Praise God For His Help
Psalm 146
A wise man once wrote "it is a blessing to know that I am on the Lord's side but it is an even greater blessing to know that the Lord is on my side".
The Apostle Paul wrote:
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not "with him" also freely give us all things?
The more we know about the ways of our God, the less we have to worry about our future!
In the time of the Apostle Paul there were many mysteries of the "Gospel" but there are no mysteries of salvation today.
God has made salvation a simple thing!
We absolutely cannot allow false teaching and even more false religions to confuse the simplicity of the plan of God.
Satan has tried to do this throughout history but when God sent His Son, salvation became a simple thing.
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Help came from on High!
God did not save us and then just go off and leave us.
Until we reach our heavenly home God will help us.
We need to praise God for all His help!
*****Psa 146:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Psa 146:2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
The Bible is the best commentary of itself and the Bible says that "Praise" is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to the Lord.
"Heb 13:15 "By him" therefore "let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God" continually, "that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."
Our praise to God must be "by Him", the Lord Jesus Christ our Mediator.
Our praise to God is the only thing we can offer here on Earth that will continue when we get to Heaven, so while we are still living we need to be continually praising the Lord!
Continually means without pausing.
Continually means without ceasing.
It is God who creates the fruit of our lips:
Isa 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
God creates peace, reconciliation and pardon by His "Grace".
It is from these things that "Fruit" will burst forth from our lips.
It is also these same things that will be our greatest help from others in this world until we get home.
Pro 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.
Praising the Lord will take our mind off our problems and our own shortcomings and we can just give them to God!
Our praise will lead us to others who also offer praise to the Lord.
Praise will cause us to appreciate all the things that God has done for us already.
Praise takes our focus off this world so we can focus on heavenly things.
Praise will prepare our hearts to receive the love of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, through the salvation plan given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.
How can we not praise the Lord the rest of our days here on Earth?
How can we not praise the Lord for His help because we cannot trust this world we live in to be much help to us?
*****Psa 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
It is probable that this Psalm was also written by King David and what does this king say?
David was king and the head of what in history has proved to have been be a good government but David says we cannot place our trust in the rulers of government nor the people that live in this world.
Even in America, so many have been raised up to depend on the government and our leaders who have caused this to happen, take political advantage of them and keep them dependent and even their children, who grow up not encouraged to do better for themselves.
Not only that, but our government insist on allowing and even encouraging strangers to come into America, not those seeking to be a benefit, but those who will seek to be dependent on the government all their days and the days of their children.
This is a government seeking to be in control of it's people and not a government that serves it's people.
We absolutely cannot trust these leaders, these princes!
Psa 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
Psa 118:9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
Mankind will never evolve to a point where it can provide salvation to all the people.
This is the theory of evolution at work.
We are not evolving we are in fact d-volving!
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
The gap between those that do right and those that do wrong is ever widening!
All those that have made a life of deceiving others and have reaped the benefits of that life to a point that they cannot or they refuse to recover themselves from that life and encourage others into the same errors.
These are those that will reach God's deadline while they yet live!
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
There is no real help that can come from these princes in this life and no help at all in our future life!
Those that trust in man will suffer the curse of God.
Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
It is those that trust in the Lord who will receive the blessings of God!
Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Even if you could find the best man on this Earth, he would still be just a man!
*****Psa 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
There are some very important things that we must realize before we die.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
There has never been a time of evolution of mankind!
God made man from the elements of this Earth and then God breathed into man the spirit of life.
These things take place at conception and each individual becomes a living soul!
Each and everyone that comes into this world will exit this world the very day God has written down on His calender!
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
There are things we can do to extend our days but God still knows the exact day of our death and He has been preparing us for that day all the days that we live.
When that day comes certain things happen:
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
That body will return to the elements it was made from and that spirit of life will return to the God who gave it!
This is the history of mankind but not of animal kingdom:
Ecc 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Evolution has never been a part of mankind nor that of animal life!
Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
All these things have taken place just so the soul of each human has the opportunity to decide it's fate.
Because on the day of death all our thoughts, all those things we wanted to accomplish in this life will end!
It is that eternal living soul that will live on, either in Heaven with God the owner of that soul or in the Hell and the Burning Lake of Fire that was prepared for Satan and those that place there trust in him!
We can know as we were known:
1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
Or we can suffer in Hell wishing we had done differently:
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Who are those that rejoice? Those that have a personal relationship with their Creator!
*****Psa 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Psa 146:6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
The only way of true happiness is to rely on the same God that Jacob did!
Other humans cannot bring us to this point of happiness even that one we love the most.
There is not one powerful man on this Earth that can provide what we need for true happiness.
Our happiness can only come from the God that helps us.
Our happiness can only come from our Creator!
The God of Jacob is God's covenant name in Christ Jesus.
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Our source of true happiness can come only by the Lord Jesus Christ!
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
It is the Lord Jesus who is happy to help us in our present life but also our only hope for the future of the eternal living soul!
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
God will always be true to His nature.
God will always be true to His promises.
God will always be true to His Word.
God will always be true to His personal relationship with each of us.
Because God will always be true to His Son!
And on a sad note to those that reject God's Son, God will also, always be true in His "Judgment"!
*****Psa 146:7 Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:
Since the time of Adam, the Bible states that "Mankind", was created to be responsible for his own actions.
God judged Adam for his sin but before this took place, God had already judged Lucifer and the fallen angels.
2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
God judged the people of this Earth in the time of Noah.
God judged the people at the Tower of Babel.
God judged the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
God judged the Southern Kingdom of Israel.
God judged the early Church, remember Ananias and Sapphira.
And God will judge the people of this present age!
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Why has God always done this?
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
All people no matter who they are will come under the judgment of God.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, "but after this the judgment":
All those that surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ will be immediately judged and justified but the Bible tells us of two more judgments.
1) There is the "Judgment Seat of Christ".
The Bible says:
2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
The is the judgment of the believer.
This not a judgment for salvation.
Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
This is a judgment for what each believer has accomplished since being in the family of God.
1Co 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
2) There is the "White Throne Judgment".
This is the judgment of the unbeliever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
We have a righteous Judge who will see that the oppressed will be vindicated.
Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
The Lord does much more than just bring justice to this world.
All food comes from God!
All those that are oppressed and all those that are starving can also find help from our merciful God!
God would not say this if it were not true, they need to call on His name.
There is no one that has reached so low in this life that they are out of the reach of the loving arms of Jehovah God!
There are also many who live today who are bound not only by chains, but also by disease, also by unsound and unhealthy bodies, who are weak and feeble and the Lord can also break the chains of these miseries.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
But there are even more things that Jehovah God will do!
*****Psa 146:8 The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:
Blindness in the Bible is portrayed as those who are morally and spiritually ignorant of the truth of God!
Isa 59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
Isa 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
But only Jehovah God can not only open the eyes of the spiritually blind, He can also open the eyes of those who are physically blind. Those that are born blind and those that become blind by accident.
There is no case of blindness that cannot be overcome by the Lord!
It is also the Lord God Almighty who can raise us up from our lowest point of depression.
So many of our young people are taking their own lives today because they do not see another way out of this depressed world.
There are evil men who take advantage of those young minds and convince them of a false path to Heaven but the only sure path and out of all misery is the Lord Jesus Christ!
Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Who are God's favorite people? Those that do things the right way!
The righteous are only those that are obedient to the Word of God!
There is only one commandment that has fit this world we live in from the time of Adam until the Lord takes us all home to be with Him!
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
*****Psa 146:9 The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
There are too many people in this world who feel like they have been abandoned by mankind. These are not just the oppressed who slip over our national borders but even some here in America who are truly trying to escape oppression and depression.
There are many who come for the right reasons and many who come for the wrong reasons.
Even Jesus turned away those that just wanted a handout!
Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
To seek God just to get our wants supplied is selfishness and gross sin!
To seek any nation only to have your needs supplied is wrong.
A government that provides needs just to make it's people more dependent on those needs is also evil!
God is interested in that stranger who is seeking a better life.
God does not forbid us to seek happiness but we are to seek it in the proper way. That way begins with seeking the Lord!
It is to the true stranger that God will send the Holy Ghost along with God's people bringing the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ.
It is also the fatherless who can find the true Father in Heaven.
It is the widow who can find the true Bridegroom.
Jehovah God is the only true Friend to all those who have no earthly protector!
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
There is no one who still lives that cannot have a Friend in Heaven if they truly seek the Lord!
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
It is Jehovah, the true God that will reign forever!
*****Psa 146:10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.
When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this Earth, He will establish Himself as King in Jerusalem!
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
It is the covenants that God has made that will insure that there will be a literal and physical return of Christ Jesus to establish His Kingdom.
The Jews will be gathered:
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The Jews will be converted:
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
There will then be a time of peace that this world has never known since the time of Adam:
Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Mic 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
Only believers will enter into this Kingdom:
Psa 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
Psa 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
Jesus Christ will rule as King:
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
And King David will be Christ's Regent:
Amo 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
And Jerusalem will then be the center of the world:
Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
This Kingdom on Earth will last for 1000 years but King Jesus will reign forever!
This Kingdom on Earth will end because the Heaven and the Earth will be judged because they were the domain of Satan's rebellion against God!
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
The eternal state of the Redeemed will then begin:
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
God does not leave any doubt of His future plans.
It is our generation that now have the duty of giving this message to this lost world!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
Psalm 146
A wise man once wrote "it is a blessing to know that I am on the Lord's side but it is an even greater blessing to know that the Lord is on my side".
The Apostle Paul wrote:
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not "with him" also freely give us all things?
The more we know about the ways of our God, the less we have to worry about our future!
In the time of the Apostle Paul there were many mysteries of the "Gospel" but there are no mysteries of salvation today.
God has made salvation a simple thing!
We absolutely cannot allow false teaching and even more false religions to confuse the simplicity of the plan of God.
Satan has tried to do this throughout history but when God sent His Son, salvation became a simple thing.
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Help came from on High!
God did not save us and then just go off and leave us.
Until we reach our heavenly home God will help us.
We need to praise God for all His help!
*****Psa 146:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Psa 146:2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
The Bible is the best commentary of itself and the Bible says that "Praise" is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to the Lord.
"Heb 13:15 "By him" therefore "let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God" continually, "that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."
Our praise to God must be "by Him", the Lord Jesus Christ our Mediator.
Our praise to God is the only thing we can offer here on Earth that will continue when we get to Heaven, so while we are still living we need to be continually praising the Lord!
Continually means without pausing.
Continually means without ceasing.
It is God who creates the fruit of our lips:
Isa 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
God creates peace, reconciliation and pardon by His "Grace".
It is from these things that "Fruit" will burst forth from our lips.
It is also these same things that will be our greatest help from others in this world until we get home.
Pro 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.
Praising the Lord will take our mind off our problems and our own shortcomings and we can just give them to God!
Our praise will lead us to others who also offer praise to the Lord.
Praise will cause us to appreciate all the things that God has done for us already.
Praise takes our focus off this world so we can focus on heavenly things.
Praise will prepare our hearts to receive the love of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, through the salvation plan given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.
How can we not praise the Lord the rest of our days here on Earth?
How can we not praise the Lord for His help because we cannot trust this world we live in to be much help to us?
*****Psa 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
It is probable that this Psalm was also written by King David and what does this king say?
David was king and the head of what in history has proved to have been be a good government but David says we cannot place our trust in the rulers of government nor the people that live in this world.
Even in America, so many have been raised up to depend on the government and our leaders who have caused this to happen, take political advantage of them and keep them dependent and even their children, who grow up not encouraged to do better for themselves.
Not only that, but our government insist on allowing and even encouraging strangers to come into America, not those seeking to be a benefit, but those who will seek to be dependent on the government all their days and the days of their children.
This is a government seeking to be in control of it's people and not a government that serves it's people.
We absolutely cannot trust these leaders, these princes!
Psa 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
Psa 118:9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
Mankind will never evolve to a point where it can provide salvation to all the people.
This is the theory of evolution at work.
We are not evolving we are in fact d-volving!
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
The gap between those that do right and those that do wrong is ever widening!
All those that have made a life of deceiving others and have reaped the benefits of that life to a point that they cannot or they refuse to recover themselves from that life and encourage others into the same errors.
These are those that will reach God's deadline while they yet live!
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
There is no real help that can come from these princes in this life and no help at all in our future life!
Those that trust in man will suffer the curse of God.
Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
It is those that trust in the Lord who will receive the blessings of God!
Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Even if you could find the best man on this Earth, he would still be just a man!
*****Psa 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
There are some very important things that we must realize before we die.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
There has never been a time of evolution of mankind!
God made man from the elements of this Earth and then God breathed into man the spirit of life.
These things take place at conception and each individual becomes a living soul!
Each and everyone that comes into this world will exit this world the very day God has written down on His calender!
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
There are things we can do to extend our days but God still knows the exact day of our death and He has been preparing us for that day all the days that we live.
When that day comes certain things happen:
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
That body will return to the elements it was made from and that spirit of life will return to the God who gave it!
This is the history of mankind but not of animal kingdom:
Ecc 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Evolution has never been a part of mankind nor that of animal life!
Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
All these things have taken place just so the soul of each human has the opportunity to decide it's fate.
Because on the day of death all our thoughts, all those things we wanted to accomplish in this life will end!
It is that eternal living soul that will live on, either in Heaven with God the owner of that soul or in the Hell and the Burning Lake of Fire that was prepared for Satan and those that place there trust in him!
We can know as we were known:
1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
Or we can suffer in Hell wishing we had done differently:
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Who are those that rejoice? Those that have a personal relationship with their Creator!
*****Psa 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Psa 146:6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
The only way of true happiness is to rely on the same God that Jacob did!
Other humans cannot bring us to this point of happiness even that one we love the most.
There is not one powerful man on this Earth that can provide what we need for true happiness.
Our happiness can only come from the God that helps us.
Our happiness can only come from our Creator!
The God of Jacob is God's covenant name in Christ Jesus.
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Our source of true happiness can come only by the Lord Jesus Christ!
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
It is the Lord Jesus who is happy to help us in our present life but also our only hope for the future of the eternal living soul!
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
God will always be true to His nature.
God will always be true to His promises.
God will always be true to His Word.
God will always be true to His personal relationship with each of us.
Because God will always be true to His Son!
And on a sad note to those that reject God's Son, God will also, always be true in His "Judgment"!
*****Psa 146:7 Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:
Since the time of Adam, the Bible states that "Mankind", was created to be responsible for his own actions.
God judged Adam for his sin but before this took place, God had already judged Lucifer and the fallen angels.
2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
God judged the people of this Earth in the time of Noah.
God judged the people at the Tower of Babel.
God judged the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
God judged the Southern Kingdom of Israel.
God judged the early Church, remember Ananias and Sapphira.
And God will judge the people of this present age!
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Why has God always done this?
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
All people no matter who they are will come under the judgment of God.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, "but after this the judgment":
All those that surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ will be immediately judged and justified but the Bible tells us of two more judgments.
1) There is the "Judgment Seat of Christ".
The Bible says:
2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
The is the judgment of the believer.
This not a judgment for salvation.
Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
This is a judgment for what each believer has accomplished since being in the family of God.
1Co 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
2) There is the "White Throne Judgment".
This is the judgment of the unbeliever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
We have a righteous Judge who will see that the oppressed will be vindicated.
Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
The Lord does much more than just bring justice to this world.
All food comes from God!
All those that are oppressed and all those that are starving can also find help from our merciful God!
God would not say this if it were not true, they need to call on His name.
There is no one that has reached so low in this life that they are out of the reach of the loving arms of Jehovah God!
There are also many who live today who are bound not only by chains, but also by disease, also by unsound and unhealthy bodies, who are weak and feeble and the Lord can also break the chains of these miseries.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
But there are even more things that Jehovah God will do!
*****Psa 146:8 The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:
Blindness in the Bible is portrayed as those who are morally and spiritually ignorant of the truth of God!
Isa 59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
Isa 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
But only Jehovah God can not only open the eyes of the spiritually blind, He can also open the eyes of those who are physically blind. Those that are born blind and those that become blind by accident.
There is no case of blindness that cannot be overcome by the Lord!
It is also the Lord God Almighty who can raise us up from our lowest point of depression.
So many of our young people are taking their own lives today because they do not see another way out of this depressed world.
There are evil men who take advantage of those young minds and convince them of a false path to Heaven but the only sure path and out of all misery is the Lord Jesus Christ!
Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Who are God's favorite people? Those that do things the right way!
The righteous are only those that are obedient to the Word of God!
There is only one commandment that has fit this world we live in from the time of Adam until the Lord takes us all home to be with Him!
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
*****Psa 146:9 The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
There are too many people in this world who feel like they have been abandoned by mankind. These are not just the oppressed who slip over our national borders but even some here in America who are truly trying to escape oppression and depression.
There are many who come for the right reasons and many who come for the wrong reasons.
Even Jesus turned away those that just wanted a handout!
Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
To seek God just to get our wants supplied is selfishness and gross sin!
To seek any nation only to have your needs supplied is wrong.
A government that provides needs just to make it's people more dependent on those needs is also evil!
God is interested in that stranger who is seeking a better life.
God does not forbid us to seek happiness but we are to seek it in the proper way. That way begins with seeking the Lord!
It is to the true stranger that God will send the Holy Ghost along with God's people bringing the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ.
It is also the fatherless who can find the true Father in Heaven.
It is the widow who can find the true Bridegroom.
Jehovah God is the only true Friend to all those who have no earthly protector!
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
There is no one who still lives that cannot have a Friend in Heaven if they truly seek the Lord!
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
It is Jehovah, the true God that will reign forever!
*****Psa 146:10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.
When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this Earth, He will establish Himself as King in Jerusalem!
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
It is the covenants that God has made that will insure that there will be a literal and physical return of Christ Jesus to establish His Kingdom.
The Jews will be gathered:
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The Jews will be converted:
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
There will then be a time of peace that this world has never known since the time of Adam:
Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Mic 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
Only believers will enter into this Kingdom:
Psa 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
Psa 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
Jesus Christ will rule as King:
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
And King David will be Christ's Regent:
Amo 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
And Jerusalem will then be the center of the world:
Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
This Kingdom on Earth will last for 1000 years but King Jesus will reign forever!
This Kingdom on Earth will end because the Heaven and the Earth will be judged because they were the domain of Satan's rebellion against God!
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
The eternal state of the Redeemed will then begin:
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
God does not leave any doubt of His future plans.
It is our generation that now have the duty of giving this message to this lost world!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
