In Psalm 16, starting at verse 8, which I think is our key verse in this psalm, it says, I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. The key is he's at my right hand. That's why I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. Boy, those are, it's not one bad verse in the Bible, but those were four really good ones. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. We do thank you. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the Holy Spirit that helps us understand your word. We just thank you for the opportunity to open your book and break bread together as fellow believers. And I pray, Lord, if there's one here that doesn't know you, I pray today they would become part of the family of God. I pray that all honor and glory would be to you now, in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, again, the psalm is about the Lord Jesus Christ, and the key thought is I shall not be moved. You know, I thought about that. We could say we're not gonna be moved about a lot of things. You know, I'm not gonna be moved to do this or do that, or if I'm, you know, in the Marine Corps, and I'm on the front line, I'm not going to be moved to betray my fellow Marines in the heat of the battle. Whether we all get wiped out or not, I'm not going to be removed. And those are good things. We don't want to be moved from what is right. And boy, is there a lot of influences in this life today to move us off what right is. Not what we think right is, but what right is according to the word of God. And that's, you know, so I was thinking, I just had a couple of questions here. I said, well, how can I be sure I have not moved? So I need to measure myself. I usually come up short, but you know, I need to measure myself according to the word of God. Why do I not want to move from God? Well, these are maybe obvious questions, but obviously we don't want to be moved from God. How can we be used of him? Or how can you be sure you will not be moved away from the things of God? Okay. So the only way we can know that is if we look into the word of God and we see what Jesus did when he was here as a man, 100% man and 100% God. And what did he use to not be moved from what? From his father's will. Think about it. I mean, we just had Easter just a couple of weeks ago. And, uh, what I like to do on Easter is coming up to Easter is that week. Obviously, I want to read about the resurrection because everything that we have our whole faith is hinged on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ But I like to read the different accounts just like pastors taught time and time again Matthew Mark Luke and John are written from different perspectives and there's things you can draw out of all of them but about the same account the count of the death the burial and the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ and his ascension on high sitting at the right hand of the Father And we need to look at those things and read those things. And you can read, even if you wouldn't read the whole gospel, you could read back about how he was betrayed, how it was all God's plan for him to be betrayed, to be beaten, to have a crown on his head, to be nailed to a cross. I mean, to be hung in the air. And yet man didn't take his life. When they came to poke him and check and see if he was dead, he gave his life. There was no accident or anything else. Man couldn't do anything to him. He voluntarily gave his life on the cross at Calvary for our sins, for our redemption, for eternal life, for the entire world. Whether the individual receives it or not, that's what he did. And we can't talk too much about the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And man had no power over him. he gladly lay down his life. And if we keep this perspective, this account of what Jesus did for our lives, if we keep that foremost in our lives, if you think about it, when you go through trials and tribulations and you go through different situations where maybe good friends turn on you and so forth like that, you remember what Jesus did, what Jesus went through. I guarantee you there's not a person on this earth that'll ever go through as bad as it can be. that'll ever go through anything that the Lord Jesus Christ went for us. Keeping in mind, a lot of times the things we go through, we have it coming to us. I know I can speak about this guy right here. A lot of times the thing I got, I get messed up in, I got it coming to me. Jesus did nothing wrong, nothing, not a thing. And if we did not have the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we would have nothing because it would be great. He says, even for a friend, you'd give your life, right? You'd give your life. You might, you might, you know, shed your blood for a friend or whatever, or for a cause or something like that. But that's it for them. I mean, that's it. When they die, that's it. And all the other religious leaders, when they die, but our savior rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. And even when he showed himself to his disciples, they were surprised. And yet they had walked with him for three years. They had told him, but remember, We're so human. We don't need to be cast in fault upon them. It hadn't happened up to that time. No one had come back from the death. From death. No one had. I mean, he said he was, but they just didn't get it. And even when he did, he came back and he said, like we had last week, Thomas, trust in thy fingers, trust in thy side, be believing. Well, guess what? So the Psalms, Psalm 16, let's go ahead and read this whole Psalms. It's only, 11 verses, but it's very good. And again, it's all about the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. 16.1 says, Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God. Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. My reigns also instructed me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices my flesh also shall rest in hope for thou will not leave my soul in hell Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption that will show me the path of life in thy Presence is fullness of joy at thy right hand. There are pleasures forevermore and I mean you just think about it think about how the Lord is Blessed us that believe and hopes for the rest to believe There's two other accounts that reflect back to the same Psalms, Psalm 16. Let's go to Acts, Acts chapter two, and see what Peter says here as he gives an account that really reflects back to Psalm 16. And here we'll have two preachers. It'll be Paul and Peter that will do it. So this is Peter's sermon in chapter two and verse 23. Okay, let's read a few verses here, starting in chapter 2, verse 23. He says, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and for knowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord, always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David. that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, wherefore we are all witnesses." Think about that. I mean you think about the benefits the benefits. Let's also look at another another account on Psalms 16 in same verse acts 13 starting in verse 26 and This is Paul's account Paul's account Men and brethren children of the stock of Abraham and whosoever among you feareth God to you is the word of this salvation sent For they that dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a supplicar. But God raised him from the dead. and he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again. As it is also written in the second Psalm, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, He said, on this verse, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore, he said also in another psalm, thou shall not suffer thine holy one to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on asleep and was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption. But he whom God raised again saw no corruption. Be it known unto you, therefore, brethren, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And boy, am I so thankful for the forgiveness of sins. If we had no hope of forgiveness of sins or atonement of sins, you know, we would have no hope in this life. I mean, it would be very miserable. I mean, you have to look, obviously, before your days when you're a Christian. And even sometimes we get distracted by the deceitfulness of the world and the things of the world that take away or try to take away from our hope or our vision or our focus of Christ. We need to not do that. We need to remember this world is not our final home and Death is not our final end Isn't that something we know that there's something more it's almost like if you think about it It's like I've been I was walking around on this earth for 26 years in kind of a haze Just bumping into other people and you know going through life and so forth and but I really didn't know what life was about until the Lord showed me and showed my need of salvation and brought me to a point of repentance. You need to be willing to turn from your sin and turn to God as the answer for not just your salvation, but in this life. And then he opened that up and he told us, he showed me what life is really about. And you think about it. My life is worthless unless I'm here to serve him and to reach others and to tell others about Jesus. Yeah, I might not tell somebody about Jesus every breath I take, but the fact is if there's no times in my life where I'm reaching out, I'm passing on a gospel track, I'm trying to do something for someone, I'm trying to live the life that Christ has given me, why am I here? I mean, I know where I'm going. Death is not my final end. I'm going to go to heaven. So I need to think about that. Let's turn to 1 Peter. 1 Peter, there's a few verses here we want to talk about. In first Peter chapter one, verse eight, he says, whom I have not seen ye love in whom though now you see him not yet believing you rejoice with joy, unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently whom prophesied of the grace that should come unto you searching what or what manner of time the spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost, sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into." I mean, you think about this. As good as the angels are, and they don't have a sin nature, they can't get saved. they can't fully understand redemption. We're broken. When we're born, our sin nature is bent on going to hell, only because we won't come to Christ. He doesn't want it that way, but he's made a way. He is like the light. We're over here gonna go in the dark corner. He's got a path, one path, one way. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And if we would turn and go to that light, that Lord Jesus Christ, instead of trying to work our way to heaven, Try to do things. It's man's nature to try to say I've got to help God I've got to do something to get myself to heaven No, you can't you can't you can't do anything. So you need to come to that point where you can do it Anyway, the following points hopefully will help us not be moved from God From his word and the things which we have been taught in Christian in our Christian walk on the earth I've got four points here. I want to talk to you about and And before I get into that, I think about, you know, my walk with Christ as I get older, I'm only six decades old and one year Lord willing, I'll get, I'll get to that 62. So security age at the end of this year, but you think about this, uh, as I get through this walk with Christ and it's been 35 years since February of this year that I've trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior. Uh, I just want to know that I'm going to finish. I'm going to finish right. It's not how you start. Many people sprint and they get all on fire and all that. And two years later, where are they? It's a walk. You know, there's people that know of Jesus Christ, but it's built on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You interact with Christ every day. You come to him, you ask him to help you. You can't do it. You can't do it on yourself. So as I get, And I move around and I live in different places. And, you know, I've never lived in a place 10 years. I've moved around from a military background. Even my parents were military. We always moved around and so forth like that. It doesn't matter where God moves you. He's not moving you away from him. He's moving you to use you somewhere else. You know, things happen. You get a flat tire, whatever. Somebody comes and helps you. You think that was a coincidence? No. God is trying to help you. God is trying to show you. that you can be a help to somebody. So the first point is he kept his eyes on the father. This is Jesus, perfect Jesus. And yet, so he would not be moved off of God's plan to give his life on the cross at Calvary. He kept his eyes on the father. Well, if he did it, who am I? Nothing, I'm nobody. I better keep my eyes on it. Look at Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12. Look at the way he thought about that now if I first off if I knew I would have to give my life I would chicken out and run off and you know not fulfill it. I mean, I'm just being human here. I just wouldn't do it. I just You know, I like to think I would but you know good thing he didn't try me on that But you think about this he knew what was gonna go on and he still went to the cross Okay, Hebrews 12. Let me read one and two. It's two is what we're looking for. But anyway, I want to read one also We're foreseeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin, which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience. The race that is set before us. We all, from the moment we trust Jesus Christ, we have a race. We may start out at a nice jog and we may settle into a nice pace, but we need to run to the finish line. The finish line is the last breath. The last breath. Verse two. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross Despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God Jesus saw his whole course. He saw it He was tempted throughout his life different things to not do the father's will but he never gave up for that Jesus cried out to the father in time of need trial and weakest moments, you know, he was tried by the devil when we move we We affect not only our lives but also the lives of others when you say you're a Christian and you have a great testimony in front of your whole family and Then you start forsaking the assembling of yourselves. You start not reading the Word of God You start giving in to temptation because it will happen if you move away from the fire if you move away from God You're gonna be just like the pastor was saying, you know I always like to watch wildlife things and so forth like that the wolves cut out the weak ones They keep the herd running and they cut out the weak ones. It doesn't matter who it is. Once that one is cut out and it's out there fighting it by itself, it's dinner. It's just a matter of time. It's dinner. When we get cut out, because that's what the devil tries to do, is cut you out of the flock, the local assembly of God. He tries to cut you out and get you out there, and then he'll give you many thoughts. They don't really care about me. They don't really do this, that. It's all about me. Yeah, I'm exactly where the devil wants me to be. I don't need to be there you think about it. Sure. Jesus was tempted without sin We are tempted and we sin and fail and get back up and try again I love first John 1 9 says if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness He put that in there knowing that we would need it. We need to wear that verse out Just like your Bible, you write notes and things like that. And it's real worn. The pages are worn and so forth like that. You need to wear that out. You need to wear confessing your sins. You had a bad attitude. You have a bad idea about this, whatever's going on in your life. Somebody gave you something online that made you upset or whatever. You need to forgive them. You need to have that mind of Christ. We need to keep our eyes on the father and definitely need to do that. It's easier said than done, but we need number two. He kept a yielded heart to God's will. When I thought about that, he kept a yielded heart. That key word was yielded. Christ yielded to the Father's plan, plan of salvation. Do you think we'd have as much problems in this world if we had a yielded heart? Would there ever be possible that you could have road rage with both parties yielded to each other? Could there ever be a criminal running away from the police when the police told him to yield or surrender or get on the ground? Would we have a lot of the problems that we have in this world if we would just yield our heart to the Lord Jesus Christ? Now it might not be realistic to think the unsaved world would do that But you know Christians get get cross with Christians To yielded Christians cannot get cross with each other. It's not possible Two Christians or six Christians or 10 Christians or congregation cannot be crossed with the pastor if they have a yielded heart to God. I just thought about that. And I thought about most of the time that I get, I stick my foot in my mouth. It's because of my pride, pride of life, the lust of the flesh, so forth like that. It's I'm not yielded. I'm not yielded. You think about that. People that aren't saved, they're not saved because they haven't yielded to give up their plan and to accept the one way to heaven, Jesus Christ. I mean, my wife got a, she got a mouthful yesterday. We were out visiting. It's a blessing that me and my wife can go. And it was a great day yesterday. But as soon as she came up there and she gave the lady a track, man, the lady was like, live it. You're offending me. Your faith is not better than mine. She didn't say any of that. She offered her a invite to come to church today. I don't know what was going on there, but I guarantee you this, that lady wasn't yielded. We don't even know what she believes. But she just got attracted. She was reminded of Christ, and she was convicted. Barb just sat there and said, hey, I'm just doing the last words the Lord said when he left. Just go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. She might have been laying on another log there and getting her madder, but she wasn't trying to. She was trying to be nice. And that lady said, well, you're just making that up. It's your interpretation. Some people you can help, some people you can't. Many people that we passed out tracts to yesterday, they accepted it, they thanked us for it. We got the gospel in their house. It wouldn't have happened if we hadn't knocked on their door, waited till they came to the door and gave them an invite to church and got the gospel in there. They wouldn't have been reminded about God and what he did in his son dying on the cross at Calvary. The results, we can save nobody, but we're certainly accountable for it. Did we yield enough that we can go? that we saw somebody putting something in a car and we gave them a track. Did we see somebody on the plane or the bus or the train or whatever while they're coming across our light? God sends them across our light. People can come to your door. My goodness, they're at your door. Give them a track. Give them the gospel. I mean, it's not that hard. The devil wants to teach us that, but it's not that hard. Turn to John chapter 17. You know, like I say, I was reading through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And, uh, I was thinking about yielding and, uh, John chapter. Well, we'll read the last verse in 16 of John and then 17. It says these things I have spoken unto you that in me, you might have peace in the world. You shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Now, you know, we're, we're following a couple of the generals here, right? But wouldn't you want to follow the ultimate captain that's in the fight for us, that has already overcome the world? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we need to be focused, all right? 17.1, these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. You think about that. We don't need any glory, we don't deserve any glory. But if we get glory because we're directing it to him, that's great. That's what we're here for. When you get saved, that brought glory and honor to the to the son, to the father, to the Holy Spirit, to three in one. You think about it. That's all glory belongs to him as thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should not give eternal life to that. He should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. And this is life eternal. that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." That's what Christ wants for us. He wants us to know that. And if we have our hearts yielded, as I thought about it this week, we need to do that. Everything happens for a reason, and God's perfect will is in the midst of our lives. We need to not get upset, but listen, think, and remember, God loves us. So whatever we are going through, He has a purpose and is best for us. God doesn't want to just put you in a trial to see you squirm and see you fail and so forth like that. You know that sometimes when the wind blows on a tree, because it withstood that, its roots went down deeper. And now the next storm that's a little bit stronger, it can make it now. The trials and tribulations in our life, they make us stronger. And then sometimes he wants to use me, but I'm just a little rough on the edges. I don't like it when he gets the sander out. He gets those little knots out. Those are my ways my my Intelligent, I think I'm gonna do it right and all that. I don't like it when he gets that sander out But when he's through he polishes me good so then I can just be a tent pole. Maybe I Don't know what I'm gonna be but but that serves a purpose doesn't it? That serves a purpose So if that's God's will for my life is to be that temple to hold up the tent on the prophet of God or the man of God That's that's good enough for me. You know, it's whatever he wants. I So we need to think about that. Uh, God's will goes against our will, our nature. So most of the time you think about it when we're having conflict, we're having opposition. It's usually our flesh is getting in the way. It's not, that's not God. It's not. Okay. Point three, he kept a burden for lost souls in John 17, again, first five. He talks about a now father glorify thou me with thine own self with glory. which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. And I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that have gave us me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. Jesus is praying for us to keep us out of evil and that's good They are they are not of the world even as I am not of the world sanctify them through thy truth Thy word is truth Don't ever stray from the Word of God hide the word in your heart that you might not sin against them. Think about that Okay Remember he told us in Luke 19 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost Now if he had a burden for souls And he's perfect. I think we need to have a burden for souls. I think I might have my pages messed up here, but I'm just about through. Sorry. Oh, okay. The other part is he kept God's word in his heart and the rest of, uh, of John is there, but turn real quick, if you will, to second Timothy four. Second Timothy four. I just want to share a couple of verses here for you. six through eight. He says, for I am now ready to be offered. And the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto all them that are that love his appearing. I mean, and that's Paul saying he's finished his course. And look what Paul did. But he's yet just a sinful man. I mean, he's persecuting the church of God, you know, before he got saved. But he did. And then I, you know, I just thought about, uh, look at John six for one last thought here before we're through John six. You know, I thought about, you know, when Jesus was getting ready to be crucified, you know, the scribes and Pharisees and the Romans, they came down on him and all that. I mean, when he spoke, they fell back. I mean, think about that. That just shows you that they could do nothing if he didn't allow it. And he allowed it, he allowed it, but. You know, he asked, as all the people left, he was only left with his inner circle, the disciples. And then he's thinking, you know, well, he already knows. I mean, there's nothing he didn't know, but you think about this. He's thinking, he's got to ask him this point of question to see where they're at. He says, where he says, are you going to leave me? Look in, look in John six and verse 66. Let me see what it says. Just read a few verse. It says from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him Then said Jesus unto the twelve will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him. I love to keep this verse in my heart as I think about it To Lord to whom shall we go thou has the words of eternal life Think about how powerful that is. Why would you leave? the Lord Jesus Christ who has the power of eternal life For the things of the world There's no reason but when we don't keep our eyes our heart our lives yielded to him it can happen It can happen to any one of us. Isn't it a blessing that we can realize? Hopefully we'll meditate upon our our gift of salvation what he's given to us that we can walk Victoriously in this life because he has already won the victory. He is our ultimate general captain He is our leader of leaders, king of king and prince of peace. He's everything. And we need to keep our eyes on him. It's only through the news and the events of life and things like that. They're all designed to get us off the word of God, the things of God, why we're here. What's the purpose of our life? What are we to do? We need to think about that as we walk through this life.