Sermon Notes By Pastor Arthur H. Coleman Sr For Sunday February 23, 2014
Text: Psalm 91:1-7 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (vs2) I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. (vs3) Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. (vs4) He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. (vs5) Thou shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor the arrow that flieth by day; (vs6) Nor the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. (vs7) A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.”
St. Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (vs29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (vs30) For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
PREMISE
“The rest, peace and security that we seek is only found in that “secret place of the most High” as we “abide under the shadow of the Almighty”, inasmuch as we take upon us the yoke of Christ which is the yoke of Christian living, Christian duty, and Christian affliction, which gives us the full knowledge of Christ , which in turn causes us to experience the ease of the yoke, the lightness of the burden and the resting place of His security and peace.---AHC.
Job 14:1 “Man that is born of a woman is of a few days, and full of trouble.”
1. The Providence Of God :Is defined as “that continued exercise of the Divine Energy whereby the Creator preserves all his creatures, is operative in all that comes to pass in the world, and directs all things to their appointed end.” Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.”
2. The Preservation Of God : Is defined as “that continuous work of God by which He maintains the things which he created, together with the properties and powers with which He endowed them.” 2 Peter 1:3-8 “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (vs4) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (vs5) And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; (vs6) And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; (vs7) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. (vs8) For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
EXPOSITION
A. Why We Need A Hiding Place In God.
a. Trouble Common To All Men---Job 5:6-7 “Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; (vs7) Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Job 14:1 “Man that is born of a woman is of a few days, and full of trouble.”
b. The Vanity and Vexations Of Worldly Labour ---Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 “For what hath man of all his labour, and the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun? (vs23) For all his days are sorrows and grief; yea , his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
c. The Inescapable Prison Of Sinful Human Nature ---Romans 7:18-19&21-24 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (vs19) For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” (vs21) I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. (vs22) For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: (vs23) But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (vs24) O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
d. The Ongoing Spiritual Warfare ---Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
B. God’s Overshadowing Providence Will Be a Hiding Place For Me By Being:
1. My Shelter In The Time of Trouble---Psalm 27:4-6 “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. (vs5) For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret place of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.(vs6) And now shall mine head be lifted up above my enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.”
2. A Refuge From The Storm ---Isaiah 25:4 “For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.”
3. My Almighty Guardian---2 Timothy 1:12 “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
4. A Divine Presence---Isaiah 43:2 “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
5. The Deliverer In All My Afflictions ---Psalm 34:17-19 “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. (vs18) The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. (vs19) Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”
6. The Hearer Of Those That Seek Him And Answerer Of Their Prayers ---2 Chronicles 7:14 “ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
7. The Final Salvation From All Of My Sorrow And Pain---Revelation 21:3-4 “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (vs4) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”