Psalm 91 Part 3

Far too often, we talk ourselves out of pursuing God’s will because we’re intimidated by the scope of it. Taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth is a big ask. Some of us struggle with a two-hour drive, let alone traveling to the other side of the world. As Dr. Timothy Brown will encourage us in today’s message, God isn’t asking you to do all of it; He’s just calling you to be a part of it. You can start with your neighbor or your co-worker.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to Truth for Transformation with Dr. Timothy Brown. You're about to hear a message from God's Word filled with biblical wisdom, practical insights, and life-changing truths. A message designed to inspire your faith and give encouragement.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

So, what would it look like in Hendersonville and Asheville and Candler and all the other areas where you come from? What would happen if you were radiant? If you were light to them, if you were stalt to them? Now you can't save the whole world. We know God does a saving, but what if you change one person's world? What if God used you? Maybe you didn't have to go to England to meet one person, maybe it was the next door neighbor, maybe it was the person down the street. What if you were on mission for God? You know what happened? Is you'd lead a person from death into life.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Far too often we talk ourselves out of pursuing God's will because we're intimidated by the scope of it. Taking the gospel to the ends of the earth is a big ask. Some of us struggle with a two-hour drive, let alone traveling to the other side of the world. As Dr. Timothy Brown will encourage us in today's message, God isn't asking you to do all of it. You can start with your neighbor or your coworker. Prepare your heart, open your mind, and get ready to embark on a journey of faith with Dr. Timothy Brown in the book of Psalms, chapter 91, with today's edition of Truth for Transformation.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Sickness and suffering that would take me out before my time. That's the perilous pestilence. I don't have to fear it. You're like, Timothy, I want you to prove that. Just a minute. I'll give you a verse. I don't have to fear the unknown future. Notice it says the terror by night. What is the terror by night? It's the unknown things that happen under cover of dark. Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God, Corey Tin Boom. I don't have to be afraid of an unknown future because I have a known God. What about the arrow that flies by the day? That's wars and troubles around me. So if you've been watching too much news, it's okay to watch the news, but if you've been watching too much, and Russia, North Korea, all these countries scare you to death. Listen, Matthew 24, Jesus says, You're going to hear of wars and rumors of war, but don't let these things trouble you. All these things must happen, but the end is not yet. I don't have to fear enemies that would rise against me, keeping me from God's will for my life. That's destruction that lays waste at noonday. And I want to give you one verse. We went through Revelation. Don't have time to go through the whole thing, but the series is online. There was a verse in Revelation 11, 7. This is talking about the two witnesses during the tribulation. It says, now when they had finished their testimony, someone say finished. After they finished their testimony, the beast that comes from the abyss will attack them and will overpower them. So notice that these two witnesses are protected supernaturally. Satan can't kill them until they've done what? Finished their testimony. So if you are serving the Lord, listen, God's going to allow you to finish the work He's called you to do. What about a pastor that dies young? What about a missionary? If they do it while serving, it was their time. They had finished what God called them to do. And it doesn't take a long life to make a difference. How long did Jesus live? 33 years, right? It's not about longevity, it's about legacy, it's about the impact that you make. So don't think I have to live to be a hundred to fulfill God's work. Jesus did it in like three and a half years. So when God's in it, it doesn't take a long time. So there are missionaries that may die in the mission field, but their mission's complete. But this is not a call to be reckless. This is not a call, well, God's going to protect me, I'll do whatever one. That's foolishness. It's saying I'm following God's wisdom. I'm following his will. I'm being, the Bible says, wise as a serpent, gentle as doves. I'm being smart. But listen, if I get taken out, guess what happens? I'm in the presence of God. So these promises are not just for the temporal, it's against the backdrop of eternity. And where prosperity gospel misses it, they claim the promises of Scripture and they apply it just to now. Does God sometimes bless you now? Yes, but some blessings you do not receive until you get before the Lord face to face. Because it's not heaven now, it's heaven in the future, right? So that's the thing. That's how, like, why do so many people claim all these promises? Some people are looking just for the temporal. We live against the backdrop of eternity. And Paul said, for me to live as Christ and to die is what? It's gain. It's even better. So as you go through trials, I want to remind you of a truth we've talked about in recent weeks. That your true colors come out when you're put in hot water. Okay? Now, something I've learned in recent trials, even in this church, is that I've been able to observe how people respond. If people respond with the glories of heaven, like just beauties flowing out of them, love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness, faithfulness, self-control, it's like, wow, that person's character is revealed. But if people stink up the joint, you know what I'm saying? Think about an herbal teabag. Whenever you how many of you drink herbal tea? Raise your hand. How many coffee drinkers are like that's nasty, right? Whenever you put an herbal teabag in hot water, what happens? It's true colors, it's true flavors, and it's true aroma comes out. Did you know all of us are like herbal teabags? We don't really know what we're really like. Because when good times are there, you can kind of cover up things. But when bad times strike, you see what a person's made of, right? So when you when you look at Psalm 91, you see all this adversity happening, realize that this is developing my character and it's helping me get closer to my calling. So if you've been putting hot water and it doesn't smell good, it doesn't look good, this is a grace church also, we don't proclaim the truth, but it's grace. And you say, God help me, I didn't respond the way I should. I didn't handle conflict the way I should. If I could take you back through 27 years of ministry through multiple times, I made miscalculations. But you know what? I try to learn every time. Next time, I'm gonna do it this way. So if you've been put in hot water and the colors aren't good, the flavors aren't good, the aroma's not good, let this be a time to refine your character. Amen. It is well when what? I dwell. All right, that brings us to the third truth. I don't have to dread the worst. Why? Because unexpected blessings on the way. I love it. Uh verse nine through sixteen, and as I as I read this scripture, remember it's not just the temporal. Some kind sometimes God does do it now, but it's against the backdrop of eternity. So verse 9, it says, Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the most high, your dwelling place. You think about a refuge. What is a refuge? It's a high place, it's a tower. A refuge is not only a place of protection, but it gives you a vantage point. It gives you perspective on what's happening. And so I want to give you six promises of the protected. We're just going to go through this verse by verse. These are promises you can marinate in, these are promises you can claim if you're dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty. The first promise is the Good Shepherd has a good plan for our life so that we don't have to live in fear overtaking us. Don't have to live in that fear. Look at verse 10. No evil shall befall you, nor any plague come near your dwelling. And you're like, Timothy, I haven't experienced that verse. Bad things have happened to me. Okay, bad things will happen to you. It's not a promise, you're not going to have bad things. But it's a promise when you're under God's protective covering, that when bad things do happen, they have to go through who first? They have to go through God first. So if bad things have happened to me, it's not to harm me, but it's to help me, it's to develop me. And you're like, Timothy, you don't know what I've been through. I don't. And we live in a fallen world, and bad things do happen to good people. But what I do know is that God is going to take every bad thing that happened to you. And sometime, and it may not be in this lifetime, it may be when you get before the Lord, He's going to bring good out of even the most horrible situations. And I just want to look into your eyes and say, this is not to minimize pain, trauma, or abuse. It's not to minimize what you've been through. But when you have a thousand, million, billion, gazillion years in the presence of the Lord, the Bible says at the very beginning, He's going to wipe away every tear from your eye. So listen, we don't minimize anyone's problems. We we know the pain is real, but we also know that God's gonna take every wrong that's ever been done to you. And when you get before the Lord, it's just gonna, he's gonna wave his disgrace over you. Every tear will be wiped away. There's gonna be no more sorrow, no more weeping, but joy forevermore in the presence of the Lord. So if it doesn't make sense now, hang in there another hundred years. It will on the other side. Amen. The second promise of the protected is the Lord of hosts commands angels to protect us from the harm that Satan has planned for us. So in verses 11 and 12, it's the famous verse that Jesus, Satan quotes to Jesus, he's gonna give his angels charge over you. And you're like, what is this saying? It's not saying that you jump off a building and test God. It's saying that as you do God's work, God sends angels to protect you. And some of you would not be alive today had it not been for an angel protecting you. Some of you would have died like nine lives, so like a cat, you would have been died multiple times, but there are angels unaware, the author of Hebrews says, angels that you can't see. And it's not to say we focus on them. God forbid some people even think about them so much as like angel worship. That's not the point. It's God protects his people as they go about his work. Third promise: Christians should live in victory over any enemy that would try to take us out before the time. So verse 13 almost sounds like something a Pentecostal church would quote. You're like, oh, what are you saying? Look at verse 13. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent, you shall trample underfoot. Let's pass out the snakes, right? It's not what it's saying. This is a metaphor. This is a metaphor, the things that you fear the most. How many of you like snakes and cobras and lions? Some of you may have a pet snake, but you wouldn't let a cobra out of the cage, right? At least I wouldn't, unless you're a charmer. That's another story. But here's the thing the Bible's saying, as you take steps of faith, don't worry about the one that is lesser. Now, Satan's more powerful than you, but if you're under the shadow, the Bible says, Greater is he that is in you than what? He that is in the world. So this is not this is not a call to play with snakes, okay? If you have a pet snake, God bless you. But it's a promise that as you go on mission for God, as you dwell closely, he will protect you until it's your time. God delivers those who delight in him. Look at verse 14. Because he set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. So this is not a promise that bad things will not happen, but it's a promise that God is always with you when bad things happen. It's a promise that God delivers those he delights in. You're like Timothy. What about if I get killed, right? We mentioned at the beginning. If a Christian gets killed, he or she gets promoted. So you get still got delivered. I talked to some senior adults, and this is something some people in years past have taught me, is that if God always healed every sickness, you would get older and older in a non-glorified body. So you'd be like 130 dragging around, you healed me again, but your body's still declining. And God's goal is not for you to live forever in a non-glorified body, but God's goal is for you to live forever in his presence in a glorified body.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

You've been listening to Pastor Timothy Brown. We'll be right back with the message. But first, we'd like to share some exciting news with you. We're releasing Dr. Timothy's new book called Go After Jesus. This book is a fresh approach to discipleship and focuses on your identity in Christ as the launching pad for Christian growth. In Go After Jesus, Pastor Timothy paints the picture of the six identities for every follower of Christ. You are a speaker, a disciple, a friend, a fisherman, a warrior, and a lover. We're currently offering two free chapters of this book as a digital download. To get your free chapters, go to Dr. Timothy's website at drtimothybrown.org. Now let's get back to the rest of the message with Pastor Timothy.

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So sometimes God says no to healing because he's got a much better plan. How many of you want to live to be 130 in a body that's not glorified? You know, there's a movie called Tuck Everlasting where you drink the water and you live forever. I'm like, I wouldn't drink the water, right? Because I don't want to live forever in a non-glorified body. So God delivers. Number five, God answers the prayers of his children. So in verse 15, it says, He shall call upon me and I will what? I will answer. Let me tie my shoe before I trip. And I was like, God didn't plan that, and I just tripped. Okay. So verse 15, it says, He will call upon me, and I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble. Have you ever heard Christians say that if you have unconfessed sin, God will not hear you? What does that actually mean? I mean, there's a verse where David says, if I harbor iniquity, God will not hear me. Let me explain the word here. The word here does not mean this. It does not mean if I have sin, all of a sudden God is not omniscient, he doesn't know it all. But the word here is I'm listening in such a way to answer favorably towards you. So David's like, if I got unknown sin, God may not answer this in a favorable yes until I get my life right with him. So here's the thing God hears all things. But if you are right with God, there's a verse in the New Testament from James, James 5, 16, he says, the prayer of a righteous man is what? It's powerful and effective. So God hears every prayer, but if you're not right with God, he may not answer that with a favorable response that you want. He may say, No, you get right first, then we'll talk about this. So that's that's important because I've heard so much bad theology, like if a lost person prays, God doesn't hear, God's omniscient, he hears everything, but it doesn't mean he has to answer it in the way you want. And finally, God likes to save the lives of those who look to him for help. Look at verse 16. With long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. How many of you would like to live an extra long life? I'm raising my hand. Some of you are like, no, take me out now. This world's getting worse. But here's the idea. You guys remember Hezekiah? You remember the prophet Isaiah like came to him and said, You're gonna die? And he's like, Oh no. And there was something interesting. You remember he said, he prayed to God and he said, Give me a sign. It was the shine of the shadow, remember the sundial. And so I want to give you a different sign of the shadow than Isaiah's and Hezekiah's. Hezekiah prayed, and God gave him 15 more years, and there was a shadow connected. Let me give you a different shadow connection. When you dwell under the shadow of God, he's gonna bless you with life. He's gonna bless you with so many things. And you're like, well, what about if I die young? Listen, there are cases when Christians die, but like we said, it's it's God's timing. But there are times when God extends your life. Scripture says in the book of Psalms that it's been it's a blessing to live three score in ten years. How long is that? 70 years. By strength, four-score. So if you've lived beyond 80 in this room today, you have entered into a special blessing. And some of the 80-year-olds are like, yes. And why does God extend certain people's lives? Well, I'm gonna give an analogy that our sports fans were like. Football is in how many quarters? Four. First quarter is like the first part of your life, you're learning how to play the game, right? You're learning the rules. You don't put a lot of points on the board. Second quarter, you start to get better, right? This is like prime doing well. And then you go into something called halftime. That's when you reevaluate middle age, all right. I've lived my life, I should not repeat the same mistakes. And then you come out by now, you know your opponent, you know what's happening. Third quarter, you're doing really well. This is like amazing. Fourth quarter happens, and the fourth quarter you play to win. But what happened if time is expired and the score is tied? Sometimes you get overtime. Why do you get overtime? You still have a purpose. God still has a plan. And so some of you who have lived beyond 80, God's given you overtime, and that's a blessing. And overtime is important. It's a time when you pray more than you've ever prayed before. Because prayer is the most powerful thing you can do for the church. It's a time where you have wisdom. Titus 2 talks about older women mentoring younger women. You have wisdom that you didn't have when you were 20. So you have so much to offer if you're over 80. So I just want to talk about in conclusion this church. How do we apply these things? You know, we know that we're in spiritual warfare all around us. For those of you who don't know, Asheville is like one of the new age meccas, right? So we're like, this is one of Satan's outposts in the South. So don't be surprised if we are a target because we're preaching the Bible. Satan doesn't want us preaching the Bible. So I just want to tell you that we are not simply a showcase for saints, but we are a hospital for sinners. And we are a radiant church. We are leading people out of darkness and into light. And as you lead people out of darkness, how many of you know it gets messy sometimes, right? And so what happens is we're gonna have people that are broken and have problems and have issues. But listen, we are the body of Christ. We are called to help them. This is not a Christian country club. This is a rescue mission within a foot of hell. We're right in Satan's outpost, and we are called to make a difference in the world around us. And we are strategically located in Arden alone. We have people driving from Hendersonville, people driving from different counties all over, but just within five miles, there's like 60,000 people approximately. And you know about 80% of them don't go to church anywhere. So what would it look like in Hendersonville and Asheville and Candler and all the other areas where you come from? What would happen if you were radiant, if you were light to them, if you were salt to them? Now you can't save the whole world. We know God does a saving, but what if you change one person's world? What if God used you? Maybe you didn't have to go to England to meet one person, maybe it was the next door neighbor, maybe it was the person down the street. What if you were on mission for God? You know what happened? Is you'd lead a person from death into life. You would lead them from darkness into light. Because you are radiant. You're a radiant church. And when we apply this, as we do God's work, there's three truths, three confessions. What was the first one? I don't have to live in what? I don't have to live in fear because I know God is always near. And this is not a bulletproof promise that bad things will not happen. Jesus said, You will have problems. But listen, if the problems come to me as I serve God, I know that He's allowed them to develop my character and get me closer to my calling. I don't like problems, but when they come, I'm not going to waste the trial. Number two, second confession. I don't have to worry about tomorrow because God is my provider and my protector. So don't go play with snakes. But no, when the snakes come, when the snake bites, you shake it off. Shake, shake, shake it off. All right, man, I'm on a roll today. Number three, the under-20 crowd got that one. All right. I don't have to dread the worst because unexpected, unexpected blessings are on the way. This is not a prosperity gospel, but this is the belief that you can have joy no matter what. And by the way, in Christ, the best days are ahead. Even if I die, that's the greatest thing. I'm in the presence of God. And I am not going to be taken out before my time so long as I'm under the shadow. I can't claim that promise if I'm living life the way I want, if I'm testing God, if I'm doing it, don't claim that promise. It's for those who are under the shadow. So the big idea, if we summarize this into one sentence, Psalm 91, in one sentence, it would be this. Say it with me. It is well when I under God's protection, because there I find holy confidence in, of course, preacher, I have to alliterate, God's presence, God's provision, and God's promises. So I want to give you three action steps because we don't teach just for information, we teach for transformation. These are things that you can apply starting as soon as you leave this place. The first one is this dwell daily in God's presence. It is well when I it's not well when you don't dwell. So like be in God's presence. What does that look like? Read the Sermon on the Mount. If you want to have a life that's just close to God, follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Do what He did. Not for salvation, but after you're saved, this is what it looks like. Number two, trust in God's provision and his protection. I'm gonna trust. And finally, live your life with a holy sense of anticipation. Instead of fearing bad things coming after you, instead of worrying about the worst case scenario, if I am dwelling under God's protective covering, if it is well when I dwell, as David said, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. I'm not worried about badness and bad and worse and worse. I'm looking for goodness and mercy. And for some of you, you haven't experienced goodness and mercy, slow down a little bit. Some of you are too fast. You need to sl be still and let goodness and mercy catch up a little bit, right? All right, let's pray. Father, I wish I had another hour to preach. Such good promises. But Lord, I want to pray for every saint here who's struggling. Every saint who's in a battle that they laughed when I told my hardships, and they said, You don't know what I've been through, Timothy, the abuse, the trauma. And Father, I don't know, but I'm thankful that you know and you you have compassion. Your heart aches for those who are in pain. You understand the depression, you understand the divorces, you understand what people have gone through that they didn't choose. And so, Father, I pray that you would be healing. I'm reminded of the balm of Gilead, that you would be healing to the saints' hearts, that God, they could have this confident confession that it is well when I dwell.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

We're glad you joined us on today's edition of Truth for Transformation with Pastor Timothy Brown. We're working our way through the Book of Psalms, the original collection of worship music. God knows how music can connect people to his heart. It can take us from knowing something about God into a place of knowing him deeply. It connects the mind to the heart. The psalms are an amazing how-to for worshiping God. You'll find calls to lift your hands, clap, bow down, sing, shout, and even dance. When did you last see dancing in church? Also, the psalms show us a wide array of what we can pray and sing to God about. We can celebrate God for his greatness, and we can call out and lament, asking God to deliver us. Sometimes we think we can't tell God how we really feel, but the psalms show us that God can handle all our emotions. There are even psalms that call for God to bring justice against Israel's enemies. We hope today's message has led you closer to God. If you'd like to share your thoughts with us, ask a question, or just say hello, please find us on social media at Dr. Timothy Brown Ministries. You can also find us online at drtimothybrown.org, where you can connect and learn more about our ministry. Remember, it's through your support that this ministry is possible. Your giving fuels the mission. And being on mission for God is so important. To give, go to drtimothybrown.org. Thank you again for joining us on Truth for Transformation.