Participants:
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP180616A
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00:09 >> Father in Heaven, thank You for being here with us. 00:11 Thank You for hearing and for answering our prayer. 00:14 And, God, this morning, it's to You that we sing. 00:19 In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. 00:23 ♪♪ ♪♪ 00:42 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:02 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:22 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:42 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:02 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:22 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:42 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:02 ♪♪ Oh, God is so amazing and just 03:10 how marvelous and how wonderful that His love would be for us. 03:16 That's what this next one is about -- we stand amazed in the 03:20 presence of Jesus Christ, who is our Savior. 03:23 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:43 ♪♪ ♪♪ 04:03 ♪♪ ♪♪ 04:23 ♪♪ ♪♪ 04:43 ♪♪ ♪♪ 05:03 ♪♪ ♪♪ 05:23 ♪♪ ♪♪ 05:43 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:03 ♪♪ [ Song ends ] 06:11 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:30 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:50 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:10 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:30 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:50 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:10 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:30 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:50 ♪♪ ♪♪ 09:10 ♪♪ ♪♪ 09:23 [ Song ends ] And it's in our Father's world that we get to live and we get 09:27 to abide. And the amazing thing about this world -- no matter all the 09:31 chaos, no matter everything that's going on in your life, there's a space where you and 09:35 God get to come and meet. In the midst of the storm, in the middle of the battle raging 09:41 on, there's a place of solitude, there's a place of quietness and a rest. 09:45 And as we sing this next song, I invite you to come forward to that place of rest this morning, 09:50 to lay your burdens down at the feet of Jesus as we sing this prayer song still hidden 09:56 underneath the wings of God as He shelters us in our time of need. 10:01 So, as we sing, I invite you to come forward. 10:04 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:24 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:44 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:04 ♪♪ 11:11 God is your place of rest this morning. You can find rest at the feet of 11:15 Jesus when sheltered in the wings of a God that loves you so much. 11:22 Lay yourself down and rest in the stillness of Jesus this morning. 11:26 ♪♪ "Find rest my soul..." 11:31 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:51 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:11 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:31 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:51 ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:11 ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:26 [ Song ends ] 13:29 >> Well, good morning, boys and girls. Nice to see you on this third 13:35 Sabbath of this month that brings summer. You having a -- Are you having a 13:39 good time? You're not in school now, are you? 13:41 So you're having a nice beginning to the summer? 13:43 Good. I have just the right story for you today. 13:48 [ Chuckling ] I heard this story a long time ago, and I want to 13:52 share it with you because Papa and Mother and the children are 13:56 in a covered wagon. 13:57 Anybody here know what a covered wagon is? What's a covered wagon? 14:07 A wagon that has a sort of thing -- that's it. It this kind of a roundish 14:11 cover. And the pioneers who were moving from the East to the West would 14:16 get in their covered wagons. They said, "Let's go west. Let's find land out there." 14:21 And so, Mother and Father and the children and a few pets and a chicken or two are in, crowded 14:25 into that little covered wagon and rolling over the yellow prairie plains -- somewhere in 14:35 Nebraska we'd say today. "Okay, kids, out. Out, out, out, out. 14:40 Tonight, we're gonna camp right here. The river's back there, but 14:42 let's camp right here. And the children all helped set up camp. 14:45 Mother got the -- Father got the little fire going. Mother cooked up supper. 14:49 Everybody went to bed, slept so beautifully under the stars that night. 14:52 Next morning, Father gets up, and he says, "Hmm." He's looking to the west. 14:56 "Hmm. I see a cloud. I wonder if this is a dust storm. 15:03 Is the wind so strong that it's kicking up the dry dust? Let me see. 15:07 Children, I don't know. Mother, we may need to be careful here. 15:09 I'm keeping my eye on it. Let's go and have breakfast right now." 15:12 And Father kept his eye on it. And as it got closer, he said, "No, no, no, no, no, no! 15:15 That is not a dust storm. I can tell it's smoke. It's a wildfire... 15:23 and it's coming this way! All right, kids, quick, quick, quick, quick -- grab the 15:27 chickens. Grab the -- all the camping stuff in the wagon. 15:29 We'll go back to the river. We'll get on the other side of the river. 15:32 The fire will not be able to reach us that way. Quick, quick, quick! 15:34 We don't have time!" Everybody climbed in the covered wagon. 15:37 "Yo, go!" The horse began to move that heavy wagon. 15:40 They turned around, got to the river. Their kids are looking back. 15:42 "It's getting closer, Dad! It's getting closer!" Got across the river. 15:46 [ Sighs, chuckles ] "We made it." And they stood on this side of 15:51 the river, and they watched as that fire came roaring right up to the dry prairie grass, right 15:56 to the river, and then the fire went out. At the end of the day, just a 16:01 few little wispy trails of smoke going up. Father says, "I think it's safe. 16:05 Let's start moving this way again. We'll go back to where we camped 16:09 last night." And when they got back, everything was gone -- 16:14 just gone. "Wait a minute. Where is the chicken?" 16:22 Everybody, in their scramble to get into the covered wagon, forgot the chicken and her 16:26 chickies. "Oh, I hope she got away. Oh, I hope she got away," 16:31 Father said, as he walked around. And he noticed a hump there with 16:35 a stick -- a little something sticking up in the ground. And he touched it with a stick. 16:38 He gently knocked it over, and... "Peep, peep, peep, peep, peep!" 16:42 Their three little chickies ran out from under that hump of ash. And suddenly, Father realized, 16:50 "Boy!" The children gathered around with Father and Mother. 16:54 The chickies made it through the fire. Do you know why? 16:58 Because their mother gathered the little chickies under her wing, and she just held them 17:04 tight and put her head over. And the fire roared over them. Mother gave her life to save 17:12 those little chickies, kind of like what Jesus did, didn't He? Didn't He stretch out His arms 17:20 on the cross? Didn't He stretch out His arms and say, "Boys and girls, all 17:24 the boys and girls in the world, come to me. Come, come. 17:25 Come under my wings. I'm gonna give my life so that you won't have to die forever. 17:34 And the fire fell on Jesus, not on us. Oh, I'm so grateful that Jesus 17:41 was willing to give His life up. That little mother hen could have flown away and said, "You 17:45 chickies are on your own. I'm flying to safety." Oh, no. Oh, no. 17:50 God gathers his little children. "Stay close to me. Stay under my wing, 17:55 and I will save you." Who wants to thank Jesus for being that kind of a savior for 18:03 us? I need a young lady today because we had a young boy last 18:09 week. Sissy, I saw your hand. Come on up. 18:11 Little pink stripe on? Yep. Come on up. And let's hold our hands and 18:16 close our eyes as -- Sissy, what's your name? Natasha is gonna pray. 18:21 So, Natasha is gonna pray. Let's close our eyes, hold our hands, and let's thank Jesus, 18:26 Natasha. >> God, thank You for this day. Thank you for everything You 18:32 gave us. Bless all of us. And thank You for this church 18:38 and bless the people who are sick. In Jesus' name, I pray. 18:42 Amen. >> Amen. Thank you, Natasha. 18:44 That was a beautiful prayer. As you go quietly and reverently back to your seats, you say what 18:48 Natasha said in her heart -- "Thank You, Jesus. Thank You for being our Savior." 18:54 God bless you. A happy Sabbath to you. 18:57 ♪♪ ♪♪ 19:10 >> ♪ Children of the heav'nly Father ♪ 19:16 ♪ Safely in His bosom gather ♪ ♪ Nestling bird nor star in Heaven ♪ 19:28 ♪ Such a refuge e'er was given ♪ ♪♪ ♪ God, His own doth tend and 19:41 nourish ♪ ♪ In His holy courts, they flourish ♪ 19:48 ♪ From all evil things He spares them ♪ ♪ In His mighty arms 19:57 He bears them ♪ ♪♪ >> ♪ Neither life nor death 20:06 shall ever ♪ ♪ From the Lord, His children sever ♪ 20:15 ♪ Unto them, His grace He showeth ♪ ♪ And their sorrows all 20:29 He knoweth ♪ ♪♪ >> ♪ Praise the Lord in joyful 20:40 numbers ♪ ♪ Your Protector never slumbers ♪ 20:48 ♪ At the will of your Defender ♪ ♪ Ev'ry soul must surrender ♪ >> ♪ Though He giveth 21:10 or He taketh ♪ ♪ God His children ne'er forsaketh ♪ 21:22 ♪ His, the loving purpose solely ♪ ♪ To preserve them, 21:37 pure and holy ♪ ♪ To preserve them, pure 21:57 and holy ♪ [ Song ends ] 22:15 >> Oh, God, we have that hope. Though You give and though You take, You Your children ne'er 22:27 forsake. So, teach us this morning. Always push, push that teaching 22:37 deep into our heart and souls, we humbly pray in Christ's name. Amen. 22:44 Have you ever noticed how much our American English -- 22:47 I'm talking about American English -- 22:49 is peppered with bird idioms? 22:52 Do you know what I'm talking about? What are we talking about when 22:56 we talk about a... [ Snaps fingers ] [ Sighs ] 23:01 ...night owl? I'm looking for that other word. What are we talking about when 23:04 we talk about a night owl? Yeah, we're talking about students at Andrews University 23:08 burning the oil till the early hours of the morning. 23:12 What are we talking about -- 'cause we use this all the 23:14 time -- lucky duck? I mean, what's a lucky duck? 23:16 Why would it ever be lucky to be a duck? 23:18 But we use it. We say, "I got goose bumps." 23:23 Don't we talk about goose bumps? Yeah. 23:25 What's good for the goose is good for the gander. 23:27 You know, I was noticing these idioms -- they're really built around domesticated fowls. 23:33 It's 'cause Americans -- the whole world -- has grown up around these birds all over the 23:37 yard or the barnyard or whatever. Don't kill the goose that lays 23:41 the golden egg. I mean, we say -- We don't even know what we're saying. 23:45 And I can't believe how many times I've said this. This is so absolutely mindless. 23:49 Why would you ever say this in public -- "I want to kill two birds with one stone"? 23:55 You do? How awful of you. [ Laughter ] 23:59 What are you thinking? [ Chuckling ] Two birds with one stone? 24:03 We say things. American English -- peppered with it, filled with these bird 24:07 idioms. There's one bird idiom nobody wants to be called. 24:11 Nobody wants -- especially if you're a little boy. Nobody wants to be called this. 24:16 [ Clucking ] Chicken! Chickening out -- that's what 24:22 you're doing. You're chickening out on us. But it could be that the mother 24:28 hen turns out to be the greatest calling of all. Open your Bible with me, please, 24:33 to Matthew chapter 23, red-letter words spoken by our Lord Himself on the eve of 24:37 His own death. 24:38 And while we're looking for Matthew 23, let me flip it on 24:40 the screen for you. Our little series in this 24:43 month -- five Sabbaths, unusually, in this month -- 24:46 "Gone to the Birds: Lessons from the Divine 24:49 Ornithologist." Today's part 3. 24:51 Part 1 -- the eagle. Part 2 -- ravens. 24:54 Part 3 -- you guessed it -- the mother hen. 24:56 Let's go. Open your Bible to Jesus' words, 24:58 Matthew 23. I'm in the 25:00 New International Version. If you didn't bring a Bible, 25:02 grab the pew Bible in front of you. 25:04 It'll be a page number in that Bible. I just don't have it written 25:08 down. Matthew chapter 23. Oh, the deep emotion and pathos, 25:17 as we say in American Greek -- the pathos of Christ Himself. Pick it up in verse 37. 25:22 Matthew 23:37. "'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...'" You can feel it. 25:31 "'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how 25:37 often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her 25:42 wings, and you were not willing.'" There it is -- the bird species 25:49 for today. The Lord Himself chooses the hen, the mother chicken, to 25:55 describe His heartbroken love not only for Jerusalem, but for, particularly, the leadership of 26:00 Jerusalem, who have been saying, "No, no, no, no. No, no, no." 26:06 Today, He gets it. Today, He says, "I know what you're saying to me." 26:11 "Hey, listen, Rabbi, which part of the 'no' don't you understand -- 26:14 the 'n' or the 'o'?" He's getting it. This is the final "no." 26:20 But unrequited love does not soon relinquish its passion. "'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 26:31 how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks 26:35 under her wings, but you would not." Mother hen. 26:40 I grew up with chickens in Japan. When we were living in the 26:44 countryside, of course, chickens everywhere. In the city, once in a while, 26:46 you'd hear a cock-a-doodle-doo. But in Japan... In fact, our pet cat Tipper -- 26:53 God bless him -- with all of his docile purring that we lived with through the years, Tipper, 27:01 in his old age, somehow... [ Chuckles ] We don't know what happened, 27:05 but he killed a nearby Japanese farmer's chicken and then had the temerity to drop the carcass 27:10 on our front door. [ Breathes sharply ] When Tipper did it the second 27:16 time, my parents -- American missionaries, very sensitive to P.R. -- 27:21 said, "The cat has got to go." And with great wailing and tears, we climbed into our 27:27 little Japanese car and drove to a place we'd never driven before, miles away, because we 27:32 found a veterinarian who agreed he would euthanize Tipper. Wailing and crying all the way 27:38 back home. That was it. Goodbye, Tipper. 27:42 Which made all the more dramatic, by the way, that moment when my mother, who's 27:46 been teaching some missionary kids piano... She's been teaching them piano, 27:50 and so she's gonna have a little recital for all the missionary kids in our little living room 27:54 with all the parents and the children crowded. Tipper knew drama. 28:00 And at that moment, the cat, muddied and bedraggled, two weeks later... 28:09 comes stumbling into the room, and, of course, the place went berserk. 28:16 And, of course, we kept him. Our new chicken-killing runaway come home hero, Tipper. 28:25 I mean, how did he find the way? We had never been that way. These creatures. 28:32 "'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...'" You can sense the heartache. "'...how often I have longed to 28:39 gather you like a hen gathers her little chickies. I've longed to just gather you 28:42 close to me, but you would not come.'" But why a hen? 28:48 Why'd he pick the metaphor hen? On the eve of his own death, hen. 28:52 Perhaps because, you know, that little imagery, and because the moment we say "mother hen and 28:56 little yellow chickies," we can all see it. Ch-ch-ch! 28:58 They're all running around. "Come on!" [ Clucking ] 29:00 And they all come under -- we know. Maybe that's why. 29:03 Perhaps, as Craig Keener observes in his commentary -- 29:08 put his words on the screen -- perhaps this is the reason. 29:10 "Jewish tradition claimed that Jewish people were under God's 29:12 wings, and when a Jewish person converted" a neighbor, 29:15 a Gentile neighbor, okay? So you're witnessing to your 29:17 neighbor. And he converted a Gentile 29:19 neighbor... "...he or she brought that Gentile 'under the wings of 29:24 God's presence.'" You could hardly have a more tender and poignant expression 29:29 of solicitude. One commentator says you -- nothing exceeds this from Jesus' 29:34 lips. "Desire of Ages" describes this moment when he speaks these 29:37 words. "Desire of Ages" on the screen. By the way, there is a study 29:40 guide today. You'll take all these quotes home. 29:42 "Desire of Ages" on the screen... 29:51 You can just feel His heart pounding. 29:53 This is it -- one last shot. 29:57 Keep reading. "In a voice choked by deep 30:00 anguish of heart and bitter tears He exclaimed, 30:02 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, 30:05 and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often I would I 30:08 have gathered thy children together, even as a hen 30:10 gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!'" 30:14 Keep reading. "This is the separation 30:16 struggle. 30:27 We get it. 30:29 We get it. The leadership of this faith community says, "You don't want 30:34 us. You don't want me. I got it." 30:40 Ohh. This isn't just a mother hen anguishing over her chicks that refuse to come running to 30:44 her for safety and protection. No, no, no, no. This is a mother hen who knows 30:47 that she is gonna give her life for those chicks that will not come running. 30:52 She will give his -- her life. And the ultimate sacrifice in death. 30:58 Jesus declares, "I am the mother hen." Isn't that amazing? 31:06 "I am the mother hen." This isn't a chickening out of the Savior of the World. 31:11 In fact, He knows that there is a chicken killing coming very soon, and He'll be the chicken. 31:20 He's not chickening out. Through this very maternal image -- and, by the way, 31:25 get this -- this is as female as you can get with imagery. And God takes this female 31:34 imagery, and He says, "That's me. I am the mother hen." 31:40 So, this profound maternal imagery -- the poignant, the strong... 31:50 refusing almost to let go of the love of God. There it is. 31:56 We feel it. We sense it. "How often I have longed to 32:03 gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were 32:08 not willing.'" [ Chuckles ] Come on, guys. We're talking about -- 32:12 You want to talk about -- You want to talk about a posture of protection? 32:15 How could you be safer than under your mommy's wings? How could you be safer? 32:19 You want to talk about a posture of intimacy? How could you be closer to your 32:23 mother than under her wings? The child knows when she's with her mother. 32:31 We just had our two little granddaughters with us from Oregon for eight days. 32:37 Just put them on a plane yesterday, along with their mother and father. 32:40 We offered to keep the kids. I mean, "Kirk and Chelsea, you can go home. 32:44 Can we keep Ella and...?" But it was wonderful to have these two little girls running 32:50 around our house. And you know what? When little 4-month Isabelle -- 32:56 We took everybody -- We took everybody on the train -- you got to do this -- on the 33:00 train to Shedd Aquarium this last week, okay? So, Isabelle's going in what's 33:03 called a Snuggie. And you mothers know what a Snuggie is, 'cause you wear it 33:06 on the front. And she is bound to her mother's breast and heart. 33:13 That little girl slept for five hours in that Snuggie while we walked all the way through 33:17 Shedd Aquarium and had lunch. You know why she slept? You can't get any closer. 33:24 You can't get any closer than that to your mommy. Whenever the girls called, they 33:29 weren't calling, "Daddy," or, "Papa!" When they get up in the middle 33:33 of the night, I could hear them -- "Mommy!" They say -- true story -- 33:38 they say that, after these raging, bloody battles in the Civil War, often, in the night, 33:46 with the corpses left, you could hear a cry of a young boy calling for his mother. 33:55 "Mother! Mother!" What is there about a bond between a mother and a child? 34:03 It's not between a dad and a child. Jesus, on the eve of His death, 34:09 says, "I am the mother hen. I am the one that has desperately sought to draw you 34:17 near while there is still time." Wow. When Jesus uses that 34:29 "I am the hen" metaphor, I'll just promise you that He was thinking of a psalm. 34:37 In fact, I assure you He memorized the psalm at His mother's knee. 34:42 The reason I know that is because the devil memorized the same psalm, and if the devil 34:46 memorized the psalm and the Lord Jesus memorized the psalm, there must be something hugely 34:52 potent in that psalm. And I'm gonna show you what the devil does when he handles 34:57 the psalm. Open your Bible now. We were in the New Testament. 35:00 We go back to the Old. We're gonna end in Psalm 91. This is the great protection 35:04 psalm. This is the psalm that says, "When the Earth is facing its 35:07 last plagues, I will be there for you, and you will be safe with me." 35:12 This is that psalm. My mother -- God bless her -- oh, she worked on us three kids 35:19 every Friday night to memorize Psalm 91. Just, "Kids, get it down." 35:23 Psalm 91. Karen and I have spent years working on trying to memorize 35:27 that psalm in the King James English. Psalm 91. 35:32 It's written for a community destined for apocalyptic meltdown. 35:36 Now, listen -- apocalyptic meltdown. Now, I'm watching and praying -- 35:41 sh-sh-sh -- I'm watching and praying for what's going on right now. 35:45 I was praying for the success of that U.S.-North Korea summit that our President arranged a 35:50 few days ago. I was praying for its success. And if you read my blog, you'll 35:54 know why I was praying. I'm not going into that now. But I know and you know, in our 36:00 heart of hearts, that the day is coming when what occurs on Earth will be beyond human reversal. 36:08 It will be the end game, right? Yeah. You know that. I know that. 36:13 It'll be like what Paul was trying to describe. And these are -- these words are 36:18 really the setting for Psalm 91. Let's put Paul on the screen. 36:20 1 Thessalonians 5:3. "For when they say, 'Peace and 36:23 safety!'" Hey, we got a breakthrough. 36:25 We got it done. "When they say, 'Peace and 36:27 safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains 36:30 upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape." 36:33 We know that that day is coming. Psalm 91 is for that day. Okay? 36:40 Let's look at it now. Psalm 91. 36:46 Here we go. Verse 1. "Whoever --" this is the NIV, of 36:48 course. 36:58 What you don't know in reading it in the English is that the psalmist has inserted right here 37:03 in the opening salvo four names for God. So we had to memorize this in 37:08 the -- we had to memorize this in the King James. "He that dwelleth in the secret 37:12 place of the Most High." "Most High" is "Elyon" in the Hebrew. 37:16 "Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." "Almighty" is "Shaddai" 37:20 in the Hebrew. "I will say of the Lord..." It's "Yahweh." 37:24 "I will say of the Lord" -- the great covenant-keeping Creator God. 37:26 ""I will say of the Lord, my refuge and my fortress: my God" -- "Elohim" -- 37:32 "my God in whom I trust." Four names. Whatever happens in this psalm 37:37 comes from the four-named God, singular. Wow. 37:44 Now, I love the way one writer puts it -- "God's commandment -- keeping people. 37:48 Stand under the broad shield of omnipotence in this psalm." This is good. 37:54 Now you're ready for verse 3. The four-named God -- here he goes now -- 37:59 speaking of Him, verse 3 -- "Surely he" -- this four-named God -- 38:03 "will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence." 38:10 You know, it's very interesting -- to me, anyway -- the new translations -- 38:14 why they hang onto this very old King James Shakespearean word "fowler." 38:18 Who ever uses the word "fowler" today? We use the word "bird hunter" -- 38:22 two words. But all the translations, the new ones -- they all hang on to 38:26 "fowler." This isn't the only place it appears. 38:29 Let me put another one on the screen for you. Psalm -- what is this? -- 38:31 Psalm 124:7 -- "We have escaped like a bird from the fowler's snare; the snare has been 38:38 broken, and we" -- little birdies -- "have escaped." 38:43 So, obviously, the fowler's a bird hunter, but what were the 38:46 ancient hunters like? I put a little paragraph from a 38:48 Bible dictionary in your notes. Don't look at it now. 38:50 But a fowler was a professional bird hunter before the day of 38:56 firearms. You want to catch a bird -- 38:59 you know -- wsssh! -- you don't do that, no. 39:01 Fowlers used traps. They used nets. 39:05 They used sticks. In fact, they use one stick 39:08 1 1/2 feet along, about like this, about a half inch wide -- 39:12 straight stick. 39:13 And what they would do, particularly if they wanted ground-hugging birds, like 39:16 partridges or pheasants, what they would do is they would take this stick. 39:20 And you know that, when you throw a boomerang, what does it do? 39:22 It goes around. This stick -- they would take it, and if you throw it -- 39:26 Whh-whh-whh-whhh! And they would throw it low, particularly when they're -- 39:30 the birds are racing up a hill. They'll throw it low -- whhh! -- so the stick comes. 39:35 And if somebody comes behind you and you're standing up and they just go like this to you, it'll 39:39 make you feel like a fool, because you're suddenly out of control. 39:42 That's what the stick did. Boom, boom, boom! And the birds go down -- 39:45 come running out of the bush. Everybody grab, grab, grab, grab, grab, grab, and they have 39:48 their birds. That's what a fowler is. So, here's the question -- 39:52 is a fowler good news for a bird or bad news? Answer. Answer. 39:59 Bad. As bad news as the devil himself, and that's exactly 40:05 what's happening here. [ Chuckling ] My, oh, my. So, in Psalm 91 -- Get this -- 40:10 When Psalm 91 declares, "He will save you from the fowler's snare," it immediately 40:15 identifies you as a bird. You are a bird. I am a bird. 40:20 The fowler is you know who -- evil, evil. And "evil" with a "d" spells 40:28 "devil." Devil. That's the fowler -- 40:32 Satan himself. So, number one, Psalm 91 tells us, "Guess what -- you're the 40:37 bird." And, number two, Psalm 91 announces the urgently good news 40:40 that there is a deliverer who can take down any fowler on this planet. 40:45 Somebody can rescue us from the fowler -- good news. [ Chuckles ] 40:48 Great news, I would say. Ah. We are the little chickies. That's Jesus' point. 40:55 That's the psalmist's point. Bad times. 40:58 Put it on the screen, please -- Ecclesiastes 9:12. 41:02 "Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come." 41:04 No, we don't. "As fish are caught in a cruel 41:07 net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by 41:10 evil times that fall unexpectedly unto them." 41:13 Evil times. Trapped. Oh, we know the fowler. Who here has not felt the hot 41:19 breath of the fowler taking his stick, ready to cut your legs out from under you? 41:24 We all know that breath. We know him. "Patriarchs and Prophets" on the 41:28 screen. "The great mass of the world will reject God's mercy," in the 41:32 apocalyptic meltdown, which Psalm 91 is most poignantly, succinctly connected with. 41:39 "The great mass of the world will reject God's mercy, and will be overwhelmed in swift and 41:43 irretrievable ruin. But those who heed the warning shall dwell" -- here it comes, 41:48 Psalm 91 -- "'in the secret place of the Most High,' and 'abide under the shadow of 41:52 the Almighty.'" End quote. But the big question is, how 41:56 will God deliver us? How's He gonna deliver us? Now, here comes the psalmist 42:01 doing something you could not do in freshman composition, because the psalmist is gonna do what is 42:06 a no-no in literary writing, and that is he's gonna instantly mix metaphors. 42:13 So, the first metaphor is, you're the chick. You're the chick, and I'm the 42:16 chick. Second metaphor -- he's gonna turn God into a chick, 42:21 into a mother, into a hen. So you got two metaphors going. Ah, but he's making the point. 42:29 In fact, so that we know this isn't a little slip-up, I want you first to read it here. 42:36 This is verse 3. Read verse 3 again. "Surely he," the four-named God, 42:39 "will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 42:41 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings" -- speaking of this 42:46 four-named God -- "under his wings you will find refuge..." That feels like a little typo, 42:51 but they didn't really mean his feathers. He has feathers? 42:55 No, it's not a typo. 42:56 Let me show you, just from the Book of Psalms. 42:58 Please put it on the screen. Psalm 17:8-9. 43:08 Under His wings -- there it is. That's not isolated, either. 43:12 Look at Psalm 57:1. 43:24 The world is going to melt down one day, and here is a psalm that says -- Psalm 91 -- here is 43:30 a psalm that declares, "I... will shelter you under my feathers, and I'll save you." 43:42 [ Chuckling ] Wow. Mercy. A mother hen? 43:49 That's precisely Jesus' point. That's precisely... Any way you want to slice it, 43:54 that's His point. It's the point in Matthew 23. It's the point in Psalm 91. 44:00 That's his point. And... [ Clears throat ] 44:06 Excuse me. And the devil knows it. [ Chuckling ] The devil knows 44:10 the point of Psalm 91, which is why the devil does some major surgery -- he, who also has 44:15 memorized Psalm 91, does some major surgery. I want to show this to you. 44:18 This is absolutely unbelievable what he does. Okay, so, picture the scene -- 44:22 40 days of fasting and praying are over. This is day number 40. 44:27 Standing before us now is this emaciated specimen of humanity. He's all bones -- His cheeks are 44:33 protruding, the bones are. And He's standing there, famished. 44:38 40 days and nights of prayer are now concluded. And guess what -- guess who 44:45 shows up. Wsssh! This glorious, majestic, 44:50 towering being of light, who looks down at this emaciated soul, and he says, "Oh, I just 45:00 don't understand this. You can't -- You cannot be who, apparently, You think You are." 45:08 I mean, how could You? Look at You! Okay?!" 45:17 By the way, the devil will always come to you on your 40th day. 45:21 I'm telling you the truth. You know what the 40th day is? It's when you're the weakest 45:24 physically. You'll never go 40 days of fasting. 45:27 You can't do it. But it's when you're at your weakest physically. 45:31 That's when the fowler shows up. "I got this thing that's gonna cut your legs out. 45:34 Watch this." Wssshww! That's when he shows up -- when 45:38 you're physically at your weakest, but he learned from Jesus. 45:41 He didn't know it before, but he knows it now. Sometimes, when you're at your 45:44 physical weakest, you are at your spiritual strongest. And Jesus was weak physically, 45:50 but He was strong. And so, when the devil spits that out -- "Come on, boy. 45:58 You're hungry, aren't You? I can tell. Look at You -- skin and bones. 46:03 Turn those stones into bread, right now! Do it!" 46:07 Jesus looks at that, and you know what Jesus does. "It is written: 'Man shall not 46:13 live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" 46:16 Isn't that what he said? Ah! [ Snaps fingers ] Now the fowler, who, himself, is 46:21 a bird, with his mighty talons, takes the Son of God, Son of Man, and he flies Him 46:28 high into the dark heavens and deposits Him on the top of a dizzying pinnacle. 46:35 He says, "All right. You like quoting Scriptures, don't You? 46:40 So do I. I have a Scripture for You. I suggest that You throw 46:43 yourself off of this, because if God is Your God and You are who You say You are and that voice 46:49 at the river said You were, just throw Yourself off. You -- He'll send His angels." 46:56 And the devil quotes -- now, I want you to watch this -- 46:59 put it on the screen, please. Matthew 4:6. 47:01 Temptation number 2. The devil says, "For it is 47:04 written..." Where did he just hear that? 47:05 He heard that from Jesus. "I can play this game -- For it 47:07 is written..." And now he quotes Psalm 91. 47:09 Watch this. "For it is written" -- 47:11 Psalm 91 -- "'He,'" the four-named God -- 47:14 "'will command his angels concerning you, and they will 47:16 lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your 47:20 foot against a stone.'" "You want to quote Scripture? 47:23 I quoted Scripture." Ah! But notice what he does. 47:26 I'm gonna show you the real Psalm 91 now, and you'll see 47:28 where the surgery is. "For he," the four-named God, 47:31 "will command his angels concerning you" -- underline the 47:33 part that the devil cut out, please. 47:38 He cut that line out. That is the gut. 47:40 That is the heart of the entire psalm. 47:43 He cut it out. He skipped. 47:45 And so he added an "and." "For he will command his angels 47:48 concerning you and they will lift you up." 47:50 Ah. You know why he cut it out? Because it's the secret to your victory against the fowler. 47:59 And he doesn't want Jesus to be reminded of the secret. He cuts it out. 48:03 But in the act of cutting it out -- get this -- Jesus, who learned this from knee-high to a 48:08 grasshopper, learned it -- He's on red alert. Something's missing. 48:13 Ah, He knew what was missing. And instantly, He now can identify who this being is. 48:20 Who would play cut-and-paste with the inspired Word of God? Wow. 48:28 The devil has hated that truth. Put that truth on the screen. And, boy, I wish there were a 48:33 way that I could just hit, "Lock me in, Scotty." Wsssh! I'd lock that truth into 48:37 your mind right now. It'd never leave. Look at that sentence. 48:39 Don't look at me -- look at that sentence. 48:43 The one line Satan was absolutely certain must not be introduced to Jesus. 48:49 [ Snaps fingers ] What he cut out -- What he didn't want Jesus to know, he 48:53 doesn't want you to know. So, look at that line. Fool him. Memorize it. 48:58 "He will guard you in all your ways." That is the great, great truth 49:02 of this mother hen/bird metaphor. If last week's raven metaphor 49:05 revealed the truth God will provide, then this week's mother-hen metaphor reveals the 49:09 truth God will protect. He will protect you. He will protect you. 49:13 He will guard you in all your ways. Summon it into your -- 49:22 Drop it into your memory and summon it up day after day after day. 49:27 "I will put my trust in Him, for He will guard me in all my ways. 49:31 I will put my trust in Him, for He will guard me in all my ways." 49:35 Lock that line in -- the one that Satan was hoping you'll never remember. 49:42 Lock it in, and you'll have the secret to why Jesus was victorious with the dark and 49:50 dastardly fowler. He will guard me -- me -- in all my ways -- period. 50:00 All my ways. And by the way, not just for mañana. 50:04 I know this psalm is for mañana, for the meltdown that's coming and the plagues will be talked 50:08 about if you just -- if you'll memorize this psalm. The plagues will be talked 50:12 about. I know this is about mañana, but it's also about today. 50:15 When the fowler is challenging your peace of mind and your security of heart, when he is 50:21 challenging you -- and some of you are being challenged big-time right now. 50:26 Nobody knows the story but you. You know it. When he's challenging you, one 50:32 line to the fowler -- "He will guard me in all my ways." "He will guard me..." -- eight 50:41 words. "I will put my trust in him" -- seven words. 50:44 Put the eight and the seven together. "He will guard me in all my 50:48 ways. I will put my trust in Him. He'll take care of me. 50:53 He will guard me." Personalize it -- "He will guard me" -- 50:56 personalize it -- "in all my ways." When your private world melts 51:00 down, He will guard you. When the world melts down one day, He will guard you. 51:04 He will guard me in all my ways. He will guard me in all my ways. That's it, ladies and gentlemen. 51:08 What the devil cut out is the bottom line to this metaphor. Thank you, devil. 51:12 Thank you for drawing our attention to it. Now we won't forget it. 51:15 "He will guard me in all my ways" -- say it out loud with me. 51:18 >> He will guard me in all my ways. 51:22 >> He will guard me. He'll guard me. 51:28 Wow. You have nothing to fear. I need to say this. 51:32 You have nothing to fear, and the devil knows it. 51:35 [ Chuckles ] The devil knows that you have 51:37 nothing to fear, which is why he's so breathing down your 51:42 neck, because he's gonna intimidate you into submission. 51:44 He's gonna intimidate you to break that trust with your 51:46 Father in heaven, that four-named God. 51:48 He's gonna break that trust if it kills him, because he knows 51:52 you have nothing to fear. 51:53 Angels who excel in strength were surrounding Jesus, and those angels will be surrounding 51:57 you. Any temptation that comes your way -- "He will guard me all my 52:02 days." He will guard all my ways. He will guard you in all your 52:09 ways. Wow. No matter what you're dreading 52:12 in the future -- no matter what. The devil knows. Angels who excel in strength. 52:21 The Holy Spirit, who is the omnipotence of God, Almighty God, all four names, 52:25 inside of you. The Holy Spirit says, "Dwight, what do you have to fear?" 52:29 He's saying to you, whatever your name is -- He's saying, "Hey, girl, what do you have to 52:32 fear? You have nothing to fear. I'm in you. 52:36 I will guard you in all your ways. Do you think I would forget you? 52:42 I am the hen. I am the mother hen. Come, come, come, come, come, 52:48 come. Quick, quick, quick. Fire's coming. Come." 52:54 In the words of William Orcutt Cushing, "Under His wings -- 53:00 Under His wings, who from His love" -- how's it go? -- "can sever? 53:06 Under His wings, my soul shall abide, safely abide forever." Ladies and gentlemen, that's the 53:14 truth of the mother-hen metaphor and the truth that will save your life... 53:28 ♪♪ ♪♪ 53:48 ♪♪ ♪♪ 54:08 ♪♪ ♪♪ 54:28 ♪♪ ♪♪ 54:48 ♪♪ ♪♪ 54:58 Sing it like a prayer. That last bit is so beautiful -- "Under His wings -- 55:01 O what precious enjoyment!" We're gonna sing like we're right under His wings right now. 55:05 Let's do that. ♪♪ 55:17 ♪♪ ♪♪ 55:37 ♪♪ Sing it where it's a cappella. 56:25 O God, that's our heart. That's our prayer. Keep us under Your wings. 56:28 If we're not under Your wings, like Jesus said, how much longer do I wait? 56:32 "You must come -- come to me now. Don't wait. 56:35 My arms are outstretched. My protection is eternal. I'll save you just as long, but 56:44 you must come to me." Father, let not one man, not one woman, not one child, not one 56:50 boy, not one girl say, "No, no, no, no, no, no. I can't come. I won't come." 56:55 We must come under Your wings. Hold us there. Keep us there until our 57:03 Lord Jesus comes. Now may the love of the Lord Jesus Christ 57:11 and the grace of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. 57:18 Amen. 57:22 >> I want to take an extra moment to thank you for joining 57:24 us in worship today. It's by the continued support 57:26 from viewers like you that we're able to bring you this program. 57:29 Today I want to invite you, though, to share with us how 57:31 this ministry has blessed you. I get inspiring notes, e-mails 57:35 from viewers literally all over the world telling me, "Look, 57:38 Dwight, God has been blessing me this way. 57:39 He's been doing this." I would love to hear from you, 57:41 as well. Just visit our website, 57:43 you know it, newperceptions.tv, and click on the contact 57:47 link at the top of the page. 57:49 Send me a note. Let me what God has been doing 57:52 right now in your life. Once again, thank you for being 57:55 with us today. I hope you'll join us right here 57:57 next time. And until then, may the God of 58:00 grace journey with you every step of the way. 58:06 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:20 ♪♪ |
Revised 2018-06-21