July 9, 2006
Morning Worship
Text: Psalm 91
Subject: God’s Protection
Title: A Place for You to Dwell
There are several areas that I have based my preaching ministry upon. 1) I believe people need to be saved and in order to do so they need to hear the gospel from you. 2) I believe that God’s promises are as much for us today as they were for those in the time the Scriptures were written and we need to accept that by faith. 3) I believe that a Christian is called to live a life of holiness that separates him or her from the world.
I believe that a life lived in contradiction to any of these points will result in the lack of Holy Spirit power in your life and ultimately in the life of this church. Now, to a person, I can accurately say that you want to see true revival break out. I believe it is going to happen but not without changes being made in your life.
I want to share with you one really basic principle that will enable you, if you put it into practice, to live a victorious and power packed Christian life.
Christians need to stay filled with the Holy Spirit and empty themselves of the world.
I. A PLACE TO DWELL (1-8)
A. It’s a Place of Rest. Verse 1, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Three things to look at here. Dwelling, shelter and rest. Dwelling talks about living in a certain place. Do you live in the shelter of the Most High or do you just visit there on Sunday mornings? Do you see the difference? God wants us to live in His presence always. Listen to the words of Jesus in John 15:1-8, 1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 2) the second thing is shelter. It is a place for you dwell out of the storm. God’s shelter doesn’t keep the storms from coming, but it does keep you from being washed away by the torrents that will come. 3) Rest. How much time and resources do we spend trying to find the right vacation place or the right hideaway? We all look for a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of life. Sometimes you just have to leave and go somewhere. Jesus said, "Come unto Me and I will give you rest." I’m not saying that it is wrong to take a vacation. I’m saying that if you abide in the shelter of the Lord you will always find rest.
B. It’s a Place of Battle. Verse 2 tells us that the Lord is a refuge and a fortress. Webster’s dictionary defines fortress as a military stronghold. Does that tell you what takes place in the life of every Christian? There is a continual battle raging.
C. It’s a Place of Protection. You have a refuge to protect you from the enemy. Proverbs 18:10 "10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." Psalm 24:8, "8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle." Abiding in God affords us protection that we could find nowhere else. The Lord is mighty in battle because the victory has already been given to us. Read Verse 7&8
II. A CONDITION TO MEET. (9-13)
A. Abiding. Notice in verse 8 that God applies a condition to the above promises. If you make the Most High your dwelling; If you constantly dwell in His presence; If you are living in and for Him and not in the world; If you are constantly thinking about your relationship with Him and rejoicing in your position in Him. The world is full of "Christians" who abide in Christ on Sunday morning and then live like the world the rest of the week. As a matter of fact the only time they think of God is when they hear a co-worker use His name in vain. I read from John 15 earlier. Let’s go back and look at that a little closer. "4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." If we abide in Jesus His life will flow through us. Abiding means saying connected. A life of power, the answer to prayer, and our Christian walk itself is contingent on whether we stay connected to Jesus at all times.
B. Trusting. How do you get to the place in your life where you can totally depend on God for everything? By abiding in Him. Galatians 5:16, "16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." I John 2:27, "27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit;just as it has taught you, remain in him." Notice that there is a strong connection here between trusting God, walking in the Spirit (the same as the anointing) and abiding in Christ. The anointing teaches us to trust Him and to abide in Him. It’s not a counterfeit. I’ve said before that we have all the wonderful manifestations like we saw here last Sunday night, and there was no tangible fruit to come from it, you have to wonder if it’s real or flesh. I can’t speak for the rest of you, but as the Spirit begins to intensify here He is teaching me things and taking me to places that aren’t always comfortable. But the more I trust Him and abide in Him the more He teaches me.
C. Receiving. Look at verse 11-13. "11For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent." Now this is a passage that satan (I use a small "s" because satan dosen’t deserve a capital "S") used to try to tempt Jesus in the desert. It’s a promise that is true but it applies to all who abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Let me try to paint a clear picture for you. Here comes the devil with some sickness or oppression designed just for you. He moves in to get close to bring this thing upon you. But there you are abiding in the Lord. You have a beautiful constant relationship with the Savior of the world. As a matter of fact you are His bride. You’re abiding in the shadow of His wings. How close can the enemy get to you? Verses 9-10, "9If you make the Most High your dwelling, even the LORD, who is my refuge, 10then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent." All because you dwell in the shelter of the Most High.
III. A REASON TO PRAY (14-16)
A. The Rescuer Verse 14 says that because you love Him He will rescue you. Who is the one who loves God? First it’s the one who has trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Can’t love God any other way. Second, John 14, 15"If you love me, you will obey what I command..." So if you are obedient to the scriptures, not the letter of the law but the spirit of the law for the letter kills, but the spirit brings life; if you are obedient to the Spirit you can believe that your rescuer is right there beside you.
B. The Protector. "I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name." Remember from last week that there is power and authority in Jesus’ name? At the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven, on the earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord... Protection comes at the name of Jesus. "15He will call upon me, and I will answer him..." When you have an abiding relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ you can expect that when you pray your prayer is not only heard but it will be answered. I will be with him in trouble,
C. The Deliverer. "I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." What do you think God will deliver you from? The enemy comes to kill steal and destroy but Jesus came that you might have life and have it more abundantly. 1 Peter 5:8, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him..." How do you do that? By abiding. By trusting; by accepting God’s word.
How do we go about dwelling in the shelter of the Most High?
1. Do a reality check on your life. Are you really living every moment for God? Or are you trying to have the best of both worlds? It would be so nice to be able to enjoy the presence of God while partaking of the pleasures of the world. It can¡¦t happen. 1 John 1:6, "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth."
2. Allow the Holy Spirit to show you your sin, and then take care of it. Go before the Lord confessing your sin and then turn away, that’s what repentance is all about. 1 John 1:9, "9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
3. Get rid of the things in your life that allow the devil to creep in. Cut back on secular TV. Even though you think that the programs aren’t too bad, I can guarantee you that there will be commercials that aren’t fit to watch. Watch Christian TV. Read Christian books. Study your bible. Pray!
4. Seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit or a refilling to fill up the void left by getting rid of the world.
5. Be in church to worship with other believers.
6. Give your heart to Jesus or rededicate yourself to Him
