Participants:
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000660S
|
00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B660 - Covered 00:20 Dr. Bryrd: Psalm 91, and I'm going to read-- and you're hearing from the King James version 00:26 of the Bible. And please, follow along. Psalm 91, the word of God says, 00:32 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the 00:38 Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: 00:42 my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, 00:48 and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with the feathers, 00:52 and under His wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 00:59 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 01:07 Understand that He-- A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; 01:15 but it shall not come nigh thee. 01:19 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 01:23 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, my habitation; 01:30 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." 01:35 Verse 11, "For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all of thy ways. 01:44 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 01:47 Thou shalt thread upon the lion and adder: the young lion 01:50 and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, 01:56 therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 02:06 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be him in trouble; 02:10 I will deliver him, and honor him. 02:12 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation." 02:19 Today I just want to challenge and encourage you on the subject covered-- covered. 02:25 God bless us now as we go into your word, make your word real and alive 02:29 and applicable for us today. We hide-- myself, Lord, I hide myself behind your cross. 02:35 May your anointing flow full and free, not just here from this pool pit, 02:40 but across the airwaves today. May your people see Jesus and never be the same again. 02:48 Forgive me of my sins, and Lord, even during the appeal, do what you do. 02:52 May your spirit flow full and free. We give you praise, we give you honor, we give you glory. 03:00 In the name of Jesus, Amen. Covered,our world is in turmoil. 03:11 The coronavirus pandemic has reached epic proportions. 03:17 I was watching the news on yesterday, and watching and reading the internet, 03:21 and as of yesterday, there were nearly a quarter of a million cases worldwide. 03:27 And we know there are more cases, but because there are not enough testing instruments 03:33 or equipment to test people, people have the virus but they just don't know it yet. 03:39 Worldwide there have been over 11,000 deaths and counting. 03:44 Right here in the United States, there are over 19,000 cases and 250 deaths, and counting. 03:52 Stock market is falling. There are restrictions on gatherings, curfews imposed, 04:01 churches closed, schools closed, universities closed, beaches closed, businesses closed, 04:14 and many businesses drying up as people are staying home and not buying. 04:20 We have self-imposed quarantines, we have government-imposed quarantines, fear 04:29 and uncertainty are everywhere. If you don't know it by now-- 04:35 You better know by now that the coronavirus is real. 04:40 Coronavirus, it's a pandemic, which means it's all over the world. 04:46 It has no respecter of persons. It affects both young and old, Black and White, 04:55 the coronavirus my friends is real. 04:59 Now, when we study history from biblical times to the present day, all throughout history, 05:05 there happened epidemics and pandemics with devastating effects. 05:10 In 1965, as I was reading this week, there was the great plague of London, 05:15 when fleas from plague infected rodents where transmitted to humans. 05:21 And by the time the plague ended one year later, about 100,000 people, 05:25 which was approximately 15% of the population of London, had died. 05:30 In 1889, there was the global flu pandemic and 1 million people died. 05:38 But then, if we fast forward to modern day, you will remember H1N1, the swine flu, 05:47 wherein one year, the swine flu infected as many as 1.4 billion people across the globe, 05:56 killing between 150,000 and 600,000. Then there was the ebola epidemic. 06:05 Ebola devastated West Africa between 2014 and 2016, with 28,000 reported cases 06:12 and over 11,000 deaths. And now, we have the coronavirus. 06:19 But in the name of Jesus, let me remind you today, that God is still in control. 06:29 As the old folk used to say, He sits high but he looks low. 06:34 And God is the one we must look to when living through a pandemic. 06:39 God, let me remind you, is omnipotent, which means He's all powerful. 06:44 God is able to come up with a cure, God is able to strengthen caregivers, 06:49 and God is able to heal those who've been afflicted. 06:53 But not only is God omnipotent, God is omniscient, which means He's all-knowing. 06:58 God is able to give wisdom to doctors, wisdom to nurses, wisdom to government leaders, 07:04 but not only that, God is omnipresent, which means God doesn't just watch from heaven, 07:11 but God is present even when we can't see Him. 07:15 And so the good news today, through this pandemic, are the words recorded in Psalms-- 07:23 Psalm 91. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the 07:32 shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, he is my fortress. 07:40 He is my God and Him will I trust. 07:43 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. 07:47 He shall cover thee with His feathers, under His wings shall thou trust: 07:52 His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shall not be afraid of the terror by night; 08:00 nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; 08:06 or nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon day." 08:10 Now you need to understand, Psalm 91 is a good Psalm to read during this period, 08:16 because it lets us know that there's security when you put your trust in Jesus. 08:22 There is safety when you put your trust in Jesus. 08:27 There is coverage when you put your trust in Jesus. 08:31 One of David's secret hiding places when he was an earthly fugitive running from Saul, 08:38 when Saul was trying to get him, was in the intimacy and communion of God. 08:43 He is able to say that he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide 08:50 under the shadow of the Almighty. 08:52 But truthfully, my friends, I like the Spanish translation of this text. 08:56 It is interpreted, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall be kept 09:01 under the overcoat of God Almighty," which means, friends of mine, "Hallelujah, I'm covered. 09:08 " I wish somebody knew what I as talking about. 09:11 David then mentions, in verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 91, five names of God. 09:16 He shares five ways in which God is revealed. Number one, he says He is the most High. 09:22 Number two, he says He is Almighty. Number three, he says He is the Lord God. 09:27 Number four, he says He is refuge. Number five, he says He is fortress. 09:33 And then in verse 3, David says God will save you from the snare of the fowler, 09:39 which means, God will save you from hidden peril. 09:44 But not only that, David continues in verse number three, 09:46 he says God will save you from noisome pestilence, which can also be interpreted, 09:53 God will save you from deadly pestilence. 09:57 A pestilence is a dreaded disease, an epidemic, 10:02 a pandemic of sickness that has caused a lot of deaths. 10:06 And that's what we're dealing with with coronavirus. 10:09 It has caused thousands of deaths, thousands have been infected. 10:15 But today, I'm so glad that the word of God says that God will save us from noisome, 10:23 or deadly, pestilence. Now, we know God can do it 10:27 because all throughout scripture, God saved his people from deadly pestilence. 10:33 What am I talking about? Before the Israelites saw the Egyptians perish in the red sea, 10:39 they witnessed the pestilences that fell on the Egyptians-- 10:43 Water turning to blood, flies, frogs, lice, boils, hail, locust, darkness, 10:53 and the killing of the first born, they saw that deadly pestilences on the Egyptians. 11:00 But my Bible also says that the plagues never touched the children of Israel. 11:06 The plagues never touched God's people. And in the same way the people were covered, 11:13 back in the day in Egypt, that's the same way-- Hallelujah, God's people are covered today. 11:20 Ellen White I was reading her this week. She says in great controversy-- page 629, 11:24 that in the last days-- Which, by the way, in case you didn't know, 11:28 we're living in right now because Jesus was clear in Matthew Chapter 24 that just 11:33 before his coming, there would be famines and pestilences and earthquakes. 11:39 And just this week, there was an earthquake in Utah, 11:43 and just this week, we're dealing with the pestilence of coronavirus. 11:47 But if we're in the last days, and Ellen White says that in the last days, 11:53 the people of God will not be free from suffering. But while persecuted and distressed, 11:59 they will not be left to perish because he who numbers the hairs on their head. Today 12:03 I want to remind somebody that there's safety under the shadow of the Almighty, 12:08 that there's safety under the overcoat of God, that there is safety in the arms of God. 12:16 God's people are always covered in the arms of God. Bubonic plague? Covered. 12:24 Flu pandemic? Covered. Swine flu? Covered. Ebola? Covered. Coronavirus? Covered. 12:34 Deathly pestilence? Covered. Terror by night? Covered. Arrow by day? Covered. 12:41 Your finances during this time? Covered. Your marriage? Covered. Your children? Covered. 12:48 Satan and demonic attack? Covered. Sin and its penalty? Covered. 12:53 It doesn't mean we won't troubles, but we are covered. 12:57 David continues to Psalm 91 and says "A thousand-- in verse 7, shall fall at thy side, 13:03 and ten thousand at thy right hand;" but he says it shall not come nigh unto thee. 13:10 So in other words, as followers of Christ, we don't fear like other people fear. 13:16 The way the world deals with fear and the way of child of God deals with fear, 13:22 has to be different. That the way we deal with tests and trial has to be different, 13:28 the way we deal with tribulation and trouble has to be different. 13:34 You see, we have a different pasture in our pain, 13:37 we have a different stands in our situation. 13:41 When the world looks at us-- When the world sees Pastor Byrd, 13:46 they ought to see something different. 13:48 Because when the world holds their heads down, 13:51 we lift up our hill-- eyes to the hills from when it's come at our help. 13:55 Our help comes from the Lord. When the world says there is no hope, 14:01 we say, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness." 14:06 When the world cries all night long, we say, "Weeping may endure for a night, 14:11 but joy comes in the morning." When the world sees the sour, we see the sweet. 14:17 When the world sees the ugly, we see the pretty. 14:20 When the world sees the glass half-empty, we see the glass half-full. 14:26 Because what we have, the president can't dictate. What we have, congress can't legislate. 14:34 What we have, haters can't eliminate. What we have, the devil can't anticipate. 14:43 What we have is the knowledge today that through test, through trial, 14:48 through tribulation, through pestilence, we're covered. 14:53 And so, through this coronavirus pandemic-- while I'm careful, I'm also covered. 14:59 The Bible continues in verse 11 of Psalm 91, that he shall give his angels charge over thee, 15:07 to keep thee in all thy ways, which means God will place angels, God will place messengers. 15:18 God will place invisible, supernatural beings all around you to guard you, to protect you, 15:27 to lift you, and to give you power to trample on forces that would otherwise 15:32 be deadly to you. People all around here panicking about coronavirus, 15:38 but I'm here to let you know God will put angels-- invisible walls all around you, 15:44 so that it will not come nigh your dwelling. 15:47 Let's rewind a bit, go back to the pestilences of Egypt so you'll 15:52 know what I'm talking about. Remember when the tenth plague, 15:56 the death of the first born occurred. The plague went to everyone's home there in Egypt, 16:03 but the plague did not enter the homes of those who had the blood of the lamb on their 16:09 doorpost in Goshen, which means God's people were covered. 16:13 God put a wall around his people to protect his people, God has given us angels. 16:21 But some people don't believe in angels, but I do believe in angels, 16:25 and I believe angels exist. From the beginning of Jesus' life, we see that angels exist. 16:32 At Jesus' birth, his life was in jeopardy when Herod tried to kill him by killing 16:38 all the baby boys under the age of two, but that's when Jesus' guardian angel went to work. 16:45 Jesus' guardian angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him to go to Herod to Egypt rather 16:50 to flee Herod, Jesus was covered. 16:54 In the temptations of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 4, in Satan's second attempt to tempt Jesus, 16:59 even Satan focused on the role of angels. 17:04 The Bible says that the devil took Jesus way up in the temple, 17:09 set him into the Holy City at the pinnacle of the temple, and he said to him, 17:15 "Jesus, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 17:22 he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all of thy ways." 17:26 But Jesus said unto him, "It is also written, thou shall not tempt the Lord, thy God." 17:32 Jesus was covered. The apostle Paul, he also had his guardian angel in the experience of a 17:39 shipwreck. In Acts, Chapter 27, Paul and 275 other prisoners, guards, and crews, 17:46 were fighting for their lives when a storm threatened to destroy their ship. 17:52 But Paul, he encouraged everybody. He said, "Hold on, everybody, 17:56 because none of us are going to die. Nobody is going to be lost." 18:01 He said in verses 23 and 24, "For there stood by me this night, 18:05 an angel of God to whom I belong and whom I serve saying do not be afraid, Paul. 18:11 You must be brought before Caesar. And indeed, God has granted all of you, 18:16 all those who sail with you, safety." Paul, was covered. 18:21 But then in Hebrews, Chapter 13 verse 2, it says, "Do not forget to entertain strangers." 18:26 For by doing so, some of us have entertained angels unaware. We are covered. 18:32 And then Psalm 91 says, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee to 18:39 keep thee in all of thy ways." We're covered. God sends angels to protect us, 18:48 but we're covered. Coronavirus is here, but we're covered. Sin is here, 18:57 |
Revised 2020-03-29