God rules even over nature.
He prevails over that. He's the God of the storm. He's the God of the quake.
He's the God of the flood. And if you know Him, then you know the One who is directing all of that to accomplish His ends. And therefore there is no reason to fear. Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Don is teaching God's people God's Word.
Hi, I'm Bill Wright, and we're concluding a message titled No Fear. Last time, Don gave us the first of three reasons to have confidence instead of fear and anxiety. And that is God prevails over nature. So even in natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes, we know that God is sovereign over them. On today's program, Don will provide reasons number two and three concerning God's sovereignty over nations and judgment.
If you struggle with fear and anxiety in your life, you'll gain much needed encouragement today. So have your Bible ready as we join Don Green now in the Truth Pulpit. Secondly, not just that God prevails over nature. Secondly, God prevails over nations. God prevails over nations. The psalmist turns from an upheaval in nature to an upheaval in the nations. Look at verses four and five with me. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She will not be moved.
God will help her when morning dawns. Then look at verse six. Verses four and five being a reference to the earthly Jerusalem, where God dwelt in the temple at the time that this psalm was written. God was in the midst of the city and his holy dwelling place in the temple, where he uniquely manifested his presence. And he says in verse five, the psalmist says, God is in the midst of her. She will not be moved.
God will help her when morning dawns. God is in the midst. Therefore, what could be the threat against this marvelous city where his presence is dwelling? Verse six, the nations made an uproar. A threat came against Jerusalem. The kingdoms tottered.
They were vulnerable. What did God do? Verse six, he raised his voice and the earth melted. God merely elevated his voice and the threat was turned away at the beginning of the day.
You know, that happened twice in Israel's history at least. It was at daybreak when God drowned the Egyptian army in the Red Sea as the people of Israel were leaving Egypt, heading into the Promised Land. It was at daybreak, Exodus 14 verse 27 says, that God drowned the Egyptian army in the Red Sea when they tried to pursue them. It was at daybreak when Israel found the Assyrian army destroyed after the siege of Jerusalem and 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, their finest men, were dead in one night.
It was at daybreak that they found that. Look at verse five there. God will help her when morning dawns. What it's saying here is that from the very start of the day, the people of God are safe even when nations rise up against them.
Why? Why is there this sense of safety? Verse six, the nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered, he raised his voice, the earth melted. Scripture tells us that God is so sovereign over nations that they cannot successfully rise up against him. Now, follow the logic of the psalm in this.
See where that leads us. You have this God over nature. You have this God over the nations who protects his people and lives in the midst of them. And verse seven says, the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of armies.
The God of the armies of Israel, the God of angel armies, always by my side. Verse seven, the God of Jacob is our stronghold, Jacob being another name for Israel. The God of Israel is our stronghold, Jacob who was weak and faltering, even a deceiver in his early years as a man, the man from whom the nation of Israel came from his loins. That wavering, weak, deceitful man became one who belonged to the God of the nation. And that God is the one, the psalmist says, who is our stronghold. He is the fortress that we run into and we are safe from all who would attack us. And what you're meant to do as you hear that, as you read through that, is to say, who is this God, the God of hosts, the Lord of hosts, Lord being the covenant name, the promise keeping God of Israel, the one who has made Israel his people and he is their God.
What about him? Well, nations cannot stand before him. Nature is under his control. What the Psalm is saying is, that's our God. That's the God who is with us. He's over nations.
He's over nature. What does that mean? Go back to verse two. Therefore, we will not fear. Beloved, the United States is not the people of God.
Never has been, never will be. In New Testament times, it's the church that are the people of God and we belong to him in that way. But do you see what this means? Do you see that in the midst of everything that is designed in an election cycle to stir you up to fear and being unsettled about the future of government, the future of the world and what's going to happen? Do you realize as a humble believer in Christ, as a member of the true universal Church of Christ, do you realize that the Lord who is over nations is with you? Do you realize that the God who is sovereign over all is beside you and with you and committed to your well-being and guarantees it by the sure precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you realize that? Do you realize then that that empties all of this cycle of fear for you looking to the future? What defines your future, what defines your perspective on life is not who the next elected official is, beloved. It's defined by who your God is. And the nations may make an uproar and they may come after the church and they may do this and that and we look at all of that and say, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know.
I know something more important. I know who my God is and my God is a refuge, my God is a strength, my God is over nature, my God is over nations and he is with me. I'm not afraid.
I long to see the people of God go through an election cycle like that rather than engaging in the fear that politics brings. You should want to at least be a person like that because your God is worthy of that trust, your God will care for you through whatever comes and because he is who he is, because he is over nature, because he is over nations, then you should worship him and you should worship him with trust, with confidence that says no fear. I'm not afraid. How can you not be afraid?
Don't you know blah, blah, blah, blah? But I know something more important. I know that the Lord of hosts is with me.
I know that the God of Jacob, I know that the Father of my Lord Jesus Christ is my stronghold. Why are you trying to scare me? I trust him.
I know him. I will not be afraid. No fear.
Why? Because of who God is, because of what Christ has done at Calvary for my soul. I'm not living for this world. And so verse 7, look at it again with me. This is really a refrain for the psalm.
It's the chorus, that which is repeated again at the end. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah, clear your mind and think on this, beloved. There is no limit to the power of God. There is no limit to the promise of God to defend and help his people.
None! Therefore, we respond with a vertical sense of trust that says, God, you're with me. Therefore, the response of my heart is no fear. I will offer you a courageous heart in response to the God that you are to me, O God.
Whether it's a personal trial of great physical magnitude, a family matter that shatters you to the core, financial reversal, things that go on around you. No fear, because God is who he is. There's a final aspect of it that the psalmist brings us to. Point number three is that God prevails over judgment. God prevails over judgment. The psalmist now in this final section is going to call you to examine God, think about God, contemplate God in light of final judgment.
And let me just say this and back up for a little bit. I realize that Psalm 46 is one of the more familiar psalms. I've often gone to Psalm 46 in times of personal crisis concerns and things like that. What I would have you see to appreciate and appropriate Psalm 46 more deeply in your heart is that it is dealing with the power and supremacy of God at a level that is far beyond your earthly individual life. This is not a psalm that is about your personal circumstances.
And if you approach it simply through the prism of I need help today in this immediate particular problem, you're really going to miss the defining impact that it has on your life. This psalm presents such an elevated and glorified view of God. God over nature, God over nations, God over judgment, as we'll see in a moment. To realize that it's talking about God at such a great transcendent level that spans the eons of time. This is not a psalm isolated into our personal life circumstance. This is about who God is over eternity.
God in his sovereign might, God in his powerful majesty. And you're supposed to leave yourself behind, as it were, and look up at the full greatness of God and see him there on the throne, high and lofty and exalted like Isaiah did in Isaiah 6. And you say, wow, that's who God is, and then bring that in.
Bring that down to earthly life after you've already contemplated everything else. You see, some of these psalms come to you not to give you an immediate answer to the circumstances that trouble your heart. No, actually what the psalms call you to is to forget the circumstances that trouble your heart, look up full into the full glory of God, and the troubles diminish by comparison. This psalm is like that. And in verses 8 and 9 he calls us to think about God in light of his coming judgment. Look at verse 8 with me. Come, behold the works of the Lord. Behold here being a term, not so much to see it with your physical eyes, but to see it with your inner understanding.
Grasp this in your heart. You know, kind of like you see the answer to a math problem. Well, you're not literally seeing it with your physical eyes, you're understanding it with your mind. And so this is a verse to understand, to think about, to contemplate, to meditate on the fact of who God is. And what does God do? Let's look at verse 8 and 9 again. Oh, this is cool.
I mean, this is really cool. Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth.
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two. He burns the chariots with fire, speaking to the elements of warfare as they existed at that time. Nation against nation, warring against one another. And how great is God? God intervenes and imposes his will on the outcome.
God is a divine warrior, Scripture shows us. And I want you to see something and I want you to understand something, and I want you to write this down, because we need it so much in the day in which we live. In an era, in an age which has denied absolute truth, in an age of false tolerance that just says everybody should get along with everybody else, we should coexist with one another. People believe that so much that they stick it as a bumper sticker on the back of their car. Boy, is that ever conviction for you, huh?
Good grief. And all of these, we're in an era of just, of all tolerance and compromise and negotiation, no matter what the implications for righteousness might be. I want you to see something in this passage when it says in verse 9, God makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He, this Lord of hosts who is with us, this God of Jacob who is our stronghold, he breaks the bow, he cuts the spear in two, he burns the chariots with fire.
What is this saying about the nature of God? You know how God wins wars? You know how God brings conflict to cease? It's not through compromise. It's through conquest.
It's through victory. God defeats his enemies. God subjects them to his power. That is the way that God prevails in judgment, not to negotiate with Satan to some kind of outworking that where each side gives. No, God in the fullness of his righteousness, the fullness of his power, imposes his will to absolute outcome of righteousness and the complete fulfillment of his purpose and everything that is opposed to him will eventually bow in defeat and acknowledgement of who is Lord.
That's who God is. Look over at 2 Peter 3. This is the outcome of the ages.
2 Peter 3, just before 1 John, we'll start in verse 10. What's this world headed to for those who are concerned about climate change? Oh, yeah, the Lord's going to change the climate all right. 2 Peter 3, verse 10, The day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up. God is going to come and is going to judge his enemies and is going to judge this wicked world and bring it all to an end in judgment. Verse 11, Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat? God is going to prevail in judgment and it will be decisive, it will be complete, it will be the end of everything evil that has opposed him, not because of some compromise that he negotiates with supposedly equal powers, no, by an exercise of his sovereign indomitable will he will accomplish everything that he wants.
That's our God. What does the certain outcome of his judgment, what does that have on our effect, does that have on our heart? Verse 13, According to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
You know what that's saying? It's saying that God, as it were, is going to have his people in the palm of his hand, safely covering them as he exercises his judgment. And what is he going to do except carry us through all of that safely so that on the other side we will be in an era of righteousness and peace?
That's how great his care is for his people. And so while God prevails in judgment, he keeps his people through the process and brings them safely out on the other side. That is what God does. Now, go back to Psalm 46 with that in mind. This God who prevails in war, this God who prevails in judgment, no one to contest him, no one to successfully oppose him, now in verse 10 he calls for surrender to all the nations, including his own people.
He says, cease striving. Stop the opposition to me and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. This God who is over nature, this God who is over nations, this God who prevails in judgment, he is still yet to be fully exalted in earth. One day Christ will be reigning on earth and the fullness of his glory will be on display.
And he will be exalted and that is the certain outcome of history, is the return and reign of Jesus Christ. And so, resistance is futile. Cease striving. Stop the sin. Stop the opposition. And simply recognize who this God is know him, bow before him, bow before the certain conquests that he will have while there's still time because God prevails even in final judgment.
The earth can collapse. God still reigns. The nations make war even against his people. God still reigns.
Judgment is coming. God will reign. That's who God is. Now what you're meant to do with all of that is to come to this refrain again in verse 11.
Look at it with me. That is the God who is with us. Verse 11, the Lord of hosts is with us. This God of power is with us and on our side. This God of Jacob is our stronghold. When we go to God, we don't go to a weak, effeminate deity who is not able to do anything about it. When you trust in God, when you appeal to him, you are going to the God who is over all and therefore no fear.
The final salah calls you to bring it all into your mind and to contemplate it and filter it through your mind until it changes your perspective on life. He is with us to prevail for us. He is with us in that macro sense and he is with you to prevail for you even in the depth of the sin of your own heart. Look over at Matthew chapter 1. What's the very name of Jesus? Matthew chapter 1 verse 21. Angels speaking to Joseph, telling him about the child in his betrothed's womb. Verse 21, Mary will bear a son. You'll call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.
Oh, you mean he's not only over nature, he's not only over nations and judgment, but he can even be Lord over my sin and do away with my sin as easily as he does away with nations? Verse 22, now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which translated means what? God with us. God with us. In Christ, God is with us. In Christ at the cross, at Christ in the tomb, with Christ in the resurrection, with Christ in the ascension, God with us, sparing not even his own blood in order to defend his people.
Despising even his life for the sake of obedience to the Father in order to accomplish redemption for his people. God with us. God with us over nature, over nations, over judgment, and as we see him in the cross, even over our sin, over your sin. What a magnificent God. What a God to trust. Do you see how your fear in life is a denial of these great truths of which we speak?
If your God is who Scripture says he is and you know him, then the outcome is assured no matter what the variations and circumstances might be from time to time. So beloved, let's leave it here. Is your life being ruined by fear, by anxiety, by that knot in your stomach as you look to the future with gloom? I ask it sympathetically, beloved. I ask it in care for your soul. I ask it to help you. Why?
Why are you like that? Don't you know your God? Don't you know that you can completely trust him with everything, with an assurance that he will bring you safe on the other side? You might want to bookmark Psalm 46 if you haven't already. So the next time you're tempted to give in to fear and anxiety, we'll be back to this wonderful psalm over and over again. Thanks to the God we serve, life without fear really is for you. Well, next time, Pastor Don Green begins another powerful series, and we invite you to join us then here on The Truth Pulpit.
Right now, though, Don's back here in studio with some closing words. Well, you know, my friend, I feel very blessed by God to be able to do what I do. I have a church that is loving and supportive of me, and I have this radio broadcast. I have the opportunity to speak to you in a personal manner like this.
What a wonderful gift that is. You know, I would just encourage you, if the Lord ever brings us to your mind, pray for us. We're like all men in ministry.
We feel our inadequacy. We realize that we need the power of the Holy Spirit to attend the work that we do so that there would be eternal fruit for your good and for the glory of Christ. So pray for us as the Lord brings us to mind. Pray for those that support The Truth Pulpit with the labor of their hands. We have a wonderful team, and we're just so grateful for you as you listen to us day by day on The Truth Pulpit. Thanks, Don. Just visit us at thetruthpulpit.com. That's thetruthpulpit.com. I'm Bill Wright, and we'll see you next time on The Truth Pulpit as Don Green continues teaching God's people God's Word.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-04-05 09:58:00 / 2023-04-05 10:07:19 / 9