1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,000 Here's a weak record for you. If we can all be excited about the Gospel and sharing Jesus with people like the Vri kid was about talking about Mario, I think, I think that would be very effective, right, in the kingdom of God. 2 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:24,000 So thank you so much for that video. Our kids are awesome. And Jack, I love playing baseball with you too. 3 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:33,000 We continue our sermon series in the summer of Psalms looking at God's faithfulness. We've done this now and we'll do this through the month of July as well. 4 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:39,000 In July we have some new guest preachers that will be coming in to share some Psalms with us as well. 5 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:45,000 But today we're looking at what does it mean to find security in God's faithfulness. 6 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:55,000 And so I want to start by asking a question. When you think of the word security, what comes to mind? The word security. 7 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:04,000 Safety. A safe, an actual safe, absolutely. Police, okay. 8 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:16,000 Parents, assets, okay. So we've got the front of the church, alright, you guys are good. Back of the church and balcony. I can see a hand in the balcony. 9 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:24,000 The army, sure, okay. Others? Protection. 10 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,000 What about peace and comfort? 11 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:36,000 And I think a lot of times we go to defending things or locking things up and those are all right definitions. 12 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:46,000 But what I think we're going to find in this Psalm is that God is faithful in the security he gives us from the hard things that happen in life, 13 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:52,000 but also of the hard things that happen in here and the hard things that happen in here. 14 00:01:52,000 --> 00:02:02,000 That there are times our security or our need for security comes when the anxious times come or the fear comes or the bank balance gets low 15 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:13,000 or you get called into the HR office or any kind of practical things too where all of a sudden our anxieties, our worry, our stress goes one, two, ten. 16 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:19,000 Now for all of you that can temper that and you never really get to ten, I want to learn your secret. 17 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:26,000 Because I am someone that all of a sudden I will be doing fine, something will come onto the plate and it will just start to rise. 18 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:35,000 And that's something I need to work on. God gave me a wonderful partner in care who, unless it's something I did, she doesn't get past four and that's really helpful. 19 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:40,000 Unfortunately things I do get her to ten, but you know it's just a good balance. 20 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:45,000 But that's the security and the peace of God's faithfulness. 21 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:50,000 And so like I said what we are going to do this summer is we are going to look at our confessions. 22 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:54,000 And I got asked why this past week, why am I looking to the confessions? 23 00:02:54,000 --> 00:03:05,000 Because I think the confessions are a great help in helping me in my fallible dumb mind to figure out what the scriptures are saying. 24 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:15,000 That the confessions based on scripture help us kind of guide our thoughts into all of these different questions and answers we have in life. 25 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:25,000 And so we are going to look at that this summer and if we are going to continually look at them that is something that you guys can pick up on that it's real good to read those things. 26 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:33,000 I have a great book by Kevin DeYoung where he goes through in very short chapters of the entire Heideberg Catechism that is a great daily devotional. 27 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:38,000 They make those for the Belgian Confession and the Cansons of Dort as well. 28 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:44,000 Those are good things to go back to to remind ourselves of the truth of God's Word. 29 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:49,000 But again we also know and we recognize that they all stand on God's Word. 30 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,000 Without God's Word the confessions would not be written. 31 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,000 So understand it's not trying to lead you one way or the other. 32 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,000 It doesn't have any kind of agenda. 33 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:02,000 What it does it illuminates the scriptures for us in a very practical way. 34 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:12,000 So we're going to jump in to Psalm 16 and point one I have is God's faithfulness as our refuge and provider. 35 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,000 So we're going to read the first two verses. 36 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:21,000 Preserve me O God in you for in you I take refuge. 37 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,000 I say the Lord you are my Lord. 38 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:31,000 I have no good apart from you. 39 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,000 Couple key words there. 40 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:41,000 If you look in verse one preserve me O God for in you I find or I take refuge. 41 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:46,000 That God's refuge God that is part of who God is. 42 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,000 That God is our strong tower. 43 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,000 He is our safe place even if he's correcting us. 44 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,000 Even if he's shining light on our darkness. 45 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,000 He is our refuge and strength. 46 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:04,000 Then at the end it says you are my Lord I have no good apart from you. 47 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,000 And I wrestled with that this week. 48 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,000 I have no good apart from you. 49 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:15,000 That I think in the world we live in we try to or we put the word good on a lot of different things. 50 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,000 And not all of it's bad. 51 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:25,000 To look at things in your life maybe marriage kids and ability to play a sport or to think differently about certain things. 52 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,000 These are good things. 53 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,000 God has created things good in you. 54 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:35,000 And you know how I know that is because there are bad things in the world that want you to not be good. 55 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,000 Satan his minions all of those kind of things. 56 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,000 The evil and sin in the world does not want you to be good. 57 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:46,000 Or sin wants you to believe that it is good. 58 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:51,000 And so I think this statement right off the bat preserve me. 59 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,000 Meaning God keep me in the good. 60 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:55,000 Keep me in your life. 61 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,000 Keep me in those things of you. 62 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,000 Allow me not to follow my desire to go to the dark. 63 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,000 To go to the bad. 64 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:11,000 The second half of the Belgian Confession Article 13 helps us kind of understand some of this. 65 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:18,000 We do not wish to inquire with undue curiosity into what God does that surpasses human understanding. 66 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,000 And is beyond our ability to comprehend. 67 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:27,000 But in all humanity and reverence we adore the just judgments of God. 68 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,000 Which are hidden from us. 69 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:33,000 Being content to be Christ's disciples. 70 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:40,000 So as we learn only what God shows us in his word without going beyond those limits. 71 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,000 This doctrine gives us unspeakable comfort. 72 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:48,000 Since it teaches us that nothing can happen to us by chance. 73 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,000 But only by the arrangement of our gracious heavenly father. 74 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,000 Who watches over us with fatherly care. 75 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:58,000 Sustaining all creatures under his lordship. 76 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:03,000 So that not one of the hairs on our head, for they are all numbered. 77 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:09,000 Nor even a little bird can fall to the ground without the will of our father. 78 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,000 This article affirms God's providence. 79 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:17,000 Stating that he rules and governs all things. 80 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,000 Well let's time out there. Let's pause. 81 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:26,000 Because I have a feeling 36% of you in a percentage I just made up. 82 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:28,000 Take issue with that. 83 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,000 And it's probably one of the most common questions I get as a pastor. 84 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,000 Elders and deacons probably get if people talk to them. 85 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:41,000 Is why would a good God allow bad things to happen? 86 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,000 And I always kind of go back. 87 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,000 I remember I was, I don't even remember where I was. 88 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:47,000 When Katrina happened. 89 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,000 But that's one that people bring up all the time. 90 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,000 It's kind of random in my mind. 91 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,000 But people are like, where was God in Katrina? 92 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,000 Pastor, where was God in Katrina? 93 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:03,000 I mean as a young pastor being asked that when you're in your early 20s. 94 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,000 You're like, he was in heaven. I have no idea. Why are you asking me? 95 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,000 But as I've grown, as I've matured in this. 96 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:14,000 One of the things I have to understand is A. there is sin in the world. 97 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:19,000 That sin is raging against, the darkness is raging against the light. 98 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:25,000 And if the light has been given to all of us, then where is God? 99 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:31,000 God is found within each and every one of you and me in the church. 100 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:35,000 That in those times of need, in those times of distress. 101 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:40,000 Whether global catastrophes or inner turmoils. 102 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,000 God is with his people. 103 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:48,000 And nowhere in the Bible does it say, you know what? 104 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,000 You guys, nothing bad is ever going to happen to you. 105 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,000 Everything in your life is going to be all good. 106 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:54,000 Nowhere in the Bible does it say that. 107 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,000 Now it does say that God will work things for good. 108 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,000 For those that are called to his purposes. 109 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:07,000 But again, God's definition of good and our definition of good, rarely the same. 110 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:14,000 And what we have to understand and take on faith and grace was the promises that we read there. 111 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:21,000 That God's faithfulness as our refuge and provider is evident in two things. 112 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:26,000 His sovereign care and his provision. 113 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:30,000 Everything good in our lives come from his hand. 114 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:31,000 But we struggle with that. 115 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,000 I struggle with that because I think I can do good things. 116 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,000 I think I can produce good things. 117 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,000 I think I can say good things. 118 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,000 I think I can do good things. 119 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,000 But here's the rub. 120 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,000 We can't have our cake and eat it too. 121 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,000 We can't say, Lord, you are my everything. 122 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:54,000 But then in some things, I want part of it. 123 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,000 That I want all the glory in life. 124 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,000 But God, you're going to get all the blame. 125 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,000 That is not how it works. 126 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:08,000 That if you want to be the Lord of your life, then you are the Lord of your life in the good and the bad. 127 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,000 And I guarantee you, you will fall short. 128 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:19,000 I guarantee you, you will oversell and under deliver because if you are the Lord of your life, then sin has taken over. 129 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,000 The sin of pride has taken over. 130 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:23,000 And that is not a good thing. 131 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,000 That is wrought with darkness. 132 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:36,000 And understanding that God in his sovereign care and provision should put the right understanding for when we struggle in life. 133 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,000 We've all struggled in one way or the other. 134 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:44,000 We could sit and listen to the testimonies of how God has worked through your struggles all day. 135 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:54,000 But we'd never get to the Father's Day barbecue because it would take forever because God sees, knows, and has been with all of those struggles. 136 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,000 We had the wedding of Kyle and Maddie yesterday. 137 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:04,000 And I was just in the annex talking to a couple of the groomsmen as they were getting ready. 138 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:14,000 And I just find myself at time looking at this history strip that was just wonderfully built for the 150th anniversary almost four years ago now, which is insane. 139 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:20,000 But I look at kind of the faithfulness of God through all of that, not because Munster Church was always good. 140 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:25,000 Because if Munster Church was always good, right, then we would have a misunderstanding of God's sovereignty. 141 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:35,000 But how in August in what, a little over two months, this church is going to celebrate 154 years. 142 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,000 That's a long time, right? 143 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:45,000 That's a long time that God has seen it to make sure even though the church burned down technically twice. 144 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:46,000 There was one early, early on. 145 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,000 But the big one in 1952, it was rebuilt. 146 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:57,000 They got it allowed for all of that to happen, that God has been not in a perfect way, but God has been represented by this church for that long. 147 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:03,000 And now, 2024, you are a part of that legacy. 148 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:11,000 And I think that we want to be a church that depends on God's sovereign care and provision in everything. 149 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:16,000 Because even as a church, we can get it twisted and make it about us. 150 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:17,000 Look at what we're doing. 151 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:18,000 Look how we're growing. 152 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:23,000 And then all of a sudden, and for those of you that do it, you do it in comparison to other churches. 153 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:24,000 Shame on you. 154 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,000 Stop doing that. 155 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:33,000 It's not like this is the only kingdom at work on earth as it is in heaven at 214 Ridge Road. 156 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:37,000 I can tell you about 50 churches that are doing really good things. 157 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,000 But what are we emulating as a church? 158 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,000 That we have it all together? 159 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,000 We're going to be insular because we're growing so much? 160 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,000 Or are we going to be outreach oriented, right? 161 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,000 Are we going to go out? 162 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:56,000 Are we going to teach people what it means to lean on God's sovereign care and provision? 163 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:06,000 So in this week, I want you to reflect on the ways God has been your refuge and provider in times of uncertainty or need. 164 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:13,000 And my challenge for all of us, myself included, is to turn to Him in prayer and trust in His provision. 165 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:20,000 You can pray for His provision, but in some ways that's a short-sighted prayer that He will always give that. 166 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:30,000 On a more specific level, and I'm going to use me as the first example, that I need to acknowledge and give thanks for the specific ways that He has provided for me. 167 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:40,000 Whether through physical needs, emotional support, or spiritual sustenance, that I need to rest that God will do that. 168 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,000 Well, how can I stand on that? 169 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:43,000 How do I know? 170 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:47,000 Let's jump to verse 5 and 6. 171 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:52,000 I stand on that because the Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. 172 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,000 You hold my lot. 173 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:56,000 We'll get back to that. 174 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,000 The lines have fallen for me in the pleasant places. 175 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:04,000 Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 176 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:08,000 Ah, inheritances. 177 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:13,000 How many of you have inherited things from a loved one after they've died? 178 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:14,000 Raise your hand. 179 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:19,000 Does anyone want to tell us about one, something that maybe you inherited? 180 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,000 And don't tell me like, I inherited their eyes. 181 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:25,000 I'm talking more like physical things, okay? 182 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,000 More possessional things. 183 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:31,000 Even I guess eyes are possessional and physical, but you know what I mean. 184 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,000 Any stories of things that you've inherited? 185 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,000 Yeah. 186 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,000 Creepy dolls from Grandma. 187 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,000 Yep, and they are. 188 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:48,000 Especially when she has them just like up on the nightstand staring at me when I walk into the room. 189 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:50,000 She's never done that. 190 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,000 Others. 191 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,000 Who can beat creepy dolls? 192 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,000 Half of you rose your hand. 193 00:14:58,000 --> 00:14:59,000 Nothing of note, okay? 194 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,000 Careful, your mom's sitting right next to you. 195 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:07,000 Oh, you're talking about somebody else. 196 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,000 That's true, you are still alive. 197 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,000 That is true, even though the last couple months you've tried hard. 198 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:14,000 So Andy's mom, what? 199 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,000 A coin collection? 200 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,000 What are we talking? 201 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,000 Yes, I know coins are money. 202 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,000 No, they're doubloons. 203 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:25,000 Never mind. 204 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:26,000 Okay, a coin collection. 205 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:27,000 Interesting. 206 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:28,000 Anyone else? 207 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,000 We go from creepy dolls to coins. 208 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:34,000 Yeah. 209 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:35,000 A Bible. 210 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,000 That's a beautiful gift, right? 211 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,000 Were there notes written in it in different things? 212 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,000 Yeah, that's special, absolutely. 213 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:46,000 That definitely beats coins and creepy dolls, that's for sure. 214 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,000 Now, I mean, Marilyn went to Bible, so I think that's kind of the trump card of examples. 215 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,000 Because I can't say anyone can beat Bible. 216 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,000 I probably shouldn't say that from the stage. 217 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,000 But anyone else? 218 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,000 Inheritances? 219 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,000 Jewelry, sure, absolutely. 220 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:05,000 My dad had four diamonds on his wedding ring. 221 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:12,000 And my mom gave that to me as an inheritance when I was getting ready to propose to Carrie. 222 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,000 And I actually got to use those diamonds on her engagement ring. 223 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:18,000 So thanks, Dad, you saved me about two grand. 224 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,000 Any others? 225 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,000 Inheritance means something. 226 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:31,000 Because someone was thinking about you, per se, before they went to glory. 227 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:39,000 That inheritances are actually a very meaningful thing, which why in my almost 18 years, 228 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:46,000 I've sat in three different rooms where inheritances became such contention in a family 229 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:50,000 because pride, greed, and desire came over it. 230 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:55,000 Because they knew that loved one so-and-so that went to be with the Lord had something. 231 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,000 And at the end of the day, instead of mourning or instead of grieving or in their mourning 232 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:04,000 and in their grieving, they said, I want, I demand that. 233 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:08,000 And I have seen families go to war with each other over it. 234 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,000 But that's not what the Psalmist is talking about. 235 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:15,000 What the Psalmist is talking about is not only the Lord is my chosen portion, 236 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:19,000 and again, we'll get to that in a second, but the lines have fallen for me. 237 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,000 Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 238 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:30,000 Friends, do we stand and live in the light of the fact that we have an inheritance coming to us. 239 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:36,000 Psalm 23, you've prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 240 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:37,000 You anoint my head with oil. 241 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:39,000 My cup overflows. 242 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:44,000 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, 243 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,000 and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 244 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:53,000 That is our inheritance for those in Christ. 245 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:58,000 The question I have, is that enough while we're on this side of glory? 246 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,000 Because for some of us, we go, how can I quantify that here? 247 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,000 You can't. 248 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:09,000 But it's something that we strive for, and if the Lord is our chosen portion, 249 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:13,000 then we should be okay with it. 250 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,000 How many people have picky eaters in their family? 251 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:17,000 It's time to get it out. 252 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,000 It's time to confess. 253 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:24,000 Yeah, picky eaters in our family. 254 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,000 Thank you for pointing to mom and keeping her honest, Joey. 255 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:28,000 Thank you, yes. 256 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:35,000 Yeah, that picky eaters, they're the best and the worst when it comes to trying to find something to eat. 257 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,000 But we can be picky about certain things, right? 258 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:47,000 And again, my oldest, I love him to death, but you tend to be picky, right? 259 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:48,000 Kind of, right? 260 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:53,000 I mean, you want sushi and seafood every day, and I'm like, we're born in the wrong family 261 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,000 because that stuff's not cheap. 262 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:02,000 But when we have these kind of picky people in our family, what ends up happening? 263 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:07,000 When you have picky eaters, what ends up happening when it comes to what you eat in the house? 264 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:08,000 What? 265 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,000 A lot of leftovers. 266 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,000 Fair enough. 267 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:12,000 Holly? 268 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:13,000 Arguing. 269 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,000 Okay, fair enough. 270 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,000 They what? 271 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:19,000 They dictate the meal plan, right? 272 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:24,000 So then all of a sudden, we, everything gets kind of put through the pickiness of these people. 273 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:30,000 And one of my boys, I think he'd be fine with chicken nuggets every day. 274 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:39,000 That understand that when we offer that, then it becomes about what we want. 275 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:47,000 But if the Lord is our chosen portion and our cup, one of the things we need to do when we surrender our lives to Jesus, 276 00:19:47,000 --> 00:20:04,000 when we recognize Jesus is Lord, is that Jesus' portion for our life and the cup that he gives us every day is exactly what we need. 277 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,000 And that's hard. 278 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:12,000 Because for some of you today, you're sitting looking at the portion of your life or the cup that you have to drink, 279 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:18,000 whether it's a job, a relationship, family, you're a quote unquote lot in life. 280 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:24,000 And all you can do is look over to somebody else and go, I wish I had that one. 281 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,000 I don't want my portion. 282 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:32,000 My cup is too hard. 283 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,000 I don't know if I can do it. 284 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:45,000 But friends, the truth of the word is that God knows you, God loves you, and this is where you are. 285 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:46,000 This is what he's offered you. 286 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:51,000 This is what your lot and your portion is. 287 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,000 But pastor, I don't want that. 288 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:57,000 I want something different. 289 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:01,000 There's not much I can say to that as your pastor. 290 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,000 What I can tell you is what we have in God's word is where you are, what you're now. 291 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:11,000 If you are, if all of a sudden there's active sin in your life, yeah, that probably needs to be changed. 292 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,000 That needs to be confessed and turned away from. 293 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:23,000 But understand, where you are in life, what you see as a want, want, God goes, I have put you here for a reason and a purpose. 294 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:29,000 You need to strive for that. 295 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:33,000 But what does that look like when you have a family member that's sick? 296 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,000 Why in the world would God give cancer to this person? 297 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,000 Why in the world would a fire happen that would consume a child? 298 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,000 Why all of a sudden, now we go back to the first, see how they build on each other? 299 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,000 Why would bad things happen if God is so good? 300 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:51,000 Because our lot and our portion was never going to be easy. 301 00:21:51,000 --> 00:22:00,000 When there is an active force in the world today, you know, Satan and his minions, right, when there's active sin in the world, 302 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:05,000 guys, it's not always going to be good in our definition of it. 303 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,000 That our portion and our lot are set by a sovereign God. 304 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:17,000 And what it really is doing, and this may, oh, this may hurt, is that we don't trust that God's sovereign. 305 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,000 This is my inheritance. 306 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,000 What I'm going through right now is my inheritance on earth. 307 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,000 No, you misread it. 308 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:28,000 The inheritance is coming. 309 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,000 As Debbie pointed out, she doesn't need to give inheritance. 310 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,000 She's still alive. 311 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:38,000 But when we all go, right, then we will receive our inheritance. 312 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:45,000 The heart of our catechism, Lord's Day 22, helps us understand, and this is the section of breaking down the Lord's Prayer, 313 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:54,000 when we talk about life everlasting in the Lord's Prayer, the question is, how does the article concerning life everlasting comfort you? 314 00:22:54,000 --> 00:23:00,000 Answer, even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, 315 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:08,000 so after this life I will have perfect blessedness, such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human heart has ever imagined, 316 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:13,000 a blessedness in which to praise God forever. 317 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:18,000 Leave that up. 318 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:28,000 This question affirms joy and comfort in the hope we have of everlasting life. 319 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,000 We struggle with the here and now. 320 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,000 It's because we think in some ways that's all we have. 321 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,000 We don't. 322 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:43,000 The here and now is but a blip on the radar of what eternity is going to be with God, 323 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:49,000 in a way that no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, no human heart has ever imagined, 324 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,000 a blessedness in which to praise God forever. 325 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,000 Well then let's just go there now. 326 00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:02,000 No, because the greatest gift you can give, outside of laying down your life for a friend, as the Bible says, 327 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:06,000 is to bring people to that understanding. 328 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:13,000 In a world that is filled with darkness, a world that's only getting darker, this is good news. 329 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:20,000 This, pointing to this, is part of the cup that you have in life and the portion of where you find yourself. 330 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:29,000 That when we make the cup and the lot and the portion of where we are now, so wah-wah, we forget we have a job to do. 331 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:36,000 We forget that we should be emulating this because we should be finding comfort in it. 332 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,000 But what happens, Jim, when we don't? 333 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:50,000 What happens when we can't find that comfort in life? 334 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:55,000 This question affirms the joy and comfort we have in a hope of everlasting life. 335 00:24:55,000 --> 00:25:07,000 When we experience complete blessedness with God forever, God's faithfulness is seen in securing our eternal inheritance with Christ. 336 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:16,000 We have a secure and delightful inheritance that cannot be taken away. 337 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:22,000 But what happens when I'm not feeling it here on earth? 338 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:29,000 This is not going to come out as super compassionate and I think there's a reason for it because it's not about you. 339 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,000 It's not about me. 340 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,000 It's not about me getting all the comforts in life. 341 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:40,000 It's not about me having everything I need to fulfill whatever carnal desires I have. 342 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,000 Because let's call a spade a spade. 343 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:54,000 Am I going to do that if I'm going to meet all of those carnal desires and needs? Am I really going to need God? 344 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,000 My wife struggles with this when gift giving because I found Teemu. 345 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:00,000 How many people have ever found Teemu? 346 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,000 Yeah, I'm a Teemu addict and I'm here to confess. 347 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:04,000 No, I'm really not. 348 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:09,000 But the minute that came out at the Super Bowl, Carrie looked at me with a lot of concern. 349 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:14,000 But she struggles to buy gifts for me because if there's something I like, I buy it. 350 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,000 Well, then she can't gift it. 351 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:22,000 And so I use this analogy in a way that if I'm always doing that for myself, 352 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:26,000 A, how can I allow my wife to bless me in that way when she wants to? 353 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:35,000 But when we flip side to it to kind of our spiritual and we try to meet all of our own spiritual needs on our own, 354 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,000 what we're saying, God, is God, I don't need you to gift me. 355 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:44,000 God, I got this. God, everything you can do, I can do for myself. 356 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:49,000 And we all know that that's a bunch of junk. We can't do that. 357 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:55,000 Because can we have eternal comfort and security in all things? 358 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,000 No. And if she was here, I'd ask her. 359 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:04,000 But Ali, your mom, that was part of our conversation a couple of months ago, wasn't it? 360 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:12,000 96 years old, Nuria White did not have a piece inside of her as she's watching all of her friends pass away. 361 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:18,000 There was some conflict going on, something that in her 96 years of traveling this globe, 362 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:22,000 she was not able to find herself. 363 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,000 There was a restlessness there. 364 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:30,000 Sitting down and talking with her and Ali and Jess, Kathy Sleekers, Ellie Besine, 365 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:39,000 trying to have her understand this void can be filled by the person of Jesus Christ. 366 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:44,000 And Mother's Day, this year we saw that as she was baptized. 367 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:53,000 That we need to understand and find that comfort and that joy of the salvation we have as our inheritance. 368 00:27:53,000 --> 00:28:00,000 In moments of doubt and fear about our future, remember that ultimate inheritance is in Christ. 369 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:07,000 So really what that should do is give meaning to our suffering, give meaning to the hard times we go through in life, 370 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:13,000 the dry spells of faith that we all will go through. 371 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,000 That friend, God is playing the long game with you. 372 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:21,000 So give yourself some grace and understand that God is at work. 373 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:26,000 Why? Because God's faithfulness preserves our life. 374 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:52,000 This is 7 through 11. 375 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:07,000 And in your presence there is a fullness of joy at your right hand are our pleasures forever more. 376 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:12,000 When God is preserving you, he preserves your life. 377 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,000 He preserves your coming and your going. 378 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,000 He preserves the highs and lows. 379 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:23,000 When things are high and everything's great and we don't acknowledge God, it's not like he goes, 380 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,000 fine, you don't need me, I don't need you. 381 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:32,000 No, he's still there because he knows all of us in our kind of fallibility, if you will, 382 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,000 that when we are in our lowest points we will then reach out to him. 383 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:44,000 I've used this analogy before growing up and even now we pray for God to give us safe travel as we go to Kalamazoo to see my grandma. 384 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,000 And then every time we go we don't stop and say thank God for giving us safe travel. 385 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,000 It's the same thing. 386 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:57,000 When life's going great, the bank account is flush, relationship seems to be good, your marriage seems to be healthy, 387 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:03,000 all of these things, are we thanking God for that or are we saying, I kind of did it myself. 388 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,000 I figured it out. 389 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:09,000 I know the secrets to this life. 390 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:16,000 But inevitably when the coin flips and we know it does and it will, then we're crying out to God. 391 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,000 What kind of game are we playing with God? 392 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:28,000 Yet what this tells us and what the Canons of Dort, Head 5, Article 8, the certainty of preservation tells us, 393 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:33,000 so it is not by their own merits or strength or our own merits or strength, 394 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:43,000 but by God's undeserved mercy that we neither forfeit faith and grace totally nor remain in their downfalls to the end and are lost. 395 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:54,000 With respect to themselves, this not only easily could happen, but also undoubtedly would happen, 396 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:58,000 but with respect to God, it cannot possibly happen. 397 00:30:58,000 --> 00:30:59,000 That's a lot. 398 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,000 God's plan cannot be changed. 399 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,000 God's promises cannot fail. 400 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,000 The calling according to God's purposes cannot be revoked. 401 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:12,000 The merit of Christ as well as the interceding and preserving cannot be nullified. 402 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:17,000 The seeding of the Holy Spirit can neither be invalidated nor wiped out. 403 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:19,000 What does this mean? 404 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:26,000 That outside of the denial of the Holy Spirit that we see in the Scriptures, 405 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:31,000 what you do in life does not cancel God's sovereignty. 406 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:34,000 And I don't know, maybe some of us needed to hear that today. 407 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:39,000 And maybe some of you, you're trying really hard to cancel God's sovereignty in your life. 408 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:40,000 Time out. 409 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:41,000 Pause. 410 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:42,000 Why? 411 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,000 Why would you want to do that? 412 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,000 Why would we want to even have that mentality? 413 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:54,000 Or for some of us, we're going to ride that line of grace where Paul already has said, 414 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,000 should we continue to sin that grace may abound? 415 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,000 Surely not. 416 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:05,000 But for some of us, we like to pray for the grace and the forgiveness of what we're going to do on the weekend on Monday. 417 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,000 Friends, Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls that cheap grace. 418 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:13,000 And what this article speaks to is not only the assurance of our perseverance, 419 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:19,000 but affirming that God preserves His chosen ones in faith, 420 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:23,000 ensuring that they remain steadfast until the end. 421 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:31,000 A note that I made is that God's faithfulness is evident in the preservation of life. 422 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:38,000 He guides, protects, and ensures that He will not abandon, but will enjoy eternal life with Him. 423 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:44,000 The key point in that, that we will enjoy eternal life with Him. 424 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:50,000 Which is exactly why Adam and Eve were not allowed to stay in the garden. 425 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:54,000 Because what was the tree that they would have been into? 426 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,000 The tree of everlasting life. 427 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:05,000 And then with sin, wrought with sin, they would be in eternity as sinful with no atoning sacrifice. 428 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,000 That's why the cherubim was there. 429 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,000 That's why they were not allowed to go back in. 430 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:14,000 Yet in our minds, we try to go back to Eden all the time. 431 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:16,000 Friends, that is not for us. 432 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,000 Eden is not for us. 433 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,000 Heaven is for us. 434 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:28,000 Trying to get all of that glory here on earth will never happen. 435 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,000 Yet we try. 436 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:37,000 And when we do that, in some ways we make a fool of God's faithfulness. 437 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,000 So what do we need to do here? 438 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,000 The great hymn has it already set up. 439 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:47,000 Trust and obey, for there is no other way. 440 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:53,000 Friends, as we go from our place today, we need to trust in God's preserving power. 441 00:33:53,000 --> 00:34:00,000 When you face trials or fears about your future, remember that God is with you and will not abandon you. 442 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:07,000 Rest in His security of His faithful presence and His guidance. 443 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,000 But sometimes that's hard. I get it. 444 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:21,000 But we need to trust and obey because that is recognizing that God's way is the best way. 445 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,000 Why we test that, I don't know. 446 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,000 And I'm speaking to myself first. 447 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:29,000 Why there are times I think my sermon on the Mount makes a lot more sense than Jesus's, 448 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,000 I will never know why I'm a fool like that. 449 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:39,000 But wherever that is for you, wherever you need to re-trust that God's always got you, 450 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:44,000 God has you now and God will have you until you're with Him, 451 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:49,000 may you work in your week to learn and grow how we can trust God better. 452 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,000 Please stand if you are able. 453 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:56,000 And let us pray this prayer together. 454 00:34:56,000 --> 00:35:01,000 Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your unwavering faithfulness. 455 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:06,000 You are our refuge and provider, the guarantor of our inheritance, 456 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,000 the preserver of our lives. 457 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:15,000 Help us trust You more deeply and to live in the security of Your faithful care. 458 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:21,000 Fill our hearts with joy and peace, knowing that we are safe in Your hands. 459 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:36,000 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.