Gods Protection, Plan & Promise are Yours
Matthew 2:13-22
Psalm 139
We are a full week into 2018 and the Christmas story is fresh in our minds.
Many of you may have taken down your decorations and have stored away the cards and the gift wrap for another year. What remains is the message of Christmas. It is the one thing that will resonate with us for the rest of the year. The hope, joy, peace and love that was given to us by our Heavenly Father was personified in flesh through baby Jesus.
The arrival of a new King was news that was long expected for generations of Jews but King Herod was not among them. He only learned of it through foreigners.
Last week we looked at his response and this week I want to complete that part of the narrative.
You see while Jesus arrival was the highest of hopes for spiritual Jews longing for a Messiah; His arrival was the most unexpected realization for those who oppose God and His plan to redeem and save mankind.
Did you know that every person born into this world was born into the middle of a war?
Yes I know that may sound strange to you but each of us are a part of an eternal battle between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of Satan.
This war broke out in Heaven before we were a part of earth. Ezekiel 28 Isaiah 14
We see evidence of the continuation of this war in the actions of King Herod as he tried to murder Jesus while He was still an infant.
Our God knows the beginning from the end, anticipated that reaction and sent “the angle of the Lord” to Joseph by way of a dream in order to protect the life of Jesus. Matthew 2:13
It was an urgent message “Get up”. It required an immediate response and Joseph acted accordingly.
The protection afforded baby Jesus is the same protection afforded you and I as we trust God and put our faith in Him. Acts 12:6-7 St. Peter in prison.
Psalm 139:5
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
In Psalm 139 we see the fullness of God’s plan for you and me as expressed by King David. What a very different King was David when compared to King Herod.
David spells out for us some great theological truths. Great spiritual facts.
Our Heavenly Father has a plan to protect us so that his promises for us will come true. Listen carefully Saints, I’m not talking about the plans you have or desires you have for yourself, no quite the contrary.
Here we are talking about God’s plan for your life.
If we are saved by God’s grace and the blood of the Lamb then we are God’s servants to do and to act with as He sees fit. If our will is in concert with Gods will.
Many of us including myself forget that simple fact from time to time and we think we are promised a life of rainbows and sunshine.
That simply is not the case.
2 Timothy 2:20-21
20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use.
21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
We dear Saints are created for Gods Holy and High purpose and we sometimes forget that.
We must do as Timothy instructs us and “cleanse” ourselves from being used as something common in this world for we are uncommon we are set apart to do the will and work of our Heavenly Father.
Psalm 139:13-16 bears this out.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
We cannot know what 2018 will hold out for us as the Servants of the Most High God.
As we live out our lives in Jesus Christ we do so by faith not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
The Bible tells me that if I walk with the Lord he will protect me and use me to complete His plans for my life and if I am obedient like Joseph I will be favored with the promise of God. Proverbs 3:5-6
Saints we must be ready to hear Gods voice in our lives. While we are awake and while we sleep we must be open to the Spirit of God. We must act when we are told to act and we must not hesitate for the consequences of such hesitation can be devastating.
The Bible tells us that tomorrow is not promised.
Proverbs 27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
James 4:13-14
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”
14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
While we live and breathe, while we are that mist that appears for a little while we have the assurance of our faith. Let us then live fully as the servants of our Heavenly Father. Let us be given over to the voice of the Holy Spirit and to the Word of God who is Jesus Christ and let us bravely give ourselves over to the will of the Father.
When we do that we are being Christ like and we are then in step with the plan and purpose of God for our lives in this place.
By faithfully following that plan and the voice of God we will know every promise of God in this life and the next.
I do not know how many days are recorded for me or for you.
Psalm 139:16
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
I do know that they are finite while I am in this place, but by Gods gracious act of love my days will become infinite if I trust Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.
Be open to the plan of God for your life in 2018 and you will know His protection and promise to fulfill all He has desired for you.
You can learn of that plan through your prayer life and through reading Gods Word and in trusting Jesus as your Saviour.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Matthew 6:10
Amen
