“Thou shalt not be afraid of the Terror…,”
Psalm 91:5
Preached by Pastor John W. Ingham, 9/15/2002
(Statistics should be updated)
We will be having a special observance for the anniversary of 9/11 and as we approach that date there is fear of another terroristic occurrence.
INTRODUCTION:
1. I have always thought that David penned the 91st
Psalm but upon further investigation I found out
according to many theologians Moses wrote that
Psalm. It was the one thing that helped the
Children of Israel make it through the 40 years of
wilderness wondering.
A. You see there were at least two men in that
number along with their families that were
not under the curse placed by God upon the
Children of Israel. They were Caleb and Joshua.
B. They are a picture of the victorious church that is
ready for the Rapture to occur and to enter into the
promised land.
C. The rest of the group wondered around in the
wilderness living defeated lives until they died.
O yes they saw occasional miracles and they
received, vicariously the blessings of God as He
blessed Caleb and Joshua and their families. But
they themselves never knew what it was like to
dwell in the “Secret place of the Most High.” This
is a level that must be sought after and that most
of the people attending churches around the world
have never entered into.
D. Several weeks ago I spoke of the fact that God is
waiting for the church to enter its proper role
today as an overcoming Spirit empowered victorious
entity awaiting the coming of the Lord.
1.This was born out in Acts 3:21, “Whom the
heaven must receive until the times of
restitution of all things, which God hath
spoken by the mouth of the prophets since
the world began.”
2.And then we have a description of the worship
that will be restored. I have been preaching
about it. Listen to Amos 9:11-15, “In that day
will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is
fallen, and close up the breaches thereof;
and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build
it as in days of old:” (12) “That they may
possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the
heathen, which are called by my name, saith
the LORD that doeth this.” (13) “Behold, the
days come, saith the LORD, that the
plowman shall take over the reaper, and the
treader of grapes him that soweth the seed:
and the mountains shall drop sweet wine,
and the hills shall melt.” (14) “And I will
bring again the captivity of my people of
Israel, and they shall build the waste cities
and inhabit them; and they shall plant
vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they
shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of
them.” (15) “I will also plant them upon
their land, and they shall be no more pulled
up out of their land, which saith the LORD
thy God.”
a. What is God saying to us? He is saying
that there is going to be a time of
restitution in the church. “Of What?” On
yes the Davidic worship. Use of
instruments of ever sort. David even
invented new instruments. But even more
than that he is telling us there will be a
restitution of great joy. “What do you
mean Brother Ingham?” Any time you
see wine mentioned as a type or shadow it
means the joy of the Holy Spirit.
b. And hey, hey, when the wine flows from
the mountains, God is telling us the
mountains will melt. WOW!!!! What a
parallel. You have mountains today? Oh
yes you do! Yes you do. It is no time to
get sad! It is no time to draw up in a
cocoon. It is no time to sing the blues. “No
body knows the trouble I have. No body
knows my sorry.” Hey, forget that. It is
time to sing:
(1)“I will enter His gates with
thanksgiving in my heart,
I will enter His courts with praise:
I will say, ‘This is the day the
LORD hath made,’
I will rejoice for He has made me
glad, He has made me glad, He has made
me glad, I will rejoice for he has
made me glad.”
(2) And then: “The joy of the LORD is my
strength,The joy of the LORD is my
strength,The joy of the LORD is my
strength.The joy of the LORD is my
strength!”
“He gives me living waters and I
thirst no more. He gives me living
waters and I thirst no more. He
gives me living waters and I thirst no
more. The joy of the LORD is my
strength!”
(3) And then why don’t you:
“Rise and be healed in the name of
Jesus, Let faith arise in your soul.
Rise and be healed in the name of
Jesus, He will make you every whit
whole.”
3.And finally Joel 2:23-27 says, “Be glad then ye
children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD
your God: for he hath given you the former rain
moderately,(Some of us don’t agree with that. We
think the former rain was the big rain. Oh I
agree it was good. But Joel says, “Just
wait.”) “and he will cause to come down
for you the rain, the former rain, and the
latter rainin the first month.”
A.What is Joel telling us? He is saying, ”The
former rain was good but when the later rain
comes there will be a lot of rain. It will
be a combination of the former and the
latter rain. That is why it is so good. It
includes both the things of the former rain
along with the things of the latter rain.
And what a deluge we have. Hey, I believe
that every anointed type of singing should
have a place on the program. Don’t’ omit it
because of style. Omit it because of lack of
anointing!
B.(24) “And the floors shall be full of wheat,
and the vats shall overflow with wine and
with oil.” Here we go again. Wine and oil
overflowing is talking about a great
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And what is
the result? Huh? (25) “And I will restore
unto you the years that the locust hath
eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar,
and the palmer worm, my great army which I
sent among you.” (26) “And ye shall eat in
plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name
of the LORD your God, that he hath dealt
wondrously with you: and my people shall
never be ashamed.” (27) “And ye shall know
that I am in the midst of Israel, and I am
the LORD your God, and none else: and my
people shall never be ashamed.”
4. But you say, “Brother Ingham, I just don’t like the
church going in that direction.”
A.You had better be careful about that kind of
attitude. 1 Corinthians 10:32 says, “Give
no offense to the Jew, give no offense to the
Gentiles and give no offense to the church.”
What is Paul saying there? He is saying do not be
a stumbling block to the future of My church.
It is dangerous. It was dangerous for Ananias and
Sapphira and it will be dangerous for you. Paul
said, “Some of you come in living any ole way
and take communion just like you were a
Christian.” He said, “You are living
dangerously.” “Get right with God,” is what Paul
is saying.
SERMON BODY:
If you are this kind of overcoming Christian this is where we are today. Psalm 91 should be read often and memorized routinely in our family circles/ Our Houses of Prayer.
A.We are living in the last days. These are days of
terror in more than one way.
1.Terrorism: What does that means?
a. Physical Death threatened - in Israel:
(1) August 1st, 2002: 5
American and 3 Israelis at The Hebrew
University on Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem.
(2) July 17th, 2002: A double suicide
bomb attack near the old Tele Aviv bus
station leaves 5 dead, including the 2
bombers, and about 49 injuries.
(3) June 19th: 8 people die including the
bomber and 35 are injured in a suicide
attack at a bus stop in the French Hill
neighborhood of East Jerusalem.
(4) June 18th: A suicide bomber kills
himself and 19 civilians in a bomb
attack on a bus in southern
Jerusalem.
(5) June 5th: At least 14 are killed in an
attack on a bus at Megiddo junction,
near the border with the West Bank. A
suspected attacker is believed to have
driven up in a car behind the bus and
detonated a bomb.
(6) May 19th: 3 Israelis killed and nearly
30 injured when a suicide bomber
disguised himself in an Israeli army
uniform blows himself up at a market
in Netanya.
(7) May 7th: Suicide bomber attacks social
club in the town of Rishon Letzion,
killing 16 people and injuring more
than 50. The attack was claimed by
the armed wing of Hamas.
(8) April 12th: A suicide bomber attack at
a bus stop in West Jerusalem, kills the
bomber and 6 other people and injures
about 50 more.
(9) April 10th: A suicide attack on a bus
travelling near Haifa kills 8 and injures
dozens more.
(10) March 31st:Bomber attacks restaurant
in Haifa killing himself and 14 Israelis
and Arabs. On the same day, another
bomber kills himself and wounds 4 at
the Jewish settlement of Efrat, south of
Bethlehem.
(11) March 27th: In the resort of Netanya,
a bomber blows himself up killing 28
Israelis celebrating Passover.
(12) March 20th: 7 people killed in a
suicide attack on a bus carrying
mainly Arab laborers near the
northern town of Umm el Fahem.
(13) March 9th:At least 11 people were
killed and 50 injured in a suicide bomb
attack on a crowded café in west
Jerusalem. This was near the home of
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
(14) March 2nd: 9 people killed including 2
babies, and 57 people were injured
during an attack on an ultra-Orthodox
area of Jerusalem.
(15) January 27nd: Two people - one a
female suicide bomber - die in an
attack on a busy shopping area.
(16) That is a total of 150 people killed all
ready in 2002 by suicide bombers.
(17) To show you the escalation this
year, there were 75 killed in
2001 and 4 in 2000.
2.But none of these figures can compare to
September 11, 2001 when 3,000 Americans went out
into eternity on September 11, when the worst
international terrorist attack in history occurred
involving four separate but coordinated aircraft
hijackings.The 19 hijackers belonged to the Al-Qaida
terrorist network. According to investigators and
records of cellular phone calls made by passengers
aboard the planes, the hijackers used knives and
boxcutters to kill or wound passengers and the
pilots, and then commandeered the aircraft, which
the hijackers used to destroy pre selected targets:
·5 terrorists hijacked American flight 11,
which departed from Boston for Los
Angeles at 7:45 AM. An hour later it was
deliberately piloted into the North Tower
of the World Trade Center in New York
City.
· Five terrorists hijacked United Airlines
flight 93, which departed Newark for San
Francisco at 8:01 A.M. At 10:10 the plane
crashed at Stony Creek Township, PA
killing all 45 persons on board. The
intended target of this hijacked plane is
not known, but it is believed that it may
have been the White House or the Capitol
but the passengers overpowered the
terrorists, thus preventing the aircraft
from being used as a missile.
· Five terrorists hijacked American Airlines
flight 77, which departed from
Washington Dulles Airport for Los
Angeles at 8:10 A.M. At 9:39 the plane
was flown directly into the Pentagon in
Arlington, V.A, near Washington, D.C. A
total of 189 persons were killed,
including all who were onboard the plane.
· In all there were 3,547 people killed and
1080 wounded in international terrorist
attacks in 2001, the highest annual death
and wounded toll from terrorism ever
recorded.
3. Also Terrorism is Psychological.
A. We have never seen a day with so much
violence and mayhem.
B. So what do we do? Do we hide? Do we run
away?
III. Psalm 91:1, ”He that dewelleth in the secret
place of the most High, shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty.” If this setting of Psalm
91 is true, what we are talking about is not
someone looking for a ravine or a cave to hide
in. We are not called to be cloistered
monks afraid to show our faces in the public.
A. What we see here is a group of people following
the shadow of a sheltering cloud like the
Children of Israel had to cool them.
B. The important thing here is to see
that “dwelling in the secret place of the Most
High,” is doing His will in your life. Not
throwing up your hands and finding a place to
hide. It is a place in God that you
treasure as an inheritance. The word dwell here
means ’yashab’ or “to possess a place and live
there.” The secret place here is in finding
God’s will for your life and claiming it and
refusing to not live in that ministry. And to
make the most of that ministry. What is it
that God is speaking to you about right now?
Is it a talent? Is it the ability to
teach or to plan or to entertain? Or is it in
outreach ministry? You must find out and begin
the journey.
C. We see here a person on a journey and on that
trip he encounters an enemy who does not want
him to complete the trip or to carry out the
will of the Master on the journey.
1.In verse 3 there is the “snare of the
fowler.” These are traps which are laid by
people and demons.
a. People can set you up for a fall. They
will invite you to do questionable things
with them. And then they can’t wait to
tell someone just what happened.
b. Paul said ”Beware of the wiles of Satan.”
He will try to get you to put yourself in
a compromising situation with the opposite
sex. He will whisper things into your mind
that will cause division and hurt.
2. Also in verse 3, “the noisome pestilence.”
The Hebrew word here is havvah. This
means ‘a rushing calamity; one that sweeps
everything before it.’
a. Is that how you feel today? Could
this be the stock market or could it be
the words of an employer.
b. Maybe it is the inevitability of a
situation. Like a divorce.
3. Verse 4, “He shall cover thee with his
feathers.” Feathers here are figurative of
protection and care. We have a picture of an
eagle with her little eaglet being protected
by the huge 6 foot wing span. Now when the
eaglet falls the mother flies under and
catches the little bird to lift it to new
heights so it can learn how to fly on its
own.
4. Verse 4, “His truth shall be thy shield and
buckler.” This is talking about good
doctrine. The shield was raised in
protection before the advancing soldier and
the buckler which was wrapped around the
body parts protected from the thrusts of
various weapons and arrows of the enemy.
a. Jude said, “The day would come when
we would have to earnestly contend for
the faith once delivered.”
b. Paul said, “The time would come when
men would not endure sound doctrine.”
5. Verse 5, “Thou shalt not be afraid for the
terror by night.” A lady missionary tells the
story of her husband being away for a mission
trip. While he was away marauding natives
other villages came into the area to steal and
plunder. She was warned by her native help
but she had no where to go. So as she saw the
torch lights in the distance she gathered her
little children to her and prayed. They all
went to sleep this way but when they awoke she
asked her native help what they had learned,
they told her that the raiding natives came to
her house but they were afraid to approach it
because of fiery tall men with swords drawn
who had formed a circle around her house.
A. Once again here we see the protection for
those on a mission or in a ministry for
Christ.
CONCLUSION:
1.The question this morning is are you traveling with God this morning? The first thing to consider is do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
2.The next thing is are you in the ‘Secret Place of the most high?” that means are you moving in God’s will?” Are you doing everything you can to carry out his will?
3.That is the only safe place today. Verse 7, “A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.”
4.“He is my peace. He has broken down every wall. He is my peace. He is my peace. He is my peace
who has broken down every wall. He is my peace.
He is my peace. Cast all your care on Him, for He
cares for you. He is my peace. He is my peace.
Cast all your care on him for he care for you. He is
my peace. He is my peace.
5. Tell the story of two female missionaries, Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry who were held in harsh Taliban Prison for 100 days and miraculously rescued
by U.S. Special Forces. (Refer to book “Prisoners of Hope”)
