THE SWEET PROMISESermon by Ronny Cham Preached at 1st English Service of SIB
Metro Church at City Mall, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah “Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
Ps 37:3,4 (NKJV) What do we read of in the daily news today and
everyday? It is all trouble, it is
destruction, war, death etc, yet there are portraits of success and happiness,
riches, powers, entertainment and pleasure. Sometime, we feel that Christianity is just
going to Church, listening to sermon and helping a little here and there when
we are free. We desire to serve the
Lord, we desire to do His great commission, but we are too busy, too taken up
by the business of this life in this world, our lives are too intertwined with
the fabric of the world. It does
cause us to feel, as if, we are a distance away from the Truth in the Word of
God. Thus, we fear, we feel hurt,
we feel disappointed, we feel anxious about everything, we
feel as if we are in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing, at the wrong
time. We wish we have another
choice, a fresh start, an alternative, better security, better life, a better place to be in. If you are in that situation, cheer up,
here is the sweet promise of our Lord God. Trust in the Lord To confide in Him, a believing reliance on the
LORD, His promise of favour, providence, grace, Love etc. There is a sense of rest and calmness in
trusting Him. Not allow the mind to
be disturbed and troubled over works of wicked men upon the earth, envious of their
prosperity and tempted by their apparent happiness, though the things of this
world do injure or adversely affect us. Trust in Him, leave everything in his
hands, know that He rules, and that what he permits is wisely permitted; and
whatever may occur, it will all be overruled for His own glory and the good of
us (Rom 8:28). We must not think to
trust in God but live as we please, that’s not trusting, that’s
tempting God. And do good To do good here is a response to “trust in
the Lord”. Freely I received, freely I give (Matthew 10:8) “But whoever has this world's goods, and
sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of
God abide in him?” 1 John 3:17 (NKJV) – as evidence
of trusting in God’s love. The mind is always engaged with doing some work of
benevolence, not deterred or hindered by the works of wickedness abounds around
us. Set our mind on doing something
valuable and useful, on good thing (Philippians 4:8,9) Pre-occupy our mind with much good
things to think and do, no time to murmur and complain. There must be a diligence in serving Him,
doing good, all according to His Will, not according
to our righteousness and strength. Realistic
assessment of daily circumstance, we may think of millions of good things to do, but God is interested in what we do
today. Today, when you hear what
the Lord speak to you to do, do it today (Heb 4:6-10) Dwell in the land We are to abide safely or securely in the land, we
don’t have to run away to another place, because there is no other place
better than the place where you are now.
"The land", as the land of promise?
To be searched for? To go to? No, the emphasis is on
“dwelling in”. The Land, is the place where you are in the presence of
God. We are a dwelling place of God in the
Spirit (Eph 2:21-22). Ps 90:1
“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” (NKJV) Ps 91:9 “Because you have made the
LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place “ (NKJV). In
every circumstance, it is always place related and time related, wherever,
whenever, should abide there calmly and securely because we know we are in the
perfect will of God, in His presence, though there may be wickedness and terror
and horror roundabout us. And feed on His faithfulness The "literal" meaning would be,
"Feed on His truth." The
“His faithfulness”, is not His financial and material provisions or
blessings; not His help or deliverance in times of trouble and it is not His
destruction of wickedness or unrighteousness around us. The operative word is “feed
on”. Jesus said in John 17:17
“Sanctify them by Your truth . Your word is
truth. (NKJV).
Thus, it is feeding on His Truth, His Word. Is this studying the Bible? No, we are in the
circumstance where wickedness abounds, unrighteousness encompasses us, worldly
riches and prosperity alluring us, in the midst of which, we trust in the Lord,
abiding in Him safely, securely and calmly doing good works according to His perfect
will, in such environment, we feast with delight His faithfulness in His
promises in His Word, in which we find our support or sustenance and life, the
food of our souls, transforming into strength and power in our life. Do this and His sweet promise shall be “He
shall give you the desires of your heart” (Ps 37:4) Do we desire lives saved, sinners
forgiven, lost found, the sick healed etc.. and nations
turned to the Lord? Trust in the Lord, do good, dwell in the land and feed on
His faithfulness. Lord, lead us to
your banqueting table. In Jesus name. Amen. Ronny Cham |
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