Opening illustration: During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades. Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed. As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen." After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going to help me out of this one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave. As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave. “Hah, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor." As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider’s web is stronger than a brick wall." We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget the victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways. As the great leader, Nehemiah reminded the people of Israel when they faced the task of rebuilding Jerusalem, "In God we will have success!" [Nehemiah 2:20] Remember: Whatever is happening in your life, with God, a mere spider’s web can become a brick wall of protection. Believe He is with you always. Just speak His name through Jesus His son, and you will see His great power and love for you.
Introduction: God has set us where we are, and beset us wherever we are. Behind us there is God recording our sins, or in grace blotting out the remembrance of them; and before us there is God foreknowing all our deeds, and providing for all our wants. We cannot turn back and so escape him, for he is behind; we cannot go forward and outmarch him, for he is before. He not only beholds us, but he besets us; and lest there should see any chance of escape, or lest we should imagine that the surrounding presence is yet a distant one, it is added, - “And laid Your hand upon me.” It is like a prisoner marches along surrounded by a guard, and gripped by an officer. God is very near; we are wholly in his power; from that power there is no escape. We are not surprised that the Most Glorious God should in his knowledge be high above all the knowledge to which we can attain: it must of necessity be so, since we are such poor limited beings; and when we stand a-tip-toe we cannot reach to the lowest step of the throne of the Eternal.
God’s ‘Protection Plan’ for us ~
1. How is the ‘Hedge’ (PP) built around us?
(a) Fear of the Lord: Psalm 34: 7; Proverbs 1: 7
(b) Sanctification: Job 1: 5; 1 Thessalonians 4: 7; Hebrews 12: 14
© Salvation: Romans 10: 11
(d) Standing in the Gap: Ezekiel 22: 30
Illustration: (a) Shad rack, Meshach & Abednego … Daniel.
(b) Elijah: Always protected by God and his need was met by the ravens at the brook Cherith.
2. How is the ‘Hedge’ (PP) destroyed?
By surrendering to Satan or yielding to Sin in our lives. Therefore what action should we take to deal with this situation?
(a) Submit to God; Resist the devil & he will flee: James 4: 7 & 8
(b) Being sober and vigilant: 1 Peter 5: 8
© By the presence of God: 1 John 4: 4
(d) God’s favor: Romans 8: 31
Illustration: Adam & Eve in the ‘Garden of Eden.’
3. How to build the ‘Hedge’ (PP) between you and Satan?
(a) Abstain from evil: 1 Thessalonians 5: 22
(b) Godly counsel: Psalm 1: 1 – 3
© Abstaining from sin: Proverbs 1: 10; 4: 14
Illustration: Job would intercede and undergo the process of sanctification for his children in case they had sinned against God in any way.
4. How to keep the ‘Hedge’ (PP) around you consistently?
(a) Obedience & Submissiveness to people in authority: Hebrews 13: 17
(b) Do not reject God’s Word: 1 Samuel 15: 23
© Obedience toward Godly parents: Ephesians 6: 1 – 3
(d) Being patient towards children: Ephesians 6: 4
Illustration: Eight stranded and falsely accused Christians in Afghanistan.
Conclusion: All those who have called on the name of the Lord will surely be saved. Are you born again by the Spirit of God? Are you saved?
Once you are, you are the ‘Apple of God’s Eye.’
Zechariah 2: 8 “For thus says the LORD of hosts: "He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.”
Psalm 17: 7 – 9 “Show Your marvelous loving-kindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You From those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings, From the wicked who oppress me, From my deadly enemies who surround me.”
If you are the ‘Apple of God’s Eye,’ you are precious to God and at the same time more vulnerable to Satan and his devices because you become a threat for him and his kingdom. Therefore he is out to get you with all his forces. Remember by being on God’s team you are also right at the top of ‘Satan’s Hit List.’ Are you willing to take that risk with God and at the same time have His ‘Hedge’ around you? That does not mean problems or adversaries won’t arise? There will be more than you can imagine but you won’t be going through it all alone. The presence of God will never leave you nor forsake you.
Once the ‘Hedge’ is broken, it can only be re-built by God Himself.
Allow Him to do it. Let us do our part by ~
(a) Fearing God
(b) Being sanctified by the Blood of Christ
© Salvation
(d) Standing in the Gap
