I love studying and preaching and teaching the Word of God. And I kind of remind myself of this old pastor I heard about one time. This old man had preached a sermon and he said, now everybody next week I'll be preaching on Noah's Ark. Well, during the weeks, some mischievous young boys slipped into the church, found the pastor's Bible, and began to just glue pages of the Bible together. The pastor didn't realize the boys had done that. And so the next Sunday he got up to read his text and here's what the pastor read. He said, and Noah took unto himself a wife and she was, and he turned the pages, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, indeed was very spacious. He looked at that for a second and said, you know, I've read the Bible for 50 years and I've never seen that in the Bible.
He said, but if the Word of God says it, bless God, I believe it. And so I just believe there's something powerful about the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God. And of all the things we can do on Sunday, let me ask you something.
What do you think is the most important thing we could do? Now, if you grew up Catholic, any Catholics here, former Catholics? If you grew up Catholic, the Catholic Church would teach you the most important thing you can do is communion. That's kind of the high part of the Catholic service. Communion is the most important thing you can do. If you grew up traditional, charismatic, Pentecostal, the traditional, really the charismatic movement said, no, the song service, the worship, the singing, the worship, that's the most important thing you can do. If you're part of maybe the seeker church or anything about the seeker church, seeker-sensitive church, it's really the whole entertainment, creativity thing. The most important thing you can do on Sunday is have skits or entertainment or something to draw people in and get really creative.
And I got to be honest with you, I wrestle with this sometimes. And the staff knows this. And staff meeting every now and then, we meet on Tuesdays, I was like, guys, don't you all think we need to do something different on Sunday? I don't want people to get bored. We need to do something, you know, zippy-zappy-zoopy on Sunday and just do something to draw people in.
And then I'm reminded of that great quote from Charles Spurgeon. He said, the time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats. So what is the most important thing we can do as we gather together? Well, we've been going through 1 Timothy and we're now at 1 Timothy 4. So turn to 1 Timothy 4 in your Bibles, if you would. Paul is talking to a young man named Timothy. It's been called by God to get the church at Ephesus back in shape.
The church had started to go off the rails. And Paul says, now, I'm going to come, Timothy, when I can, to minister at that church. But until I come, Timothy, I need you to get this church back in order.
And in 1 Timothy 4, 11, he says this, Timothy, command and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but show yourself as a model to those who believe in word, conduct, love, faith, and purity. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the gift within you which was given to you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the counsel of the elders.
Take pains with these things. Be absorbed in them so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for as you do this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
Listen to me. The emphasis in the early church was on the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God, and we see that right here. Verse 11, Paul says, Timothy, I want you to command and I want you to teach these things. Command, Timothy, and teach. The word teach is used 15 times in the pastoral letters. You know what I mean by the pastoral letters? First, 2 Timothy, Titus, these are the letters written to pastors on how to pastor the church, 15 times. You teach, you teach, you teach, you break open the Word of God.
That shows you the significance of this. We see the emphasis on preaching in verse 13. Timothy, until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching. That word, give attention to, it's the same word that's used in Hebrews 7.13 that talks about a priest performing his duties at the temple that's totally absorbed in serving God. He says, Timothy, just like the priest at the temple gives himself to this God-ordained task, I want you to give yourself to this task of preaching and teaching the Word of God.
And in verse 13, Paul says specifically, Timothy, when I tell you to give attention, I'm telling you to give attention to three things on Sunday morning. Number one, read the Bible. Number two, explain the Bible. And number three, apply the Bible.
Do you see this? He says, the reading of Scripture, verse 13, I want you to focus on that, read the Word. This isn't a devotional thought.
This isn't a precious moments verse for the day that you just kind of read and you give a little sermonette for Christianettes. No, you read the Word of God. Number two, you explain. That's what he means by teaching. You explain what the Word of God means. And then number three, you apply it. That word exhortation means now that you've heard the Word of God read, now that you've heard the preacher explain it, this is how it applies to your everyday life.
You read, you explain, and you teach. And that's been God's pattern for his people for centuries. Nehemiah 8, verse 8. In Nehemiah 8, God's people have gathered back into Jerusalem, they're reestablishing the temple, they're reestablishing God's holy city. And Nehemiah 8, it says this, they read from the book, from the law of God, explaining and giving insight, and they provided understanding of the reading.
You see that? They read it, says they read from the book. They explained it, says they provided understanding.
They applied, they gave insight. That's what God's called us to do on Sunday morning. I don't want you to think when you come...
This will help you. When you come to cross assembly, don't think you listen to Chad Harvey. In fact, I don't want you to listen to me. I want you to come on Sunday morning and believe that it's God himself who is speaking to you through the very Word of God. On Sunday morning, you gather and you're saying, Father, we need our marching orders. God, I need some help into living, how to live the life you've called me to live. In this crazy world, we've gathered in your presence, God.
Speak through your imperfect servant, Chad Harvey, but we don't want to hear his voice, we want to hear your voice. You read the Word, you explain the Word, and you apply the Word. And again, this is the emphasis. You see this in verse 15. He says, Timothy, look, take pains with these things.
Be absorbed in them. Take pains literally means, Timothy, you have a single-minded focus. You're not here to give skits to the people.
You're not here to give them some type of goose bump on the back of their neck. No, I don't want you to have a single-minded focus. You let the Spirit of God speak through your mouth.
Take pains with these things. And he says, be absorbed. Literally, in the Greek, it means be in them. This is, look, pastoring is not what I do, it's really who I am. He's saying, Timothy, you just be absorbed in this thing.
The insurance salesman can sell his insurance Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. But you're not an insurance salesman, you're not a businessman, you're not a schoolteacher. Timothy, you're the man of God, you be in these things. This is your life.
Does that make sense? Timothy, this is your focus. You preach and you teach the Word of God. And this isn't just the New Testament. You ever wonder this, all right, so we got the Book of Acts, so we know what the church was like in the first century.
Have you ever asked yourself this? Okay, so the Book of Acts ended around 60 AD. What was the church like after the Book of Acts? Like, we don't have it in our Bible, but the next generation of Christians, what were they like?
You ever wonder about that? There's a guy named Justin Martyr who lived in the 100 AD, and about 100 years after the church is born, so this is after the Bible is written, but it's in the early days of the church, he actually describes an early worship service in the church. Here's what he says. He says, on the day called Sunday, all the Christians who live in the cities or the country, they all gather together in one place. The leader reads the writings of the apostles or the prophets and then instructs and exhorts the people to imitate these good things. Then we rise together, we pray, and when our prayers ended, we partake of bread and wine, and then the leader offers prayers and thanksgiving. That's it. They gather together, they hear the Word of God preached, they take communion together, they pray, they praise and thanks God, and they go home.
You say, that sounds boring. The church exploded during that time. They did more with preaching, communion, prayer, and worship than we do with technology, lights, smoke, internet. They won the world for Jesus Christ, those simple things, and it all went back to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Beloved, when you do things God's way, God's work done God's way will always have God's blessing, and that's how the early church did this. So when we gather together on Sunday, worship is such an integral part of this thing. We had our prayer with the team right before we came out, and I said to the team, what I just shared with you, you know, I struggle sometimes.
I got to give them more, got to give them some entertainment, something to get people excited and coming. And the Spirit of God really rebuked me and said, Chad, the world can give them entertainment. I want you to give them what the world can't give them, that's the presence of God. And so when we come together and we sing and the presence of God shows up, that's something the world can't give you. And so let's worship. Man, let's get into the Word of God and say, can I tell you one of the most powerful prayers you can ever pray? You ready for this? It's in 1 Samuel, speak God because your servant's listening to you.
That's it right there. I want you to pray that prayer every time you come to church on Sunday morning. God, time out, just speak because I'm listening. I got to hear your word today. Paul says to Timothy, Timothy, that is your purpose. You give them the Word of God. Now, why is it so important for us to be in the Word of God?
Why is it so important for us to be in the Bible? I want you to turn this wood to Psalm 19. I love Psalm 19. I've shared this Psalm with you before, but this Psalm always helps me go back to the priority of preaching and teaching. I found when I kind of get away from the priority of the Word of God, things start to fall apart.
If I can just give the Word of God, things just kind of work out. And I'm trying to put as much Bible in my sermons as possible and just read the Bible because at least I get that part of my sermon right, okay? And so look if you would at Psalm 19 verse 7. Psalm 19 verse 7, here's the question. Why is it so important that when we gather on Sunday, yeah, we worship.
Yeah, we pray. But why is it so important that we listen to the Word of God? Well, here's what the Psalmist says in Psalm 19 about the Word of God. Psalm 19 verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true.
They are righteous altogether. I love this Psalm. There's six titles for scripture in this Psalm.
The Psalm calls the scripture the law of the Lord, the testimony of the Lord, the precepts of the Lord, the commandments of the Lord, the fear of the Lord, he said in verse 9, and then the judgments of the Lord. Six titles of scripture. And then the Psalmist gives us six attributes of scripture. Scripture is perfect. It's sure, it's right, it's pure, it's clean, it's true. So six titles of scripture, six attributes of scripture.
And then the Psalmist gives us six benefits of scripture. So listen to me. Whether you're listening to me on a Sunday morning, or you're listening to a sermon in your car, or y'all, look, I've fought technology for years, okay?
Y'all win, I lose. There's some good stuff in technology, okay? Because now I can even listen to my Bible like on my iPhone. There's a little, I think it's on this YouVersion Bible app thing, you push play, and you can just listen to the Bible going down the road. What benefits are there to scripture?
Well, six benefits. When you gather on Sunday and you hear God speaking through me, you hear him speaking his word, it helps you in six ways. Number one, verse seven, it says, the Bible restores the soul.
Do you see that? You know, look, our soul is mind, emotions, and will. The Word of God brings calmness to our mind, our emotions, our will. One of the honors I have in being a pastor is being able to go to somebody who's dying.
I just did this a couple weeks ago. I went to a man that just had days to live. He couldn't speak, but he could hear.
You say, Chad, what did you do? And you go into a situation like that. When I talk to him, I pray with him, and I just shared scripture with him. Because I thought, if it's me, I don't care how much I love Jesus, if I'm looking to leave this life and step into the next world, it's a little bit nerve-wracking, isn't it? There's just something about the Word of God. When you read it to dying people, it just calms them. It restores the soul. There's a calming effect to the Word of God.
I'm going to tell you something. Satan hates the calming effect that the Word of God has on you. That's why he tries to pull you away from the Word of God. He can get you away from the Word, or you can win the battle. Let me give you an example. My wife loves Costco.
It doesn't do anything for me. Now, somebody told me recently, that's a northern company, so maybe it's a Yankee thing, I just don't understand it or something. I just don't like Costco. And we went a little while back, and we pulled in that Costco, and the parking was a mess.
Almost ran into a couple of cars trying to find a parking spot. I go in there, I'm just walking in. Sure, sure, where's your car?
Right, right, right. You just have to have a card. I don't have a card. My wife says, honey, I got the card, here's the card. So I walk in, there's people all over the place, it's a nightmare. The checkout was, I was just out, and I finally said to my wife, I said, sweetheart, stay in here as long as you want, but give me the keys. I'm going out to the car.
I can't do this anymore. And so I got out of the car, and I got in the car, I didn't turn on the radio, I just shut the door, and I went, ah. You know what the Lord said to me? Spirit of God spoke to me and said, Chad, that cacophonous feeling that you had in that store with all that stimulus and all that stuff coming at you and the crowds, that's exactly how Satan feels in your home when there's praise and worship music playing, and there's scripture written on the wall, and the Bible's in your house. Chad, I want you to set the kind of atmosphere in your house that makes Satan feel like you just felt right there. There is something about the Word of God being sung and preached and listened to. Satan's like, I got to get out of here.
I can't stand it. I'm out of here. The Word of God restores the soul. And then secondly, second benefit of scripture is this. It gives us wisdom.
Do you see verse 7? It makes wise the simple. Wisdom in the Hebrew implies prosperity and blessing, practical blessing. In fact, Proverbs 8, 18, this is wisdom speaking. Wisdom says, hey, here's wisdom, riches and honor are mine.
Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. There is some kind of physical blessing that comes from wisdom. How do we get biblical wisdom? By being in the Word of God.
That's what verse 7 is. It makes wise the simple. If you want practical blessing, be wise. How do you be wise?
You stay in the Word of God. In fact, y'all be amazed at how many Christian businessmen I've talked to where I said, man, what was the secret to your success as a Christian businessman? I was talking to one guy. He was a vice president at a major international corporation. I said, what was the secret to your wisdom and your success?
Do you know what he said? Every day before I go into work, I spend time in the Word of God. And then when I get to work and there's a situation I run up against, my first thought would be, is there a Bible verse that speaks to this? And I just apply the Bible. I'm talking to a VP of a major organization.
That's wisdom. He said that was the key to my success. In fact, I was listening to a pastor that I loved this past week. Now, I'm just telling you what he said. He said he has a friend, I guess a member of his church or whatever, he's a prominent investor. He said, this man is 60 years old. And this pastor said, he told me I have never made a bad investment in my life.
I said, what in the world? How have you never made a bad investment in your life? This Christian businessman said this, as a businessman, I stay in the Word of God. I just stay in the Word of God. Then he said this, I make my investments strictly by the peace of God. If I've been in the Word of God, I make my investments by the peace of God. I don't make an investment until I take a day and seek God. And if there isn't the peace of God in my heart, I don't make that investment.
Isn't that amazing? You stay in the Word to get divine wisdom. And then you just go on the peace of the Holy Ghost. I love that. I read this. This is kind of interesting. Author Kathleen Norris said that she was talking to a man that was fighting terminal illness, and he was kind of going back over his life.
And this man is dying. He said, you know, I remember years ago, my grandpa gave me and my wife a Bible as a wedding gift. It's in its box, gave it to me. My wife and I did not care a thing about God. My old grandpa did, but we didn't. He said, so we took this Bible and we laid aside. And he said, every so often, my grandpa would ask me, you reading your Bible?
We'd lie to him. Oh, yeah, grandpa, we love that Bible. Thank you for that Bible. We're not reading it. You in the Word?
Oh, yeah, grandpa, we love it. So we didn't read the Bible. Long after my grandfather died, he said, I finally took that Bible out of the box. Here's what I found, that before every book of the Bible, he had put a $20 bill. He said, there was $1,300 sitting in that Bible, and we never even realized it. And I'm telling you, there is riches, there is blessing, there is wisdom. In that Bible right there, if you'll just take time to open it, and read it, and apply it, the Word of God brings wisdom.
What does the Word of God do? It restores our soul. Number two, it makes wise the simple. Number three, it gives us joy.
Do you see this? Verse eight, rejoicing the heart. Jeremiah 15, 16, I love this. Jeremiah says, God, your words were found, and I ate them.
Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart. Look, even the secular world is starting to see there's some kind of joy, a breaking of depression wrapped up in the Word of God. I was reading a study from 2020 by Dr. Tyler VanderWeel. He was a professor of epidemiology at Harvard.
He basically said this, I'm going to cut through all this. He said, people who attend church have much less depression than those who don't attend church. I read another study from the Oxford Handbook of Religion. They did a meta-analysis on studies involving depression in the church, and they said the same thing. People go to church, much less depressed. Now, some of that is you get in the presence of the other people. Some of it is you get in the presence of God, but I still wonder. You know, even in liberal churches that don't read the Bible, they still read the Bible. Do you know that?
They'll explain it away. But I just wonder if being in the presence of God with God's people, hearing the Word of God breaks anxiety and depression. That's what this is saying right here. It gives us joy. The Word of God gives us joy. See, you and I need to start being archers when it comes to anxiety and depression.
Anybody been an archer? You got a quiver back here? And then all of a sudden, this anxious thought comes in and says, you're not going to pay your bills this month. And you pull out, Philippians 4.19, my God supply all my needs according to my riches in Christ Jesus, and you shoot that anxious thought. You know, another anxious thought says, hey, you're going through this alone.
Nobody's with you. You pull out Isaiah 43.2, and God says, no, when you go through the fire, I'm going to be with you. When you go through the water, you're not going to be alone, and you shoot that anxious thought. When you see all this mess going on in this world, and this world's going to hell, and it's getting worse, and you reach back, and you quiver, and you pull out Luke 21.28, when these things start to happen, you lift up your head for your redemption draweth nigh, and you shoot that anxious thought.
Here's the problem. Some of us are not in the Word of God, and we ain't got no arrows in our quiver. And so, when all this stuff comes at us, we reach them back there, and there's nothing to grab a hold of. You get in the Word, you memorize the Word, and the Word breaks anxiety. It breaks depression. It gives us joy. Here's another benefit of Scripture. It enlightens our eyes. Do you see that in verse 8? Scripture enlightens our eyes. Here's what it means. It gives us a glimpse of reality.
Let me tell you something. This crazy world out there, they have no idea what's going on. Now, you listen to MSNBC, you listen to Fox News, you listen to whatever news thing you want to listen to, they have no idea what's going on. In fact, I was reading something about Tucker Carlson was on Joe Rogan this past week. And I don't know what's happening with Joe Rogan or Tucker Carlson, but they're saying some things.
I think Spirit of God is drawing them to Jesus Christ. There's just something weird going on. But they started talking about this whole trans kids thing.
You know what I mean by that? Giving teenage kids and prepubescent kids hormone blockers and doing these barbaric surgeries where they remove their genitals and Tucker Carlson said, I don't understand it. There's no political explanation for the trans phenomenon. Nobody benefits. There's no upside. It's not helping the kids at all. Why would you do that?
If you love the child, you wouldn't do that. It's really an exercise undertaken for the sake of destruction, the sake of hurting someone else. Why is it so obvious? Here's what he said.
There's nothing redeemable about this. He says, why is it so obvious even to a completely secular person like me all of a sudden? Do you see what he's saying? I'm a secular person and I'm looking at all this craziness going on in the world and it doesn't make sense to me. But see, the Word of God, that verse says, enlightens our eyes.
We know what's going on. Romans chapter 1 says that when a society rebels against God, the last step in that society's collapse is God gives them over to a reprobate mind. That means a society that has a mind that just doesn't make sense, that says, oh, if you say you're a unicorn, you're a unicorn. If you say you're a girl, well, you're a girl.
If you say you're a boy, you're a boy. And it doesn't make sense. It's a non-functioning mind. We know what's going on because we read Romans chapter 1. We know what's going on. Tucker Carlson, why this destruction?
Nobody benefits. What's going on? We know what's going on. John 10 says the thief comes to steal, to kill, to destroy. We know what's going on.
Why? Because the Word of God has enlightened our eyes and given us a glimpse into reality. So let's go back through all this. Why, Timothy, why do you preach the Word on Sunday? Chad, why do you preach God's Word to God's people on Sunday? Well, the Word of God restores the soul. The Word of God gives wisdom. The Word of God gives joy. The Word of God enlightens our eyes. The Word of God, look at this, endures forever. Do you see that in verse 9? It means the Bible doesn't change.
You want to go crazy? Put your trust in science. Science is changing all the time.
Look, if you want mental stability, you need a fixed point that doesn't change. That book right there doesn't change. Science changes.
I was reading Ken Ham, the Answers in Genesis guy. You know, he said that scientists now say the earth is 4.5 billion years old and the universe is however many billion years old. Ken Ham said this, do you know how many times that number has been changed through the years?
Every time a new, you know, study or theory comes up, they're like, well, there's not enough time for that to have happened. I know, we'll just bump the age of the universe back a little bit more. It has changed so many times. That book still says the same thing it said 2,000 years ago.
It doesn't change. He also said something else that's kind of interesting. He said when we talk about the earth being 4.5 billion years old, do you know there's hundreds of scientific methods that the scientists use out there?
Carbon-14 is just one of hundreds. Did you know that 90% of the scientific methods they use to age to date the universe, 90% disagree with their own established 4.5 billion year date? Science can't even agree with science. It's very disconcerting for science to be your God because just when you hear science definitively say, it's this, they come on and say, no, actually, it's that. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of God, it stands forever, church. And finally, why stay in the Word of God? Well, look at verse 6. The sixth benefit of Scripture is this. The Word of God is righteous altogether. Do you see that in verse 9? That means the Bible produces moral righteousness. Psalm 11911 says this, God, I have treasured your word in my heart. Why have I done this?
Anybody know what he says? So that I will not what? Sin against you. Old-timers used to present their grandkids or kids a Bible, and a lot of times they would write this in the front of their Bible. This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book. There's something about the Word of God. According to verse 9, you want to live a pure life in this impure, you stay in the Word of God. You want to live a life of holiness and an unholy world, you stay in this Word. Ephesians 5, 16 and 17, or 26 and 27, Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her that he might sanctify her. You know what it means? Make her holy.
Why? Having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word of God. There's something about the Word. You know, last week, Ephesians or 1 Timothy 4, 7, exercise yourself to godliness. Reading an exercise physiologist last week, he said, one of the most important things you're going to do if you're going to be in shape physically is the food you eat because the food, number one, gives you energy to work out. And once you've worked out, the protein builds your muscles back up. Paul says to Timothy, exercise yourself, not just physically, but unto godliness.
What is the food you eat? It is the Word of God. It gives you the energy, the power to live a holy life, and it makes you strong. It builds you up spiritually. That's why we're in the Word of God.
Then Paul closes out, look at verse 16, it's amazing. He says, Timothy, here's why I want you to do this. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching. Keep preaching the Word. Keep preaching the Word of God. Keep teaching the Word. Stay in the Word.
Why? If you persevere in these things, you will save both yourself and your congregation, those who hear you. In other words, Timothy, times, it's going to get tough, Timothy. And you can start seeing people fall by the wayside, left and right. Every time you turn around, Timothy, you're going to see people peeling away from the faith.
Timothy, I'm just telling you, you stay in the Word of God, and when these tough times come, the Word will keep you strong and established. My wife and I were talking about this. We've been pastoring 30 years, and we've either had, we counted, it was either four or five, you know, it's almost like a cycle here. We've had these up times when everything is great, and then we have these down times, these very challenging times. In the last 30 years, we've had about four or five of those. What was that average average? About five a year or whatever, or one every five years?
Could you imagine five years? Anyway, one every five years, we have some kind of valley. And can I tell you, looking back on my life, every time I've hit one of these valleys, you know what I've done? It's not me, the Spirit of God has told me to do this. I've just gotten more and more in the Word of God, and it's got me through this thing.
Man, the worst one, I won't tell you what church, because I've pastored three or four churches, I won't tell you what church it was, but the worst one I ever went through was there was a high-powered alpha male leader in that church that not only did he not like me, he was actively trying to get me fired. I had a young family, I got to provide for this family. You say, Chad, how do you know he's trying to get you fired? Because he told me, I'm trying to get you fired. And he wore a T-shirt that says, I'm trying to get Chad fired.
And he had a matching baseball hat and a coffee mug that said, I'm trying to get Chad. It was a mess. And I just poured my soul out to God one day. I said, God, I don't know how I'm going to do this.
I think I told you all before, you all remember that 1970s TV sitcom, BJ and the Bear, about a truck driver and a chimpanzee? I said, Lord, I want to be a truck driver. I'm going to quit being a pastor.
I want to get a monkey and a truck. I'm just going to drive around in America, whatever. And you know what God said to me? God said, it's going to be all right.
It's going to be all right. I needed something more than that. And during that time, he just had me start digging into Psalm 91.
Not for the church, but for me. And it got tough. And I said, God, I need a word from you. He said, it's going to be all right. I said, God, how do I know it's going to be all right? He said, how do you know it's going to be all right?
It's because he who dwells on the shelf of the most high will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. Surely he will save you from the foul or sneer and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you'll find refuge. His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. Chad, 1,000 may fall at your side, and 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only see with your eyes and observe the punishment of the wicked. If you make the most high your dwelling, even the Lord who is my refuge, no harm will befall you.
No disaster will come near your tent. For who gives angels command concerning you to guard you in all your ways? They will lift you up in their hands so that you'll not strike your foot against the stone. Chad, you will trample upon the lion and the cobra. You will trample upon the great lion and the serpent. Because he loves me, says the Lord, I will rescue him. I will protect him for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. That's how you know everything is going to be all right. Can the people of God stand right here and praise the God who never fails? He never fails.
Never fail. This book right here says one thing. Just trust in God. Just trust in God! You're not in control.
He is. He loves you with an everlasting love. Stop being scared, stop being afraid. You trust in God. Can the saints of God, I'm gonna ask you right now, just to lift your voice and praise the name of the Lord most high.
Bless the name of the Lord. He never fails you. He never lets you go. He never lets you go. He never lets you go. He never lets you go.
