back to index06-05-11 - Pastor Mark Lim
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As many of you guys know, about a month ago, my wife and I, 00:00:27.500 |
I know it's biased because it's coming from me, but he's super cute. 00:00:30.500 |
In the beginning, he looked just like a little old man. 00:00:33.000 |
Now he's plumping up, so he's just a cute baby. 00:00:36.000 |
His Korean, his name is Josiah, and in Korean, that name is Yoshiya. 00:00:41.500 |
So we decided to give him the nickname Yoshi. 00:00:52.500 |
There are various circumstances in life that make you 00:00:58.000 |
You don't want to complain. There's not much you can do. 00:01:06.500 |
all sorts of various circumstances have arisen where I just wanted to sigh. 00:01:13.000 |
Maybe the frustration you have with your parents or something. 00:01:16.000 |
You can't really say anything or do anything, so you just sigh. 00:01:20.000 |
Or when we've been up late night, and Josiah just would not sleep. 00:01:25.500 |
He just cried. If you put him down, he'd cry. 00:01:28.000 |
We did everything that the nurses and doctors told us to do, 00:01:38.000 |
And I think for me, there's a passage, the passage that we're covering today. 00:01:44.500 |
because in moments when I felt that need to sigh, 00:01:52.500 |
At times, not even just when physically I was fatigued 00:01:57.000 |
but even in my own heart, maybe because of certain failures, 00:02:04.000 |
Because of your own sins, you genuinely ask yourself, 00:02:13.500 |
In those times, this passage has so refreshed my heart. 00:02:18.500 |
It caused me to worship the Lord in a new, fervent way. 00:02:21.500 |
And so I wanted to share this passage with you. 00:02:29.500 |
This comes in a series of psalms, starting from Psalm 120 00:02:38.000 |
and 15 chapters forward that are called the Songs of Ascent. 00:02:52.000 |
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 00:02:59.500 |
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 00:03:09.500 |
The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. 00:03:17.500 |
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in. 00:03:24.500 |
Let's pray for the Lord's blessing on our time. 00:03:27.500 |
Heavenly Father, we want to thank you so much, God. 00:03:34.000 |
Lord, we do see our time of worship as precious to us, 00:03:38.500 |
but such a privilege to come to give you worship that you deserve. 00:03:42.500 |
And we ask God, first and foremost, Lord, that you be pleased. 00:03:49.500 |
the sense of minds and humble hearts to listen and apply. 00:03:53.000 |
And God, by having faith, it would be manifested into our lives. 00:04:11.500 |
When we read this psalm, the very first verse of the psalm says, 00:04:22.500 |
Now, if I can give you guys a little bit of a backdrop, 00:04:28.500 |
because they believe that the tribe, the nation, so to speak, 00:04:36.000 |
So actually, physically, they were going from lowlands 00:04:40.000 |
And in their journey, in their trek, they would sing these songs. 00:04:44.000 |
But interestingly enough, the content of the songs would also move. 00:04:49.000 |
It would move from, a lot of times, a cry in despair. 00:04:54.500 |
If you look at the first verse of chapter 120, it says, 00:05:01.500 |
And if you notice, even in this psalm, it will start moving 00:05:06.500 |
and it will build, ascending eventually to a praise 00:05:15.500 |
coming from a group of people who are moving and traveling in tents. 00:05:21.500 |
And a lot of times, if you're moving and traveling 00:05:23.500 |
and you're resting for the night, what ends up happening is this. 00:05:26.000 |
You want to rest on high ground. Why? Because that's advantageous for you. 00:05:29.500 |
You've got the bandits, you've got the valley, 00:05:32.000 |
which is just so susceptible to any kind of raiding, 00:05:35.000 |
whereas the mountaintops, it kind of provides a natural protection. 00:05:38.500 |
And so, naturally, he says, in a time of need, 00:05:41.500 |
as he says he's in trouble, he'll look up to the mountains. 00:05:48.000 |
Interestingly enough, I want to, just from the very beginning, 00:06:01.500 |
You know, there are people who recognize that they need help in life, 00:06:04.500 |
whether it be physical, whether it be daily needs, 00:06:07.000 |
things that are common to every single individual, 00:06:09.000 |
difficulties in life, but there are also spiritual needs 00:06:12.000 |
and there are needs that are very, very severe. 00:06:16.000 |
But oftentimes, we just have an extreme difficulty asking for help. 00:06:24.000 |
I preached on a leper who was humble and knew that he was in a devastating position. 00:06:30.000 |
And he asked for help. Why? Because he realized he needed it. 00:06:33.000 |
Whereas an individual, perhaps like myself and perhaps in this generation, 00:06:37.500 |
our self-confidence and self-dependence is just too prevalent. 00:06:43.000 |
Because in all honesty, when I read the Psalms, 00:06:46.000 |
I read of King David who's crying out to God, 00:06:48.500 |
"Lord, there are enemies against me surrounding the nation. 00:06:53.000 |
Their arrows and their spears are ready to attack." 00:06:56.000 |
And I'm reading that and I'm like, "I don't relate to that. 00:07:04.000 |
And in terms of asking for help because they're traveling, 00:07:06.500 |
they want help from the sun or help just in, you know, I don't know. 00:07:14.000 |
Like, I'm not going to ask God for help because it's raining. 00:07:19.500 |
I'm not going to ask God for help because I just need to eat today. 00:07:23.500 |
You know? I just need to go and pop something in the microwave. 00:07:28.000 |
Sometimes it's just either things seem too trivial 00:07:32.500 |
or at other times, if it's because of my failure, 00:07:38.500 |
For example, if I'm having difficulty reading the Bible, 00:07:42.000 |
do you guys feel the need to ask God for help for that? 00:07:45.500 |
In all honesty, if you're having difficulty with your daily devotion 00:07:52.000 |
When was the last time you asked for help in that kind of honest manner? 00:07:57.500 |
My first question really is, in our generation, are you even looking for help? 00:08:02.500 |
And when you are looking for help, where are you looking now? 00:08:06.500 |
Are you looking up to the mountains and the general things that people generally look for? 00:08:14.500 |
whether because I need financial money, financial struggles. 00:08:19.500 |
Generally, we think the more set our life is in terms of pattern and finances, 00:08:26.000 |
My question to you this morning, are you even looking for help? 00:08:29.500 |
And if you are, where are you looking for that help? 00:08:38.500 |
"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where shall my help come?" 00:08:43.500 |
He's not really asking, like he doesn't know. 00:08:53.500 |
"My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth." 00:09:00.500 |
Do we look all over to our family and friends? 00:09:02.500 |
Do we look to a particular individual to help us? 00:09:06.500 |
Or do we look to the Lord, believing He is fully capable 00:09:20.500 |
who finds himself in some kind of common bind or difficult situation, 00:09:25.500 |
whether it be financial, health related, whatever, 00:09:33.500 |
but we're asking the Lord's help in every situation, 00:09:35.500 |
whether it be your spiritual life, daily disciplines, 00:09:43.500 |
do we really believe God is capable to meet those needs? 00:09:46.500 |
Because if we believed it, perhaps we would be going more often 00:09:49.500 |
and more frequently and more fervently at the feet of the Lord. 00:09:54.500 |
And so the psalmist is going to describe for us 00:10:01.500 |
Is the Lord sufficient to meet all of those needs? 00:10:07.500 |
"My help comes from the Lord, who made the heaven and the earth." 00:10:12.500 |
You want to know whether God is capable of meeting your needs? 00:10:17.500 |
Let me remind you of the fact that God created the heavens and the earth. 00:10:21.500 |
You know, Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry, 00:10:23.500 |
if you remember, He was somewhat frustrated with people. 00:10:26.500 |
He would do a miracle and people would be like, 00:10:30.500 |
And they would be ecstatic, and they would be so infatuated with His miracles. 00:10:36.500 |
And Jesus Christ is sitting there, sometimes frustrated. 00:10:53.500 |
You think He can't provide for your needs now? 00:10:59.500 |
And you think I can't sustain you in your day? 00:11:02.500 |
This psalmist is saying, "My help comes from the Creator." 00:11:07.500 |
It's almost this question of, "Is He capable?" 00:11:10.500 |
It's almost a, "Duh! Of course He's capable!" 00:11:17.500 |
If I need something, if I am weary, if I am fatigued, 00:11:22.500 |
the Lord who created our known world will come to help. 00:11:31.500 |
And so we move forward in asking this question, 00:11:42.500 |
I'm going to restart reading from verse 1 again, 00:11:46.500 |
To have this effect of just resonating in your minds. 00:11:56.500 |
My help comes from the Lord who made the heavens and the earth. 00:12:04.500 |
Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." 00:12:10.500 |
Verse 2, verse 3 and 4, I would like to label, 00:12:18.500 |
And think about what a good shepherd would do. 00:12:20.500 |
The good shepherd would constantly watch his flock 00:12:23.500 |
and see if any one of the sheep is going astray. 00:12:27.500 |
See if any one of the sheep, because they're always sitting there, 00:12:29.500 |
grazing on the ground, blindly going off cliffs and so forth, 00:12:35.500 |
So the good shepherd, the great shepherd is watching. 00:12:39.500 |
And our God is so good. Our God is so omniscient. 00:12:42.500 |
Just because He's watching one sheep doesn't mean He's loose-eyed on the other. 00:12:48.500 |
And I love that because, again, when I think of the ways in which I falter, 00:12:54.500 |
because I'm not paying attention and there's distracting things all around me, 00:12:59.500 |
I believe it in my spiritual walk and being sanctified as a Christian. 00:13:11.500 |
The scripture clearly says, "The Lord is watching as a good shepherd 00:13:17.500 |
And when the scripture says, "He's going to keep," 00:13:19.500 |
it's often translated, again, as one who has a watchful eye, 00:13:23.500 |
as one who is preserving by careful watching. 00:13:26.500 |
A lot of times, actually, that verb shows up as a noun form, as a watchman. 00:13:43.500 |
Honestly, I have newfound respect for moms because I watch Bea and I'm like, 00:13:52.500 |
If Josiah is fussy, she just has to take care of him. 00:13:56.500 |
And at night, sometimes I want to help her, so I'll try to take care of him a little bit. 00:14:00.500 |
It's a funny story, right? It's a little comedic. 00:14:02.500 |
So I take him and I'm trying to console him and watch him and stuff. 00:14:14.500 |
I'm falling asleep, like leaning over and kind of swaying. 00:14:16.500 |
So she'll come by and be like, "Here, here, let me take him." 00:14:20.500 |
But I'm so sleepy, I don't really realize what I'm doing. 00:14:33.500 |
And then I'll take the blanket and I'm looking around, 00:14:37.500 |
And I'm like, "Bia's going to be so mad I dropped the baby." 00:14:42.500 |
You don't know how fast my heart's pumping at that time 00:14:48.500 |
And the funny thing is, Bia has had those moments, too. 00:14:51.500 |
I'm not sure she'll appreciate me sharing these stories. 00:14:57.500 |
She'll already put him down, but she's so tired, she kind of forgets. 00:15:00.500 |
And she actually would fall asleep with her arm like this. 00:15:03.500 |
And then I'll see her wake up and she'll be like-- 00:15:08.500 |
I just see her tripping out and I'm thinking, laughing. 00:15:17.500 |
And there are times when I hear Bia talking to the baby 00:15:22.500 |
And the baby's crying and she's doing other things, 00:15:24.500 |
so she'll run over there, she's like, "I'm sorry, you're crying." 00:15:32.500 |
I think about that right now when I read this passage. 00:15:36.500 |
Even though Bia and I love and adore this precious baby-- 00:15:40.500 |
he's cute, okay? We love and adore this baby. 00:15:43.500 |
Even though we want to, even though it's in our intention, 00:15:47.500 |
even though we so desire to be there every single moment for him, 00:15:59.500 |
And when I read in the Scriptures that God, our Father, 00:16:22.500 |
Josiah, I love you, but the Lord is going to watch you in ways, 00:16:29.500 |
Let your heart be reassured by the fact that the Lord 00:16:36.500 |
We keep moving here. I'll read from verse 3 and down. 00:16:39.500 |
Because that's the way the passage actually moves. 00:16:43.500 |
Verse 3, "He will not allow your foot to slip. 00:16:48.500 |
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 00:16:57.500 |
The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night." 00:17:09.500 |
that the Lord is keeping you as a guard with treasure. 00:17:19.500 |
Do you understand that a guard, if he sees precious treasure, 00:17:24.500 |
He's going to make sure that there's someone watching. 00:17:26.500 |
He's going to make sure that there's nothing lost. 00:17:32.500 |
Like a good guard, he makes sure there's ample protection. 00:17:40.500 |
Likewise, it says here, "The Lord is your keeper." 00:17:45.500 |
He takes that position willingly of being your keeper. 00:17:49.500 |
And it says here that he offers that kind of protection, 00:17:54.500 |
He says, "The shade is by your right hand side. 00:17:56.500 |
That is very near and close to you, readily available." 00:18:11.500 |
For them, the heat was an immense, immense concern. 00:18:14.500 |
You know that the kind of land that they lived in, 00:18:16.500 |
if you've ever heard people talk about the land of Jerusalem 00:18:19.500 |
when they go out there, they're like, "Oh, yeah, it's fantastic. 00:18:28.500 |
So you think about the shade. That was pivotal. 00:18:31.500 |
The Lord says, "I provide that kind of protection for you." 00:18:35.500 |
It's, "By day and by night, there is no time in which the Lord is leaving their side." 00:18:41.500 |
There is no time in which the Lord is not by their side. 00:18:46.500 |
So the Lord is their protector, their guardian. 00:18:50.500 |
And so we move forward. It says, "The Lord is your keeper. 00:18:55.500 |
The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night." 00:19:05.500 |
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in 00:19:15.500 |
He says, "The Lord will protect you from all evil." 00:19:29.500 |
"No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man, 00:19:35.500 |
who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, 00:19:38.500 |
but with temptation he will provide a way of escape 00:19:45.500 |
He is going to make sure that when it comes to spiritual evil, 00:19:57.500 |
I sometimes cannot relate to King David, and sometimes I can. 00:20:01.500 |
Because I'll tell you what, I feel like every single day, 00:20:10.500 |
I feel like I'm being attacked with lust for more money. 00:20:14.500 |
I feel like I'm being attacked with lust for more comfort. 00:20:17.500 |
I feel like I'm always attacked with lust for sexual immorality, 00:20:21.500 |
lust for all kinds of things, envy of what I see. 00:20:31.500 |
But the Lord says, "I'm going to protect you." 00:20:34.500 |
That pronoun there, again, it moved from the nation of Israel, 00:20:41.500 |
And you know what? Oftentimes, He is going to protect you from your own desires. 00:20:44.500 |
And I thank God for that, because there's plenty of it. 00:20:47.500 |
I am prone to sometimes wander, like the song says. 00:20:53.500 |
I am prone sometimes just to not want to do things. 00:20:57.500 |
I just want to veg and not do the Christian life. 00:21:01.500 |
The Lord is going to spiritually protect us from that evil. 00:21:07.500 |
So I'm going to ask you now, when was the last time you prayed, Matthew 6.13? 00:21:11.500 |
Right? Where He says, "And lead us not in temptation, but to deliver us from evil." 00:21:17.500 |
Why is it that Jesus Christ teaches us to pray that? 00:21:22.500 |
We're supposed to be praying for spiritual protection from the Lord. 00:21:26.500 |
And do you believe He's the one who's going to be your keeper and not yourself? 00:21:33.500 |
Because I always felt like, "It's my failure. I need to fix it." 00:21:38.500 |
So every time I failed in sin, I would have the greatest frustrations. 00:21:46.500 |
And I would sit there feeling so angry at myself. 00:21:49.500 |
I would feel as though, "When am I going to ever get past this sin?" 00:21:59.500 |
It is God who is your keeper against all evil. 00:22:08.500 |
So He says, "I will protect you from all evil. He will keep your soul." 00:22:15.500 |
It says here, "The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in." 00:22:20.500 |
In Hebrew, that's a very common literary device. 00:22:24.500 |
It basically uses one end of the spectrum to the next end of the spectrum. 00:22:30.500 |
Alpha, Omega, Heaven and the Earth, from morning to dawn, all that kind of stuff. 00:22:39.500 |
From your going out, whether you're going out from the home, from the protection of here, or when you're here. 00:22:45.500 |
Regardless of what time, what day, or what it is, every single thing, God is guarding you. 00:22:53.500 |
So, again, don't ever think, "Oh, this is too trivial to pray about." 00:23:01.500 |
"This is too big of something. I don't even know what to ask God for." 00:23:07.500 |
God is watching everything from your going out to your coming in. 00:23:10.500 |
That is just to say every aspect of your life. 00:23:18.500 |
Who are you looking to? Who do you believe is able? 00:23:31.500 |
He is fully capable because He watches everything. 00:23:38.500 |
So before we move forward, I hope, when you hear this, that you could say with your faith, 00:23:52.500 |
And I hope that not just by me saying it to you, but by experience of encountering God, 00:23:57.500 |
by you actually having asked, and then feeling and knowing and experiencing and encountering the sufficient God, 00:24:05.500 |
you would be able to say from experience, "My help comes from God." 00:24:12.500 |
Because that's what's going to set you apart from all the other pagans. 00:24:17.500 |
But as a Christian, and from you saying from experience and encountering God, "My Lord helps me." 00:24:31.500 |
"The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in, from this time forth and forevermore." 00:24:43.500 |
If there is a verse for you to highlight in this chapter, that's it. 00:24:47.500 |
Underline it. Star it. Put a little arrow. Put a happy face. 00:24:50.500 |
Whatever it is you do, He is going to keep your soul from here forth and forever. 00:24:59.500 |
You see, even a good parent, I look at Bia, and I'm just so proud of her and the way that she is taking care of our baby. 00:25:08.500 |
But even on her best day, if he is fussy and he is just so hard to deal with, 00:25:14.500 |
even the best parent on their best day, will one of these days say, "Give me a break. I'm so glad you're home." 00:25:27.500 |
Because for us, our patience, our ability is so limited. 00:25:35.500 |
When the Lord God says, "I will keep you forevermore," 00:25:40.500 |
that, my friends, is the doctrine of eternal security. 00:25:44.500 |
It's both the perseverance of the saints, it's the permanence of your salvation. 00:25:52.500 |
And how amazing is it when the Lord says, "I keep you forever." 00:26:13.500 |
This doctrine, I think, is, I would say, in terms of our salvation, 00:26:19.500 |
the doctrines of our salvation, this is up there. 00:26:24.500 |
And you might be like, "Oh, more important than justification?" 00:26:26.500 |
Well, if we didn't have this, I don't know about justification. 00:26:29.500 |
If we didn't have this, I don't know about sanctification. 00:26:31.500 |
If we didn't have this, all the things intertwined about God's character is now all aloof. 00:26:37.500 |
This doctrine that God can keep you forever is so crucial. 00:26:44.500 |
And we're going to hear it from Jesus' own words. 00:26:46.500 |
If you've ever doubted whether God can keep you to the very end, 00:26:51.500 |
if someone's a genuine believer and he's saved, can he ever be unsaved? 00:27:08.500 |
that of all that He has given Me, I lose nothing, 00:27:16.500 |
that everyone who holds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life. 00:27:21.500 |
And I Myself will raise him up on that last day." 00:27:33.500 |
"I want to convince you that God is able to protect you, 00:27:40.500 |
I believe all of you guys here generally believe God is powerful. 00:27:45.500 |
I think a lot of you guys believe God is able, 00:27:55.500 |
"Well, I know God is going to protect me with my physical needs, 00:27:58.500 |
all of the things that I need to care for, and my spiritual needs, 00:28:17.500 |
It is His will that whatever is in His hands will not be lost. 00:28:21.500 |
He Himself is going to keep you until that very last day." 00:28:31.500 |
I know we experience that kind of weariness in which we just want to sigh 00:29:07.500 |
and no one is able to snatch them from out of the Father's hand. 00:29:15.500 |
If you think ever that God is going to lose one of you, 00:29:27.500 |
Not only that, but God says, "I have you in My hand." 00:29:33.500 |
they would have to go through the entire Trinity. 00:29:40.500 |
None of you will fall through the cracks of His fingers. 00:29:45.500 |
There is none of you that He is going to lose. 00:29:48.500 |
In Hebrews, you don't have to turn there, chapter 7, 00:29:57.500 |
And so Hebrews 7, verse 24 and 25, do you know what it says? 00:30:13.500 |
When God says, "I will keep you," in Psalm 121, 00:30:21.500 |
He means it and it will happen just that way. 00:30:38.500 |
Why am I saying it is so vital to the Christian gospel? 00:31:05.500 |
and surrender at His feet because Christ died for you. 00:31:13.500 |
Obey Him to the point in which you'd be willing to suffer. 00:31:40.500 |
make myself vulnerable to the Christian community, 00:31:47.500 |
It's kind of like Pastor Aaron was preaching this 00:32:56.500 |
If God doesn't keep us, who's going to keep us? 00:33:41.500 |
He could make a list of my transgressions so long, 00:33:43.500 |
if it was a scroll, it would just roll right off the street 00:33:49.500 |
He could bring up any one of those accusations. 00:34:06.500 |
"I saw you here, complaining and griping to God." 00:34:15.500 |
Any one of you who've known me for more than a year or two 00:34:19.500 |
and tell me why I'm not sufficient to get into heaven, 00:34:57.500 |
"You are both willing and capable to keep me." 00:35:04.500 |
And I worship You more because You keep me to the very end. 00:35:16.500 |
we really don't hold to that Armenian theology 00:35:19.500 |
in which they believe that the freedom of man isn't touched. 00:35:29.500 |
The problem with that is it makes sin all the more or less, 00:35:36.500 |
Because God says, "I have the power to keep you forever." 00:35:58.500 |
"are we going to have enough for X, Y, and Z?" 00:36:03.500 |
When you have that kind of insecurities, who do you look to? 00:36:19.500 |
Regardless of circumstance, I am safe in the hand of God. 00:36:29.500 |
"Well, I can take care of this on my own by hard work," 00:36:32.500 |
because everybody experiences this kind of hardship in life. 00:36:35.500 |
Regardless, look to the Lord and have strength. 00:36:39.500 |
But also, if you are afraid because perhaps you're in sin, 00:36:44.500 |
perhaps you've been discouraged because of your own sin. 00:36:52.500 |
"Man, this is going to be a lifetime struggle. 00:37:03.500 |
Good news is the Holy God, when you spend more time with Him, 00:37:08.500 |
The bad news is when you spend more time with the Holy God, 00:37:18.500 |
So I have actually seen this kind of tendency in growing Christians, 00:37:21.500 |
or people who've been Christians for a very long time. 00:37:27.500 |
When they fail, they fail again to look to God for help. 00:37:31.500 |
Do you know what happens when an individual who sees the depth of their sin, 00:37:36.500 |
who feels the guilt but has a difficult time looking to the Lord, 00:37:41.500 |
that's when despair, discouragement, and a desire to quit starts to settle in. 00:37:48.500 |
You need, especially if you've been Christian for some time, 00:37:55.500 |
"I am the one who protects you from evil and evil within you. 00:38:00.500 |
The sins that are within you, I deal with and clean you and protect you." 00:38:06.500 |
You need to go to the Lord with that and find that kind of strength. 00:38:10.500 |
The Lord will give me strength to overcome sin. 00:38:13.500 |
The Lord will be there, present, right hand, right there, readily available. 00:38:19.500 |
And there are some of you, there are some of you, I don't doubt, 00:38:24.500 |
that have questioned whether you are a believer or not. 00:38:30.500 |
There are some of you who have failed in some way or another 00:38:35.500 |
where you believe, "I don't think God is going to approve of me. 00:38:44.500 |
Now, I'm not going to say, "Oh, the Lord keeps everybody and saves everybody." 00:38:49.500 |
The Lord is sovereign. The Lord is sovereign. 00:38:52.500 |
Furthermore, His forgiveness when He gives it is His prerogative. 00:39:01.500 |
"Anybody who confesses and repents in genuineness, I forgive." 00:39:09.500 |
So for you to sit there and say, "Oh, the Lord is not going to approve me. 00:39:15.500 |
I'd rather just spend my life outside of the church, outside of His realm." 00:39:22.500 |
If He says, "Your sin," and says, "I can forgive that," then He can forgive that. 00:39:28.500 |
So the question for you is not sitting there reconciling, 00:39:31.500 |
"Oh, what's my responsibility? What's His responsibility? 00:39:34.500 |
Is He going to receive me? Is He not going to receive me?" and all of this. 00:39:37.500 |
The question for you is, can you come to a point where you humble yourself and repent? 00:39:42.500 |
Can you come to a point where you humble yourself and say, "God, I need you desperately." 00:39:47.500 |
For any of you who are sitting there wrestling, 00:39:50.500 |
anytime someone preaches, "Oh, God keeps you to the very end. 00:39:53.500 |
He's the one who's working in you. He's the one who's convicting you. 00:39:58.500 |
And He's the one fully controlling you to the very end." 00:40:01.500 |
You want to ask all those questions of, "Well, what's the reconciliation here 00:40:04.500 |
between my responsibility and the Lord's sovereignty?" 00:40:08.500 |
I just want to tell you guys, "Shh. Put that off until later." 00:40:14.500 |
The issue here isn't whether you want to reconcile your responsibility and His responsibility. 00:40:19.500 |
The issue here is God just told you that He is willing and capable of keeping you. 00:40:26.500 |
Will you apply that in faith? Will you apply that in faith? 00:40:37.500 |
And again, these are songs of ascent, so if you ever have time, 00:40:40.500 |
start reading from Psalm 120 and go 15 chapters forward. 00:40:49.500 |
It is the spiritual thought as we move from fears and failures 00:40:53.500 |
to the thought and belief that God is supreme, that God will keep us. 00:41:02.500 |
"To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens. 00:41:08.500 |
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, 00:41:12.500 |
as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, 00:41:16.500 |
so our eyes look to the Lord our God until He is gracious to us. 00:41:22.500 |
Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious to us." 00:41:27.500 |
I pray for you guys that today as you leave, you would be all the more assured in faith, 00:41:34.500 |
"My God is able to help me. My God is willing to help me." 00:41:40.500 |
And that belief, I hope it empowers your prayer life. 00:41:46.500 |
If you are struggling with giving God worship through the week, 00:41:55.500 |
"Lord, this is not too small in your eyes. I can go to you for help. 00:41:59.500 |
Lord, this is not too big for you to deal with. 00:42:02.500 |
I don't even know how to ask for help here, God. I just need you to intervene." 00:42:07.500 |
Let this rejuvenate and empower your prayer life through this week. 00:42:13.500 |
And that you can go to God and say, "Lord, be gracious to me. 00:42:16.500 |
As a servant who is watchfully waiting for the master to say, 'Come,' or the masters to say, 'Here,' 00:42:22.500 |
I want you guys to say, 'I look and lift my eyes to the Lord.'" 00:42:32.500 |
Heavenly Father, there are times in our Christian walk 00:42:45.500 |
where all we can do is tell you, "Lord, I believe. Thank you so much." 00:42:53.500 |
These are one of those moments when we know that our eternal security is in your hands. 00:43:00.500 |
And so when you promise, "I am your keeper to the very end,"