The Lord Our Sanctuary

 Temple Baptist Church - 2-8-2026

Psalms 91:1-16

 

Introduction:

A. One of the most notable and quotable Psalms is the 91st.  I remember, during the last days of Bro. Merrill Smith’s life, reading this Psalm to him over and over again.  He would close his eyes and listen as I read, and the peace of God was in his heart when I finished.  The wonder of this Psalm never grew old to him.

 

1.  As Psalm 90 was Adamic, a Psalm of death.  Adamic because, through him, all men die.

 

Romans 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

 

2.  Psalm is Messianic, a Psalm of life through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

3.  Psalm 91 was quoted on the Mount of Temptation by Satan as he tempted the Lord.

 

B. It is a Psalm that describes the life of the believer from the moment of salvation until he finally reaches home.  In these verses, we find:

 

1.  Jesus Christ Is The Place Of Our Dwelling – Verses 1-2.

 

2.  Jesus Christ Is The Person Of Our Distress – Verses 3-8.

 

3.  Jesus Christ Is The Promise Of Our Defense – Verses 9-10.

 

4.  Jesus Christ Is The Peace Of Our Deliverance – Verses 11-13.

 

5.  Jesus Christ Is The Pleasures Of Our Days – Verses 14-16.

 

C. The child of God is not exempt from all problems but is given the blessed assurance that God will be with us and for us through them all. 

 

1.  In verse 16, it says, “With long life will I satisfy him.” Long life is not necessarily satisfying in itself.  It finds its satisfaction through the Lord.

 

2.  Without the Lord, many people live long but regrettable lives. They either destroy their lives or end up in an old folks home or nursing home for years with little or no visits. I would rather go on to Heaven personally.

 

D. Here we find the promise of being satisfied with a long life!  Life is not made up of what you have here.  When I preached my Mother’s funeral, I used this verse.

 

Luke 12:15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 

 

E. Life's satisfaction consists of who you are and what you are.  It consists of what you have done with and for Christ.  It consists of contentment with what you have, not with what you do not have.

 

1.  You cannot find your satisfaction in the things of the world because they are subject to change.

 

2.  You cannot find your satisfaction in money because it can take wings and fly.

 

3.  You cannot find your satisfaction in people alone because they can turn on you.

 

F.  You can be saved and know it, yet still be dissatisfied and remorseful when you come to old age.  God wants us to prosper.

 

3 John 2  Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 

 

G.  Here are a few things that we need to find our satisfaction in.

 

1.  Verses 1-2.  We Can Find Satisfaction In Our Conversion – Our Dwelling

 

Psalms 91:1-2  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  (2)  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

 

a.  Contentment In His Salvation - Psalms 90:14  O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.  (Where would I be without Christ?)

 

b.  Contentment In His Sanctuary - Psalms 36:8  They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

 

Psalms 65:4  Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.  (Where would I be without the Church?)

 

2.  Verses 3-8.  We Can Find Satisfaction In Our Circumstances – Our Dilemmas

 

Psalms 91:3-8  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.  (4)  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.  (5)  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;  (6)  Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.  (7)  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.  (8)  Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

 

a.  Contentment With His Goodness In Problems - Psalms 37:19  They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.  (I am not always spiritual enough to like problems but His hand still satisfies in them.)

 

b.  Contentment With His Guidance In Problems - Isaiah 58:11  And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.  (When I do not know what to do I just learn to “let her drive” and God controls through His sovereign providence and protection.)

 

3.  Verses 9-14.  We Can Find Satisfaction In Our Contentment – Our Desires

 

Psalms 91:9-14  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;  (10)  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  (11)  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.  (12)  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.  (13)  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.  (14)  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

 

a.  Contentment With His Provisions - Psalms 132:15  I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.  (I have enough!)

 

Proverbs 12:11  He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding. 

 

Proverbs 12:14  A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him.

 

Jeremiah 31:14  And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD. 

1 Timothy 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain. 

 

b.  Contentment With His Protection, Promises, and Person - Hebrews 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 

 

Philippians 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  (I am His and I am in His hand!)

 

4.  Verses 15-16.  We Can Find Satisfaction In Our Commitment – Our Dependence

 

Psalms 91:15-16  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.  (16)  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

 

a.  Content With My Preservation - 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.  (I have eternal, everlasting, forever and ever life!!!  Eternally secure and safe!)

 

b.  Content With My Prospect - Psalms 17:15  As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. 

 .

1 John 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  (One day soon, it will be over.  I will be in Heaven with Him.  I will have a new body.  I will have a new home.  I will have all that He has.  I know that I shall be eternally satisfied!)

The Word of God and Perpetual Protection

 Temple Baptist Church - 4-14-2024

Psalm 119:113-120

 

Introduction:

 

A.  Psalm 119 – The Magnification of the Word of God.  176 verses broken down into 22 stanzas with each stanza containing 8 verses.  Each stanza begins with one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet with each verse of the stanza in Hebrew beginning with the correlating letter.  An Acrostic. A masterpiece that only God the Word could have given to us.

 

B.  SAMECH – infinity or infinite – also used for support or ladder – The 15^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet – its numerical number is 60 which represents completeness.  It is one of the two closed letters with the other being found in MEM in its final form at the end of a word.  It is circular in form with no beginning or end and protects that which is within.

 

C.  We understand that we live in a sinful world and in sinful times. 

 

1.  In my lifetime, I have seen the world changing in so many ways as it downwardly spirals into utter depravity.  As God’s children, we try to abstain from all appearance of evil while living in the midst of it.

 

2.  More than ever before, we need to realize that God holds our lives in His hands.  We have a promise of perpetual protection as we walk with God within the Word of God. 

 

3.  We need to make sure that we remain within the “hedge” that God has placed around us.  Through willful sin and willful ignorance, we often remove ourselves to some degree out of the protection of our Lord.

 

D.  In Jewish tradition, SAMECH represents one’s inner journey.  Verse 113 begins with the words “I hate vain thoughts.”   These words show the importance of maintaining the invisible man as well as the physical man.  Proverbs tells us “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

 

E.  While we can only see the outside, God is a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Who we are is what we are inwardly!  This 15th stanza shows the believer that there are Divine inner and outer protection available and this protection is found in God’s Word.

              

F.  God affords the believer “layers” of protection that will help to keep one’s heart and mind (1) Stable and therefore (2) Stayed upon the Lord.  Then there is the outward layer of protection afforded the believer.

 

1.  Verse 113.  Our Spirit.  The Word of God protects our thought life.  The godly man’s hatred of vain thoughts.  Vain – to no avail or worthless.  The most dangerous battlefield known to man is the struggle of good and evil thoughts.  The greatest wars are waged in the mind of the believer.  Inherently, man has a God given understanding of both right and wrong.  I heard it said that man does not have a problem knowing right from wrong.  The struggle is choosing right over wrong.  Here, we once again find the love of God’s Law as the deciding factor in our thought life. 

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:  (4)  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  (5)  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

 

2.  Verse 114.  Our Surety.  God protects our temporal life.  The child of God is hated by Satan, the world.  God is our infinite Refuge during the hard times of life, but it is through God’s Word that we find our sanctity and peace.  When everything is going wrong in life, everything we need is in our hand tonight.  Protection from temporal calamities and persecutions.  God’s Word is our chamber of retreat where we hide and find safety both physical and spiritual.  It is in the Word of God that we hide while taking the “shield of faith” in our hands.  The Word of God supplies us grace, strength, light, life, and comfort here, and for glory hereafter.

 

Psalms 9:9  The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

 

3.  Verse 115.  Our Sanctification.  God protects our interaction with the world.  The world is a constant distraction of God’s people and the ultimate state becomes defilement.  Our protection is through the Word of God.  We that are saved are not only separatist, we are separated from.  In this verse, we see the desire of the godly to distance himself from those who do evil.  This does not speak of staying away from every sinner for the Bible says that we would have to leave this world to do so.  It means to stay away from those who have a pattern of life that is wicked.  “Evildoers” is a persistent condition.

 

The Power of the wicked: Psalms 37:35  I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

 

4.  Verse 116.   Our Stability.  God protects our feebleness in life.  The Word of God is the “Rock” upon which we stand.  Unmovable, unshakable, unerring, an anchor is an ever changing world.  Through the Bible, we can be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord according to 1 Corinthians 15:58.  Paul said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

 

Psalms 94:17-18  Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.  (18)  When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.

 

5.  Verse 117.  Our Safety.  God protects us in the perils of life.  We live in perilous times.  In the news, all we hear is about the dangers of living in the greatest nation on earth.  Because sentence against evil works is not executed, people have no respect for law and order. 

 

Ecclesiastes 8:11  Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

 

Proverbs 21:31  The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.

 

6.  Verse 118.  Our Sinfulness.  God protects us in our temptations in life.  One of Newton’s Third Law of Motion states: “ For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”  Spiritually, though God is so often gracious to the sinner, with willful sin, for the most part it is followed by a willful judgment.  Their deceit is falsehood.  What they appear outward is not the reality of that which we see outwardly.

 

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 

7.  Verse 119.  Our Salvation.  God protects us from our enemies in life.  The Lord will take care of the wicked.  We just need to love and stay with the Word of God.  The wicked may seem to be on the winning side for a while but the justice of the Lord will be manifested.

 

Jeremiah 6:28-30  They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.  (29)  The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.  (30)  Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

 

8.  Verse 120.  Our Submission.  Our protection, “safety is of the Lord,” is perpetually in the hand of God.  Life is still hard at best, but remaining in the will of God through the Word of God affords the child of God a perpetual protection.

 

Proverbs 19:23  The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

Troubled Hearts - Part 2 - The Cure for a Troubled Heart

 Temple Baptist Church - 2-28-2024

John 14:1-4

Introduction:

 

A.  Last week, we dissected the first part of verse 1: “Let not your heart be troubled.”  The Lord is leaving, and the apostles are going to have to “step up” and take on the work of the ministry.  Introduction over!

 

B.  We find several things in the verses that will help us in the last perilous times.  I want to look at these 4 verses tonight so as to encourage our people during these discouraging days.  Six things I want to look at tonight to encourage your hearts.

 

1.  A Fear to Overcome.  “Let not you heart be troubled.”

 

a.  We live in the worst spiritual time in history.  There is so much sin and confusion today that many if not most have troubled hearts. 

 

b.  Disappointing times, discouraging times, deluding times, defiling times. 

 

c.  Sin is rampant and accepted as the norm; confusion comes at us from every side; voices of every kind to hear.  It is of no wonder that the believers is exhorted to assemble “so much the more” as we see the world set up for both the realization of Antichrist and the acceptance of his philosophy which is totally anti-God.

 

d.  The “falling away” is in its last stages.  There have always been good men of God and good churches in which to find the preaching, exhorting, and help that we need.  Now, they are about as scarce as “hens’ teeth!”  Another young pastor resigned his church this week to go into evangelism.  Another church will be trying to find someone willing to come pastor the flock and hopefully stay!

 

e.  We find few believers who will buck the status quo and live in such a way to make a difference.  Most are too worldly minded to be of any heavenly good.

 

f.  Today, we find rejection by the masses, spiritual defeats, and multiple failures that all of us have experienced.  These inward, negative feelings can destroy us.

 

g.  It is here that we must be very careful! Often the most painful wounds are not the scars that are outwardly seen, but the hidden wounds deep in the heart. Being hidden, they are often the most dangerous.

 

g.  These things cause spiritual discouragement and troubled hearts.  When our faith is weakened, we tend to stop pressing toward the mark and finishing our race for Christ.

 

2.  A Faith to Believe.  “Ye believe in God, believe also in me!”

 

a.  These disciples had no problem believing in the Jehovah God of the Old Testament but needed to have that same faith in Christ Jesus.

 

b.  Christ had always provided their every need from the physical to the spiritual.  They had been eye witness to all His miracles but these physical miracles were not enough to inspire them to trust Him wholly.

 

Matthew 8:26-27  And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.  (27)  But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

 

“What manner of man is this” was not the faith needed to calm the heart.

 

c.  Notice that Jesus said, “Believe also in me!”  Here we find the faith that will cure the troubled heart.

 

1 John 5:4-5  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  (5)  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 

 

3.  A Future that is Secure.  “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you!”

 

a.  Our future is secured through the promises of God.  Our heavenly homes are await us and they are not “rooms” or “little cabins over in the corner of Glory Land.”  They are beyond our comprehension, and they are there!  “Are”

 

b.  They are not being built as we speak, they are already there and have been from eternity past.

 

c.  We are not “sending up timbers” because they are “ivory palaces.”  “Home sweet home!”

 

Psalms 45:8  All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

 

Revelation 21:1-4  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  (2)  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  (3)  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.  (4)  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.

 

4.  A Foundation to Stand Upon.  “And if I go and prepare a place for you.”  The Blood of Christ!  The blood to be applied to the Mercy Seat in heaven. There were two Ascensions of Christ back to heaven.  This was accomplished in two parts:

 

a.  The First Ascension as High Priest with His Own Blood – John 20:17  Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

 

Hebrews 9:11-14  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;  (12)  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.  (13)  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:  (14)  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 

b.  The Second Ascension - Acts 1:9-11  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.  (10)  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;  (11)  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

 

5.  A Fellowship that Awaits.  “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

 

a.  We will be with Him.  1 Thessalonians 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 

b.  We will be like Him.  1 John 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

 

6.  A Fight to Finish.  John 13:36-37a  Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. (37a)  Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now?

 

a.  There is a work to be done.  Matthew 9:36-38  But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.  (37)  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;  (38)  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

 

b.  There is a race to be run.  Hebrews 12:1-2  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  (2)  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We Are Not Alone

Temple Baptist Church - 1-16-2013
Colossians 1:1-8

Introduction:

A. In the Book of Colossians, Paul is writing to a church that he has never been to and to a people whom he has never met. The communications were a little hampered in those days because the cell phone and texting were not yet invented so it was easy to feel a little sequestered from the rest of the world.

B. In hard times and in hard places where little results are evident, if not careful we begin to think that we are alone and all of our labor is in vain. The world is going down like “a one egg pudding” and churches along with the people we once served with are deteriorating and defecting.

C. Epaphras visited Paul in the Roman prison and brought encouraging words. Not only was Paul hearing from churches such as the one at Philippi but also from churches that he did not plant nor possibly did he know they existed.

D. Paul, in these verses, thanks God for them and tries to encourage them in the Lord. This sermon will go out to hundreds of people with many of these people members of good churches that are trying to “hold the line” in these last, evil days. I want this to be an encouragement to them as well as to our people.

1. The description of the Colossian people.

a. Saints – In a day of lost church members, I thank God that there are those who are saved and show it: people who know that they know that they are saved. We have “family” all around the world who go through the same things that we go through and many suffer far beyond our comprehension. (Pastor in Iran)

b. Faithful – In a day of unfaithfulness, I thank God that there are those who just keep on keeping on when it comes to faithfulness: people who love not only God but God’s house and support it. Without you, the doors of the church would have to close. Many churches have gone to one service a week because of lack of interest. The one service is a feel good, ear tickling experience where everyone goes home thinking well of themselves.

c. Brethren – In days of division where we who are saved are naturally divided from even family member who are not saved, we find division within the “faith.” We may be separated “upon the walls” as they were in the days of Nehemiah but these brothers and sisters are alive and doing well. I go to other churches on occasion when out of town and feel right at home with the family of God.

d. Faith – In days of mixed faith, as people now place more trust in the government system than in the Lord, faith is still placed in the Lord. He will take care of us. There are churches that are holding to the King James Bible; adhering to the Old Paths of doctrine and practice; and are fighting against the worldliness that is creeping into the local churches.

e. Love – In days of “self-love” or “selfishness,” I thank God that I can not only come to church and find my friends and family who love, but also fellowship with other pastors and brethren in our community. One of the ways you know that you are saved is because of the love of God that is in you for the things of God as well as the people of God.

f. Fruitful – In days of gleaning here in the Bible Belt, I thank God that there are churches and missionaries in other place where the harvest is still fruitful and that fruit is “fruit to our account.” Some mission fields are difficult and render few souls while others are fruitful ones with many coming to Christ but ALL of the harvest is equally important.

2. The blessing of the Colossian people.

a. Paul received encouragement by them – vs. 2

b. Paul was thankful for them – vs. 3

c. Paul was given an example from them - vs. 4-6