Psalm 18 and verse 2. The Lord is my rock and
my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock
in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn
of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the
Lord who is worthy to be praised and I am saved.
from my enemies. And then just quickly into the
New Testament to Romans chapter 11, where we
see that this same word, deliverer, is used of
God in the 26th verse, quoting here from the
Old Testament, the book of Isaiah chapter 59,
and thus all Israel will be saved. writes the
Apostle Paul, speaking about that future restoration
of the nation of Israel, prophetically. Just
as it is written, he says, the Deliverer will
come from Zion, he will remove ungodliness from
Jacob. Tonight we are looking at this theme,
the Lord our Deliverer. This is not a very difficult
idea, is it? In fact, it's a very simple one.
The word deliverer in the Hebrew comes from a
verb in the Hebrew which means to escape or to
effect or to provide release for something or
someone. And here the Greek word deliverer in
the New Testament comes from a verb that means
to draw to oneself or to rescue someone. Now
as you see, this is a quotation from the Old
Testament, and if you look at the Old Testament
reference in Isaiah, you find instead of deliverer
there, the Hebrew word is redeemer. So there's
a close association between the titles deliverer
and redeemer. When we think of the word redeemer
in the Old Testament sense, we think of the kinsmen.
redeemer, that near relative who had certain
responsibilities to fulfill under the Old Testament
economy or order of things. A kinsman redeemer
might be responsible to save the property of
a near relative of his. That is, to deliver that
property, to rescue it and bring it back into
the family. Or he might be responsible to take
his brother's wife, if his brother had died,
and if she were childless, so that his brother
might have seed, and she and he, though dead,
would be delivered from barrenness. So a kinsman
-redeemer had certain responsibilities to deliver
in the Old Testament. Of course, in the New Testament,
the word has, this basic picture has to do with
the slave market, where a redeemer or a deliverer
would purchase a slave on the market, take him
out of the slave market and set him free, and
so deliver him from bondage. So all of those
pictures and ideas are involved as we think of
the Lord our deliverer. We admire those, don't
we, who deliver others from peril or danger.
Why is that? Well, it's because they place their
own lives, their own well -being in jeopardy
in order to deliver another person, to provide
release, to provide escape for them. Most of
us would remember the incident of little Jessica
McClure down in Texas who fell into that well
a couple of years ago. And little Jessica was
trapped there. She was doomed. There was no way
that she could escape it on her own. But there
were some very brave, courageous, and strong
people in that community who began to dig. And
the whole nation watched on television as they
dug down into the ground a parallel shaft and
then dug across to where she was in the well
and ultimately, through much effort, delivered
little Jessica. And the whole nation wept as
on live television they showed her coming up
out of that hole where she had been trapped and
doomed. And we all rejoiced in the deliverance
of this little girl. And we admired those brave
people, those heroes who delivered her from that
situation. Well, that's the idea tonight we're
looking at as we think of the Lord, our Deliverer.
The Bible rightly calls him. our deliverer, for
we too were without hope. We too were doomed
until our Redeemer, our deliverer, came and rescued
us. And so we think of this theme, the Lord our
deliverer. I'd like for us to think tonight in
some of the ways in which this is true, that
the Lord is our deliverer. We'll not be able
to cover all of them, but some of them at least.
In the first place, would you turn with me to
Colossians, the first chapter. And we see that
the Lord is our deliverer, in that He has delivered
us from the power of darkness. In Colossians
chapter 1 in verse 12, the apostle says, giving
thanks to the Father. who has qualified us to
share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
For he delivered us from the domain of darkness
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved
Son. We dare never lose sight of the fact that
there are two kingdoms operating right now in
this world in which we live. There is the kingdom
of God, the kingdom of light. the kingdom of
God's beloved Son. It's not fully revealed as
it shall be one day, but now in a mysterious
way, a secret way, it is working in the hearts
of people. It's very, very real. And then on
the other hand, there is the kingdom of darkness,
whose prince is the prince of the power of the
air. It is the kingdom of evil. It is very real,
just as real as the other kingdom, the kingdom
of light. The wonderful truth is that the Lord
our deliverer has delivered us from the power
of darkness, we who have believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Satan is the prince of darkness.
He does not present himself that way. He masquerades
as an angel of light in many cases, says the
Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11, 14. Particularly,
does he masquerade as an angel of light when
he masquerades in a religious façade or a mode
of operation. The devil loves religion. He loves
religion that excludes the Lord Jesus Christ.
Any other religion he is very pleased with because
it placates man. It anesthetizes man to a certain
extent as to his true condition. And so he deceives
mankind by religion and he comes across as an
angel of good, as an angel of light. While all
the time behind all of that religious fervor
and apparent good, there is darkness that is
working. He is a very, very clever angel. and
being. We who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ
have been delivered from this evil being. For
that moment that we were saved by the grace of
God, when we called out upon the Lord to save
us, at that instant a transfer occurred for us,
and we were brought out of that realm of darkness,
that domain of the evil one, and we were made
a part of the kingdom of God's beloved Son. We
shared at that moment in the realm of light,
not darkness. I told you this morning that I
would share an incident that comes out of our
own congregation that graphically illustrates
this. We have a wife and mother who attends our
church. Some of you have heard me tell this story,
so bear with me as I repeat it. Many of you have
not heard it. Before she was married, during
her later adolescence, she came under conviction
of her sin. She had been involved in drugs, she
had been involved in a certain sense with occultism,
and it was present in her family. And she desired
to be delivered from all of this darkness. in
which she had been raised and in which she was
living. And there came a night when she took
a Bible, God just led her to the Bible, and she
began to read it and she became aware of the
fact that what she needed to do was to call out
upon the Lord to be saved. She was sitting in
a room all by herself and she said that as she
became aware of what she needed to do, The light
bulbs in the room dimmed, and the room became
darker than it was before. You say, well that
was just happening in her mind. It may have been
in her perception, but it was very, very real.
And she heard voices speaking to her, telling
her what they would do to her if she called out
upon the Lord. And there were sounds of barking
and snarling and growling, just filling her ears
in the midst of this darkened room. And then
from within her heart came this cry to God, Oh
God, help me! Save me! And she said in that instant
the room flashed with brightness of light. And
immediately the darkness was gone and the voices
were all silent. Now I know that there are some
who hear things like that and they say that is
all psychological, that's all pretend, and only
people on drugs have experiences like that. I
feel sorry for people who say those kinds of
things. For they're ignorant of what the Bible
teaches. Or they overlook what the Bible teaches.
regarding the power of darkness. My friend, it
is as real as it can be. Last week in the bulletin,
I think it was then, I recommended to you two
books by Peretti. This Present Darkness and Piercing
the Darkness. If you do not have one of those,
you need to get one or a copy of each of them
actually and read them. Peretti is able in his
fiction, in his novel, to teach us a great deal
regarding the power of darkness and how to experience
victory, how to pierce the darkness. There will
be no book that will ever stimulate you to prayer
any more than that, than those two books, I'll
guarantee you. When we trust the Lord Jesus Christ,
my friend, though we may not have had the experience
of this lady, we nonetheless went through a transferal
from darkness to light. To me, it is a very sad
thing that there are pastors today who are of
our persuasion, our evangelical Bible teaching,
who deny the realities of Satan's power from
good seminaries in our land, but who say that
all of this is just for the first century. I
fear that they are being deceived. and that one
day they will have a rude awakening, particularly
as the age gets more dark. But how wonderful
it is that the Lord is our deliverer and we,
by His grace, we have trusted Christ, have been
delivered from that and are no longer a part
of, we're no longer citizens in that realm of
darkness and evil that we once belonged to. He's
delivered us from the power of darkness. Now
turn please to Galatians chapter 1 and verse
4. The Apostle speaks to these Galatians, grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins
that he might deliver us out of this present
evil age according to the will of our God and
Father. He has delivered us in that he has delivered
us from the present evil age. The word age here
refers to an era or a period of indefinite duration
which is viewed in relation to all that takes
place in it. In other words, it is a period of
time that is characterized by certain things
or in a certain way. Here the apostle calls it
this present evil time or age. Not only have
we been delivered from sin and from the realm
of Satan, but God has delivered us out of the
present age in which we are still living. We
are members of the coming age, not the present
age. God allows us still to live in this present
evil world. that we might live soberly and righteously
and godly in Christ Jesus as a testimony to proclaim
the grace of God. He still has us here. We don't
belong to this age anymore. We did one time.
We were characterized just as the way the people
who are part of the age still are characterized
tonight. We belong to the now generation, but
no longer. We belong to the future age. What
a wonderful thing that is. The word age here
is very close in thought to the word world in
the New Testament. But it's a different original
word. The word world comes from the word cosmos
and obviously you see the English word cosmos.
That's the word that John likes to use especially.
when he tells us, as he does in 1 John 2, 17,
and the world is passing away, the cosmos, the
order of things that now exists, that system
of evil that is behind the flesh and blood that
we deal with. He says it is even now passing
away. He was writing in about 95 AD when he said
that. Even at that time, because of what Christ
had done sixty or so years earlier on the cross
and the tomb, the world was passing away. It
still is today. It doesn't mean that it's over.
It doesn't mean that it doesn't have any power
yet, that there's not some things it's going
to do in the future. But that system is in the
process of passing away. Though the picture there
really is a rather nasty one because it refers
to a body that is decaying, rotting. He says
the world system, the cosmos around us is right
now rotting away. It is filled with death and
decay. It is putrid. It smells. It's something
like lutefisk. That's the cosmos. He says it's
passing away. And so he says a couple of verses
earlier, do not love the world. Don't love that
which is passing away, which is rotting, which
is a stench in God's universe. He says you've
been delivered from all of that. So don't love
it. God has delivered us from this present evil
age and from the world that is passing away He
has made us a part of the world that is coming
Well, let's go on Hebrews chapter 2 here's another
way in which he's delivered us I Think John has
given me a fresh sore throat Hebrews, chapter
2, verse 14. Since then the children share in
flesh and blood he himself, that's the son, likewise
also partook of the same, that through death
he might render powerless him who had the power
of death, that is the devil, and might deliver
those who through fear of death were subject
to slavery all their lives. The Lord is our deliverer
in that he has delivered us from the fear of
death. He came into the world in true humanity.
That's the Christmas story, isn't it? And he
came so that he might deliver flesh and blood
like you and me from the fear of death. That
is Satan's great tool that he uses to coerce
and manipulate people. and to hold them in slavery
to evil, the fear of death. But we who have trusted
Christ have been delivered from the fear of death.
Now that doesn't mean that we're excited about
going through the process of dying. I don't know
about you, but I'm not very excited about that
possibility. It doesn't mean that when we become
ill, we're not going to go to the doctor. or
we're not going to take medication or have even
some heroic measures taken perhaps to save us
from death. Because none of us looks forward
to the experience of dying, but the point is
we're no longer afraid of the result of it. For
we know that when we pass through that experience,
we know what's on the other side. And even as
we pass through it, the shepherd is with us.
This was so graphically illustrated several years
ago, in fact 20 years ago I suppose now, when
a fellow in the church where I was working at
the time out in Washington named Merrill Womack
shared his testimony. About 1962 or three, something
like that, Merrill was flying his private plane
from Northern California back to Spokane to be
with his family for Thanksgiving. And as he flew
into Oregon he got into a situation he was not
comfortable with and so he landed at a very small
strip and waited out the storm and had the plane
filled up with gas and decided that the storm
had broken up enough he wanted to get home the
next day for Thanksgiving and so he decided to
take off and rather than take off his jacket
as he did almost every time he flew. This time
he left his flight jacket on, got in the plane,
started the two motors, and took off. But no
sooner had he just cleared the trees than both
engines quit. And he knew that all that he could
do was just pick a couple of trees and try to
go between them, and that's what he did. And
as he went through those trees, of course, the
gas tanks exploded in flames, the whole plane
burst into a ball of flame, and the plane landed
in snow that was several feet deep there in the
mountains of Oregon. With adrenaline strength,
undoubtedly, he reached down and he tore his
seat belt in two with his bare hands and rolled
out the window of the plane that had been knocked
open. out of the cockpit and into the snow, putting
out the fire that had consumed his body. And
then he began to crawl through the snow toward
the road. Well, the two men at the airport had
seen his plane go down, so they jumped in their
truck and they went around the road trying to
figure out about where the plane was and it wasn't
long before they found Merrill struggling through
the snow in shock. burned over almost a hundred
percent of his body except where his jacket had
been on. And they had called an ambulance and
they cared for him as best they could until the
ambulance got there and Merrill sang hymns all
the way to the hospital. Never did go unconscious
until he got to the hospital and was under the
care of the doctors and was sedated. Well the
amazing Part of the story is that he lived through
that, and there was enough skin protected by
that jacket that he had coincidentally left on,
that they were able to graft over the burns.
And if you've ever seen Maryland concert, he
used to sing around the country quite a bit,
he's terribly disfigured. A very handsome, and
to his own admission, a proud man up to that
point. He... Well, if you saw a picture of him
in the hospital, which you can see if you get
his book, I think it's called Tried by Fire or
Trial of Fire, something like that, his head
was terribly swelled. It looked like a burned
marshmallow there on the hospital pillow. It
was black. And the doctors have done an amazing
work restoring him. But while he was there in
the hospital and after he was sedated, Of course,
his family came. And during that time, several
days later, he came to a crisis and was dying.
And he saw himself standing on a hilltop. And
before him was a green, beautiful, lush meadow.
And there was a stream flowing. And on the other
side of the stream he saw what looked like a
door and there was a bright light shining from
that door and he felt drawn in that direction.
He wanted, he felt like he wanted to go there
and at the stream he saw what looked like a boat
with someone there to take him across the river.
And he had the feeling that all he would have
to do was just walk toward that boat and be taken.
And yet, at the very same time, he heard in his
mind his voice being called, Meryl. We love you,
Meryl. And it was his wife speaking to him. And
at that point, he was drawn back from what might
be called a near -death experience. And of course,
he didn't take the step and walk toward the boat
and toward the light. But he said, and he says
this in his testimony, I was not afraid. I was
not afraid. I knew that the Lord was waiting
for me. And had I gone on that I would be with
him, I want to tell you something. Jesus delivers
us from the fear of death. Now if the Lord tarries,
I don't know how death is going to come to me,
or when, nor do you. It may be with a heart attack
and suddenly we're gone. Or it may be through
a disease with long months of pain. Maybe it'll
be in a car accident or some other means. But
the fact is whether it's a very brief time or
a protracted time, God gives grace for that.
Ron Tennell went home to be with the Lord just
a couple of weeks ago. And in the latter part
of his suffering, it became very clear that he
was going to die. The doctor had told him that,
had told Joyce that, and they had mentally accepted
it, of course, to the best you can. But he began
to realize, and God gave him a grace for that
time. And as he began to be just days away from
his going to be with Christ, He sort of withdrew.
Joy shared with me, and I don't think she would
mind my sharing it with you, that she wondered
if he was depressed or if he was afraid. And
so she asked the nurse about it, a nurse who
had cared for a lot of cancer patients. And the
nurse said no, that she didn't feel that that
was the problem, but that rather he was accepting
the fact that he was going to die. And this was
his way of withdrawing from his loved ones and
preparing himself for that experience. But he
wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid. And God gave
him grace and prepared him for that. But that's
what happens in protracted illness. Well, God
delivers us from the fear of death. No longer
are we held enslaved by Satan. to the fear of
death. God has delivered us. How wonderful to
have the Lord as a deliverer. Now Elizabeth Kubler
-Ross and other writers have recorded numerous
instances, even of non -Christians, who have
had near -death experiences and often they sense
being drawn through a tunnel. or being drawn
toward a light and they say they felt no fear
that they were accepted by this being for whatever
they were, and so on. How do we explain that
with non -Christians, with unsaved people? They
come back not being afraid to die. Well, I don't
know all the answers to that, but I would suggest
this, that Satan can transform himself into an
angel of light. and would love to deceive a person
in a near -death experience that he's okay, that
he's accepted just the way he is in his unbelief,
or in his atheism, or his evil, and that he need
not be afraid of death. My friend, that is a
lie. A person outside of Jesus Christ must surely
fear death because death leads that person to
eternal hell. So how like Satan to transform
himself into an angel of light at that moment
for the unsaved person, that moment of near -death
experience to deceive, to make him or her think
that everything's okay just the way you are.
But for the Christian it's true. For the Christian
death has been disarmed and we've been delivered.
Well, let me just take time to look at one more.
There are several more we could look at, but
let's look tonight at 1 Thessalonians 1 .9 in
closing. 1 Thessalonians 1 .9 and 10. The apostle
says, for they themselves report about us, what
kind of a reception we had with you, you Thessalonians.
and how you turn to God from idols, to serve
a living and true God, and to wait for his Son
from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, that
is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come."
Who delivers us from the wrath to come. Now,
that may very well mean hell. Certainly, as it
would embrace that thought, it's true. We have
been already transferred from death to life.
We've already passed over from condemnation to
salvation. And God has delivered us from hell,
praise the Lord. But I believe there's a more
particular emphasis in this verse because of
the context of 1 Thessalonians. Every chapter
ends with some thought about the coming of Christ.
I believe that he's talking here about that particular
aspect of God's wrath that we call the tribulation.
I believe what he's saying here is that God delivers
us from the wrath that will be poured out upon
the world at the end of this age, during the
seven years of the tribulation that will come
upon the earth. This is no guarantee that we
will be delivered from suffering. or from persecution
because we will experience suffering. And there
may be persecution that will come upon us ever
so more at the end of the age. But what it says
here is that we are delivered from the wrath
to come. I believe this is one verse that supports
the position of what is called the pre -tribulation
rapture of the church. That by the grace of God
He is going to come and catch out, catch away,
seize his people and deliver us from that time
of wrath that will be poured out upon mankind,
unbelieving mankind in the tribulation period.
And I want to say to you that if you're not reading
your newspapers with a Bible in one hand these
days, you're asleep at the switch. If you haven't
read what's happened in Europe in the last few
weeks and the meeting of the most popular man
in the world with the Pope of Rome in the last
week. If you haven't read about the uniting of
Europe and the currency that's already printed
for use beginning in 1992 so that Europe, the
ten nations of the Common market. Will you economically
be united in that year? And who knows what the
speed of things are happening now? Maybe it's
going to be more than those ten nations. It may
embrace some of the more progressive Eastern
Bloc countries. Friend, I want to tell you all
of this is very significant in prophecy. It has
made me kind of excited about maybe preaching
a series of messages from Daniel after the first
of the year because because that deals so much,
not only with history, but with current events.
Well, I believe that what we're seeing is the
preparation for the end times. We must be alert
to the fact that our Lord is coming and may come
at any moment. God is giving us indications.
I hesitate to use the word signs because there
are no biblical signs that must occur before
the rapture. But God is giving us signals that
are very plain, it seems to me, that the coming
of Christ may very well be at hand. And we must
be awake and not sleep in these critical days
and use the opportunities that God gives to us.
How wonderful that the Lord is our Deliverer.
We are living in a day of rapid apostasy and
falling away in in Christendom. You can hear
about it tonight on the 10 o 'clock news if you
want to turn in. I can almost guarantee you there's
going to be a story. Probably the first story
is going to help illustrate the apostasy of our
day. It is the falling away from the gospel of
Jesus Christ to social and political issues that
are even tied together with Marxist ideology.
I wish we had more time to talk about that, maybe
another occasion. What I'm saying is let's be
alert and awake and look for the Lord our deliverer
and recognize that as we go to bed tonight He
may come tonight and as we get up in the morning
it could be today and every day that is true
and one day we will see Him face to face. Let's
pray. If the Lord should come, are you ready?
If tonight the trumpet would sound, and the shout
would be given, and the dead in Christ would
rise first, and we who are alive and remain should
be caught up together with them to meet the Lord
in the clouds, in the air, are you ready? The
apostle warns us not to allow ourselves to fall
asleep in the darkness, but to be awake as the
sons of light. O Lord, I pray that you would
awaken us from carelessness with the world and
compromise in our lifestyle. Keep us clean. in
this evil and dirty age. I pray that we will
redeem the time, making the most of our opportunities.
Lord, I pray that when you come, whether it's
at 7 .15 or tomorrow, but at that time when you
do come, that we will be among those looking
for you. ready to go, but also those who are
busy occupying, doing your work until you do
appear. Lord, in a day when there are a lot of
winds blowing, I pray that you will keep us right
and straight and on target. In a day when there
are many pressures against the godly, I pray
that you will give us courage and faith and strength
to be strong and to follow through. Thank you
for hearing us and for working to answer this
prayer for us individually and as a church. In
Jesus' name, amen. Well, I realize that we've
only got a couple of minutes before we're supposed
to be gone, but I would like to take time to
sing one verse of number 270. It's one of those
hymns that I think we enjoy singing. We sang
it a couple of weeks ago. It is Swedish, so that
should please about half of you. I'm sorry to
you Norwegians. you have been freed that is delivered.
That God's unfailing love is yours, that you,
the only son, were given, that by his death he
has opened heaven, that you are ransomed as you
are. If you seem empty of any feeling, rejoice,
you are his ransomed bride. If those you cherish
seem not to love you and dark assails from every
side, still yours the promise, come what may.
in loss, in triumph, in laughter, crying, in
want, riches, in living or dying, that you are
purchased as you are. Let's stand and sing verse
3, 270. It is a good, every good, transcending,
that Christ has died for you and me. It is a
gladness that has no ending, there in God's wondrous
love to see. Praise be to you, O spotless lamb,
Who through the desert my soul was leading, To
that fair city of joy exceeding, For which you
bought me as I am. And let us go forth rejoicing
in the Lord our deliverer. Good night and God
bless you.