15 Minutes With Jesus / Robert Haymes
Bless The Lord
We’re going to start this morning by reading Psalm 103, and then we’re going to talk about it. Psalm 103, verses 1-22, Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them. The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure. Bless the LORD, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!
So you see here that there are wonderful promises from God that are also fulfilled in the New Testament; of healing, and of prosperity, and health; just wonderful promises of God; and there are conditions. And it also describes how God is: He’s merciful, verse 8, gracious, slow to anger, plenteous in mercy. One of the main conditions for receiving these benefits, forget not all His benefits, is the fear of the Lord; to fear Him. The fear of the Lord is clean; it’s a good thing. God is Almighty God! Every single thing belongs to Him; it’s all under His control, and our lives are in His hands. Jesus said, Don’t fear him who can kill the body, but after that cannot do anything else; He said fear Him who, after He kills, has the power to destroy both soul and body in Hell; and He is the judge; all His judgements are true and righteous altogether. So if we will fear Him, if we will walk humbly with Him, He has promised so many good things; His mercy will be multiplied to us; our diseases will be healed. Bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all His benefits! All our sins will be forgiven, if we will fear Him; if we will humble ourselves and confess our sins; He’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. He will heal all our diseases; that includes Covid 19. There’s no exclusion there, but there are conditions: that we fear Him, that we call upon Him in the time of trouble; the Bible says He’s a very present help in the time of trouble. Amen! The Bible says that He grants grace to the humble; He’s merciful to the merciful. In Luke Jesus said, be merciful, therefore, as your Father in Heaven is merciful; forgive and you shall be forgiven; give and it shall be given unto you. That’s how God’s Kingdom works. So there are wonderful promises and benefits from God, especially through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He’s provided righteousness through repentance and forgiveness. Jesus bore all our sicknesses in His body on the Cross, and with His stripes we were healed. Those promises are for us if we will meet God’s conditions; if we will repent of our sins; turn to Him with all our heart; if we will believe in the Son of God and in His sacrifice on the Cross. The Bible says, here in Psalm 103:12, As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. These promises are ours, IF; there are a lot of big, huge IFs in the Bible: This is yours IF, and IF not, it’s not yours.
Well we’ll start in verses 16-25 of Galatians 5, I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. So when we come to Jesus, we confess our sins, He forgives us our sins, we confess Him as our Lord and believe that He rose from the dead and we shall be saved. And then we are baptized into His death; you can look in Romans 6: Know you not, those of you who were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death, into His crucifixion; our old sinful nature is buried with Him, and we are raised with Him in newness of life, to walk in the Spirit; baptized in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will be leading us every day. We just need to yield to Him and let Him lead us, and follow Him; He will always lead you in the Word of God. He will lead you to walk in the Word; He’ll never lead you to sin. He is the Spirit of Truth. And so, here in Rom 8:1, it says, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. In order to walk after the Spirit, you have to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost upon the disciples; they were baptized in the Holy Spirit; they spoke in other tongues. The Holy Spirit was poured out on Cornelius and his friends and his family when Peter came to his house and preached the Gospel; the Holy Spirit, it says, fell on them, and they were all baptized in the Holy Spirit, and they spoke with other tongues. This is our inheritance in Christ; it’s called the earnest of our inheritance; the down-payment of our inheritance: to be filled with the Spirit, so you can be led by the Spirit to do the will of God every day. If you just walk in your flesh, even if you try not to sin, you’re still going to have sin in your life; it’s ok if you repent; you’ll be forgiven, but you won’t have that power working in your life to overcome the sin; to put it under your feet, and to overcome the Devil; to walk in the Spirit, to be led by the Spirit to do the will of the Father every day. So you must receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit to be able to do that; that’s Christianity 101; they believed on Jesus, they repented of their sins, they were baptized in water, and the Apostles laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. So, very important, verses 2&3, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh... Our flesh is weak, we can’t keep the Law in our own strength, ...God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. So, if we walk in the Spirit, we won’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh, we’ll fulfill the righteousness of the Law. Verse 5, For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And that’s when you are born again; you receive the Spirit of Christ; you receive Jesus; He comes to you; His Spirit comes to your spirit; joined to your spirit; He dwells in you. Jesus Christ dwells in you if you’re born again, and it’s His Spirit in you. And then you receive the Holy Spirit as well, and He will dwell in you. Verse 10, And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. That’s referring to the first resurrection, when Jesus returns; all the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible; we’ll have an incorruptible, spiritual body given to us at that moment. Also those that are alive in Christ, their bodies will be changed to incorruptible bodies.
Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
Song: Bless the Lord Oh My Soul
Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and all that is within me bless your Holy Name
Bless the Lord oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless your Holy Name
You have done great things
You have done great things
You have done great things
Bless your Holy Name