Peter Tan-Chi - When Life Seems Scary Call 91-1
What a privilege it is to be with you again as we worship together and study the Bible together. What an honor it is to be with you again as we worship together and study the Bible together. And of course most of all. It is important to know more about our Lord. Let me ask you a question first, what do you think is the greatest need of mankind? What do you think is our greatest need? You know a few years ago, there was a psychologist and philosopher named Abraham Maslow who proposed the hierarchy of human needs. In his view, the first need is physiological needs. He talks about food, water, these are basic needs. But to the surprise of many, the second biggest need is protection, safety.
Today, I want to focus on one of our greatest needs, and one of them is security. So I titled our sermon today, "When Life Seems Scary". The truth is, a lot of people are scared today, especially with COVID-19. People are worried about their financial situation, they are worried about their health. What should you do? Answer, call 911. What does it mean to call 911? 911 is from Psalms. Psalm 91, you're going to start with the first verse, which talks about God's amazing ways of providing protection, providing peace, providing security in the midst of this fear and pandemic. The outline of Psalm 91 is simple, and it has to do with three main points. You will only experience security in God's promises.
How do you experience God's promises? Know the premise, under what circumstances? You need to know who gave the promise and who the promiser is. So the premise is, under what circumstances? Who gave the promise? The Promised One. It is better to understand what a promise is. How many of you have experienced disappointment in relationships between men and women who did not keep their promises? The truth is that many of us have been disappointed. I see many young couples, they enter the marriage hall and they are full of excitement. They make a commitment and guess what? I remember a couple who had an amazing commitment during their wedding and they made their vows.
The most important promise is, "In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health I will never leave you nor forsake you". This is a promise made to each other before God. What is the truth? Most marriages, most men, most women don't keep their promises. That's why a lot of young people are skeptical, they're discouraged because they see people not keeping their promises. It 's a pity. Someone once said, "Promises are made to be broken". But can I tell you something, if you read Psalm 91, the wonder of God's promises, God will fulfill His promises, God will never fail . Today I want to share with you the promises of God.
Let's start with Psalm 91: He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust". Really? 911 from the beginning. Psalm 91:1, you know the One who gave the promise and the conditions of the promise. Note, this is very specific, what are the conditions? Who are the recipients of this promise? First, this condition of dwelling in the secret place of the Most High is not for everyone. It is for those who are to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. Abode comes from the word "wait," which comes from the word "remain," which is the same word used in John 15:5. He who abides in me and I in you abides. That word is intimacy.
If you stay in the presence of God. That's the point. In the presence of God. He shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. He who abides in the secret place. The word secret place means a secret place. Presence of the Most High Intimacy with God You will abide, You will abide in the shadow of the Almighty What is the meaning of shadow? Can I tell you something? If you stay away from the shelter, you won't be in the shadows. Being in the shadow of the Almighty means closeness. It speaks of intimacy, which is the whole point of Psalm 91.
Do you want protection? Do you want to be safe? There is only one place, in God. Question, don't you only stay once a week, not only in the morning? Question, don't you only stay once a week, not only in the morning? Do you abide in God every day? To abide in God is to walk with the Lord. To abide in God is to obey God. It's not running from God, it's not doing your own thing. It is walking side by side, it is following the direction of his life. I will say of the Lord, My refuge and my fortress.
Please note, this condition is given to those who understand and know that God is Lord. God himself is his refuge and fortress. He knows his security, whose protection is in God. So the conditions for true protection and safety in danger So the conditions for true protection and safety in danger If you're going to be afraid there's only one answer, God promises you, if you're in His presence, if you're close to Him, you will Feel safe. My God, in whom I trust, pay attention to this action word, because of who God is, you have to trust Him. Remember the word trust? The word "trust" comes from the root of the word "in the house" bet, betaach which means to persevere, to be in shelter, to cling to God. But you will not trust in the Lord, nor will you trust in the Lord if you do not know him, and that is the whole essence of Psalm 91.
Who gave the promise? Why is this important? Because I've noticed so many times, men, especially men, they make promises but sometimes they fail to keep them, why? Sometimes they forget sometimes they want to but they don't have the resources you see a lot of times you want to keep your promise but you can't you don't have the strength you don't have the ability but it's not a problem with God pay attention, it is Who gave the promise. God has four names. First, the most high. The one who gave the promise is called the Most High God. What is supreme? No one is greater than the Most High. That's what Jesus said, all authority has been given to me.
So God is supreme, supreme authority, supreme being. The next title, "Almighty," what does that mean? El Shaddai Almighty comes from the root word, breast. Mother who provides milk. Meaning God can meet all your needs, that's how he described himself, Almighty God. Almighty. The next word is "Lord" capitalized LORD, which is talking about Yahweh. The word Yahweh is given in the context of a covenant because God made a promise to his people. God is saying, "You will be my people, and I will be your God. You follow me, this is my duty". "I will fulfill my duty, I will provide for you, I will protect you, I am the Lord who loves you".
The next title of God is Elohim, God! This word first appears in Genesis chapter 1 from the word Elohim, plural, God the Great, Creator of heaven and earth in verses 1 and 2, Now, you see the one who gave the promises has Four wonderful names for God Himself, He is called the Supreme, He is called the Almighty, He is called God, He is called Elohim, my God. Friends, you can rest assured that the One who gave the promise is faithful and He will do it. Now in verses 3 and 4, there is a repeated emphasis on who gave the promise. Now in verses 3 and 4, there is a repeated emphasis on who gave the promise. "It was He". Emphasis on God.
Please note, it is God who wants to protect you. Please note that God wants to protect you from the snares and traps of the evil one, and from the poisonous plagues caused by the evil one, including COVID-19 and various diseases. He will cover you with his feathers, and you will take refuge under his wings. Have you noticed? It's all about Him. This is a picture of a bird protecting its young under its wings. Other than that, I love this last sentence, His faithfulness, a shield great and small. Notice the word faithful. This is not our faithfulness, it is God's. Faithful He will protect you, like a shield, a kind of protective fortress, another term for a protective device. God is saying, "This is what I am going to do". But when I looked at these verses, I realized the danger is not just physical. It's spiritual. It's about spiritual danger and will deliver you from the snare of the fowler.
You see the author wants us to realize that the outside world is dangerous. We have not only plagues, but physical enemies as well as spiritual enemies. For example, the Bible tells us that we have an enemy of our souls. So that they can wake up and escape from his snare. The same concept as a snare is a trap of the devil, and those who are taken captive by the devil at will. Have you noticed the danger we face today? Satan's lie is a trap for what purpose? Captive Did you know that when people sin, they don't understand that they are following the devil. Do you think that if the devil showed up and said to you, "Hello, I am the devil, follow me," people would follow the devil? Will you follow the devil? Of course not.
So he set a trap, a snare. The word "trap" and "snare" have the following picture. It is a disguise to catch innocent, ignorant people like a bird. The word snare means fishing bait. I don't know if you like fishing, but there are many types of bait that can catch fish. Notice! To get attention, different fish have different baits corn, bugs, things like minnows and squid, the whole goal is to deceive the fish, I know this is Satan's favorite trick, he deceives us the whole goal is to deceive the fish, I Know that this is Satan's favorite trick to deceive us. For example, God invented sex and sex is beautiful, but what would Satan do?
Satan will destroy it and then he will attract the young and soon we will be trapped because we will feel okay but for protection look at this scripture. God will save us. How will he protect you? Watch, he will cover you with his feathers and you will take refuge under his wings. In other words, the only way to overcome the devil's trap, in other words, the only way to overcome the devil's trap, is to be close to our Savior, to be close to God. That's what the psalmist wanted. The picture you see is that you shall seek refuge under his wings, under the protection of God. So, you have the hen protecting the chicks, and here is a picture of an eagle. You see, this is a description of God. God says, "You Come under my wings and I will protect you".
Did you notice that this word is used in the Bible? When Jesus was in Jerusalem, Jesus said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how many times have I wanted to gather your children together like a hen gathering her chicks. Under wings" This is what Jesus wanted, to protect his people. What's the problem? "But you won't" I have found that when we are deceived by the devil we turn away from the Lord and our hearts harden, God is saying "Come to me" The only way you can find security in your life, Spiritual Warfare, Deception, "Come to Me".
Have you ever asked yourselves, why are so many people unwilling to come to God? Don't want to participate in Bible study? Don't want to be close to Jesus? Spiritual warfare, the devil's trap, we have been misled to pay attention to this promise, you will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrows that fly by day. In other words, in danger, day or night, or the plague that flies by night, Or a virus that kills people at noon. A picture full of danger. Though a thousand fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, this disaster shall not come near you. Do you understand this picture? In danger, flying arrows and pestilence lurk. Like someone told me today how anxious their loved ones are. Yes, some are depressed, some are scared, some are paralyzed with fear, why?
Friends, if you don't understand God's word and you don't understand what it means to be protected by Him, you have every reason to be afraid. You won't have the answer. You won't have the solution "You shall not be afraid". On the contrary, you have every reason to be afraid. Reason to be afraid. Just recently, my son-in-law was in a car accident a few days ago. Someone shot at someone else. The murderer was speeding away. Do you believe he hit my son-in-law's car? I praise God that my son-in-law, Jeff, is protected. Imagine there are only a few seconds difference. The danger could be the worst. You see, many times in our lives, we are protected by God.
Friends, I have heard this often. How God will protect His children. You see, our safety is in God's hands. When it's not your time to leave, you are eternal. Because God controls our future. Your safety is in Jesus. Notice this promise. You are the only one. I have seen with my own eyes the retribution of the wicked. The LORD is my refuge. You have made the Most High your dwelling place. No evil will come to you, no harm will come near your tent. Amazing promises. What does that mean? No evil will come to you, no disaster will come near your tent. What does that mean? Does this mean you'll never have a problem? Does it mean you will never get sick? Let's look at it.
The next verse tells us, for he will command his angels for you. Pay attention to the grammar. Plural (angels). God has sent us an innumerable host of angels to protect you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on lions and aspers, and you will trample on young lions and serpents. Picture of victory, what does this mean? Satan wants you to believe that the promise means that you will never have problems and you will never experience suffering. How do I know that's what Satan wants you to believe? Because Satan used Psalm 91. He misinterpreted Psalm 91 to try to deceive Jesus. Let's see what he did.
In Matthew 4, the devil took him into the holy city and made him stand on the top of the temple. He said, this is the devil speaking. If you are the Son of God, you can jump. The devil now said to Jesus: "Since you are the Son of God, and we know that you are the Son of God, jump"! Because it is written Say: The Lord will command his angels over you, to bear you up in his hands, so that your foot will not dash against a stone. The devil is quoting the Bible. Do you know that the devil knows the Bible? Did you know that the devil uses the Bible? The devil knows the Bible better than you or I do and he uses it out of context. The devil can twist the Bible to deceive us, just like he did to Jesus. But Jesus knows the Bible better. Why?
Notice that Jesus countered this with another passage. Jesus said to him: On the other hand, it is written, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test". What is the significance here? The devil told Jesus based on this promise "God will protect you, you don't have to go to the cross, you don't have to suffer, because God promised to protect you, He will send His angels, you don't have to suffer, you go through life and live happily ever after". This is the promise of God". But that's not what that promise means.
Can you imagine if you and I believe that God has promised that faithful Christians will never suffer, that they will never get sick, if they abide in Him? What happens when everything is going to be fine? What happens if you suffer? What happens if you have a problem? I know what will happen, you will say, "The promises of God are not true" You will say, "The Word of God cannot be trusted" What will you do? You're going to turn away from God. That's why many Christians make "tampo". They're angry. They turn away from God because they're disappointed in God. The reason is they don't know the promise. The promise is not only conditional. The promise doesn't mean, God. The people of the Bible will never suffer; they will never have a problem.
Let me explain to you the important principles of the Bible. One of the most important principles is that you should never adopt one set of Scriptures that conflicts with another set of Scriptures that you do not use. A passage, a set of passages, stands out at the expense of the rest of the Bible. God's word does not contradict itself. You must learn how to reconcile different seemingly conflicting passages because God never contradicts himself. Let me give you an example. When Jesus talked about the future in Luke 21, he told his disciples that even your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends would be brought to the attention of the officials, and some of you would be killed by them. He warned them, you will be killed. I thought if you followed Jesus you would never have a problem? Jesus told them, "You will die, you may die". You will be hated by everyone for my name's sake.
Now the interesting and strange thing is the next verse, yet not a hair of your head will be lost. Ha! "You will die, but not a hair of your head shall perish" How do you put two and two together? Be safe in Jesus, but that doesn't mean you won't experience pain, suffering, and death. But, you are safe, you are protected, and not a hair on your head will be ruined. That's what you need right now, from another perspective. The question is, eternal perspective. You and I are not just physical beings, we are spiritual beings. The Bible says that if you continue to be patient, you will have life. You will have your soul.
You see, what it means to be protected by God. What are you wearing? It doesn't mean you'll be safe from trouble. It doesn't mean you'll never experience suffering. But it means that in the midst of the suffering, in the midst of the trial, God is with you and He will protect you and His purpose will be Realize in your life, whatever is best for you, He will make it happen. Another scripture explains what God's protection is. We know that all things work together for good. Those who love God are chosen according to His will. The Called Ones This verse is very popular these days, but we don't understand its full meaning. God causes all things. Before you see the words "God causes all things," you need to look at the first phrase, "we know". It's a statement of faith. It doesn't say, "Look".
Many times, you can't see but you know that by faith, you know that God works all things together for good. The important thing is, all things work together for those who love God. Benefits note "each other" Some bad things happen, you don't call evil things good Don't twist the phrase "all things" may include pain, and they are not good but when you put them together, all things work together for good, It gets better. My favorite illustration of this verse is one of my favorite dishes, it's called Chicken Pork Adobo. Can you make adobo? You use different ingredients. For example, cooking oil. The oil itself doesn't taste good and tastes bad. Garlic and garlic itself don't taste good.
What about onions? Raw onions don't taste good with vinegar. Oh my gosh! vinegar. What about the soy sauce itself? Black pepper, but you combine them. Um ! What has become? Adobo. You know if I look at my life and you look at what's going on sometimes it's not pleasant in and of itself but when you look back you're like "Wow! Everything had a purpose" a lot of times you just go through life See the Good at the End Sometimes God lets you see it. Just like what happened in our family many years ago, my daughter was raped, not by one man, not by two men, but by seven evil men. It was the most traumatic family experience we have ever experienced. It was Being evil, I said to the Lord, "I declare Romans 8:28, and you will benefit from it".
Honestly, I didn't see how this would benefit me. I said, "Lord, I believe in you". My wife did the same. Did it. "Lord, we will trust you" But I have to be honest thoughts came into my mind "God can't protect you, God doesn't protect your family how can you trust Him"? Those thoughts came into my mind, but I realized This is a spiritual battle for truth. What is truth? The truth is that God is in control, the truth is that God allows things like this to happen, the truth is, one day I will see the good in all of this but right now, I don't understand, so what we did, what we did is, we believed God, we wait on God as you will see from the testimony of my daughter Joey. You'll see that from my daughter's testimony.
Let us review, what are the conditions of the promise? Are they for those who live in the sanctuary of the Most High? Drawing close to God is our protection. Who gave the promise? God Himself What does this promise mean? The meaning of the promise is that this promise does not mean that you will never have problems, trials, or illnesses. God promises to protect us in our trials and to ensure that His good purposes are accomplished. God's best will be in our lives. What happens in life is for the glory of God. That's our sense of security. Whatever happens, it's for our best, for His glory, to fulfill His purposes. That's our security. God guarantees our eternal happiness. Let me tell you why?
If your security is not in God, and your security is not in something else, you will never be safe. I repeat, if my security is not in God, it is in people, in relationships, in money, those are insecure. You may lose money, you may lose relationships, you may lose loved ones. My only sense of security is God, because he will never lose you, and you will never lose him. This is the real thing. Security, rest, and leave everything to Him. The book of Hebrews tells us that many times, God's promises are in the future tense. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The ancients found this faith. Beautiful Evidence.
In other words, to experience God's security, we must trust Him with faith. It's one thing to know God's promises, but how do you claim them? Confidence What does confidence mean? Guarantee of something hoped for, based on God's promises Faith in the unknown, you can't see now What's going on? For example, older people gained approval through it. If you study the entire book of Hebrews 11, you will notice the following examples of the ancient people used in the Bible are Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Gideon, The faith of Samson, David, and others. They were people of faith. However, there are some examples in Hebrews 11:37 that we rarely talk about.
Who are these examples? They were not named, but it was mentioned that they were stoned, sawed to death, tempted, slain with the sword, ran around in sheep and goat skins, suffered poverty, tribulation, suffering. In other words, they suffered. "These people" are all of these, actual examples of people who have received wonderful evidence by faith, but still have not received the promises. Have you noticed this seemingly conflicting terminology? They have God's approval. Why? Because they believed in God's promises. Yet, the same Bible verse says, "They did not yet receive what was promised". What can you learn?
You see, the promises of God are not always what we experience in our lifetimes but if you believe in God and God is glorious and you hold on to Him and you say, "Lord, I don't fully understand your wonderful promises; You will protect me and you will heal me". You say, "Lord, I don't fully understand your amazing promises. You will protect me and you will heal me. And most importantly, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me, I don't quite understand, but Lord! I believe in you because I believe in you," the Bible tells us. God approves. You are approved. You are pleasing. Now you know what Hebrews 11:6 means. Without faith, it is impossible to please. God for whoever comes to God must believe that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him.
Note, you can't just believe that God is God, you must not only believe that He promises, but that He can fulfill it. Reward for those who seek Him, and reward now is not always now. That's why Hebrews 11 emphasizes faith, trust in God. Before we close, the inspired psalmist, is standing in God's presence right now. The grammar of speaking has changed, and now it is the promise that God has given us. Psalm 91:14-16 Because he loves me with all his heart, I will rescue him, because he knows my name, and I will set him on high. You noticed. What? God is speaking now because He loves me wholeheartedly and I will rescue him, I will, God is speaking because He knows my name and I will place him on high and if he calls to me I will answer him.
What does this mean? The psalmist repeats this, what are the conditions of this promise? Very specific, the condition is, because of his devoted love for my close relationship with God, this promise is given to friends who are close to the Lord, if you don't know someone, it's hard to love them. God says: "Because they love me, and because you love me, I will save you". "I will place him on high, and I will give you security, because", notice this condition, "He knows my name". Where does the word "know" come from? Experiential knowledge, relationship. God is saying, "If you love me, if you really know me" How can you love someone you don't know?
Many people have a hard time loving God, can I tell you why? Because you don't know God. God is saying, "Come on, know Me, follow me." How do you know God? For me, I walk with Him every day. I study the Bible. I meditate on His Word. The more I obey Him, the more I experience His faithfulness. Love comes. Love. When you know When you know Him, what do you do? You know many times, we don't pray and our prayer lives are poor. You know people who don't know the Lord, are not interested in praying and listen to God.
It is possible that you are religious but you have no relationship I can hardly imagine that if I really loved someone, I would not like talking to him If I loved someone, I would want to talk to that person, I want to hear that man's voice I want to be with him, that's the condition, my friend loves God, knows Him, calls on Him In these two verses, He gives us eight promises, in two verses The first promise of the scripture is "I will rescue him". The second promise is, "I will set him on high". "I will give you security". The third promise is, "I will respond". God will respond to us. The Fourth Promise of the Prayer: "I will be with him" The Promise of God's Presence "I will be with you" "I will deliver him, I will be your savior"
That doesn't mean no. Question, saving someone means they are in trouble "I will honor him", another promise "I will honor you, I will exalt you". "Long life," oh my God! "I will satisfy you". Notice, long life is not enough, it must be sufficient for long life. What does that mean? You can only find the final promise of all these promises in Jesus, "Show him my salvation". Did you know that Jesus promised all of the above? All of the above are experiences with Jesus. I have a perfect example of a good follower of Jesus. He is a good believer. Very good Christian, his name was the apostle Paul, at the end of his life, when Paul was writing 2 Timothy and he was dying, he said to his audience, "The time has come for me to leave, and I am ready to go. I am ready".
To meet God, he then wrote the following verses. Notice how Paul experienced these promises. The Lord alone stood by me and strengthened me. The promises of God. In captivity, Paul said: "The Lord alone stood by me." The assurance of God's presence made the gospel known to all the Gentiles, and I was rescued from the lion's mouth. Paul talked about how he was rescued. Paul talked about how God was present throughout his life. Fulfilling His mission allows me to share the gospel. Why? Because Paul's agenda was all about God and his pleasure was doing God's will. But the last few words, this is the most amazing. The Lord will deliver me from every evil and will deliver me into His kingdom of heaven. The Lord will deliver. I am free from all evil. What does that mean? He was about to be beheaded, he was about to be martyred, how did God save him?
Notice, you have to look at the context, He will also deliver me into His kingdom of heaven. Our security is guaranteed. Even in death, we have nothing to fear because God is with us. No matter what God allows to happen, like the apostle Paul, even death was not a bad thing for him, it was a simple promotion. Even death was not a bad thing for him, it was a simple promotion. God will save me into His kingdom. You see, God promised His Son. People "I will defend you, I will protect you, no matter life or death, I am with you my friend, that is our sense of security, if you are always afraid, if you are always afraid of what may happen".
Can I tell you something? You will never have true peace if you always rely on yourself. Why? There are really no safety measures for you to fall in the bathtub in your house today. You can fall asleep and die, where is our security? In an intimate relationship with Jesus, you can rest assured that you don't have to be afraid, because God has promised in Psalm 91 911, God will protect you. will protect you, you have nothing to fear, for God is your protector. God is the one who covers you under the shadow of his wings. I pray that you will experience this sense of security.
Unless you know these conditions, you You don't experience this sense of security in your relationship with God, in your intimacy with God, that by faith you surrender. Finally, I want to end with a prayer, to give all of you a chance to truly experience true security. You can find security by giving it all to Jesus. Focus on Jesus. Tell Him that you want to abide in Him. Whatever you rely on, you must surrender. It may be religion, it may be you. Yourself may be your insurance policy, it may be your money, it is your security you will never be safe, you need Jesus, let us pray!
Lord Jesus, I know you are our only security, except you. Insecurity Lord, your promise of forgiveness, your promise of eternal life, your promise of protection can truly come true if we abide in you, if we come to you. So, Lord Jesus, today I accept being close to you, the conditions of your protection. I come to you, Jesus. I accept you as my Lord and my Savior. I accept your forgiveness, and I accept your gift of eternal life. Since this is the condition of salvation, you ask me to repent. I repent that you want me to accept you. Lord, I accept you as Lord and Savior! Thank you for coming into my life, please allow me to experience your peace, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.