From the desk of Pastor Toby Powers
Truth Baptist Church
Hwy 78
Bremen, GA
Correspondence Address:
56 Taylor Cir
Carrollton, GA 30117
Email: tjpowers@gfb.org
The Benefits of Serving God
Psalms 103:1-5
Intro: The Psalmist in his quiet time of prayer is considering the great mercies of the Lord in dealing with him. Like me, the Psalmist had been a sinner and sought refuge of the Lord. He had come to the place where the pangs of hell had caught hold on his soul, and he cried for mercy. It is in this chapter where he contemplates the results of the mercy of God extended to his never dying soul. He concludes that God is fit to be blessed from the depths of the soul, for he has loaded us with benefits (Psalms 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.). He came to God wanting nothing but refuge from the penalty of sin, but look what all else that God gave him! There are some great benefits involved with serving the Lord. I want to discuss a few. I have the benefit of:
I. Peace in My Heart: Because My Sins Are
A. Forgiven: v. 3, Col. 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
B. Forgotten: Eph 2:13 17 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
C. Forever Gone: Romans 5:1
II. Presence to Make Me Happy and Holy: Psalms 68:19 said these benefits were daily. He is a daily, constant faithful companion. I Cor 1:9 said he is faithful. He is faithful:
A. Regardless of the Weather: In the Sun, In the Soft Breeze, In the Stormy Sea, In the Shipwreck
B. Regardless of the Wounds:
1. In the Bluffs of Satan: I Peter 5:8, He often only bluffs and threats without delivering
2. In the Bites of Satan: Acts 28:1-6, Sometimes the Devil will strike from the fiery trials of life and attack. It’s not a bluff; it’s real. God will still be faithful!
C. Regardless of the Way’s End: No matter how grim, dark, dreary, and frightening the end of the road, no matter how great the disease, sickness, injury, or pain, God will be faithful unto death!
III. Promise That Offers Hope: Jesus left me a promise
A. That Heaven is Real: John 14:1
B. That Home is Just Down the Road: 4 x’s in Revelations he promises that he is coming quickly (3:11, 22:7, 22:12, 22:20).
C. That He Will Be Worth It All: I Corinthians 15:57-58
Conclusion: The question that comes then to my mind is the same as the Psalmist in 116:12, What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? The only thing that the Lord requires is that we love him. Deuteronomy 10:12 said that all God required was that we love him and walk in all his ways. John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
