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Good evening, New Life Baptist Church. If you have a look at Psalm 37, and we are going back into the Psalms. We are going, for the next three weeks, we're going through Psalm 37, 38, 39 before we start a new book of the Bible. But if you look at verse number 28, it says, For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints, they are preserved forever. The title for the sermon tonight is, The Saints Are Preserved Forever. The Saints Are Preserved Forever. Hey, what a blessing. What a great honor to know that if you're saved, you're a saint, you've been sanctified, cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, that you will live forever. You exist forever. And this isn't something that is only just a future thing to be concerned about. We're preserved right now. If you're saved, you've been preserved. You're going to be preserved from this day forward, for all eternity. Nothing will happen to you. You will never cease to exist. You will never face the full brunt of the wrath of God in hellfire or anything like that. Our salvation is sure. But if we look out there in verse number 1, let's start there, Psalm 37, verse number 1, the psalm of David, the Bible says, Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. And so if we're looking at the preservation of the saints, we're looking at how we're going to live forever, the Bible here in this psalm is differentiating between those of us that are going to live forever, those that are preserved, and the wicked that will soon be cut down like the grass. And, you know, right now my grass needs to be mowed. I need to get that lawnmower out, cut that grass down. And one thing that will be going through my mind while I'm mowing that grass is thinking, okay, this is how God is going to deal with the wicked when he pours out his wrath, or you know what, even just on the judgment here on this earth, as the wicked go about doing their business, they're not going to get away with it. God's going to cut them down when the grass gets too long, at God's time, and he knows when it needs to be cut, it's going to be cut, and they're not going to be preserved, right? The unbelieving world, the wicked, they will not be preserved, they're going to be like this grass. And so we shouldn't become envious of these wicked people. We should look at our lives, and look, sometimes the wicked have more than we have, don't they? They might have more possessions, they might have greater wealth. They may even apparently look to be happy on this earth sometimes. Of course, those things are a front, you know, and deep down, you know, obviously they're not satisfied, they're not content with life. And the only true contentment, the only true satisfaction that we get in life is knowing our Savior, knowing Jesus Christ and his salvation, knowing that we've been forgiven for our sins. But look at verse number three, it says, Trust in the Lord, and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Now, one concern, you know, in these days, especially down in Sydney, is what happens to jobs. We've got the no jab, no job policy in a lot of places. And we have believers working around that as best as they can. But it is a concern, but look what God promises. If we just do good, trust in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land, okay, that includes Sydney, and verily thou shalt be fed. You know, God ensures that we're going to be fed. God ensures that we're never going to go without our daily needs. You know, when Christ prayed that mortal prayer, he said, you know, give us this day our daily bread. You know, we truly don't understand what the daily bread is because we nourish ourselves, most of us eat free meals a day, most of us have some level of food in the pantry, most of us live walking distance or a short trip to some type of supermarket, some type of shop we can feed ourselves. You know, we have access to some level of income to make sure that we can provide for our needs. You know, we never get to the point where we're concerned about our daily bread. Now, we should be praying for our daily bread. That is something that God, Jesus Christ, instructed us to do. But you know, many Christians, if they got to that point where they're not sure if they're going to have bread tomorrow, you know, they would panic, they would panic. But you know what, even in that scenario, even if you weren't sure if you're going to have food tomorrow, you know, God says he's going to provide our daily bread. And so we ought to trust in the Lord, never be afraid that you're going to go without. Verse number four says, delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart, and commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. And then it says in verse number six, and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Now, these are great promises. You know, verse number four and verse number five specifically, that the Lord is going to give us the desires of your heart. Do you believe that? Do you believe the scriptures there? If you have what you desire from your heart, God's going to give it to you, right? If you commit your way to the Lord, you trust in him, he will bring it to pass. And as we saw here, this has to do with being fed, being provided for. And you know, we need to rest on these promises and understand that God will give us the desires of our heart. And I know this is true. I know that this promise is guaranteed. You say, why do you know this? And I'll give you the moment why I know this. But I want to quickly read to you from Matthew 26 42. And this is when Christ, of course, in the Garden of Gethsemane was concerned, had the, you know, the stress of going to the cross. And it says in Matthew 26 42, and he went again the second time and prayed, saying, Oh, my father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. You see, Christ was able to say, not my will, but thy will be done. In fact, once again, in that model prayer that Christ gave us in Matthew 6 10, Christ says, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. You see, when we talk about committing our way to the Lord, we're talking about delighting ourselves in the Lord. This has to do with seeking God's will in our life. How do we know God's will? Well, we know what God instructs from us in his word. And if we follow his word, we are doing his will, and the Lord's going to make sure he steps in, provides our every need, even the desires of your hearts. But you need to be able to surrender your own personal will, which many times is at odds against God's will. Submit yourself under God's will. And look, if your heart desires, line up with the will of God, you will receive it. Guaranteed, you're going to receive it, as long as you do these practical steps, committing your way unto the Lord. Now, the reason I know this is a true promise is because of this very Bible. I didn't really intend to bring this Bible today. But from this very Bible, I don't know if you can see, but those verses right there, they're highlighted in this Bible. You see, this Bible here is one of Christina's old Bibles. She has a newer one. This one's falling apart. It's got a few pages missing. And when she was told that she would not be able to fall pregnant, before we got married, she was told she would not be able to fall pregnant. She would not be able to have any kids. And I remember very clearly my wife meditating on these verses. This is why it's highlighted here. I assume she's memorized them, but she's meditated upon this, prayed upon these verses, and asked the Lord to allow her to fall pregnant. And as you know, she had to fall pregnant 10 times. Praise God, and 11 children as well. So I know it's true. I know it's true. Now, you know, the will of the unbelieving world, the will of many unsaved people is not to have many kids. You know, their will isn't to have as many kids as God will give them. But that was the will of my wife. And, you know, at the time, I was content to have no kids. I just thought, man, I had a lot of work having kids. You know, and then I, you know, deep down in my heart, I probably was satisfied with having three kids. I never got three kids. You guys know the story. We had one, we had two. God never gave me three. We went from two to four, so I missed out. I never got what I wanted. God knew best. And so I know this is true, because this was clearly my wife's desire in her heart. And she meditated and prayed over this. This is why I'm never worried that God will never step in and provide for us, because it was His will for something like this to happen. And, you know, I'm not trying to boast, and, you know, I'm such a great Christian, my wife is such a great... You know, I'm sure we can all testify of times that we've prayed to the Lord, we've committed ourselves to His ways, we've delighted ourselves in the Lord, we've taken our prayer requests before Him, and He's come through and answered those prayers. You know, He's in the business of preserving His saints, and He's going to preserve us forever. You know, at least, at the very least, I know that if you're saved, you've committed your way. Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father except by me. And so we've trusted the way of salvation, and I know that salvation is guaranteed so long as you've placed your faith alone on the finished work of Christ. Look at verse number seven, it says, Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. That's the hardest part in life, patiently, waiting. So we rest in the Lord, we bring our requests before God, and then, you know what it means to rest? We stop talking about it. We stop thinking about all the problems. We stop thinking about how we're going without. You just rest, okay, Lord, I've prayed about it, I've left it in your hands, I'm going to rest now, I'm going to rest in you. And I'm going to stop murmuring, I'm going to stop complaining, I'm just going to trust you, Lord, that you're going to take care of it, and then you're going to wait patiently for Him. That's the hardest thing, as I said, the hardest thing, to wait patiently. You know, often when people ring me for advice, spiritual counsel, I say, you know, wait on the Lord, you know, the Lord has perfect timing. In fact, sometimes when I've sought out some help, I've had the same response. The Lord's timing is right, and I say, yeah, the Lord's timing is always perfect. I just wish I had His watch. You know, I would just wish I had His calendar. I wish I knew exactly what the timing of the Lord is, but hey, obviously that would help us, but no, God wants us to increase in faith. He wants us to increase in our patience. And so God many times just makes us wait, and He'll come through at the right time. It says, fret not thyself because of Him who prospereth in His way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. You know, this passage reminds me of vaccinations. Okay, why? Because we have wicked men, wicked people, bringing in wicked devices to pass. I do believe these vaccinations, especially the COVID ones, you know, in fact, I believe they're all, but you know, especially these COVID ones, are wicked devices to pass. Imagine no jab, no job. You know, imagine right now I'm no jab, I can't leave my Fairfield LGA. I'm not even supposed to travel past five kilometres. Think about that for a moment. Think about how, and say, why are you happy, Pastor Kevin? Because I'm in the Lord's hands. I'm a child of God, that's why. I'm going to wait patiently for Him. You know, and we'll see how much patience the Lord can develop in my life at this point in time. But you know, fret not thyself because of Him who prospereth in His way. You see these wicked devices, these vaccinations, you know, the pharmaceuticals, they're making billions of dollars. These politicians who are in the pocket of these, you know, pharmaceutical companies, they're raking in the money, okay? They're becoming prosperous. They're bringing wicked devices to pass. But the Bible says, don't fret yourself. Don't worry about it. You know, relax. Calm down. Rest in the Lord. Give it in God's hand. Let Him take care of that. The Lord's going to preserve you. Boy, easier said than done though, isn't it? Because how much whining and complaining has it been about vaccinations lately? A lot. A lot. I've been hearing a lot about it. Now I don't blame people because it is a concern. It is a worry. But we need to learn, you know, these are great times for us to learn these truths. Leave it in God's hands. Rest in the Lord. Look at verse number eight. Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. So instead of getting angry or, you know, becoming ruffle, the Bible says forsake that. Don't even spend your time getting angry at these wicked people. Why? Because God's going to cut them down like grass in His time. Okay? Rest in the Lord. The Lord will take care of it in His due time. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Sometimes we might be so angry. You know, I've looked at this sometimes. I'm sick and tired of looking at these politicians' faces. And I kind of wish some evil would fall upon them sometimes, right? But I want that evil to fall upon them from the Lord. I want the Lord to take care of business, right? Not some type of vigilante behavior, which is wrong, which is sinful, okay? The Bible's telling us here, hey, don't do anything evil. Don't take matters in your own hands. Don't become a vigilante, all right? You just leave it in God's hands and let Him take care of these people. Verse number nine. For evildoers shall be cut off. There you go. Just a reminder, okay? But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. Amen. All right? So we're concerned about these 70, 80 years of life that we may be able to live on this earth? Well, don't worry about it. You're going to inherit the earth. Remember, we've got 1,000 years to look forward to, to rule and reign with Christ. Verse number 10 says, For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be, yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. There's going to come a time when you think back at the wicked politicians, the wicked people that have been in your life, and they're just not going to be. They're not going to exist anymore. Why? Because you're going to be preserved forever. You're going to live a long life. When you die, you're going to be with the Lord God in heaven. You're going to come back to this earth for 1,000 years. All these wicked people on this earth right now that are so-called prospering and bringing wicked devices, they're just going to be demolished. They're going to think back, hey, what about, you know, my premier? And what happened to my prime minister when I was... And it's like, well, they're finished. They're gone. They're long gone. They're long gone. Because they were wicked, God mowed them down. And, you know, the Bible tells us in Revelation 6, 9, it says, When he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, thou shalt not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth. And white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little season. There's the resting. You know what? We even need to be patient in heaven. We need to also rest in heaven until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be cured as they were should be fulfilled. And so we might look at life and, you know what? Your life may be shortened on this earth in the sense where, you know, the wicked take you down. Let's say you get that forced vaccination, okay, into you. You don't want it, but it gets forced, and it causes you to lose life expectancy for whatever, you know. Maybe you lose your life. The people have died from vaccinations. It's no surprise, okay? Let's say that were to happen. You'll be a soul in heaven. You'll be asking God, How long? And God says, Well, just rest for a little season, okay? Because our mindset needs to be on eternity. We're preserved. Even if we lose this life on this earth, you don't truly die, brethren. Believers never truly die. Yes, this body will perish. Yes, this body will die. But we're just going to open our eyes, and we're going to be in the best place ever in heaven. And then for those same souls that were asking God to avenge them, it says in Revelation 20 verse 4, And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. And so they resurrected from the dead. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years, and they're given important thrones, important positions of authority. And so, brethren, you don't need to take it into your own hands. Let's say the wicked prevail against you. They overcome you, okay? You lose your life because of wicked devices. Well, you know what? God's going to give you a great place in heaven. He's going to bless you. He's going to reward you. And those wicked people that did that to you in your short 70, 80-year lifespan, you're going to think back, what about these guys? And you're, ah, they're long gone. They're finished. You know, they're burning in the lowest hells, and they're being judged for what they've done to God's people. Verse number 11 says, But the meek shall inherit the earth. That should bring a reminder to the teaching of Christ. And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. You know, that's teaching of Christ in Matthew 5-5. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Again, remind yourself of this. Remind yourself of this. You know, it's the Aussie dream, isn't it, to own a piece of land, to own some property. You know what? You're going to own, you're going to inherit the whole earth. It's all going to be yours in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, okay? Don't worry about this little life that we have on this earth forever, and there are wicked people. God knows you rest in him. Easier said than done, I know, I know. But this is the reminder for us in the Word of God. Verse number 12. The wicked ploddeth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. Look at verse number 13. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. So when you've got the wicked gnashing their teeth at you, how do you react? You know, you get fearful lunch, you get afraid, you get concerned and worried, and you go to God, and you're like, God, I'm such a bad... You know what? God's laughing. God's laughing in heaven about how the wicked want to hurt the righteous. And you know what? If God finds it funny, then you know what? Let's laugh at it as well. Let's find it funny as well. Let's laugh and mock at these wicked people who are trying to take this word for themselves, who think they can amass wealth and amass power, and they think they can... You know, they know better than God, they know better than God's Word. They think they know all these things, but once again, they're going to be destroyed. God's laughing at them, and we need to learn to laugh as well. Okay? I've been criticized for smiling so much when I preach. Well, yeah, you know what? I'm going to laugh at these wicked people. Why not? God's laughing. All right? Let's keep going. Verse number 14. And again, he laughs because he sees his day coming. You know, God knows the end from the beginning. God knows that they're going to be judged and they're going to pay for all the wrong they've done. Verse number 14. The wicked have drawn out the sword and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own hearts, and their bows shall be broken. You know, this is an ongoing theme in the Book of Psalms, how, you know, the weapons that the wicked use to persecute the righteous and the poor and the needy, they're going to fall, you know, by their own sword. They're going to cause their own hurt. And I love that kind of... You know, you reap what you sow, you know, idea, and I don't know if you've ever seen those videos on YouTube. You know, we don't believe in karma, but, you know, they call it instant karma, where you might have someone do something, like, wicked or rotten and then all of a sudden, you know, they've been hurt or, you know, you see someone, I don't know, run a red light and there's the cop, you know, cop car just around the corner, shows up and they're in trouble. And so this is, you know, again, an ongoing theme in the Book of Psalms, how God is going to cause the wicked to fall in their own devices. Let's go to verse number 16. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. So how do you feel about what you own and what you possess? How do you feel about your bank account? You might say, I feel like I have very little. Well, a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. Verse number 17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous. You know, again, we're not on this earth to be some huge name, to amass wealth and we're not here for that, okay? In fact, the Christian life, many times, we have to be sacrificial in these areas of our life. You know, again, the Lord knows what we need. He's going to provide for us when the time comes. But I want you to remember this great teaching in Christ in Matthew 19, 29, where he says, And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Don't forget the title here. We're looking at the preservation of the saints. That's a topic for today. And whatever we lose, you know, we don't really lose it, because you're actually preserving that which you lose for the cause of Christ. In what sense? Because we're not, okay, we lose it on this earth, but we're going to receive a hundredfold of what we lost, okay? So, you know, maybe you've been rejected by your family for being saved, for becoming a believer of Jesus Christ. Well, God's going to bless you one hundredfold. He's going to give you a great family in heaven. He's going to give you, I'm not saying we get married and have kids, but I'm saying, you know, the fellowship will be that sweet, where you'd be thankful for having lost that which you lost on this earth. You know, you may lose wealth. You may lose lands. You may lose things, you know, possessions for serving the Lord. Well, God's going to give it all back to you times one hundred. You know, what a blessing. What a blessing. And so let's not worry about laying up our treasures on earth. You know, let's focus on laying up our treasures in heaven, where the interest rate is times one hundred. Verse number 18. It says, the Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. So again, we're talking about preservation here. Our inheritance, our rewards, the gifts that God wants to give us in heaven as well, they're going to be forever, okay, forever. You know, we have a lot of children, as you know, when birthdays roll around and Christmas, we give gifts to our kids. And just always, it always happens, where you give someone a gift and that toy or whatever it is breaks, literally the first day or the second day, okay. Well, that's just the way the earth is, okay. When you give people things on this earth, you know that eventually that's going to deteriorate and fall apart. You know, my car, my Toyota Corolla has some paint damage. And, you know, slowly these cars and these things that you have, they just start to fall apart, okay. But that which we receive in heaven will never fall apart. It will never become corrupted. It will be preserved forever. What a great promise. You know, could you imagine if you had a bank account, okay, and you got your bills and expenses to pay, but the bank account just never ends. You know, you pull it out, okay, to pay for things, but it's still there. You know, why? Because there's preservation for God's people. There's preservation with the Lord. Let's keep going. Verse number 19. Notice that again. God's speaking about that. There are evil times. God never promises that we're not going to face hardships and difficulties. No. In fact, we will. But in the days of famine, they shall be satisfied. They shall be satisfied. And so once again, God promises us to provide for our daily needs, even in a time of famine, even in a time when the entire earth, okay, or our nation, you know, is maybe going through some drought, a shortage of food. God says, okay, there's a famine in the land. I'm going to make sure that I preserve my people and they're not going to go without, okay. Verse number 20. And of course, that smoke that will consume the wicked, those that did not believe of Christ, is ultimately the lake of fire. You know, hell and the lake of fire. Revelation 14 and 11 says, Verse number 21. It says, and payeth not again, Now, this is not saying that it's wrong to borrow. It's not saying that the wicked borrow. There's nothing wrong with that whatsoever, okay. It's that the wicked borrow and payeth not again. And we need to think about, you know, how we operate in this world. You know, it's not wrong to ever take out a loan, though I don't think it's, you know, it's wise. You know, I personally don't have any credit cards. I personally don't have any personal loans. You know, we do have a mortgage, which we need to take care of. But the point being here that if you are going to borrow, you need to make sure that you're able to pay it again. Pay it on time, right. You know, often when you get your rates, you know, your bills for your electricity, you know, your water bill, you have borrowed. You have borrowed the service and then you get a bill for what you used and then you get a future time to pay it off, right. I personally, you know, our family, as soon as I get a bill, I don't care when it's due. As soon as I get the bill, I pay it, okay, because that's what the righteous does. They want to make sure they keep a short account with people they have borrowed from. You know, let me encourage you, don't get behind your bills. Don't forget to pay, you know, and don't purposely avoid paying your bills because the Bible says that's actually what the wicker does. The wicker does those things. We don't want to be categorised with wicker practices, right. But the righteous show off mercy and giveth. So instead of holding back, as the righteous people, we give of what we can. We see a person in need and we ought to be able to willingly give of that so we can bless those that need. Verse number 22 says, for such, so that's those that give, for such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. So the Bible's saying here that as we see opportunities to give and be generous to our people in need and to our brethren, to our church, that God once again is going to ensure that that gets given back to us when we inherit the earth. Again, I believe that plays into the hundredfold. You know, if you see a brother in need, you say, well, I could keep this for myself. I don't really need it for myself, but I could keep it for myself. Or I can give to someone that has need. Once again, God will take care of it when you come to rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years. One hundredfold, you know. So let's make sure that, you know, we don't become shy of being generous and giving. Now, you know, at the same time, I don't believe we should, you know, you know, we should make sure that we give to a real need, okay. We don't want to help brethren that are maybe lazy. We don't want to help brethren that are, you know, are not working, they're not providing and then they find themselves in a bad place because all you're doing is helping that person continue being lazy, right. But if there is a true need, someone finds themselves in a bad place and, you know, you can come in and fulfil that. You know, yes, the Bible tells us that that is our job to see how we can help each other and once again, God is going to return that to us on this earth. Verse number 23, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I love this passage. I love many passages that speak about how the righteous man can fall and will fall, okay. But a good man, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, okay. So as we live our lives, as we do, you know, life business and we have family and we have jobs and we have our hobbies and we interact with other people and we just, we go on holidays and we do what we have to do in this life, don't forget that we're seeking the Lord to order our steps, to direct our paths. And, you know, the Lord loves it when we seek his guidance in life and God's going to make sure once again that we are preserved and that we live a happy and fulfilled life. But notice verse number 24 says, Though he fall, the believer will fall, the Christian falls, okay. Your pastor falls. Every time we sin, we fall against the Lord, okay, we fall. But because we're preserved, it says here he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord uphold of him with his hand. And so when we fall, when we find ourselves in a bad place, whether we've sinned against the Lord or we're just falling because of stresses and worries of life and, you know, we're fainting at that thought and maybe we lose our zeal and, you know, for life, well, as long as we set the Lord on our right hand, as long as we go before him for help, he's going to step in and uphold us with his hand. The next verses are beautiful as well, verse number 25, I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Wow. As long as we're righteous, as long as we're serving the Lord, you're saved and you're putting the Lord first in your life, the Lord promises that our seed, our children will never beg for bread. Do you believe that, brethren? Do you believe that? I believe that. I truly believe it. I've seen how God has helped me, you know, and times when I thought finances are going to be tight and difficult, the Lord just finds a way, just finds an answer all the time. And what a great promise. You know, one concern that a lot of people have in these days when they think about the no jab, no job, once again, how they're going to provide. But, and I've discussed this with some of the people as well, how many Christians feel like that if we are going through those end time events, that, you know, if the antichrist comes on the scene in our lifetime, in our generation, people are worried, oh, man, you're not going to take the mark of the beast, what's going to happen? You know, the only way you can buy and sell is by taking the mark, you know, and it's like, what are Christians going to do? Are they going to be tempted to take the mark? It's like, it's not even going to happen. You know, Christians taking the mark, it's not going to happen. Number one, because those that take the mark cannot be saved, okay? In fact, they are reprobate because they're worshipping a devil. Like, that's number one. We know that salvation for, we know that we're preserved. There's nothing that a believer can do to lose their salvation, so they won't even take the mark. Even if they attempted to take the mark, you know, as Brother Callum preached just recently, the devil's more interested in beheading the believers getting rid of the saints on this earth than causing them to take a mark. It's not even going to happen, okay? The Lord makes sure that our seed will not beg for bed and that's the kind of concern that I hear from people. Because we believe, as a church, we believe in a post-tribulation rapture. They're like, so what are you going to do? Are you going to take the mark? How's it going to be, you know? And people have said to me, you know, if my children were starving and they couldn't eat, you know, I would be tempted to take them taking the mark of the beast. But why? You know, if we just read these passages, I have been young and now I'm old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. So your children will never beg for bread. Your children will never go hungry so long as you set God first. You know, so people worry about things that are just not even in the Bible. They worry about things that they've watched in a movie, in a so-called Christian movie, you know, The Thief in the Night, these end time movies where, you know, you've got, you know, your society, you have the Antichrist trying to get everybody to take the mark, forcing everybody to take the mark, and you have like these, you know, freedom fighting Christians, you know, trying to avoid it. They're running away. They're hiding, right? And they think, you know, people have watched those movies and they think that's real life. They think that's what the Bible's like. No, it's not, okay? Christians will not be tempted to take the mark. God's going to provide bread. We're not going to go hungry. Even in a time of famine, even when all the food is gone, even when we can't buy and sell, as long as we set God's kingdom first, He promises to take care of our needs. And let me just say once again, if that means God has to reign manner from heaven, so be it. God's going to provide, you know, either naturally or supernaturally, God will make sure that these believers never go hungry. I mean, okay, we'll go hungry, okay, but we're never going to be starving. We're not going to starve to death, okay? If you don't go hungry, you're never going to eat. We all go hungry, right? But no, you know, God's never going to cause us to die from a lack of food, you know? And so these are concerns people have that really merit no time or effort to worry about, okay? If we keep going there in verse number 26, verse number 26, it says, He is ever merciful and lendeth and His seed is blessed. How else can we make sure that our seed or our children are blessed? Well, it says, He is ever merciful and lendeth. You know, if we show mercy to people that have done wrong, hey, even if a brother falls in sin and we see them fallen, okay, we should encourage them. We should edify that person to get back up serving the Lord, right, not beating them down, not laughing at them, not mocking Christians who are struggling spiritually. We ought to lift them up. We ought to show people mercy. If people have offended you, okay, and they want to get things right, they want to apologise, we should show mercy toward that person. Hey, we should once again lend, all right, if we can help people in the time of need, lendeth and His seed is blessed. That's one sure way to make sure your children don't go hungry, make sure your children have everything they need. If you show generosity to other people, somehow God's going to step in and make sure that your family are taken care of. Verse number 27. Depart from evil and do good and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh not His saints. They are preserved forever. There it is again. But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever. So we're reminded here a few times, you know, verse number 27 ends forevermore. Verse number 28 says they are preserved forever. Verse number 29 says and dwell therein forever. God wants us to understand that we're going to live forever, okay. We don't need to be overly concerned with this life that we live, okay. This body will perish. This body will die, okay. We don't need to spend all our time and effort trying to keep this body alive. I mean, we should be kind of looking forward to the time that this body will perish, okay. Either because we're going to wake up in heaven with the Lord or if we make it to the rapture, we're going to have that brand new body that cannot die. You know, there's a few ways that the Lord can step in and preserve us and I'll just read a few passages to you. I'll quickly read to you from Genesis 45, 7. And these are the words of Joseph. He says, you know, Joseph was sold into Egypt as a slave and then he rises into power, his second command under Pharaoh. But it says in verse number 7, God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. You see, God is in the business of preserving us on this earth as well, okay. I'm sure there are times where God has delivered us from harm, from hardships, maybe even from death and we don't even know about it. Where God has stepped in supernaturally and has preserved our life, you know. As long as God can use us and He has a purpose for us on this earth and His purpose for us is what? To further the kingdom of God, to further His work, to live a righteous and holy life, to bring up a godly seed, right, to work with other believers in the house of God. You know what, if God sees use for us, He's going to ensure that we, our life is preserved to the point where God says that our course is finished, that we finish our race, you know. God has set a race before us and we need to run that race and understand we are bulletproof. We're going to live as long as we're running that race. But when we get to that finish line, praise God, now it's time for God to take us home. God knows, right, God knows how much time we have on this earth. Let's make sure that we use it to serve Him. How else can God preserve us? Well, in Psalm 32 verse 7, it says, Thou art my hiding place, thou shalt preserve me from trouble. So the Lord preserves us through times of trouble. Once again, there's no promise that we're going to live lives without any difficulties, no. We are going to live lives with trouble, we are going to have difficulties and troubles, but God makes sure He preserves us through that time of trouble. The Bible also says in 2 Timothy 4.18, And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. And so the Lord also preserves us unto His kingdom. We are guaranteed to see the kingdom of God. Now, we've already spiritually entered into the kingdom of God when you were saved, okay, but we are going to literally walk into that kingdom, we're going to touch and fuel that kingdom, we're going to rule within that kingdom, okay, and God has preserved us for that wonderful future to come. Another great passage, when I think about preservation, is 1 Thessalonians 5.23, and it's very interesting how it says it here, it says, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so the prayer of Paul here, to the churches, to the saints, is that not only will our body, but our soul and spirit, that it's going to be preserved unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so one thing that we understand, if you're saved, your soul has been saved, your spirit is preserved, it's not going to perish, you've been born again, your soul and spirit will not go to hell, okay, you are going to live forever. But it's interesting that this body will perish, isn't it? This body will perish, but as Paul wrote there, it says that the body will be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we can view this in two different ways. Number one, we know that at the coming of Christ, that this body is going to be changed, okay, and maybe that's what Paul means, because that is in, we are talking about times where, for example, in 1 Thessalonians 5, we know that Paul is teaching about the end time events, the coming of Christ, and we know there's going to be a rapture which gets taught to us in 1 Thessalonians 4. But I want you to remember what it says in 1 Corinthians 15, 53, it says, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. This body is going to change. We're going to receive immortal, incorrupted bodies, bodies that will be preserved forever, okay. And so, yes, that's going to take place at the coming of the Lord. But even though we're looking forward to that event, even today, our body can be preserved blameless to some extent, okay. You cannot have a body that is completely blameless because then you're kind of teaching sinless perfection, okay. But I want you to remember that this body, even though it's sinful, it is corrupted, okay, even though it's fleshly and it's going to die, it's going to be cut off, we need to remember that we can, to some extent, keep this body preserved. What do I mean by that? Well, in 1 Corinthians 9, 27, it says, but I keep my body and bring it into subjection, okay. So even though we know this body is full of sin, we know this body will perish, we shouldn't just have this approach and think, well, it's going to perish anyway, let me just sin as much as I want. I'm going to heaven anyway, all right. I'm going to die and go to heaven. Let me just enjoy the pleasure of sin, let me just enjoy the wicked life, let me just destroy this body with substance and fornication and whatever it is that people lust for on this earth. No, don't do that, okay, don't do that. Number one, you're going to destroy yourself, you're going to live a shorter life on this earth, okay. Number two, you're going to hurt people around you. Number three, you're going to have a horrible testimony and you won't be able to do great things for the Lord if you just live for self and live for this fleshly body. But we can, you know, thinking about the coming of the Lord, we can keep this body preserved to some extent as long as it is subject unto God, as long as it's subject under God's word, under the Spirit, this new man that we have, you know, we walk in the Spirit, we seek the Lord, we put him first and if we're doing that faithfully, we're going to limit or reduce how much this body sins and that ought to be a struggle that we are content to have every day of our lives. We wake up in the morning, we've got the old man, we've got the new man, we need to make the decision, Lord, help me walk in the new man, help me put that body under subjection that I can keep it preserved unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's keep going there in the Psalms, Psalm 37 verse number 30, The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart, none of his steps shall slide. And so, you know, God here is basically talking about how important what our heart is focused upon, right? That our heart ought to be the law of the Lord, the law of God should be in our hearts. It's reading our Bibles, spending time in the Lord. That's why it's said in verse number 30, The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom. You know, a lot can be said. You know, we can determine how close someone is to the Lord, how faithful they are to God's word by what they speak out of their mouth. You know, if what's coming out of people's mouths is just stupidity, and I mean, this is clear. You know, this is such a truth. Whatever people speak about, like, they're just known for constantly saying and constantly speaking about a topic. I'm not talking about biblical issues here, I'm just talking about other things, then you know where their hearts are, right? If someone keeps just talking about their sporting team, you know they're just loving, they're spending time just meditating on their sporting team, right? If you have someone that's just constantly talking about vaccinations and conspiracies and, you know, you know, everything else that you see, you know they're spending all the time on YouTube and Bitchute and all the alternative media and they're reading all the articles. That's where their heart is. But, you know, people that speak of the Lord, people that speak of God's word and you see them putting into practice the things that they've learned from God's word, then you know that their heart has meditated on the word of God and the laws of God. And so, again, don't worry about other people though. Think about yourself. What is it that comes out of your mouth? What are the main things that you speak about? You know, when someone, when you're just having conversation, what do you talk about? What's important? Because that which comes out of your mouth shows everybody what you spend time meditating on, what you spend time, what is important to you. And I hope you can honestly say the law of God is important to me. Or if it's important to you, then speak about it. You know, speak of God's truth. Speak about, you know, the verses that you've read and, you know, be a blessing to other people, encourage people in the Lord. That's where our heart ought to be. Verse number 32. The wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him. I always find this interesting. And once again, this is true. This is God's word, that there are wicked people watching God's people. You know, people probably right now watching the YouTube live stream, you know, wicked people or just watching other videos. You know, just to attack our church, to attack our beliefs. That's just what the wicked do. They want to look at the righteous and say, how can I hurt the righteous? And, you know, it's just hard for us to understand why someone would even spend time doing something like that. But it says in verse number 33, the Lord will not leave him in his hand nor condemn him when he is judged. And once again, wait on the Lord and keep his way and he shall exert thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, thou shall see it. Notice how many times this psalm keeps pointing our attention to inheriting the land for future events. And that's how we overcome, you know, the struggles in this temporary life. We set our eyes on eternity. We set our eyes upon God's kingdom. We set our eyes upon a righteous government. Okay. We don't spend all our time focused on the wickedness and the wicked governments on this earth. We spend our time thinking about the righteous government to come. Okay. That's how we overcome these challenges. You know, we're all frustrated. We're all frustrated at the wickedness of our leadership in this country. We all are. Okay. But then what are you going to do? Are you just going to keep whining and complaining about the current leadership, the current, you know, governors and premiers and politicians? Or are you going to set your mind, no, I'm focused on eternity. Lord, what can I do today to ensure I have a greater blessing in the millennial reign of Christ? Verse number 35. Once again, the contrast with how we're going to be preserved. Okay. And we're coming back to this earth who seemingly prospered, who seemingly had great power, who seemingly spread himself like a green bay tree. I don't know what a green bay tree is, but I'm assuming it's a tree that flourishes, that spreads very quickly. Okay. That's what the wicked appear to be like on this earth. But once again, come the future time, come eternity, we're going to look back and what happens to those people? They're destroyed. They're cut down. Okay. They cannot be found. In fact, they could be found in the lake of fire. Verse number 37. And so if you have a perfect man, an upright believer, perfect once again means what? Not that it's sinlessly perfect, but that it's mature, that it's complete, right? He's a well-rounded Christian, he's a good example for you. Set that person in your sight. And notice it says, for the end of that man is peace. You know, one mark of a Christian man or a Christian woman is how much peace they have. You know, are they overwhelmed with sorrow and turmoil? And hey, yeah, that person might speak much of Christ, but they're constantly worried, they're constantly sad, they're constantly upset. Okay. That is not the perfect man. Okay. That is not the upright. Okay. The mature, as you mature and grow in the Christian life, you're going to find individuals who seemingly go through hardships, the same hardships anyone else does, who loses a lot that a lot of people have. Look at Job, for example. But you go to look at someone's life and you're going to say, hey, for some reason, this person seems to suffer and go through the same hardships, but they're at peace. You know, this Christian man, this Christian woman, they're at peace. Why is that? And when the Bible says, if you find that kind of person, that kind of Christian, mark that person. And say, hey, man, what a great example. I want to be a little bit more like this person. This person sets a good example of what it is to have grown, matured and have rested in Christ. And I want to be the same way. You know, God gives us great spiritual leaders and great spiritual Christians, you know, to edify us, to encourage us, to understand that, you know, when we do struggle in our Christian life, that others have struggled as well, but they've succeeded. They've gotten through and they live alone. Now in conclusion, we'll just finish the last three verses in conclusion here. Verse number 38. It says, But the transgressors shall be destroyed together. The end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them. Notice the next words. Because they trust in Him. So, God will deliver us. He's going to save us from our troubles. Okay. But we need to trust in Him. Okay. The trust in Him. Now we were already trusted in the Lord for salvation. Okay. That was maybe the easy step. Easy step number one. I can't make it to heaven on my own. I need to trust in Christ. Done. Alright. We just need to have the faith of children to be able to be saved. Okay. Then, we live our lives. And you know what? Even the same trust that we've given the Lord for our salvation is the same trust that we need to put upon the Lord to get us through life. To get us through troubles. To get us through difficulties. That the Lord may step in and preserve us in these days. And you know what? These are the promises of God's Word. You know I'm not here trying to make you some promises. These are the promises of God. We trust in the Lord. He's going to help us in the times of difficulties. He's going to deliver us from the hands of the wicked. From the enemy. And boy, there's going to come a time for everyone. There's coming a time. It's going to happen. Guaranteed. Okay. Guaranteed that we're going to be in the millennial reign of Christ. Or in the new heavens and the new earth. We're going to go back and think about the wicked people that we've come across in our life. The wicked politicians. The people that hurt us. The people that lied about us. The people that mocked our faith. That mocked our God. We're going to go what happened to that person? And they're going to well they've been cut off. They've dealt. You know God's taking care of it. You know they've received the judgment of God. The wrath of God. And they're finished. And we're going to be able to continue living our life in eternity. Living for the Lord. Serving the Lord. In bodies that will never be corrupted. Bodies that are immortal. What a wonderful promise that God has given us. What a wonderful promise. You know? We need to set our eyes upon heaven. Set our eyes upon eternity. Set our eyes upon the kingdom of the Lord. Alright? And then, once we set our sights upon that. You know think about our time here on this earth. And think, Lord what can I do now to ensure that my treasures are laid up in heaven? What can I do now to make sure that I receive one hundred fold in heaven? Set our eyes upon eternity. Be at peace. Peace. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for his answers. Let's pray. Heaven and the Lord just want to thank you for your word. Thank you for these great psalms and the great peace and comfort they give us. Lord, Lord the reason so many of these psalms are written in such ways is because you know how frail we are. You know how much we worry and struggle and sometimes we may even feel that you're far away. But you've given us the beautiful words of these psalms Lord to encourage us to remind us of our heavenly home to remind us of our place on this earth that it's temporal and Lord the wicked will rejoice the wicked will prosper Lord on this earth at this time help us to be patient and understand Lord that your time will come when these people will be judged and destroyed and also Lord to rejoice in the promise of our preservation. Lord it's not the perseverance of the saints that gives us salvation but it's the preservation that you've given us through Jesus Christ. We thank you for this salvation and we thank you that you've given us eternal life and we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. God bless brethren. Thank you.