1 00:00:10,686 --> 00:00:11,336 Speaker: Well, good morning. 2 00:00:11,876 --> 00:00:16,686 Uh, my name is Pastor Marc, and it is a privilege to come before you 3 00:00:16,686 --> 00:00:18,316 this morning and open up God's Word. 4 00:00:18,326 --> 00:00:22,535 If you don't know anything about me, uh, I oversee our kids ministry, uh, along 5 00:00:22,535 --> 00:00:26,385 with a number of other things here at Compass Bible Church, and it is a joy, and 6 00:00:26,485 --> 00:00:31,635 God has been kind to allow me to do that, uh, since the beginning of this church. 7 00:00:32,604 --> 00:00:36,845 Well, I remember many things from my childhood. 8 00:00:37,165 --> 00:00:38,235 Many things, many things. 9 00:00:38,635 --> 00:00:43,995 But there's one thing that sticks in my mind in a unique way, and that is 10 00:00:44,076 --> 00:00:46,686 the hugs that my mom would give me. 11 00:00:47,506 --> 00:00:50,045 I can remember those so well. 12 00:00:51,025 --> 00:00:53,015 I can remember running up to her. 13 00:00:53,855 --> 00:00:57,645 I can remember even the, some of the clothes that she used to have. 14 00:00:57,975 --> 00:00:59,505 I can remember how she smelled. 15 00:01:00,025 --> 00:01:02,846 I can remember how it felt to have her arms around me. 16 00:01:03,475 --> 00:01:05,626 I, I can just picture that vividly. 17 00:01:06,275 --> 00:01:08,215 I can just picture that in my mind. 18 00:01:08,445 --> 00:01:09,735 Of course, she gave me many hugs. 19 00:01:10,486 --> 00:01:13,115 She gave me many hugs, and I, I don't remember every single one of them. 20 00:01:13,405 --> 00:01:16,175 But there are a few, in fact, that I remember very well. 21 00:01:16,186 --> 00:01:19,916 I remember, uh, when I came back from summer camp one year, 22 00:01:20,015 --> 00:01:23,446 and, you know, summer camp as a kid can be, uh, challenging. 23 00:01:23,446 --> 00:01:25,995 It can be very fun, but it can have it, its ups and downs. 24 00:01:26,175 --> 00:01:28,456 And I remember running up to her and giving her a hug. 25 00:01:28,845 --> 00:01:31,065 Uh, that hug was so sweet. 26 00:01:31,455 --> 00:01:34,285 I remember another time I had-- I played trumpet, and I had an 27 00:01:34,285 --> 00:01:36,515 audition that didn't go very well. 28 00:01:36,945 --> 00:01:40,645 And, uh, I remember walking out of the, the classroom where 29 00:01:40,646 --> 00:01:44,505 that audition happened, going to the car, and my mom gets out of 30 00:01:44,506 --> 00:01:46,375 the car and gives me a big hug. 31 00:01:46,375 --> 00:01:48,625 She could tell already that, that it hadn't gone well. 32 00:01:48,875 --> 00:01:51,995 Or I remember a basketball game where my coach was, was super mad at me. 33 00:01:52,595 --> 00:01:55,865 Even in high school, I remember getting a hug from my mom after that, 34 00:01:56,095 --> 00:01:57,765 and I was all sweaty and a mess. 35 00:01:58,326 --> 00:01:59,376 I remember that well. 36 00:02:00,125 --> 00:02:01,345 Why do I remember that? 37 00:02:01,686 --> 00:02:03,626 Why is that something that's important to me? 38 00:02:04,495 --> 00:02:07,555 Well, those hugs represent something, right? 39 00:02:07,555 --> 00:02:10,506 They, they're a thing, but they represented something to me as a kid. 40 00:02:10,705 --> 00:02:14,265 And, and I didn't have some sort of philosophical treaty on why those 41 00:02:14,265 --> 00:02:16,155 hugs meant so much at that time. 42 00:02:16,425 --> 00:02:20,306 But I can tell you, looking back, that those hugs represented so 43 00:02:20,306 --> 00:02:22,016 many different good things to me. 44 00:02:22,515 --> 00:02:30,814 They represented stability, comfort, love, assurance In my mom's hugs, 45 00:02:30,814 --> 00:02:33,374 I could find some of those things. 46 00:02:33,994 --> 00:02:37,864 And in our life, even as adults, there's a lot of uncertainty, right? 47 00:02:37,894 --> 00:02:40,543 You go to work and one day, one day somebody's nice to you 48 00:02:40,543 --> 00:02:41,633 and the next day they're not. 49 00:02:41,844 --> 00:02:43,884 Not too different from summer camp, right? 50 00:02:44,113 --> 00:02:47,813 You have projects at work that, that don't go very well, right? 51 00:02:47,823 --> 00:02:51,663 They, they don't really land and people aren't very happy with it, right? 52 00:02:51,664 --> 00:02:58,134 There are all sorts of uncertainties in our life, and we, even as adults, 53 00:02:58,793 --> 00:03:04,374 have a desire for stability and assurance and comfort and love. 54 00:03:05,433 --> 00:03:10,084 I was looking for something in my mom who God was kind to give me in part, but 55 00:03:10,084 --> 00:03:15,603 I was looking for something in my mom that really is ultimately found in only 56 00:03:15,603 --> 00:03:21,283 one person, and that's who we are going to be looking at today from Psalm 119. 57 00:03:21,303 --> 00:03:26,313 So if you will open your Bibles, we'll be looking at Psalm 119 verse 89 58 00:03:26,584 --> 00:03:31,353 through 96, and we're gonna discover who this person is, and I'm sure you 59 00:03:31,353 --> 00:03:36,093 already know, that provides for us the stability, the comfort, the enduring 60 00:03:36,103 --> 00:03:41,103 love that we desperately need to deal with the challenges of this life. 61 00:03:42,334 --> 00:03:44,164 I hope you have your Bible open in front of you. 62 00:03:45,103 --> 00:03:52,003 Psalm 119 verse 89 says this: "Forever, forever, O Lord, your 63 00:03:52,013 --> 00:03:55,004 Word is firmly fixed in the heavens. 64 00:03:55,664 --> 00:03:58,883 Your faithfulness endures to all generations. 65 00:03:59,144 --> 00:04:03,313 You have established the earth, and it stands fast. 66 00:04:04,163 --> 00:04:10,493 By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants." 67 00:04:10,503 --> 00:04:11,123 We'll stop there. 68 00:04:11,304 --> 00:04:13,413 We'll make our way through the rest of the passage as the sermon 69 00:04:13,413 --> 00:04:14,683 progresses, but let's stop there. 70 00:04:15,483 --> 00:04:21,634 Isn't it amazing that we serve a God who has been forever? 71 00:04:21,873 --> 00:04:26,014 The psalmist can describe him as somebody who has been forever and 72 00:04:26,014 --> 00:04:31,193 who has a Word that is firmly fixed in the heavens, who has faithfulness 73 00:04:31,213 --> 00:04:33,523 that endures to all generations. 74 00:04:34,274 --> 00:04:37,113 And that's our first point for this morning, which is point number one, 75 00:04:37,123 --> 00:04:40,733 marvel at the Word that stands forever. 76 00:04:41,204 --> 00:04:44,883 Marvel at the Word that comes from God that stands forever. 77 00:04:46,404 --> 00:04:50,464 That very first word of this passage is important, the word forever. 78 00:04:51,203 --> 00:04:52,223 What does that mean? 79 00:04:52,233 --> 00:04:55,623 We, we, we can throw that word around all the time. 80 00:04:55,683 --> 00:04:57,824 We c- we can use that word for all sorts of things, but do 81 00:04:57,824 --> 00:04:59,832 we really know what it means? 82 00:05:00,523 --> 00:05:03,713 I, I can think of a time when I was in high school. 83 00:05:03,733 --> 00:05:06,853 It was my senior year, and I had this group of friends. 84 00:05:06,853 --> 00:05:08,323 I was one of four friends. 85 00:05:09,243 --> 00:05:10,283 I had other friends, don't worry. 86 00:05:10,343 --> 00:05:12,954 But I was in this one group of four friends, and we were 87 00:05:12,954 --> 00:05:15,313 really close-knit, really tight. 88 00:05:15,493 --> 00:05:20,673 And I remember there was a point when we were sitting in the driveway of one 89 00:05:20,673 --> 00:05:23,883 of my friend's house, and it was late at night, probably too late at night. 90 00:05:24,033 --> 00:05:26,944 And I remember thinking to myself as a high school kid, "This is just… 91 00:05:26,974 --> 00:05:27,903 This is the best. 92 00:05:28,114 --> 00:05:30,873 There can't be anything better than these guys and this, this situation. 93 00:05:31,203 --> 00:05:32,203 I, I love this." 94 00:05:32,413 --> 00:05:35,634 And I remember talking about how w- as a group we were gonna 95 00:05:35,643 --> 00:05:37,214 be friends forever, right? 96 00:05:37,214 --> 00:05:37,553 We, we… 97 00:05:37,753 --> 00:05:39,843 Yeah, we had to go to different colleges, and we were gonna 98 00:05:39,843 --> 00:05:42,693 move to different places, but we were gonna be friends forever. 99 00:05:42,933 --> 00:05:44,253 Nothing was gonna change. 100 00:05:45,093 --> 00:05:48,133 Well, it took about nine months for all of that to unravel. 101 00:05:48,584 --> 00:05:51,263 It took very little time for none of that to be true. 102 00:05:51,713 --> 00:05:53,473 But we use that word all the time, right? 103 00:05:53,473 --> 00:05:55,253 We talk about our forever home. 104 00:05:55,564 --> 00:05:58,582 It's like, "Oh, we finally found the house that provides all the things we 105 00:05:58,582 --> 00:06:01,874 need and has all the rooms we need and has all the special features that we need. 106 00:06:01,874 --> 00:06:03,204 This is our forever home." 107 00:06:03,523 --> 00:06:09,403 We use that term, and then we end up selling the house a year later because of 108 00:06:09,404 --> 00:06:13,123 whatever reason that comes into our life, or we find out that the house actually 109 00:06:13,133 --> 00:06:15,604 wasn't something that we hoped it to be. 110 00:06:16,454 --> 00:06:20,563 In fact, we even think of our marriages sometimes as something that is forever. 111 00:06:20,832 --> 00:06:24,213 And of course, we want them to last in a human sense forever. 112 00:06:24,893 --> 00:06:28,064 But we think about them, and we can be tempted to make them 113 00:06:28,073 --> 00:06:32,893 something that is a forever that, that isn't actually real, right? 114 00:06:34,294 --> 00:06:39,623 The word forever for us is something that we, we think differently. 115 00:06:39,914 --> 00:06:44,653 And we can be in trouble if we take our human understanding of what it 116 00:06:44,654 --> 00:06:48,793 means for something to be forever and then import it into who God is. 117 00:06:49,093 --> 00:06:53,894 If we take our kind of short-sighted understanding of forever and we 118 00:06:53,894 --> 00:06:59,753 apply that definition to who God is, we're gonna be in, in deep trouble. 119 00:07:00,873 --> 00:07:03,573 Forever for us is not what it is for God. 120 00:07:04,114 --> 00:07:08,134 Think about the fact that in fact God made time. 121 00:07:09,393 --> 00:07:13,463 Time, the seconds and the minutes and the hours and the years that go by in 122 00:07:13,463 --> 00:07:16,082 your life, is part of his creation. 123 00:07:16,423 --> 00:07:21,013 He is the one who authored every one of those moments. 124 00:07:21,643 --> 00:07:23,863 He's not subject to those moments. 125 00:07:24,063 --> 00:07:26,043 He's not inside of those moments. 126 00:07:26,864 --> 00:07:30,614 And we can think of him as somehow inside of it because we are. 127 00:07:30,864 --> 00:07:32,104 Because we are humans. 128 00:07:32,104 --> 00:07:36,703 He created us in a finite way, and we are not like him. 129 00:07:37,263 --> 00:07:38,163 We are not like him. 130 00:07:38,383 --> 00:07:41,453 Uh, Saint Augustine said this question. 131 00:07:41,453 --> 00:07:46,243 He said, "What was God doing before he made the heavens and the Earth? 132 00:07:46,673 --> 00:07:48,183 What was he doing before that?" 133 00:07:48,794 --> 00:07:53,163 And of course, he argues and, uh, gives a, a wonderful answer to that, but it's 134 00:07:53,163 --> 00:07:58,614 a good question to ask because it helps us re- realize that we think about 135 00:07:58,633 --> 00:08:00,613 those sort of things in those terms. 136 00:08:00,874 --> 00:08:03,083 For us, we were before. 137 00:08:03,154 --> 00:08:07,833 There was a before we were born, and then there is an after we die, right? 138 00:08:07,834 --> 00:08:11,194 There is a before and an after for, for almost everything in our life. 139 00:08:11,823 --> 00:08:16,364 But that is not true for God, and we need to make sure we're not thinking of God 140 00:08:16,364 --> 00:08:19,364 as like some sort of timeline and saying, "Where, where are we on that timeline? 141 00:08:19,364 --> 00:08:21,953 Where, you know, where am I in my few moments of life 142 00:08:22,213 --> 00:08:24,114 on that eternity timeline?" 143 00:08:24,343 --> 00:08:28,893 Eternity or forever for God is something different than what we experience. 144 00:08:29,313 --> 00:08:30,693 Yes, we will live forever. 145 00:08:31,334 --> 00:08:32,943 We will live into eternity. 146 00:08:33,533 --> 00:08:37,913 But even that understanding of eternity is based in the fact that we had a beginning. 147 00:08:38,623 --> 00:08:42,883 We had a start, and that is not the case for God. 148 00:08:43,143 --> 00:08:45,713 And so the psalmist can say, "Forever, O Lord. 149 00:08:45,713 --> 00:08:47,013 Forever, O Lord." 150 00:08:48,463 --> 00:08:53,083 And we need to make sure we understand who we are talking about and who 151 00:08:53,083 --> 00:08:57,483 his character is so that we don't misunderstand what the psalmist is saying. 152 00:08:58,243 --> 00:09:01,323 Because he says forever, what forever? 153 00:09:01,803 --> 00:09:05,413 Your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. 154 00:09:05,783 --> 00:09:08,313 Your word is firmly fixed in the heavens forever. 155 00:09:09,423 --> 00:09:14,184 Let me just begin by unpacking or starting to think about what he means by your word. 156 00:09:15,073 --> 00:09:17,593 You and I serve a God who speaks. 157 00:09:18,443 --> 00:09:21,194 You and I serve a God who speaks, and you see this throughout scripture. 158 00:09:21,194 --> 00:09:24,533 I could go on and on and on about this, but even think about Genesis chapter 159 00:09:24,533 --> 00:09:27,303 one and how everything was created. 160 00:09:29,862 --> 00:09:31,702 God said, "Let there be light." 161 00:09:31,882 --> 00:09:32,902 He didn't use his hands. 162 00:09:32,902 --> 00:09:35,062 He didn't do some sort of mathematical formula. 163 00:09:35,372 --> 00:09:39,882 He didn't do anything e- He said, "Let there be light." 164 00:09:39,921 --> 00:09:43,751 He spoke and all of this was created. 165 00:09:44,721 --> 00:09:48,961 Or think about what the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 1:1-2. 166 00:09:48,961 --> 00:09:54,191 It says this: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke. 167 00:09:54,572 --> 00:09:59,651 God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, 168 00:09:59,892 --> 00:10:04,691 He has spoken to us by His Son. 169 00:10:05,211 --> 00:10:09,501 That's an amazing thing that we have a God who not just speaks generically or 170 00:10:09,502 --> 00:10:13,171 somewhere else, but He even speaks to us. 171 00:10:13,201 --> 00:10:15,252 He speaks to us through His word. 172 00:10:16,092 --> 00:10:18,571 Also think about even times in the Bible where He uses His 173 00:10:18,572 --> 00:10:20,971 voice for salvation purposes. 174 00:10:21,191 --> 00:10:23,411 If you've been doing the daily Bible reading with us, and I hope 175 00:10:23,412 --> 00:10:27,682 you have been, think of a recent reading of the conversion of Saul. 176 00:10:28,232 --> 00:10:28,522 Right? 177 00:10:28,581 --> 00:10:35,981 As Saul is on his way to persecute the Christians, Jesus comes to him and Saul 178 00:10:36,022 --> 00:10:41,822 heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" 179 00:10:42,511 --> 00:10:45,831 And then Saul responds, "Who are you, Lord?" 180 00:10:46,251 --> 00:10:50,111 And Jesus says, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 181 00:10:50,511 --> 00:10:54,412 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." 182 00:10:55,031 --> 00:10:59,322 So God even speaks in such miraculous ways as that. 183 00:11:00,261 --> 00:11:06,141 Matthew 24:35 says, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but 184 00:11:06,151 --> 00:11:09,061 my words will not pass away." 185 00:11:09,952 --> 00:11:12,051 God's words are fixed in the heavens. 186 00:11:12,061 --> 00:11:13,282 How is that possible? 187 00:11:13,611 --> 00:11:19,181 How is it possible that God's words are fixed in a permanent way in the heavens? 188 00:11:19,522 --> 00:11:20,601 Is that something you've thought about? 189 00:11:20,811 --> 00:11:23,412 'Cause we, we take God's Word and we say this, "We believe God's Word, 190 00:11:23,412 --> 00:11:25,381 we trust God's Word," and we should. 191 00:11:25,391 --> 00:11:27,832 But have you thought about why? 192 00:11:28,151 --> 00:11:30,451 Why is it something that we should trust? 193 00:11:30,751 --> 00:11:35,452 Why is the psalmist able to describe his words as fixed in the heavens with 194 00:11:35,471 --> 00:11:42,232 permanence and unchanging, everlasting truth and reality embedded in them? 195 00:11:42,540 --> 00:11:43,202 Why is that? 196 00:11:44,614 --> 00:11:47,664 Well, it's because God is, is not like that, not like us. 197 00:11:47,984 --> 00:11:53,144 We've already talked about this a little bit, but He speaks differently than we do. 198 00:11:53,144 --> 00:11:55,893 And I don't just mean that we speak with a human mouth and He speaks 199 00:11:55,894 --> 00:12:00,754 with a divine mouth, but He speaks in a way that is different than us. 200 00:12:01,583 --> 00:12:04,573 We speak often because things are changing around us. 201 00:12:04,634 --> 00:12:08,303 We speak in response to things often, if not always, right? 202 00:12:08,343 --> 00:12:11,664 The kids are disobedient, and so we speak words of correction 203 00:12:11,784 --> 00:12:13,274 and help to them, right? 204 00:12:13,364 --> 00:12:16,834 Our boss is wondering about a project that isn't going well, and so we're 205 00:12:16,834 --> 00:12:19,113 trying to explain to him what's going on. 206 00:12:19,503 --> 00:12:22,303 We often are people who are speaking because we're trying to 207 00:12:22,304 --> 00:12:26,353 deal with the uncertainty and the fluctuations that happen in life. 208 00:12:27,284 --> 00:12:30,133 But God is, is not like that, right? 209 00:12:30,144 --> 00:12:33,083 God is different from us. 210 00:12:33,854 --> 00:12:39,693 When He speaks, He speaks not on a dependence of what has happened today 211 00:12:40,003 --> 00:12:41,933 or on what we necessarily think. 212 00:12:41,944 --> 00:12:46,053 He, He's not dependent on the situation to respond to us. 213 00:12:46,054 --> 00:12:50,033 He speaks, and His speaking comes from Himself. 214 00:12:50,413 --> 00:12:54,174 God, in every way, is not dependent on us. 215 00:12:54,184 --> 00:12:56,153 He's not changed by us. 216 00:12:56,153 --> 00:13:01,513 He's not prompted by us in, in a way that determines who He is. 217 00:13:02,663 --> 00:13:09,673 John 5:26 says, "For as the Father has life in himself," the life in himself is 218 00:13:09,673 --> 00:13:16,403 what allows Him to be able to speak in a way where things are fixed in the heavens. 219 00:13:17,104 --> 00:13:21,554 One of the things I have to do as a father is be very careful about when I announce 220 00:13:21,554 --> 00:13:26,708 to our kids that we are gonna go get ice cream Because what always seems to happen? 221 00:13:27,018 --> 00:13:29,228 I say, "Oh, kids, we'll go get ice cream tomorrow." 222 00:13:29,638 --> 00:13:33,827 Well, then, you know, doesn't actually happen because something 223 00:13:33,828 --> 00:13:37,688 went terribly wrong, and there's maybe a mess in the bathroom, or 224 00:13:38,008 --> 00:13:40,967 there is some- something happens, uh, that I need to address, right? 225 00:13:40,967 --> 00:13:45,168 And I promise them we're gonna go get ice cream, and it doesn't happen. 226 00:13:45,397 --> 00:13:49,457 And so what I have to do is make sure that I'm careful to tell them 227 00:13:49,477 --> 00:13:52,938 that we're gonna go get ice cream when I'm pretty certain that we can. 228 00:13:53,147 --> 00:13:57,347 But, but even then, even then, I don't know, are we gonna 229 00:13:57,357 --> 00:13:58,558 have a flat tire on the way? 230 00:13:58,958 --> 00:14:01,837 I can't, I can't say that sort of thing with absolute certainty. 231 00:14:02,258 --> 00:14:07,087 But God is a God who isn't dependent on all of those variables, and when He 232 00:14:07,087 --> 00:14:12,947 speaks, His word is, is a sure promise that is absolute and definitive. 233 00:14:12,997 --> 00:14:18,187 And that is why it fi- uh, that is why the psalmist can say that it is a fixed word. 234 00:14:19,348 --> 00:14:24,017 A fixed word rests on a faithful God, which the psalmist addresses, right? 235 00:14:24,017 --> 00:14:29,328 In verse ninety, "Your faithfulness endures to all generations." 236 00:14:29,908 --> 00:14:32,737 Your faithfulness endures to all generations. 237 00:14:33,078 --> 00:14:37,808 Have you ever thought about how God doesn't wake up and feel anxiety? 238 00:14:37,927 --> 00:14:41,298 He doesn't wake up and go, "Oh, this day, I don't know how it's gonna end. 239 00:14:41,618 --> 00:14:44,597 I don't know if, if it's gonna go well with Marc. 240 00:14:44,597 --> 00:14:45,688 I don't know what he's gonna do. 241 00:14:45,978 --> 00:14:47,087 We'll see how it goes." 242 00:14:47,637 --> 00:14:49,118 He's never, ever felt that. 243 00:14:49,127 --> 00:14:51,317 He's never felt a fraction of that. 244 00:14:51,847 --> 00:14:53,087 He's never felt FOMO. 245 00:14:53,147 --> 00:14:55,557 He's never felt the fear of missing out. 246 00:14:55,567 --> 00:14:58,637 He's never been like, "Oh, man, if I was only invited to that prayer meeting." 247 00:14:59,247 --> 00:15:03,098 Uh, you know, it's not something that He has ever experienced, right? 248 00:15:03,098 --> 00:15:07,867 So His faithfulness is not dependent on anything but who He is. 249 00:15:08,807 --> 00:15:10,277 He's never been tired. 250 00:15:10,777 --> 00:15:16,096 There's never been a time when you have prayed to Him- And he is asleep. 251 00:15:16,626 --> 00:15:18,496 There's never been a time when you prayed to him and he's even, 252 00:15:18,496 --> 00:15:20,486 like, less aware of your prayer. 253 00:15:20,886 --> 00:15:23,086 I, I think, again, of my kids. 254 00:15:23,646 --> 00:15:26,836 There's many times when they say things to me, and I, I, I miss it. 255 00:15:27,225 --> 00:15:27,415 Right? 256 00:15:27,416 --> 00:15:30,615 There's times when you probably are at work, and your boss or your coworker 257 00:15:30,615 --> 00:15:35,485 some- says something, and you need Copilot or whatever AI to go back and look at 258 00:15:35,486 --> 00:15:39,206 what was said because you weren't quite awake, and you hadn't had your Monster 259 00:15:39,206 --> 00:15:43,786 energy drink or your Alani or whatever it may have been to keep you awake. 260 00:15:44,795 --> 00:15:45,725 We're going camping. 261 00:15:45,955 --> 00:15:49,975 Lord willing, we'll even be camping tonight, and the campsite that we 262 00:15:49,975 --> 00:15:52,835 picked is right up against the lake. 263 00:15:53,495 --> 00:15:54,596 It's right up against the lake. 264 00:15:54,736 --> 00:15:57,575 F- from the pictures, we've got a campsite, and then there's 265 00:15:57,585 --> 00:15:58,976 the lake immediately next to it. 266 00:15:59,675 --> 00:16:02,986 And Julia, my wife, and I have already talked about how we're gonna have 267 00:16:02,986 --> 00:16:06,405 to pay really close attention to everything going on because we have 268 00:16:06,405 --> 00:16:09,905 a crawling one-year-old and a crazy three-year-old, and then there's more 269 00:16:09,905 --> 00:16:11,226 of them, too, that are older than that. 270 00:16:11,795 --> 00:16:15,326 But we already are talking about how we're gonna have to pay really close attention. 271 00:16:15,576 --> 00:16:15,946 Why? 272 00:16:15,975 --> 00:16:19,665 Because there's gonna be fights that we have to resolve, right? 273 00:16:19,666 --> 00:16:23,176 There's gonna be, there's gonna be some sort of issue with something 274 00:16:23,176 --> 00:16:27,005 going on with the tent, and it's gonna pull our attention away from watching 275 00:16:27,066 --> 00:16:29,385 the little ones by the lake, right? 276 00:16:29,416 --> 00:16:30,966 Or maybe our tent will blow over. 277 00:16:30,966 --> 00:16:32,375 That's never happened to us before. 278 00:16:33,005 --> 00:16:33,405 It has. 279 00:16:33,555 --> 00:16:39,226 Um, and we'll be waking up tired with everything s- soaking wet, and then maybe 280 00:16:39,226 --> 00:16:41,006 our attention and our guard will be down. 281 00:16:41,555 --> 00:16:42,665 But that's not like God. 282 00:16:43,236 --> 00:16:47,725 Every moment of His faithfulness is identically the same and 283 00:16:47,795 --> 00:16:51,795 maximally faithful, and that is based on His character. 284 00:16:51,795 --> 00:16:56,325 And so the psalmist can describe Him that way because of who He is 285 00:16:56,526 --> 00:16:59,345 and what a good, good thing that is. 286 00:17:00,526 --> 00:17:01,885 But he doesn't end there, right? 287 00:17:01,886 --> 00:17:05,776 He says, in the second half of verse ninety into ninety-one, he says, "You have 288 00:17:05,776 --> 00:17:08,145 established the earth, and it stands fast. 289 00:17:08,395 --> 00:17:14,635 By your appointment, they stand fast this day, for all things are your servants." 290 00:17:15,865 --> 00:17:20,275 We serve a God who is able to sustain and uphold this world. 291 00:17:20,335 --> 00:17:24,464 Everything and everyone is upheld by Him. 292 00:17:24,895 --> 00:17:28,906 It's not as though if He stopped that things would kinda fall apart, right? 293 00:17:28,916 --> 00:17:30,325 And, and we'd have a bunch of problems. 294 00:17:30,326 --> 00:17:33,986 It's not as though, like, if He stopped sustaining us and upholding the w- the 295 00:17:33,986 --> 00:17:38,065 universe that, like, oh, we'd have, like, thirty seconds to say goodbye. 296 00:17:38,335 --> 00:17:39,945 It would be in a moment. 297 00:17:40,466 --> 00:17:46,866 His care and His authority over everything that happens in every atom 298 00:17:46,916 --> 00:17:53,425 of existence is perfectly sustaining in a uniform, consistent way. 299 00:17:53,815 --> 00:17:54,856 Think of Hebrews chapter one. 300 00:17:54,856 --> 00:17:59,546 I already read verse one and two, but Hebrews 1:3 says, "He," speaking of 301 00:17:59,546 --> 00:18:03,976 Jesus, "is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature," 302 00:18:04,375 --> 00:18:08,125 and He upholds the universe by what? 303 00:18:09,496 --> 00:18:11,545 By the word of His power 304 00:18:13,856 --> 00:18:15,826 Or consider Psalm 33:8-9. 305 00:18:15,826 --> 00:18:18,936 It says, "Let all the earth fear the Lord. 306 00:18:18,956 --> 00:18:22,456 Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 307 00:18:23,025 --> 00:18:25,826 For he spoke and it came to be. 308 00:18:25,826 --> 00:18:28,636 He commanded and it stood firm." 309 00:18:29,965 --> 00:18:32,675 He spoke into being and he keeps speaking into being. 310 00:18:32,676 --> 00:18:36,475 He's not a watchmaker who started a clock and has let it run 311 00:18:38,688 --> 00:18:40,418 Think about even the chair that you're sitting in. 312 00:18:40,818 --> 00:18:41,978 Look at the chair you're sitting in. 313 00:18:42,298 --> 00:18:46,198 Unless you're, like, wiggling around a bunch, which maybe you are, it's still. 314 00:18:46,288 --> 00:18:47,658 It's, it's permanent. 315 00:18:47,678 --> 00:18:49,017 It doesn't look like it's moving. 316 00:18:49,658 --> 00:18:52,208 But your chair, the one you are sitting in, the plastic chair 317 00:18:52,208 --> 00:18:57,177 you're sitting in, is made up of atoms that are a storm of motion. 318 00:18:57,748 --> 00:19:02,717 And I'm oversimplifying a little bit here, but they're held together by raw power. 319 00:19:03,797 --> 00:19:09,358 The bonds that hold together the atoms in your chair are incredibly powerful. 320 00:19:09,607 --> 00:19:14,517 They are a storm of motion, and if one of those bonds were 321 00:19:14,518 --> 00:19:16,257 to be released, there is… 322 00:19:16,477 --> 00:19:19,288 Again, I'm oversimplifying, but there's enough power in your chair 323 00:19:19,637 --> 00:19:21,397 to rip apart our entire planet. 324 00:19:21,817 --> 00:19:24,207 But you've never picked up one of these chairs and then set it down too 325 00:19:24,207 --> 00:19:28,417 hard and been worried about our planet getting destroyed, because God is the 326 00:19:28,417 --> 00:19:30,737 one, is the one who upholds it all. 327 00:19:31,047 --> 00:19:36,647 He is the God who upholds everything, including the very chair that you sit in. 328 00:19:37,557 --> 00:19:41,557 What an amazing God we serve, and we should marvel at Him. 329 00:19:41,838 --> 00:19:48,207 God's Word is eternal and unchanging because of who He is, who He is. 330 00:19:49,047 --> 00:19:50,058 Well, let's continue to read. 331 00:19:50,067 --> 00:19:51,117 Look back at your Bibles. 332 00:19:51,117 --> 00:19:56,358 I hope you still have Psalm 119, verse 92 and 93 now is what we're gonna look at. 333 00:19:57,788 --> 00:20:02,947 It says there, the psalmist writes, "If your law had not been my 334 00:20:02,947 --> 00:20:08,678 delight, not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. 335 00:20:09,468 --> 00:20:14,627 I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. 336 00:20:14,667 --> 00:20:16,167 You have given me life." 337 00:20:17,267 --> 00:20:19,117 Well, what do we see here? 338 00:20:19,718 --> 00:20:23,507 The psalmist is delighting in God's words, right? 339 00:20:23,507 --> 00:20:24,587 He uses the word law. 340 00:20:24,807 --> 00:20:26,388 He uses the word precepts. 341 00:20:26,887 --> 00:20:30,798 He is delighting in the law and the precepts. 342 00:20:31,417 --> 00:20:33,137 But what makes him delight in it? 343 00:20:33,337 --> 00:20:37,667 The life, the protection that he can be found, that can be found in His Word. 344 00:20:38,067 --> 00:20:40,727 And that's our second point for this morning, which is point number two, 345 00:20:40,777 --> 00:20:43,937 delight in life from God's Word. 346 00:20:43,968 --> 00:20:46,587 Delight in life from God's Word. 347 00:20:47,198 --> 00:20:48,548 What does that word delight mean? 348 00:20:49,788 --> 00:20:51,617 What does it mean to delight in something? 349 00:20:51,678 --> 00:20:53,718 Maybe you delight in, in… 350 00:20:54,057 --> 00:20:55,597 Maybe you delight in fast cars. 351 00:20:55,637 --> 00:20:57,018 I know there's a couple of you who do that. 352 00:20:57,428 --> 00:20:59,548 Maybe you delight in your grandkids. 353 00:20:59,627 --> 00:21:02,787 Maybe you just love your grandkids and you find delight in them. 354 00:21:03,017 --> 00:21:04,447 Maybe you delight in your wife. 355 00:21:04,877 --> 00:21:08,707 Maybe you delight in Texas barbecue or California In-N-Out. 356 00:21:08,747 --> 00:21:12,897 There's many things that God has given us to delight in, and that's a good thing. 357 00:21:13,678 --> 00:21:18,357 But ultimately, all of those things are a gift from Him, and 358 00:21:18,618 --> 00:21:23,687 ultimately, those things can only be delightful to us if we have life. 359 00:21:25,494 --> 00:21:26,063 Delight. 360 00:21:26,093 --> 00:21:27,113 Why delight? 361 00:21:27,283 --> 00:21:32,603 Well, Pastor Rod has a, a great sermon from last week where he will help you. 362 00:21:32,793 --> 00:21:34,404 If you weren't here, you should go back and look at it. 363 00:21:34,654 --> 00:21:41,033 U-use what he taught last week to build into your life delight in His Word. 364 00:21:42,123 --> 00:21:46,073 But I wanna focus specifically on the life that can be found in His 365 00:21:46,073 --> 00:21:49,863 Word, and the delight that we should meditate, or the, the meditation 366 00:21:49,863 --> 00:21:51,393 that should produce in us delight. 367 00:21:51,404 --> 00:21:52,974 Think about Jeremiah 15:16. 368 00:21:52,974 --> 00:21:56,093 This is such a funny passage to me, but it, it's amazing. 369 00:21:56,293 --> 00:22:00,723 It says, Jeremiah says, "Your words were found and I ate them, and your 370 00:22:00,724 --> 00:22:05,984 words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called 371 00:22:06,003 --> 00:22:09,413 by your name, O Lord God of hosts." 372 00:22:10,253 --> 00:22:12,893 Uh, obviously the prescription is not to eat your Bible. 373 00:22:13,523 --> 00:22:17,143 I, I mean, I guess if you … I, I … If you've got a CSB 374 00:22:17,174 --> 00:22:18,493 maybe, maybe you should try it. 375 00:22:18,494 --> 00:22:20,213 I haven't tried the CSB or the LSB. 376 00:22:21,073 --> 00:22:21,943 Maybe you should try that. 377 00:22:21,953 --> 00:22:22,733 Maybe you should try that. 378 00:22:22,733 --> 00:22:24,513 But that's not the prescription, right? 379 00:22:24,514 --> 00:22:26,813 But what, what is the delight that is found, right? 380 00:22:26,833 --> 00:22:30,803 It's the internalization of the hope that is found, right? 381 00:22:30,983 --> 00:22:35,473 And it's also, Jeremiah observes, it's the connection that those 382 00:22:35,483 --> 00:22:38,023 words of God make to him, right? 383 00:22:38,053 --> 00:22:40,844 If the words of God were just out in the abyss somewhere 384 00:22:40,844 --> 00:22:42,514 else, what would it matter? 385 00:22:42,843 --> 00:22:48,454 But we as Christians should be pleased and excited and find delight in God's Word 386 00:22:48,613 --> 00:22:54,214 because they relate to us, because they are words that are spoken to us, right? 387 00:22:54,443 --> 00:22:58,503 Without these words, I would have perished in my affliction 388 00:23:02,302 --> 00:23:04,361 God has brought you His words. 389 00:23:04,982 --> 00:23:05,861 It's an amazing thing. 390 00:23:07,371 --> 00:23:09,831 By His words, you know things. 391 00:23:10,222 --> 00:23:12,962 By scripture, you know things. 392 00:23:13,752 --> 00:23:15,892 We know some of the things that the psalmist knows. 393 00:23:16,282 --> 00:23:18,142 We can share in our understanding of that. 394 00:23:18,142 --> 00:23:23,901 For example, we know by his words that He created the heavens and the Earth. 395 00:23:24,442 --> 00:23:26,032 Think of Genesis 1 and 3. 396 00:23:26,841 --> 00:23:34,422 By his words, we know that God is holy, that He is unlike us, that He is pure, 397 00:23:34,442 --> 00:23:40,302 that He is separate, and we can look at a passage like Isaiah 6:3 to know that. 398 00:23:41,302 --> 00:23:43,851 By his words, we also know that He is just. 399 00:23:44,271 --> 00:23:45,512 He is a just God. 400 00:23:45,762 --> 00:23:47,371 He doesn't overlook sin. 401 00:23:47,622 --> 00:23:52,482 He doesn't just turn away and ignore the evil that is in this life, and 402 00:23:52,482 --> 00:23:58,151 we can see that, and the psalmist can see that in a place like Exodus 34:6. 403 00:23:58,151 --> 00:24:04,851 We also know by his word that He cursed the ground, that He cursed 404 00:24:05,571 --> 00:24:10,801 childbirth, that He cursed humanity because of the sin of Adam and 405 00:24:10,802 --> 00:24:14,212 Eve, and you know that by his word 406 00:24:16,214 --> 00:24:21,563 But you also know by his word something the psalmist didn't know at 407 00:24:21,563 --> 00:24:25,553 that time, is that God sent his son. 408 00:24:26,183 --> 00:24:32,854 By his word, you know that the God man was sent to be a baby, to live 409 00:24:32,904 --> 00:24:38,603 a perfect and blameless life like Hebrews 4:15 helps us understand. 410 00:24:39,653 --> 00:24:45,743 You know by his word that God, that Jesus prays for you, Hebrews 7:25 411 00:24:48,214 --> 00:24:54,594 You also know by his word that a crown of thorns was pressed into 412 00:24:54,674 --> 00:25:00,953 Jesus' head and that his precious blood ran down over his shoulders 413 00:25:01,194 --> 00:25:04,803 and dripped off of his nose for you. 414 00:25:06,303 --> 00:25:14,293 And by his word, you can hear of the nails that were hammered through his hands and 415 00:25:14,293 --> 00:25:21,294 his feet, and of the moment that he was lifted up on a cross to die for your sins. 416 00:25:23,214 --> 00:25:28,814 But also, by his word, you can hear the dec- declaration of victory 417 00:25:28,814 --> 00:25:33,793 that comes from Jesus' own mouth as he says, "It is finished." 418 00:25:35,173 --> 00:25:41,733 And you know by his words that if you believe in him, if you believe that Jesus 419 00:25:41,734 --> 00:25:47,773 is Lord and that God raised him from the dead, you can be saved from your sins. 420 00:25:49,124 --> 00:25:51,903 And you know by his word that there is a promise to come. 421 00:25:52,083 --> 00:25:56,514 There's a promise in eternity to come where you will be called his sons and 422 00:25:56,514 --> 00:26:00,854 his daughters, and you will dwell with God where there will be no more pain 423 00:26:03,293 --> 00:26:05,494 All of this is by His words. 424 00:26:05,974 --> 00:26:09,994 He has given you life by His words. 425 00:26:10,484 --> 00:26:11,974 Christian, do you remember these things? 426 00:26:12,033 --> 00:26:14,683 Is this part of who you are? 427 00:26:15,893 --> 00:26:19,793 Does the gospel make its way into all of your life? 428 00:26:21,814 --> 00:26:24,374 Do you preach the gospel to yourself after you've sinned? 429 00:26:25,124 --> 00:26:28,554 Do you remind yourself of what your sin means? 430 00:26:29,834 --> 00:26:31,244 Of what God has done for you? 431 00:26:32,033 --> 00:26:34,933 Of the forgiveness and the hope that you have in Him? 432 00:26:36,044 --> 00:26:38,334 How about when you experience a period of joy? 433 00:26:38,343 --> 00:26:40,863 Do you tell yourself the gospel? 434 00:26:41,074 --> 00:26:46,973 Does the gospel tell you that you experience joy because of who God is? 435 00:26:47,533 --> 00:26:51,213 And because of His Son, you can experience true and pure and 436 00:26:51,234 --> 00:26:53,113 good joy that is everlasting. 437 00:26:53,144 --> 00:26:56,524 Is that something that is part of how your mind works? 438 00:26:59,510 --> 00:27:00,760 Does it reach into your home? 439 00:27:01,710 --> 00:27:05,840 Do you have conversations at the dinner table with your kids or with your spouse 440 00:27:05,850 --> 00:27:08,050 or with your grandkids about the gospel? 441 00:27:08,060 --> 00:27:11,290 How did the gospel impact the situation at work this week? 442 00:27:11,510 --> 00:27:14,359 Where is the hope in this terrible situation? 443 00:27:14,559 --> 00:27:18,290 Where is the joy in this good news that we have received? 444 00:27:18,780 --> 00:27:22,449 Is that something that happens in your home at your table? 445 00:27:23,740 --> 00:27:24,590 Do you memorize it? 446 00:27:25,180 --> 00:27:30,369 If the gospel is this good news, if the words of God that are based on His 447 00:27:30,369 --> 00:27:35,479 character and who He is are really what they are, then do you memorize God's Word? 448 00:27:36,050 --> 00:27:39,549 You should, because these are the words that can bring you life. 449 00:27:39,569 --> 00:27:40,580 Even the psalmist, right? 450 00:27:40,749 --> 00:27:42,210 "If I had not forgotten… 451 00:27:43,039 --> 00:27:43,300 If I…" 452 00:27:43,339 --> 00:27:43,739 Excuse me. 453 00:27:43,780 --> 00:27:45,879 "If I had forgotten, I would have perished." 454 00:27:47,109 --> 00:27:48,479 Can you present the gospel? 455 00:27:49,190 --> 00:27:55,119 Can you, if I were to ask you right now, give me a robust explanation 456 00:27:55,620 --> 00:27:57,919 based in scripture of the gospel? 457 00:27:58,519 --> 00:27:59,609 Is that something you can do? 458 00:27:59,850 --> 00:28:05,199 If it is indeed the words of life, then that's something that you ought to be 459 00:28:05,199 --> 00:28:10,250 excited to do, and you ought to invest the time and the energy to make the gospel 460 00:28:10,250 --> 00:28:12,189 part of your life, even as a Christian. 461 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:14,999 The Christian life is not defined by hearing the gospel the first 462 00:28:15,010 --> 00:28:17,819 time and then ignoring it as we go on with everything else. 463 00:28:18,019 --> 00:28:23,720 The gospel remains central to everything we are, to who we are, and to what we do. 464 00:28:24,969 --> 00:28:30,259 Unbelievers in the room, if you are an unbeliever, if you are somebody 465 00:28:30,260 --> 00:28:35,300 who doesn't know, I want you to know that today you can hear and you have 466 00:28:35,300 --> 00:28:40,269 heard from scripture God's words that are sure, that are certain, that 467 00:28:40,269 --> 00:28:44,449 are an absolute promise, unlike any promise that any human could make. 468 00:28:45,969 --> 00:28:49,659 He is offering you life this very morning. 469 00:28:50,379 --> 00:28:53,779 Do not leave this place until you are confident you understand and 470 00:28:53,779 --> 00:28:55,550 have heard the words of His life. 471 00:28:55,559 --> 00:28:59,079 Find another believer after service and ask them about this. 472 00:28:59,089 --> 00:29:02,059 Make sure that you can have the hope that can be found in 473 00:29:02,059 --> 00:29:04,169 the gospel even this morning 474 00:29:06,878 --> 00:29:12,548 Well, that impacts all of our life because God's word is eternal and 475 00:29:12,548 --> 00:29:18,368 unchanging, and through his word, he shows his love for you in the gospel. 476 00:29:18,968 --> 00:29:20,758 Does that matter this week? 477 00:29:21,097 --> 00:29:23,447 Does that change even this afternoon? 478 00:29:23,557 --> 00:29:24,587 Well, of course it does. 479 00:29:25,777 --> 00:29:29,447 But we live in the life that we live. 480 00:29:29,518 --> 00:29:30,818 We live in a fallen world 481 00:29:32,830 --> 00:29:39,770 And it does in fact impact our life this week, and the psalmist doesn't miss it. 482 00:29:40,820 --> 00:29:44,590 Look with me now at verse ninety-four, and we'll finish out this section 483 00:29:44,590 --> 00:29:49,289 of one nineteen together, looking ninety-four through ninety-six. 484 00:29:50,999 --> 00:29:54,270 Verse ninety-four says, "I am yours. 485 00:29:54,849 --> 00:29:55,570 Save me. 486 00:29:56,169 --> 00:29:56,839 I'm yours. 487 00:29:56,979 --> 00:30:00,330 Save me, for I have sought your precepts. 488 00:30:00,989 --> 00:30:05,589 The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies. 489 00:30:06,310 --> 00:30:12,119 I've seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad." 490 00:30:12,950 --> 00:30:16,289 The psalmist here identifies that there's problems in this life. 491 00:30:17,319 --> 00:30:19,270 He is not saying, "I'm not yours. 492 00:30:19,339 --> 00:30:19,749 Save me." 493 00:30:19,749 --> 00:30:24,139 He's saying, "I am yours, and I need saving by your hand." 494 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,959 He recognizes that he needs to be saved, and he identifies a couple areas, right? 495 00:30:27,959 --> 00:30:28,889 He talks about the wicked. 496 00:30:29,110 --> 00:30:35,389 "The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, and I have seen a limit to all perfection." 497 00:30:35,869 --> 00:30:36,919 What is he saying there? 498 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:41,820 In contrast to the second half of that phrase, "But your commandments, your 499 00:30:41,820 --> 00:30:46,080 commandment is exceedingly broad," what he is saying is that this life has limits. 500 00:30:46,220 --> 00:30:48,979 There are limits to this life. 501 00:30:50,370 --> 00:30:54,099 God provides protection and comfort in this life. 502 00:30:54,479 --> 00:30:57,749 But ultimately, the psalmist's prayer request is gonna be 503 00:30:57,849 --> 00:30:59,929 answered in the life to come. 504 00:31:00,319 --> 00:31:02,909 And that's our third point for this morning, which is crave the 505 00:31:02,909 --> 00:31:05,480 promised kingdom that stands forever. 506 00:31:05,589 --> 00:31:09,199 Crave the promised kingdom that stands forever. 507 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:11,549 I am yours. 508 00:31:11,549 --> 00:31:12,049 Save me. 509 00:31:12,059 --> 00:31:13,559 So he says, "I am yours. 510 00:31:13,580 --> 00:31:14,020 Save me." 511 00:31:14,029 --> 00:31:16,790 So there is a sense in which all salvation is spiritual. 512 00:31:16,790 --> 00:31:20,649 I don't wanna try to separate them too much, but he, the psalmist, is identifying 513 00:31:20,650 --> 00:31:25,359 that he is someone who belongs to God, and he calls on him to save him, and 514 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:27,249 he talks about the wicked in this life. 515 00:31:27,549 --> 00:31:29,459 I, I think of Exodus fourteen thirty. 516 00:31:29,489 --> 00:31:32,239 Again, uh, there's a spiritual salvation going on. 517 00:31:32,519 --> 00:31:36,019 But even as we look towards the promised kingdom, there is ways in which God 518 00:31:36,019 --> 00:31:38,820 provides and protects for us today, right? 519 00:31:38,849 --> 00:31:42,880 Exodus fourteen thirty, as the people are leaving the promised land, uh, this 520 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:47,699 is what is said: "Thus, the Lord saved Israel, saved Israel that day from the 521 00:31:47,700 --> 00:31:52,790 hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore." 522 00:31:52,819 --> 00:31:55,919 God is a God who provides protection for us in this life. 523 00:31:56,109 --> 00:31:59,269 We can go really quickly and fall into the ditch of the health, wealth, and 524 00:31:59,269 --> 00:32:02,249 prosperity gospel, which says if we just do the right thing, we say the 525 00:32:02,249 --> 00:32:06,279 right thing, we give, we pray, we do all these things, then God is gonna give us 526 00:32:06,510 --> 00:32:08,479 health, wealth, and prosperity, right? 527 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:10,069 We can so quickly fall into that. 528 00:32:10,909 --> 00:32:14,449 But I also don't want us to be so hesitant of falling into that ditch 529 00:32:14,450 --> 00:32:17,339 that we don't fall-- or that we fall into the other ditch, which is 530 00:32:17,340 --> 00:32:22,109 that we deny and reject any of God's promises to care for us in this life. 531 00:32:24,370 --> 00:32:25,890 His care for us is always good. 532 00:32:25,940 --> 00:32:30,230 It's not exactly how we want it to be, but God has promised to care for 533 00:32:30,230 --> 00:32:34,840 us even in this life, and that is a foretaste, a reminder, a down payment, 534 00:32:34,870 --> 00:32:40,969 as it were, of the promise that he will fulfill in eternity for us as believers. 535 00:32:42,519 --> 00:32:44,320 Think about your coworkers. 536 00:32:44,359 --> 00:32:45,399 Maybe you have coworkers. 537 00:32:45,789 --> 00:32:48,319 I know I've talked to several of you who have hostile coworkers 538 00:32:48,740 --> 00:32:50,489 who are aggressive with you. 539 00:32:50,549 --> 00:32:52,940 They, they don't like what you believe. 540 00:32:52,990 --> 00:32:54,059 They antagonize you. 541 00:32:54,060 --> 00:32:57,460 They ask you questions, not really 'cause they wanna reconcile things in their own 542 00:32:57,460 --> 00:32:58,719 mind, but because they wanna get to you. 543 00:32:58,999 --> 00:33:00,800 They wanna convince you perhaps that you're wrong. 544 00:33:01,379 --> 00:33:05,660 I know some of you sit across desks from people like this. 545 00:33:06,499 --> 00:33:09,239 Maybe you don't go home and say, "Oh, these wicked enemies of mine," 546 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:14,439 but they are standing in opposition to who God is and to who God and 547 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,039 what God has done in your life. 548 00:33:17,049 --> 00:33:20,590 Maybe you have kids in school, and even here in Texas, there, there 549 00:33:20,590 --> 00:33:24,889 are situations where the authors of textbooks that end up in the curriculum 550 00:33:24,889 --> 00:33:29,550 of our school are pushing hard against things that are not true, pushing 551 00:33:29,550 --> 00:33:32,730 hard against the truth of who God is. 552 00:33:33,710 --> 00:33:38,130 And even in a place like Texas, we can face opposition, we can face enemies, as 553 00:33:38,130 --> 00:33:40,939 it were, even in subtle ways like that. 554 00:33:41,890 --> 00:33:44,139 Or maybe you have family members, and this can be really difficult. 555 00:33:44,149 --> 00:33:47,590 Maybe you have family members in your immediate family or maybe l- your 556 00:33:47,590 --> 00:33:52,179 extended family who are opposed to you, who don't believe what you do, who don't 557 00:33:52,219 --> 00:33:57,139 understand why you're invested in your church and in evangelism the way that 558 00:33:57,149 --> 00:33:59,999 you are, and they are maybe antagonistic. 559 00:33:59,999 --> 00:34:01,030 Maybe they don't wanna talk to you. 560 00:34:01,030 --> 00:34:03,849 Maybe they push you away and you suffer in that way. 561 00:34:05,179 --> 00:34:07,899 It's also the reality that we see in Job chapter one. 562 00:34:07,899 --> 00:34:11,228 If, again, if you've been doing the daily Bible reading, I, I hope you 563 00:34:11,329 --> 00:34:17,688 have read chapter one, and you'll see there that God allows Satan to 564 00:34:17,688 --> 00:34:20,478 go after physical realities for Job. 565 00:34:21,188 --> 00:34:22,949 It could be that you're just bad with your finances. 566 00:34:22,978 --> 00:34:23,498 It could be. 567 00:34:23,810 --> 00:34:25,500 It could be that you Uber Eat too much. 568 00:34:25,958 --> 00:34:26,559 That could be the… 569 00:34:26,688 --> 00:34:27,438 That really could be. 570 00:34:27,789 --> 00:34:30,399 And I don't want you to think all, all opposition when it comes 571 00:34:30,399 --> 00:34:31,839 to my finances is spiritual. 572 00:34:32,210 --> 00:34:34,400 And if you do Uber Eat too much, come and talk to us. 573 00:34:34,409 --> 00:34:35,099 We'll, we'll help you. 574 00:34:35,449 --> 00:34:40,469 But there is a possibility that your finances are constantly under 575 00:34:40,469 --> 00:34:44,380 attack because there's spiritual warfare going on, that you have an… 576 00:34:44,510 --> 00:34:51,280 the enemy after you in that way It could also be that your health is 577 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:55,909 constantly under attack and you get diagnosis after diagnosis, and it 578 00:34:55,909 --> 00:34:59,490 could be that maybe you do just need to eat better and exercise more. 579 00:34:59,870 --> 00:35:03,450 But it could also be that you have an enemy that's after you in this life 580 00:35:03,900 --> 00:35:05,550 trying to seek you, to destroy you. 581 00:35:06,309 --> 00:35:09,509 So we need to make sure we don't forget that reality. 582 00:35:10,139 --> 00:35:13,110 And we can go to worldly solutions for these things, right? 583 00:35:13,110 --> 00:35:15,180 We can say, "I'm gonna go to HR." 584 00:35:15,370 --> 00:35:20,170 Well, often I don't think we even go to HR because we wonder if it's gonna be 585 00:35:20,219 --> 00:35:22,560 worth our time even for a moment, right? 586 00:35:22,569 --> 00:35:23,599 Or we go to the school board. 587 00:35:23,610 --> 00:35:25,300 Every one of us has gone to the school board, right? 588 00:35:25,579 --> 00:35:27,840 And gone to the meeting, got in front of the mic and said, "I don't like 589 00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:29,129 this and I don't like that," right? 590 00:35:30,110 --> 00:35:34,539 We haven't, because there's a limit to those meetings and their effectiveness 591 00:35:34,549 --> 00:35:36,240 in these things, and we know that, right? 592 00:35:36,489 --> 00:35:38,579 That doctors can care for us. 593 00:35:38,630 --> 00:35:42,099 They can provide meaningful care, but they can't permanently keep you alive. 594 00:35:42,259 --> 00:35:48,582 There's a limit to their ability to care for you Y- your retirement account could 595 00:35:49,172 --> 00:35:51,472 go to zero or run out before you need it. 596 00:35:51,472 --> 00:35:56,662 There is a limit to all of these things, but there is no 597 00:35:56,662 --> 00:35:58,812 limit to who God is, right? 598 00:35:58,881 --> 00:36:05,872 Remember, His character, who He is, is the source of all of these promises. 599 00:36:06,291 --> 00:36:08,052 They're not dependent on the situation. 600 00:36:08,052 --> 00:36:12,651 They're not dependent on your boss saying this or that, or this textbook being 601 00:36:12,652 --> 00:36:18,061 selected, or your retirement account going up in a perfect rate year after year. 602 00:36:19,001 --> 00:36:25,752 When God cares for us, even in this life, it is based on who He is. 603 00:36:25,752 --> 00:36:27,801 It is based on who He is. 604 00:36:28,771 --> 00:36:31,542 Think of Matthew 11:28 and 29. 605 00:36:31,571 --> 00:36:34,891 He-- which Jesus says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy 606 00:36:34,891 --> 00:36:36,842 laden, and I will give you rest. 607 00:36:37,161 --> 00:36:42,641 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, 608 00:36:42,742 --> 00:36:44,411 and you will find rest for your souls." 609 00:36:45,821 --> 00:36:50,051 Or think of Luke 12:29-31 that says, "And do not seek what you are 610 00:36:50,091 --> 00:36:51,931 to eat and what you are to drink." 611 00:36:51,971 --> 00:36:56,331 Don't seek those things, and don't be worried about them, "For all the nations 612 00:36:56,331 --> 00:37:02,222 of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 613 00:37:02,731 --> 00:37:07,071 Instead, seek his kingdom, and he will add these things to you." 614 00:37:07,312 --> 00:37:12,531 So even in this life, we get a foretaste of what is to come, and 615 00:37:12,532 --> 00:37:15,822 what is to come is the promised kingdom that will last forever. 616 00:37:16,041 --> 00:37:20,661 And that promised kingdom is something that you can be confident in and sure in 617 00:37:20,992 --> 00:37:25,351 because of who God is in His character, because He's a God who's faithful from 618 00:37:25,352 --> 00:37:29,381 generation to generation, because He's a God who's eternal and lasts forever. 619 00:37:29,631 --> 00:37:32,542 Because of that, you can hope in that kingdom. 620 00:37:32,542 --> 00:37:35,962 Have you ever thought about the fact that, at least in theory, what 621 00:37:35,962 --> 00:37:39,851 if you've spent a hundred years in heaven, and then God decides, 622 00:37:40,591 --> 00:37:42,972 "Actually, Marc's kind of annoying. 623 00:37:44,361 --> 00:37:44,891 He's gone." 624 00:37:45,871 --> 00:37:48,111 Oh, what, what a terrifying reality that would be. 625 00:37:48,831 --> 00:37:50,692 But we don't serve a God who's like that. 626 00:37:50,742 --> 00:37:54,651 We serve a God who has made a sure and certain promise to you. 627 00:37:55,381 --> 00:38:00,551 He has made a sure and certain promise to you about eternity, and it is not 628 00:38:00,561 --> 00:38:06,421 based on anything except who He is, and we should find enormous relief in that 629 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:14,840 Revelation 21, I know you likely know this well, but just hear this in light of that. 630 00:38:15,370 --> 00:38:18,240 He will wipe away every tear from their eye. 631 00:38:18,259 --> 00:38:19,259 Every tear, right? 632 00:38:19,259 --> 00:38:20,300 Not just some of them. 633 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:28,489 He is able to wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. 634 00:38:29,090 --> 00:38:32,630 Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. 635 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:36,899 Any of those things anymore, for the former things have passed away. 636 00:38:37,289 --> 00:38:42,429 And ultimately, the psalmist's request for salvation comes through the 637 00:38:42,430 --> 00:38:45,450 eternal kingdom that is promised to us. 638 00:38:46,439 --> 00:38:50,829 And don't forget that even into eternity, you are going to need 639 00:38:50,860 --> 00:38:53,299 God to be the God he is today. 640 00:38:53,669 --> 00:39:01,149 You're gonna need him desperately to be a God who is indeed eternal, who 641 00:39:01,159 --> 00:39:07,170 is a God who speaks and is unshaken, a God who is faithful and enduring. 642 00:39:07,459 --> 00:39:10,789 And yes, even in the new heavens and the new earth, he will need to 643 00:39:10,799 --> 00:39:15,280 continue to be a God for our sake who upholds the new heavens and the 644 00:39:15,289 --> 00:39:17,659 new earth by the power of his word. 645 00:39:18,579 --> 00:39:25,640 God's word is eternal and unchanging, and it tells you of a promise to come 646 00:39:27,658 --> 00:39:31,018 Well, I grew up, uh, going back to another childhood memory. 647 00:39:31,087 --> 00:39:32,788 I grew up in Albuquerque. 648 00:39:33,518 --> 00:39:35,158 Uh, everybody knows where Albuquerque is, right? 649 00:39:35,248 --> 00:39:37,258 Big city, lots of things going on there. 650 00:39:38,688 --> 00:39:39,188 No? 651 00:39:39,258 --> 00:39:39,587 Okay. 652 00:39:40,908 --> 00:39:41,678 It's not a big city. 653 00:39:41,697 --> 00:39:42,648 It is a city, though. 654 00:39:42,678 --> 00:39:46,298 It's, it's not just a mountain town, and I say that because Albuquerque, 655 00:39:46,298 --> 00:39:48,897 if you've been there, is right up against the Sandia Mountains. 656 00:39:49,208 --> 00:39:52,817 The r- the city is right up against that, and they're imposing. 657 00:39:52,917 --> 00:39:53,837 They're, they're big. 658 00:39:54,097 --> 00:39:57,977 At sunset, they're beautiful orange and purples and reds. 659 00:39:58,388 --> 00:40:00,037 They're right up against the city. 660 00:40:00,597 --> 00:40:03,168 And as a kid, it was a comfort to me. 661 00:40:03,588 --> 00:40:04,138 It was a comfort to me. 662 00:40:04,167 --> 00:40:06,557 It made it easy to learn which way was east, 'cause the mountains are 663 00:40:06,557 --> 00:40:09,578 in the east, and then I could figure out what north, west, and south were. 664 00:40:09,958 --> 00:40:14,887 But it was, it was a sense of permanence, and we don't have that here. 665 00:40:14,927 --> 00:40:17,107 Do, do you even know which way is north right now? 666 00:40:17,638 --> 00:40:18,558 Do you have any sense of that? 667 00:40:18,558 --> 00:40:21,797 Maybe some of you do, but you don't, we don't know that, right? 668 00:40:21,798 --> 00:40:23,077 We don't have that sense. 669 00:40:24,138 --> 00:40:28,688 Uh, the water towers might help a little bit, but they're not quite the same. 670 00:40:29,667 --> 00:40:34,257 But God in our life should be like those mountains, right? 671 00:40:34,267 --> 00:40:35,277 He is unmoving. 672 00:40:35,288 --> 00:40:36,438 He is unshaken. 673 00:40:36,827 --> 00:40:41,817 He's imposing, and He is a rock for us. 674 00:40:42,148 --> 00:40:47,707 He's should be fixed in our life to s- guide us, to steady us, to provide us 675 00:40:47,737 --> 00:40:52,557 the stability and the confidence that we need for this life and for the next. 676 00:40:53,277 --> 00:40:54,917 God's Word stands forever. 677 00:40:55,377 --> 00:41:01,058 It gives you life, and it secures a f- future for you that is everything 678 00:41:01,077 --> 00:41:03,108 that you can and need to delight in. 679 00:41:04,027 --> 00:41:05,528 Let me pray for us as we close. 680 00:41:06,967 --> 00:41:08,157 Lord, thank you for this morning. 681 00:41:08,638 --> 00:41:13,187 Thank you f- that You are a God who is the God You say You are. 682 00:41:14,428 --> 00:41:18,247 We would be hopeless, we would be lost without You. 683 00:41:19,117 --> 00:41:24,158 I specifically am thankful that You are a God who has spoken to us, that You have 684 00:41:24,167 --> 00:41:26,837 brought the words of salvation to us. 685 00:41:27,097 --> 00:41:31,797 We know of Your history going all the way back to Genesis. 686 00:41:32,458 --> 00:41:38,817 We know of the cross, and we know of the promises that we can rest in today, and I 687 00:41:38,817 --> 00:41:43,487 pray that we will hear Your words, that we will know that they are words that are not 688 00:41:43,487 --> 00:41:47,917 like our words, that we will be confident in them, that You will give us assurance. 689 00:41:48,328 --> 00:41:51,468 And Lord, if there are those here who don't have that confidence, 690 00:41:52,078 --> 00:41:55,667 who, who don't know You, who don't know that You are a God like the one 691 00:41:55,677 --> 00:41:59,737 You say You are, Lord, let today be the day that they hear Your words. 692 00:42:00,048 --> 00:42:03,268 Let today be the day that they see salvation. 693 00:42:04,298 --> 00:42:06,047 I'm thankful for who You are. 694 00:42:06,167 --> 00:42:09,908 Let who You are saturate our lives as we go about this week. 695 00:42:10,177 --> 00:42:11,867 In Jesus' name I pray, amen.