us because He LOVES us and doesn’t want us harmed. He’s watching over you!
III. THE SECRET OF BECOMING SWEETER
A. GOD’S LOVE MUST COME INTO US
1. Most love today is selfish love. It only loves when it gets something in return.
2. 3 GREEK WORDS (English only has one word):
a. EROS. This is romantic love, like a boy has for a girl. This love is just for one person, so you better pick the right one.
b. PHILEO – “friendship love.”
c. AGAPE – The “God-kind-of love.” This is what God wants us to have, and we MUST have it, if the world would see Christ in us!
3. Paul described this kind of love; 1 Cor. 13:4-8; “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
4. Paul began that chapter by saying, “It doesn’t matter how spiritual you act, if you don’t have this Agape love motivating what you do, your Christianity is worthless!”
5. You can be a great spokesperson for Christ, have tremendous faith, perform miracles, gifts of the Spirit, even be martyred... but unless you are motivated by God’s love, it’s all worthless!
6. This kind of love can only come from God. Rom. 5:5 says, “The love of GOD is shed abroad in our hearts.” If you have a neighbor you can’t love DON’T PRAY AND SAY, “Lord, make me to love Shaunda;” but DO PRAY, “Lord, love Shaunda through me.” We must “abide in the Vine” (Jn. 15:1-7) of Jesus and put His words into practice.
7. The Bible says that when the Jewish leaders spoke with Jesus’ apostles “they were amazed and realized what being with Jesus had done for them!” Acts 4:13, TLB.
B. DO YOU HAVE THE FRUIT OF JESUS?
1. Jesus said “...a tree is known by its fruit,” Mt. 12:33. What’s the name for a tree that bears oranges? An orange tree. It’s the same with apples, peaches, pears, bananas, etc. TREES ARE KNOWN BY THEIR FRUIT! You don’t find the wrong kind of fruit on a tree; whatever it is, that’s the kind of fruit growing on it.
2. If you’re living in Christ and He’s in you, you should have the same sweet, humble, sacrificial, loving fruit He has! It’s easy to justify our bad behavior or spiritualize it!
3. ILLUS.
a. Did you hear about the efficiency expert who did a seminar on time management for a company's junior executives? He ended one of his lectures with a disclaimer. "Don't attempt these task-organizing tips at home," he said. "Why not?" someone asked.
b. "I did a study of my wife's routine of fixing breakfast," he said sheepishly. "She made a lot of trips between the refrigerator and the stove, the table and the cabinets — often carrying only one item. So I asked my wife, ‘Honey, why don't you try carrying several things at once so you can be more efficient.' "
c. "Did that save time?" the questioner continued. "Actually, yes," the lecturer replied. "It used to take her twenty minutes to get my breakfast. Now I get my own in seven."
4. ILLUS.: ‘The Power of Grafting’
a. Did you know, it’s possible to take a SOUR orange tree and make it bear SWEET oranges? How do you do it?
b. Will pruning it make it sweet? No!
c. Will transplanting it make it sweet? No! You’re just moving the sour tree around. It’s still sour. That’s like so many sour Christians who transfer from one church to another!
d. You could rename it. You could tie sweet oranges on it. NO!
e. THE ONLY WAY TO DO IT IS BY GRAFTING A SWEET ORANGE BRANCH INTO THE SOUR ORANGE TREE! THEN THE NATURE OF THE FRUIT WILL CHANGE! In the same way, YOU NEED GOD’S NATURE GRAFTED INTO YOU!
5. There’s no way to save fallen nature. Only by being grafted to Jesus can we get God’s sweetness in us! You need Jesus down in your soul!
CONCLUSION
A. ARE YOU PRESERVED OR PICKLED?
1. During the siege of La Rochelle (Louis XIII besieging the Huguenots in France, 1627-28) , which lasted fifteenth months, the inhabitants were reduced by famine to even eating horses, asses, mules, dogs, cats, rats, and mice; and 2 quarts of corn is said to have been sold for a sum equivalent to thousands of dollars of our money today. Yet, there were numerous examples of great generosity.
2. There was a widow of a merchant named Prosni, who, being a very religious and benevolent woman, when the famine became severe, freely assisted the poor with her present surplus.
3. Her sister-in-law, rebuked her in anger, “What’re you going to do when your supplies are gone?” Her reply was, “The Lord will provide for me.”
4. The siege continued and at last the poor widow and her 4 children were without food. She asked her sister-in-law for help and she replied, “If you hadn’t ‘depended on God’ like a fool, you’d have food now! I’m not helping you!” The widow said, “The Lord will provide for us.”
5. She returned to her house in deep distress, resolving to face death bravely. When she got to her house, her children met her with joyous faces, and told her that a man, a total stranger, had knocked on the door, and when they opened it, he threw in a sack containing 16 gallons of wheat; and then disappeared.
6. The widow could scarcely believe her eyes, and with an overflowing, grateful heart thanked God for His miraculous provision. As a result, she and her kids were able to make it through the siege with food to share! [The Biblical Treasury, Vol. 4.]
7. God is watching over us! There will be times when the heavens will seem like brass and when it seems like God is not paying attention. But hold fast to God; He who watches over you shall neither slumber nor sleep!
B. ALTAR CALL
1. How many of need to start looking to God as your number one source of help? Raise a hand.
2. How many of you need some better fruit in your life? You need more of the grace of Christ?
3. How many would be honest and say, “I’ve been more sour in my life than sweet and I’m going to change and let God’s sweetness come through for the rest of my life?
4. Prayer, Call for salvation.
[This is a rewrite of a message of the same title by Ed Wood.]
