Brother Gary Sunday Morning 11/16/14

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 11/16/14

Psa 107:1  O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psa 107:2  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

Psa 107:3  And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

Psa 107:4  They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

Psa 107:5  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

Psa 107:6  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

Psa 107:7  And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

Psa 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

I think of the season when God came to my mother when my father was ushered into eternity without any warning whatsoever.  God was there.  That is how God is.  He has been that way to every widow in the audience. 

I think of how we sat up when our children were sick.  God was there.  I was talking to one of my grandchildren and I said, “God is everywhere Cade; He is here and He is there.”  He put out his hand and felt around and said, “Grandpa, I don’t feel God.”  

There is an understanding that we gain about God being a spirit. 

Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

I have never seen God and I have never seen an angel, but I know that God is.  His chariots are 20,000 and His angels are 10,000 times 10,000 even thousands of thousands.

Oh that men would praise God for His goodness.

Psa 107:9  For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Sister Davis is not here to tell us the hymn story behind the song, “I have a longing in my heart for Jesus.”  I like to tell people of the place in our heart that only God can fill.  You may have everything in the world and yet feel that there is something missing.

I woke up this morning feeling a great hungering to draw close to God.  The bible says, “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.”  I have never gone to the Word of God that He hasn’t given me a scripture that “Satisfies the longing soul.”

Oh that men would praise God.

Psa 107:10  Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;

Psa 107:11  Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:

Psa 107:12  Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.

Psa 107:13  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

Psa 107:14  He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

Psa 107:15  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa 107:16  For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Sue told of the walls of fear and the devil riding the chariot about on the walls.  There are times in our life that we feel that we are all hemmed in.  God has a way.  It doesn’t matter what bondage you feel this morning.  God has a way of breaking the gates of brass and cutting the bars of iron in sunder. 

God has a way of losing the prisoner.  That way is through the Word of God.  Jesus and the Word of God are the same, you cannot separate them.  The doctrine of the trinity is true.  The Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one, you cannot separate them.

Heb 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.

When you and I are challenged; we will be challenged.  That is how life is.  God has preserved His Word to this day for that reason.  It will never be destroyed.  Not only do we have the Bible here, but His Word is forever settled in heaven.

Psa 107:17  Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

Psa 107:18  Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Our thanksgiving is a form of sacrifice to God.  We have been so thankful that we have a home.  We have been so thankful that we have one another.  Our daughters and all our grandchildren are here this morning.  We have much to be thankful for.

The greatest thanksgiving is that God sent His only begotten son, Jesus our savior, to calm the storms.

Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.

Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.

Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

If you live in Montana then don’t wish the storms won’t come, or that there will never be ice on the river or slick roads.  It will always come.  That is how it is with challenges in our life.  Don’t wish they won’t come; they always will.

There is a God in heaven that will calm the storms.  “I will be with you, I will see you through.” 

Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

As the saints did the skit, my mind was flooded with all the wonderful things that GDO has done for us.  You look back there and you see Kathy.  It was in the olden days when you didn’t know if you were going to have a boy or a girl and Karen was pregnant.  I became real sick.  I prayed and said, “Lord would you allow me to live to see that little baby born?”  He did.

I remember going back to work and I claimed the scripture,

1Ti 5:8  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

How good God is.  He was there.

Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa 107:32  Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

It is a wonderful thing to stand and say, “I thank God for a miracle in my life today.”  Everyone has had a miracle if they are still alive today.

Some of you in this audience are facing a lot of challenges and changes in your life.  Most of us don’t like changes.  We like to plan things ourselves.  God wants you and I to know that there will be times when it won’t go the way you and I planned.  God brings changes to pass to draw men and women to Himself.

Let us not feel that GOD must be angry with me because this happened.  God allows changes to cause us to seek Him and draw near to Him.

Psa 107:33  He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;

Psa 107:34  A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

Psa 107:35  He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.

Psa 107:36  And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;

Psa 107:37  And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

Psa 107:38  He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

Psa 107:39  Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

Psa 107:40  He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.

Psa 107:41  Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

When you and I come to God and say, “God there are changes taking place in my life, not just that I’m getting old or the weather.  Things are moving around.  I would like to control everything but it is not working that way.  God your plan is to draw me close to you.”

Psa 107:41  Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

The worst thing that we can do is try to be an island.  “I’m tired of this and that.”  Don’t be that way.  God designed that we would be like a flock and that He would lead His flock like a shepherd.

He goes to the fold and as He lets them out into the pasture, he knows where to direct each one that will be just right for them.  He says, “After you have been out a while, come back to the sheep fold and I will make sure that you are not injured and haven’t gotten tangled up with an animal or a fence.”

God I need you to draw me close to your heart, pick me up and help me to understand.

The good things in life come from the Lord.  God invites every one of us to be His.

Never despise the goodness of God.

God has been good to all of us.  Even if you are not saved, God has been good to you.  Lift up your heart and thank Him.  “God, I thank you that I am able to be in church this morning.”  Never despise the longsuffering of God. 

I think of how longsuffering that GOD has been to me and to others.  The right thing to do is to go back and say, “Thank you for your longsufferings.”

It is always the goodness of God that leads mankind to repentance.

It is the goodness of God that causes people to get saved.  Until we have confessed, repented, and turned from our sin, we are lost.  When we confess and turn and ask God to forgive us, He saves us to the uttermost.

Oh that men would praise God. 

Psa 107:42  The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

Psa 107:43  Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.