The Lord Is On Our Side

Guest Preacher: Joseph Childers, a missionary who has been called to serve in Grenada. We thank God for blessing our congregation by bringing him here to teach us.

Intro:Presentation of Video about the Childers' Ministry on the Island of Grenada.

Text: Psalms 124:2-8

2  If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

3  Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

4  Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

5  Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

6  Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

7  Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

8  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Romans 8:29-31

8  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

1.  There may be a time when it seems that God is against us, but He is always for us, even when He chastened us.

a.   James 1:2-3

2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

a.   He doesn't say IF you will fall, he says WHEN you will fall.

b.   We never grow unless we are tested. If we are not tested, we will not grow.

c.   God does not allow trials so HE can see where we are, He already knows where we are. He allows trials so WE can see where we are.

d.   Hebrews 12:5-6

5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

             i.    It seems like God's against us often when He chastens us, but He chastens us, not to punish us, but to grow us.

v.        Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

             i.        God's given us the responsibility to train our children the way they should go. What does God do?

vi.        Predestination is not about where you are going to spend eternity, it is about being changed to conform to His image.

vii.        The word Christian means to be Christ-like. If you are going to be a Christian your life must look like Christ.

             i.        When the people around you look at you, what do they see? Do they see Christ living in you?

viii.        Every one of us is called by God to do something. Not all of us are called to be a pastor, or assistant pastor, or a deacon. We have all been called to be a good Christian, to go out and win souls for Jesus Christ.

ix.        God called people inside the church to do the things that the church needs.

2.  Be faithful to what God's called you. If we are faithful, we will see that God is on our side.

 i.        We will be called, but we will also be justified.

ii.        When I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart as Lord and Saviour, He came in and did a work on my heart.

iii.        God will not allow any kind of imperfection into Heaven, but He will look in His Book, and see a little note, and He will tell Satan the accuser, there is nothing there.

iv.        I'm thankful that there is some day when I am going to have a glorified body, a body which no longer desires the lust of sin.

             i.        I can sin my way out of a marriage, a ministry, out of physical health, but I cannot sin my way out of Jesus Christ.

v.        Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

             i.        Those that are not saved are not on God's side.

vi.        Romans 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

             i.        When we are living according to the Bible we are living in God's spirit, when we are not living according to God's Word, we are in the flesh.

vii.        Isaiah 64:6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

             i.        The Bible says that all our works before God are sin and foolishness.

            ii.        If I owed somebody money, and I tried to pay them with something other than money, I can't imagine them being happy with it. Before we are saved, we try to do the same thing before God.

          iii.        We say, God I go to church, I was baptized. All of it is a filthy dirty rag, without Jesus Christ as our Saviour.

viii.        Galatians 5:16

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

18  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

             i.    Maybe I've never done any of those, but I can commit these sins in my heart.

            ii.    People say, we are not under the Law any more, we are under grace. Grace always exceeds the Law. God says in the law, thou shalt not commit adultery, but in the New Testament, He takes it a step further.

          iii.    In the Book of James it says even the thought of foolishness is sin.

 i.        Psalms 118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

j.        If you are saved today, God's spirit is going to bear witness in your spirit.

             i.        The purpose of God's spirit is that He will teach us. If you want to understand something in Scripture, pray about it.

            ii.        If you remain faithful to the things God has called us to do, God will teach you. He may not teach us all at once, but He WILL teach us.

k.        God's spirit will convict us. When we do something wrong, we will know it.

 l.        In 1 John, God teaches us that if any man desires to have more light, God will give us more light.

m.        God will convict people of sin. There have been people in indiginous tribes, and when missionaries have gone in there, and realized that those tribal people still felt conviction.

n.        God delights in the truth. The Bible says that lying lips are an abomination before the Lord. Even a little white lie, God hates.

o.        Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

             i.        When we pray, God delights in us. He delights in hearing His children call on Him.

p.        Every good and perfect gift comes from above.

             i.        God doesn’t want us to commune with Him. He wants to have fellowship, a friendship and personal relationship with you and me.

q.        Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

             i.        The big word in this verse is NOW. Paul is saying there was once condemnation, but now that we've been saved, there is none, now that we have the Holy Spirit of God living in us.

r.        We are often ashamed to ask things of God.

             i.        He will give us anything according to His will. Do you want to know what is according to His will? Study His Book. If we want to do God's will for our lives, we must read His Word. We need to be in the Bible.

3.  God is on our side when we are separated.

a.        Leviticus 11:44 For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

             i.        We are supposed to separate ourselves for God. He demands our sanctification, but not only does He demand sanctification, He does the work for us.

b.        Leviticus 20:24  But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.

             i.        We need to be careful of what entertainment we choose. Is it pleasing to the flesh, or pleasing to God?

c.        We are to separate ourselves from the world, and be able to have a different spirit, a new nature. Old things are passed away and all things have become new.

             i.        Unfortunately that new nature is laid on top of the old nature, so we still have the desire to sin, but we have the new nature to give us hope to overcome anything that this world throws at us.

d.        We can overcome the spirit of sin, the power of death, and from apostasy in the church

e.        Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

             i.        Sometimes there are people even within the church that we need to avoid. If someone has the wrong doctrine, and they are trying to cause division in the church, we have to take it to the Bible.

            ii.        Test the spirits, by using Scripture. If God be for us, who can be against us?

f.        We are not even to entertain wicked, evil thoughts. We are to separate ourselves from the love of this world.

g.        1 John 2:15-17

15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

             i.    The Bible says in the Book of Hebrews, the peculiar are evil. Peculiar is worldly. If we act just like the unsaved, what do we give them to desire?

viii.        We are not to be isolated, but insulated. Separation is contact without contamination.

             i.        Jesus said I see the contamination, I am in contact with it. He was in the world but not of the world.

ix.        God's on our side when we are saved, when we are separated, when we are serving.

4.   God is on our side when we are serving.

 i.        If you are doing what God's will is, then you are serving. Service is the revealed word of God.

ii.        1 Thessalonians 4:2-4

2  For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.

3  For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

4  That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

             i.    The vessel God has given us, is the vessel of our bodies. We are to honor what God has given us. This is why we need victory over alcohol, over drugs. God will honor those victories.

iii.        1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

             i.        Everyone in this church has something to be thankful for. We have a church family, a pastor that preaches the Bible. There are some people who don't have that.

            ii.        There are some people who don't even have a Bible in their language. Be thankful today that we have God's Inspired Word in our hands, that we can read and is freely available to us.

iv.        1 Peter 2:13-15

13  Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

14  Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

15  For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

             i.    How do we shut the world up when they try to come against us? By following the laws of the land. If the law does not go entirely against what God says, we need to follow the law.

            ii.    Children, as long as what your parents are telling you to do does not directly contradict the word of God, follow what they wan t us to do.

e.        God desires us to go out and win souls. By doling so we will bring Him honor and glory.

f.        1 Corinthians 10:31  Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

             i.        If we are doing things without this motive, we are missing the higher motive.

g.        There is also a hidden will of God. How can one find the will of God?

             i.        In Scripture, we are never commanded not one time to find the will of God.

            ii.        We are not to find, but to DO the will of God. Do what God has already shown you to do. If you follow that light, that will give you even more light.

          iii.        Follow the light of separation, of thanksgiving and submission to authority, and winning souls for Him.

h.        God may change your location, but if you want God to show you His hidden will, you must first do what has already been revealed as His will.

 i.        We must do the will of God, but do it for His glory, not for eye-service. If we do not have the right motive, to God it is sin.

j.        Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

             i.        Everyone of us has sinned, we all have fallen short.

            ii.        All is all that all is, all of everything and every one.

k.        Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

             i.        Not just physical death on earth, but eternal separation from God.

 l.        Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

             i.        Admitting to God that you are a sinner, is realizing that there must be payment for that sin. Jesus died for us and rose again the third day. He had victory over the grave.

m.        If you have never done this, do it today. Call upon God, admit to Him that you are a sinner. God will save you right where you are today.

n.        If you are saved ask yourself, are you living a life that is honoring and glorifying to Him?