The night's going out all around me One last candle to keep out the night
And then the darkness tore off me I know I'm a liar but I feel like I'll die
And all that's left to accept that it's over My dreams ran like sand through the face of May
I try to keep warm but I just grow colder I feel like I'm slipping away
After all this has passed I still will remain After I've cried my heart, there'll be beauty from the end
Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again And there'll be beauty from me
Your world will bring beauty from my veins My whole world is the pain inside me
The best I can do is just get through the day The life before is only a memory
I wonder why God lets me walk through this pain And though I can't understand why this happened
I know that I will when I look back someday And see how He brought beauty from passion
And made me as gold purified through these flames
After all this has passed I still will remain After I've cried my heart, there'll be beauty from the end
Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again And there'll be beauty from me
You will bring beauty from my veins Here I am at the end of me
Trying to hold to what I can't see I forgot how to hope this night felt so long
I cling to your promise that we'll be together After all this has passed I still will remain
After I've cried my heart, there'll be beauty from the end
Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again And there'll be beauty from my veins
You will bring beauty from my veins
I know that I will when I look back someday And see how God lets me walk through this pain
Fire is a very real thing that happens in the military, less so thank God today,
and the more advanced militaries become, the less that happens, but it still
happens, especially in less advanced militaries. And so if you are conducting a
surgical strike, the idea is to hit a specific target without hitting anything
around it. Okay, I want you to remember those thoughts then as we look at the
text for today. We do tend to say amen or hallelujah, hoot hollers, our Yahtzee guy
is not present, as we go today to Psalm chapter 21. Thank you. That marks the
time at which we stop thinking about what we think and we start thinking about
what God thinks. So we're going to read this text that the psalmist wrote. The
psalmist as far as we know is David. David, you'll recall, was a man after God's
own heart according to God's Word, and a king of Israel, and a king in Jerusalem,
and then on one particular occasion sinned very heavily against the Lord,
was called out by the prophet, and then later was repentant and ended his life
and God says he is a man after God's own heart. And so that being said, then we
understand David would write in Psalm 51, for example, that God is looking for a
contrite heart. So God wants you to put your heart in his hands and as we talked
about on Tuesday night, we talked about one of the locks. In fact the psalmist
writes elsewhere that if you cherish sin in your heart or willingly allow sin to
remain in your heart, God will not hear your prayers. So the psalmist said. And so
that is David and this is a psalm that he wrote about the thing that we are
talking about today. We're reading the second half essentially of the psalm
beginning in verse 8 and it says this, your hands, talking about God's hand, your
hand will find out all your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate
you. So this is being said of God and so you know God is omniscient, which means
God knows everything, right? So God is fully knowledgeable of everything that
he has created, the hearts of men. He can read our minds, he can hear your thoughts,
he can count the hairs on your head, he can see the veins and the leaves of the
millions of billions and trillions of trees that exist on the earth and so on.
So what does it say then that God will find out all his enemies and his right
hand will find out those who hate him? Well this doesn't mean to find out like
I go look in the cupboard and find out whether or not I still have tuna fish
and if so if I don't I put it on the grocery list because I am not able to
remember how many cans of tuna fish I last bought and how many I have now
eaten even though I'm the only one that eats them and so I have to go and my
right hand opens the cupboard and I look. It doesn't mean that, right? So to find
out in this case is to make known or to show, right? So it'll be obvious. To find
out is to eliminate that which clutters the issue and make it come forth, right?
So if you have a pretty flower growing in your flower garden but it's surrounded by
weeds you go and you cut out the weeds and now you can see the flower and so
God is saying, David is saying through God about God, your hand will find out
all your enemies your right hand will find out those who hate you and he's
gonna take that thought a little further. In verse 9 he says, you will make them as
a fiery oven in the time of your anger the Lord will swallow them up in his
wrath. And so a fiery oven obviously burns and you might want to I might want to
find poetic imagery there about hell but I submit to you it isn't there it may be
loosely connected at best but a fiery oven is a thing that consumes and so
people who will be found out to hate God it says that he will make them as a fiery
oven in the time of his anger and you can just imagine that as God is coming
against those who are his enemies they're gonna have something to say or
something to do and if they've gotten ahead by craftiness if they've gotten
ahead by money if they've gotten ahead by manipulating if they've gotten ahead
by violence they're gonna use whatever they've gotten ahead by that much more
in that moment when God has come against them and his wrath has become obvious
and they will be taking it out on their friends and family and even themselves
in an effort to overcome what is coming against them which we know is God that
says the Lord will then swallow them up in his wrath in fact you could say that
God's wrath likes spicy food if you will they will be hot on fire trying to
resist they will be doing everything in their power but when God's anger burns
against them they will not resist rather his wrath will swallow them up now
notice in 9 he says in the time of your anger and in 9b or the second half of
9 he says you will swallow them up in your wrath and you might have to go like
what is the difference between anger and wrath so anger is emotive energy in the
Greek which the Septuagint uses this word here but this was actually probably
written in Hebrew originally and the Greek the word is orgy and it means
packed with emotion or powerful with emotions it's where you might get the
old saying orgy where men and women get together and do unsightly things with
each other right and it's that same word is is coming from and so it's packed
pardon me packed with energy packed with energy packed with power there's
something's got to happen out of that emotion flowing out God's emotion let
me say this way when God is ticked off and it becomes evident those who have
been resisting him will respond as fiery ovens and the Lord will swallow them up
in his wrath and wrath is not emotions it's opposition there's a difference I
can be mad at someone I might want to see them dead I shouldn't by the way the
Bible says you shouldn't have anger in your heart like that if you can not I
would highly advise it but I might be mad at someone and not be opposing them
or I might be opposing someone and not be mad at them in fact if you find that
you have to oppose someone the best thing to do would be to oppose them
without being mad at them but here it says God will be both in fact it says
God will be angry at his enemies and that day there's a reason for that and
it says his wrath or his opposition will swallow them up so you could say that
God's wrath likes spicy food and you would well remember Psalm 21 9 verse 10
they are offspring so this is what they have generated now the literal word
there is their seed and oftentimes it does mean their children right but it
doesn't only mean their children you can imagine that it's also what they have
produced or what continues their process so just as Christians and lead people to
Jesus and those Christians lead other people to Jesus and those Christians
lead other people to Jesus just as that happens so too people in other political
movements or in false religion do the same in fact the word proselyting was
invented from the Jewish religion and it continues to this day and people are
led to become Jewish but being Jewish won't save you right being a follower of
Jesus whether you're a Jew or not would save you and so when a person is a
Gentile converts to Judaism they have no salvation in that there is no salvation
in that but still those who are in Judaism would still love to see people
convert to Judaism just as Muslims would love to see people convert to Islam and
so on right and Christians recognize that we have a job to do and I'm gonna
get ahead of myself but the bottom line is they have offspring both of their
bodies and also of their teaching and it says God will destroy from the earth
their offspring that will destroy from the earth and it says their descendants
from among the sons of men and the descendants there again the word there
is seed and so it's like it could be of their teaching or of their flesh verse
11 though they intend evil against thee and devise a plot they will not succeed
so now we see a new relationship between those that God is is angry at slash
wrathful towards and they have a plan and they've been acting a plan I submit
to you that those who respond in violence often do not have a plan those
who trust in their money often do not have a plan right there's a lot of got
false gods in this world that people trust in and they don't necessarily
have a plan but those who have a false religion of a sort have begun to think
about some steps that they may follow you know here's the tenfold steps and
the and the four pillars and and things like that of various false religions and
a various teachings that are out there and they say well these are our core
values these are our commands these are our rules for how we're going to be
saved or how we're going to be effective in this thing that we're trying to
accomplish and so they have a plan and God basically says though they have a
plan he says this through David though they have a plan they devise a plot they
have a plan but they will not succeed verse 12 then says because or for thou
will make them turn their back now this is interesting when you think about it
wasn't mean to turn their back now the word here is like a military routing and
if you're the army and you come against another army and then you turn your backs
and you're in the middle of combat what's gonna happen you're gonna be
demolished right in fact in the also in military sense and also in gaming sense
if you turn your back and run from an any that you're fighting there's a thing
called a free hack they get to hit you once for free right and oftentimes when
you're talking about military weapons guns and knives and bayonets and swords
and like that a lot of people do not survive the free hack and so this is a
people that they will come against God with a plot a plan and their plot will
not succeed because God will make them turn their back he will their plan will
obviously not gonna hold up against God they say well we'll run to fight another
day and God will overtake them in his wrath as it said back there at the end
of verse 9 says thou wilt aim with thy bowstrings at their faces and I thought
okay now this almost is getting a little bit kind of specific here and that's
pretty nasty right you're aiming right at their face well there's the called
shot that we're talking about there's a surgical strike because if they come
with their plot or they are their plan and God turns them away or God aims his
bow right at their face and realize that he is targeting specifically his anger
is directed specifically at those who are standing up against him so I have a
mock bow and arrow here okay I'll come be my volunteer I've all told you come
on okay so this is just a toy but anyone does anyone like this it probably will
hurt all right got some good stretch okay we just fire a little sample shot
okay I'm gonna get you out together on track this is a sample shot so as you can
imagine that might smart a little bit right here's another arrow just stand
there you don't have to do nothing but stand there okay ready okay you ready
how about now are you ready now no no definitely not ready now you're sure
okay I'm not gonna shoot you all right this is bad enough to take a shot in the
chest but when it's a shot in the head that's enough to make you want to turn
away you understand the concept of what God is saying do you not the picture is
imminent God will strike them in their face now I think it's interesting
because have you ever heard maybe that we were created in the image of God now
I doesn't mean that God has a beard like you have or God has wrinkles in his
forehead like you had or his skin is the color of you ever that is has skin at
all right because he's spirit the Bible says he's spirit but we were created in
the image of God and in the simplest sense the image of our God is contained
in our faces it's in our faces if they were gonna make a craftsmanship of the
false god Jupiter back in the day or Mars or Athena right the faces were
always made the same the equipment might change the clothes might change but the
image of the false god that they were created always looked the same and if
you look at people you will see even though people are different ever from
person to person everyone's different but everybody's basically got a nose
everybody's basically got an eye unless and if we see somebody doesn't have a
nose or an eye we look for tragedy we look for trouble right if you see
somebody's got a scar on their face you assume that the image of their face has
been marred and God is saying through David that he will aim his bowstring at
their faces that's a cold shot last verse we're gonna read today be thou
exalted oh Lord in thy strength we will sing and praise thy power now I should
say we are going to use a couple of reinforcing verses but that's the last
of our text for the day okay so the first thing I want you to see in here
that's painfully evident to me I hope it is to you is that in the long run
whatever it may look like now and I submit to you that even now it's true
but it may not necessarily look so but in the long run God will win God will
win the ultimate victory if there is any kind of a challenge I submit to you that
he pretty much already has he's already winning now right but some days it
doesn't necessarily look like God is winning on the days when we can't quite
see whether somebody is a friend of God or an enemy of God when your brother
your sister your mother your friend claims the name of Jesus but lives a
certain kind of way and they seem to be doing okay and you think to yourself
well you know if they can live that way and still prosper when you look at the
wealthy people of the world and they're clearly living at the best
hypocritically they're not practicing honor not being honest not having
integrity and yet they seem to be doing okay then you might start to think well
I'm not sure God is winning but but whether God appears to be winning today
or not God will ultimately win and the psalmist recognizes that God will make
it clear and evidence who the enemies of God are and who the friends and I could
go all over the New Testament we could talk about burning up the chaff we could
talk about the pitchfork already laid at the bottom of the stalks or the
axe already laid at the base of the tree we talked about the angels coming for
the harvest you don't need any of that this is what the psalmist knew and it
was all before Jesus spoke it was all before the parables this is what the
psalmist knew God will find out his enemies and he means he will make it
clear and obvious so sitting in this room sad to say there are those who are
truly on fire for God truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and then there
are those who are claiming the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who kind of don't
understand the concept of that and I don't know which is which and it's not
my job that's not my job to know which is which but it does say in the scripture
that you can kind of know a person by his fruit and I submit to you that it'll
become evident if you live with somebody now you know them you talked to them you
worked alongside of them and then one day he says well I pay a lot of rent and
he says well I pay a lot of rent let's get together we live together and after
you live together for a while you begin to know them a little bit more but even
then you don't know what they've been through you don't know how they're wired
you don't know their personality their emotions all the things they're facing
why they behave in the way that they are and you're trying to process it all you're
trying to assess it all and you hate to put a tag on somebody and judge them but
at the same time you kind of know them by their fruit and once you moved in
with them for a while you kind of find out who they really are and it's like
that the more that people claim the name of Jesus and live according to what they
say the more evident it becomes as to whether what they say is true or not but
even if it does not God will win he will eventually find out with absolute
certainty he will make known with clarity who the enemies are those who
bow their knee and confess that he is Lord on the day willingly leaping in
there let me I'll go first I want to get I want to go I want to praise God I want
to put my knee down those who willingly seeing the praises of God now when you
kind of wonder sometimes whether God is winning we'll clearly sing it then when
it's pained lap this is what I've been waiting for I've been so excited about
20 years ago I saw a video of a man he was sitting in a church much like we
were doing now listening to the preacher preach and all of a sudden there was a
sound like a Trump blue outside it shook the whole building and all the building
all the people were gone it was all empty except for him and he went oh
crud oh no and he felt didn't say a word he fell to his knees and he realized he
had just missed it and I'm not sure if that's exactly how it's gonna happen I'm
not saying that's biblical but what I am saying is that it is our job now to
realize that God is going to win and you want to be on the winning side if you're
playing games with God he is going to find you out and he already knows and
he's going to find you out so that is painfully obvious to one and all Isaiah
10 10 says it this way the prophet Isaiah as my hand has reached to the
kingdom of the idols whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and
Samaria so I shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images just as I have done to
Samaria and her idols don't you understand looking back at the
historical times of God this is the nice thing about prophecy and promises of God
as you can see them repeat over and over again God has exposed people who are
playing the game when David sinned by taking Bathsheba and arranging for Eriah
the Hittites to be dead we talked about that this last week when David did that
God sent Nathan to confront him Nathan told him a story so what should be done
this man David pronounced judgment on himself not knowing was talking about
himself pronounced judgment on himself he said that man should be killed and the
prophet said well you're that man and God found out not that he discovered
Davidson he already knew Davidson but he used the prophet to find out and make
it obvious and for David to pronounce his own judgment what judgment would you
pronounce on yourself not that you should but the truth is do you know if
you're playing games with God when God wins the day you'll be so ready to be
part of the winning team on that day and if you're not part of the winning team
between now and then you will not be part of the winning team on that day
because now is the day of salvation now is the time to make a decision notice
that he says here in this text that they will be as a fiery oven swallowed up by
God's wrath God doesn't even need to eat at piecemeal just swallowed up
completely consumed they'll be busy consuming themselves and others around
them thinking that they're they're finding their way they're getting what
they want they're prospering in the system that God created even they may
even think that God started the world and left it run and now they can do
whatever they want or that God started the world sent his son Jesus who died on
the cross for sins and now they can do whatever they want because they are
saved by grace not by works so I think now I can do whatever I want but the
truth is God's people need to respond to God you belong to the Lord and if you
continue to be his enemy after having done so you will pay a very dear price
swallowed up in his wrath the prophet Malachi on this kind of same topic in
chapter 3 the end of chapter 3 and going into chapter 4 writes as follows
beginning in verse 16 he says then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another
and the Lord gave attention and heard it and a book of remembrance was written
before him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem his name and they will be
mine says the Lord of hosts on that day on the day that I prepare my own
possession and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him so
you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked between one who
serves God and one who does not serve him for behold the day is coming burning
like a furnace and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff and the day
that is coming will set them ablaze says the Lord of hosts so that it will leave
them neither root nor branch
Malachi foresaw again this is before Jesus comes to the earth before the
death barrel in the resurrection while in the period of time as Paul says where
God still kind of scoffed or laughed at men's behavior and how foolish they were
but we're past that now Paul says now we're in the day where all men are
supposed to repent and turn to God because it's painfully evident what God
has done enemies of God will be defeated they will be crushed in their best
efforts and all the things that they're trying to do to resist God in this
lifetime will come to naught notice however that humans in their nature are
conniving a lot we're a dreaming lot we're a wise and crafty lot sometimes
people are taken in their own craftiness and I think that's what God's picture is
here the plans of those who resist God will be undone men's plans Psalm 2 the
psalmist writes it this way he says and this is then later quoted in the New
Testament Psalm 2 the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take
their counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed let us tear
their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us the world recognizes that
God is God and they just don't want to be controlled they just don't want to be
in submission they just don't want to be healed fixed changed made better all
the plans that men have all that they have done and yet God says I have a plan
it is a cold shot it is a surgical strike I will solve this problem
Psalm chapter 10 or Psalm 10 not chapter 10 it's on 10 verse 2 says in pride the
wicked hotly pursue the afflicted let them be caught in the plots which they
devise see this is God's plan that people who think that they're winning the day
will get away with whatever they think they're getting away with well meanwhile
they're consigning themselves to burn for an eternity well meanwhile they're
avoiding following Jesus's Lord and Savior and they are condemned already
by what they have done with the Son of God Jesus did not come to condemn he
didn't have to God Jesus did not come to sort and say you be a Christian you not
be a Christian you have to do that because there were those who were going
to accept what Jesus was doing there were those who were going to accept the
salvation that Jesus was providing and there were those who were not there were
those who were going to recognize him and there were those who were not the
plans of men will be undone and lastly thirdly I should say it says that the
enemies of God will be routed and face a surgical strike or a cold shot was
pretty clear and evident in Psalm 21 this is what it actually said though
they intended evil against thee and devised a plot they will not succeed for
thou wilt make them turn their back thou wilt aim with thy bowstrings at
their faces God will deal with his own enemies in his own time guess what that
means we do not need to it is not our job to come against men who are enemies
of God we do not have enemies that are flesh our enemies are spiritual in
nature evil spirits demons the world system political powers the things of
the world that stand against God God will deal with them in time as well but
God is already targeting them now with a surgical strike and a cold shot he has
said so and whether a man runs and goes down under a free hack or takes a shot
to the face either way he goes down but that's not our job God will be
responding with a surgical strike or a cold shot to his enemies in time then we
come to verse 13 and already our conclusion today for verse 13 says be
thou exalted you know something is when it's exalted right I think when it's
exalted is lifted up is recognized for what it is it is honored and glorified
as as far as sticks go this is a great one I have exalted the stick as far as
books go this is the best one I've exalted the Bible as far as God's go he
is the only one I've exalted God and so he says be thou exalted oh Lord and thy
strength I submit to you that here is the command of God that we could follow
and if you did this every day you would get enough right be exalted oh Lord in
thy strength God's power and ability how did Abraham get saved he trusted in a
way that God would make how did David get saved he trusted in a way that God
would make he exalted God and God's strength he trusted God's promises they
didn't know the name of Jesus most of the people who got saved before Jesus
was born didn't even know the phrase Emmanuel God with us they didn't
understand necessarily what a Savior would look like and if they did fuse
maybe Isaiah Micah maybe Jeremiah a few prophets began to get an inkling of it
it would be a suffering servant would be a man God a god man who would die for
sin they were beginning to get just an inkling of it but most of them trusted
in God's strength in a way if you were sitting here today and you say you know
that thing he's talking about about Jesus God that thing he's talking about
about Jesus I want to understand that I want to believe that I want to follow
Jesus I don't think I really know how but God I trust you the God of heaven you
alone I trust you this is the way show me the way if Jesus is the way show me
the way I'll follow Jesus if he's the way whatever that looks like that's how I
got saved Sherry asked me the previous Sunday before I went down to the office
she said she said well what does that mean you're gonna get saved you're
gonna follow Jesus gonna be saved I said I don't know but this much I know it's
gonna change everything and it did that's how I got saved I don't know you
don't know you don't know what tomorrow is gonna bring you can say I'm gonna
accept Jesus today and God forbid in ten years get diagnosed with cancer and as
you go through that process you're gonna have to use that cancer and your
circumstances and everything else to glorify God somehow how you gonna do
that people usually struggle with anger denial bitterness they pull back away
from family because they know they're gonna die and leave them they do all
kinds of stupid things when they struggle with real hardship like cancer
and I'm dying from it I've got a diagnosis I'll be dead in six months okay
well how do you handle that how do you glorify God and I have been at the bed
side of people who died from one illness and we're glorifying God all the way to
their very last breath or at least all the way to their very last breath
conscious and I have been at the bedside of people who did not know Jesus and
could not glorify God and most of what they were saying was oh forgive me and
I'm so sorry and call brother Sam because I really hurt him or call Tom
and ask him to come here or call that pastor I used to listen to and ask him
to come pray for me and they've got all these last-minute wants to take care of
regrets and things they didn't do what and they're trying to weave a plot or a
plan by which they're gonna leave this life with some kind of conclusion that
they can accept do you ever read a book and you get the last chapter you go I
know this is how this is gonna end and I don't like it I don't think I'm just
not gonna read it or okay I'm gonna read if I'm gonna hope for the best
because it doesn't look like it's gonna go good it's not what I want well that's
how they are they're at the last chapter of life they're going I don't get this I
don't want this I don't want to be here right now and yet they are and if you
accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today or if you have already done
so you are committing to endure that time to persevere through that time to
stand up for God why because God wins in the end he is strong and he will not
fail he does not fail to keep his promises and so whatever you go through
and you have a loved one that that turns their back on you walks away and you're
so hurt by that still using that to glorify God you lose a job that you've
been at for forever you thought oh it's gonna be I'm perfectly happier and all
of a sudden it's gone you've got to use that to glorify God you got out of bed
one morning you got a pain in your knee and you just won't go away day after day
week after week month after month you're in pain you've got to use that to
glorify God why because even when it doesn't look like it he's winning he
wins in the end and his enemies those who do not stand with him are his
enemies they will be consumed in his wrath they will face his anger even as
he targets their face their plans to to fix it all will be undone whatever God
puts you through that's what you're gonna go through and if you're choosing
to be an enemy you'll realize that you will be routed your plan will fail and
you will be stricken that brings us to our conclusion commanded to celebrate
God's strength we sing and praise him forever we start now start now as soon
as you know it's true but we sing and praise him and exalt him forever in the
book of Romans chapter 1 our first actual New Testament reference for the
day the book of Romans chapter 1 it says this beginning in verse 1 Paul a
bondservant of Christ Jesus called as an apostle set apart for the gospel of God
so this is who's writing the book he's an apostle means he's a sent one and he
set apart which means he's made holy for the gospel of God that's the truth about
Jesus and the truth that is Jesus which he promised beforehand through his
prophets God had already explained that this was coming Paul says in the Holy
Scriptures concerning his son who was born of a descendant of David according
to the flesh so he says the the truth that God had already told us is that it
would be a descendant of David who would come as a human for who was declared the
Son of God so that descendant of David Jesus was declared the Son of God with
power what power God's power God's strength with power by the resurrection
from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness Jesus Christ our Lord that's
who Paul was writing on behalf of that's who Paul is writing about that's who
Paul is living for that's who Paul wants to glorify that's who he exalts the
power of is our God he says according to the Spirit of holiness Jesus Christ our
Lord skip down then to verse 15 the same he says thus for my part I am eager to
preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome for I am not ashamed of the gospel
I am not ashamed of the gospel there is only one way to heaven and it is through
Jesus Christ our Lord no man cometh unto the Father even in prayer no man cometh
unto the Father except through Jesus Christ our Lord you can pray to God but
there is no guarantee he will answer any prayer except one of salvation from
anybody except the follower of Jesus if you can find a promise in the Bible I
would be amazed there is no promise that he will answer any prayer except the
salvation prayer of salvation for anybody except the follower of Jesus no
man cometh unto the Father except he come through me Jesus Christ speaking
John 14 six he says I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God
what what it what it's all 21 say exalt exalt the strength or the power of our
Lord be thou exalted or Lord in thy strength I will sing and praise thy
power for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek for
in it is the righteousness I'm sorry in it the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith to faith as it is written but the righteous man shall live by faith I
submit to you that we are now seeing the surgical strike the cold shot of our God
exactly how skilled is our God I think you may be getting be beginning to get
an inkling Isaiah 51 verses 7 to 8 so this is pre Jesus but I submit to you
that Jesus was a that Isaiah was a prophet who could kind of foresee what
was going to go on in Jesus's day Isaiah 53 for example talks a lot about the
crucifixion before crucifixion was ever invented right and in Isaiah 51 7 to 8
says as follows listen to me you who know righteousness a people in whose
heart is my law do not fear the reproach of men and that was it means
don't worry about it when people come against you don't fear it when people
come against you neither be dismayed at their revilings so in other words it
doesn't matter if they mock God mock you doesn't matter what dirty things come
out of their mouth or the way they behave how much of a slight to God is
don't worry about that he says do not fear that verse 8 says for the mouth for
the moth will eat them like a garment for the moth will eat them like a
garment and the grub will eat them like wool but my righteousness shall be
forever and my salvation to all generations here is God's surgical
stripe here is God's called shot the power of our God has singled out you has
singled out me has singled out us to be saved Jesus Christ was sent from all
eternity into mankind to go to the cross and die for Caleb show for Dan
Stevenson for Tim Mitchell it is a pointed arrow through all history you
are hearing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ because the power of our God is
such that he could target you amongst a billion humans amongst seven billion
humans that he could target the gospel at you specifically now that is a power
of God that is to be exalted if you're walking in your squad in the military
and there's a sniper out there and he puts his crosshairs on your head and he
pulls the trigger and blows your head off you're dead you're out if God puts
his crosshairs on you and he targets you with the gospel of Jesus Christ you're
in you're saved while the entire squad around you does not know Jesus while
your family while your friends while your co-workers while other citizens of
the United States claim some other version of Christianity here is the
version of Christianity that will get you where you're trying to get to it is
the gospel of Jesus and it is a surgical strike to save those who will be saved
why is it so important because if the God of heaven came into the earth now
and if there are let's say I don't remember what the number is now let's
say eight billion people alive on the earth or whatever and say there's eight
billion people if eight million people the God of heaven holy God came down
those eight billion people if they didn't know Jesus if there was no
salvation if there was no surgical strike of the gospel to save souls from
amongst them then those eight million people would face the wrath of a holy
God and they would go to hell for an eternity all of them every single one of
them except there is a surgical strike presented by God where he says will you
and if you say yes if you call upon the name of the Lord and you choose to
follow God through his son Jesus Christ amongst your family who may all go to
hell amongst your friends who may all go to hell against Toledo once who may all
go to hell against great political movements who may gather 12 or 15 or 20
million people all to follow their set of rules or great false religions who
may have the tenfold and have all these people go like I get about 90% of it
right and they're thinking they're going to heaven or those who blow themselves
up with a bomb thinking they're gonna get their virgins in heaven whatever all
of that they'll all go to hell because our God is able to surgically strike
those who will receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and what do you have to
do believe in the strength of our God Ephesians 2 by grace God will surgically
strike you and save your soul if you will believe in his strength to do so
the channel of faith opens wide by grace through faith the channel of faith opens
wide when you believe that God can do it when you believe that God will win when
you believe that God will overcome when you believe that God will make a way for
you to be saved and that he has done so through Jesus Christ his son who died on
the cross for your sins was resurrected on the third day stands at the right hand
of the father right now making intercession for those whom God has
surgically struck with the gospel you will meet all kinds of intelligent
people you'll meet all kinds of crafty people you'll meet strong people you'll
meet warriors and you'll meet Winklings but your walk of life your skin color
your level of prosperity your ability to solve problems do math or even your
ability to read not one of those things is a calculation and whether or not you
can be saved when God surgically strikes you when God calls to you all that
determines whether or not you will be saved is when he chooses you will you
allow it and don't kid yourself if you do not allow it you become in that
instant an enemy of God I remember when God called me forward to the altar as
the East little Baptist Church and I was supposed to walk down the aisle at first
Sunday I had gone alone first time I ever been in church alone in my whole
life I went until I was for just about like five months I was about five and
a half years old and there was a tragedy in my family and we never went again I
never went again to church until I was almost 25 and I've been going to church
for about almost six months I'm sitting in the back queue there and that morning
Sherry had worked until like 6 a.m. at her job she was supposed to be closing
the night for me that had been something going on and they didn't get out until
like 530 she got home to like 6 o'clock in the morning and she was just too
tired she couldn't get up and Alicia was the only child we had at that time we
had her out of wedlock we lived together before a marriage this time we're
legally married but our marriage was a mess and I got up and Alicia wasn't
going so I think she wasn't home she spent the night at a friend's house was
going to church with her friend I think but anyway pointed so I'm going by
myself so I go and I sit in the back to you there and God called me God said Dan
if you come follow me for the rest of your day I'll give you abundant life and
eternity I'll give you something to do something to do that matters more than
your writing lawnmower or your lawn or your house your loans or your cars he
said I'll fix everything about you if you let me and I said well God I
got to tell you you know I'm married and I ain't talked to my wife about this and
this is a pretty big decision so I'm gonna do that first and I declined and
the song ended and I was still standing in my pew from that moment in time I
became truly an enemy of God fact is I probably already was I certainly was an
object of his wrath according to Ephesians 2 because I was lost in my
trespasses and sins I was doing things that I should not do that's one of the
reasons why my marriage was such a mess because I was not a good man seven days
went by and I stood in the pew the next Sunday Alicia was there that Sunday but
she was in the little CC's because she was just a tot and the Lord called me to
come forward and he said Dan I'll do this all this for you save your soul
clean you up fix you up put you to work give you abundant life and eternity you
come serve me for the rest of your days I said darn it forgot to talk to my wife
said God you know I didn't talk to my wife the song ended I was still standing
in my pew and I walked out the door and by that time even I knew I was an enemy
of God let's not kid ourselves you know when God's aiming at your face you can
feel it if you can't see it so that Sunday afternoon I I got in the car we
were driving down to our favorite pizza restaurant Peglias or Polly eyes we
always call it pegs we as I was a kid is technically supposed to be Polly eyes
and we're driving down and I just decided to drive along the Portage River
instead of driving down 75 and get there both ways Port River slower and it's
windy and we had my dad had taken that way a lot when we were kids and so I
decided I'd do that we hit the first curve on the Portage River where the
road kind of curves around and used to be a big old barn there and I recognized
the curve and I I was driving our Toyota Corolla the car that I bought that I
never wanted to buy but my wife talked me into it
cause a lot of strife between us at the time and I looked at her and I said I
got to talk to you about something and my heart shook and my mind was frayed and
my palms were sweaty we had that Toyota Corolla had one of those plastic
steering wheels remember those plastic steering wheels no cover on it and I
said dear I think I'm gonna give my life to the Lord and she said she kind of
went what does that even mean and I said I don't know but I know it's gonna
change everything everything about me is gonna change see that's the thing
everybody wants to come to Jesus but they don't they aren't willing to let God
be in charge you got to exalt God's strength okay so I said well everything's
gonna change so then in in true fashion of our friction marriage she said back
to me she said well you do whatever you got to do and I'll do what I got to do
and I already knew that there was a good chance we were gonna get divorced
because we didn't have a good relationship and I thought well if
everything changed everything about me she liked who I was before I couldn't
imagine she liked who I was then but except she liked who I was when she
married me and she wanted me she wanted me before I wanted her marriage anyway
and I said if she liked me before and now everything's gonna change she's
probably gonna want me no more and so I thought but so I actually that following
Sunday I'm sitting in the back pew and I'm alone again she didn't come to
church I'm alone again even great-grandma wasn't there that Sunday and she was
the only other person in the church that I knew and God said Dan I'll save your
soul I'll clean you up I'll fix you up I'll make you able I'll give you an
abundant life and an eternity it's all prepared it's all paid for already if
you just trust me if you just believe in me open up I'll do it and here's my
thought I'm thinking to myself well if I do this my wife is probably gonna
divorce me and I wanted Jesus so bad I wanted Jesus so bad in that moment that
if if I had done that if I could have never breathed again I'd have gone
forward except there was one huge barrier and that was that I as a non
Christian I'm super intimidated I could never preach never teach I missed 38
days of my junior year high school to miss every report in front of the
classroom that I would ever have to give and only got caught once one time I went
back and they made me give the report but other than that I gave one new junior
year's lot of talking in front of the class or at least it used to be back
then and I gave one I missed 38 days the truant officer used to go stand in the
doorway of my school trying to catch me coming in late because I was always
late and if I wasn't late I was never wasn't there and he'd been at my house a
couple of times this back in the day when they cared now you got to drive to
Columbus if you're missing too much school the point is he would go looking
for me he was looking for Dan Stevenson why Dan seems not in school why is he
showing a plate whatever and I I knew I had to walk forward in front of that
church but I wanted abundant life I wanted eternity I knew I needed to be
forgiven I knew I was an enemy of God and believe it or not in my foolish place
that I was at I knew that God wins and so I exalted God's strength and I said
God I can't do it but if you'll do it for me I'll do it and standing in the
back of that pew my feet were side by side like this and my knees were
probably shaking and my hands are sweating my mouth full of cotton and I
turned my foot out about three inches like that and the next thing I know I
swear to God I did not take those 50 steps I was nose to nose with the
pastor and he said you want to become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and
serve him for the rest of your days and I said yes I do and he said you want to
come and be baptized name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit just as
Jesus commanded and I said yes I do even though I knew that man I was gonna have
to get up in front of the church again and he said and you want to come and
join this church and be part of this church and serve God for the rest of
your days and I said yes I do and every time I said yes I my my body my desires
my flesh screamed don't do that don't do that don't do that but now my body is
on board baby my body loves this life that I'm living for Jesus even though I
mess it up a lot of different ways it's so glad because if it wasn't for that
day I'd have been gone a long time ago I'm here to tell you today this simple
fact or this set of facts one God will win the enemies of God will be defeated
the plans of men who stand against God will be undone that'll look like the
wrath of God completely swallowing burning hot ovens as people try
everything in their power and there is no other solution and God consumes them
for an eternity unfortunately his wrath will consume them for an eternity