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Fill me with the Holy Spirit and just guide and direct me as I preach and just give everyone who sees your ears to hear and help us all to be able to learn something important tonight from the message and be strengthened and built up by it in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Now in Psalm 3, of course the last two Psalms that we've gone into were so dense, I mean think about how many times you've heard a sermon on Psalm 1. Just for me, I've probably preached on Psalm 1 20 times and I've probably heard a hundred sermons on Psalm 1 and then Psalm 2 had all kinds of insight into the day we're living in, the second coming of Christ, all kinds of doctrine. It's one of the most quoted Psalms in the New Testament and then here we are in Psalm 3, another great Psalm and this is just a fantastic book of the Bible and it's a book that I think a lot of times people pass over thinking it's just a song book and not realizing the great doctrine, the great meat spiritually that's in this book. Well, in verse number 1 of chapter 3 it says, Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against me. Now this is David speaking, of course, and David was the servant of the Lord. He represented God's anointed and he was the king of Israel and basically what God's telling us here is that look, you are going to have a lot of enemies when you stand up for what's right, when you do what's right. And he says, Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against me. I thought of this verse. I read that in 1 Corinthians 16, you can turn there if you like. But he says in 1 Corinthians 16 verse 9, this is Paul talking about how he went to Ephesus. He's preaching the gospel in Asia Minor. He's getting all kinds of people saved and he's writing to the believers in Corinth. Corinth is in Achaea, which would be modern day Greece, and he's talking about all the people that he's seeing saved in Asia, which is modern day Turkey. And he says in verse number 9, he says, verse number 8 says, but I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost, for a great door and effectual is opened unto me and there are many adversaries. You see, whenever God opens a great door, whenever you're doing something great for God, when you're getting a lot of people saved, when you're preaching the truth, they're going to be a lot of adversaries. The Bible used the word adversary about the devil. It says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walked about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And so obviously the devil doesn't want people to be saved. He doesn't want the truth to be preached. And so whenever you do what's right, there are going to be many adversaries. I've seen it so many times. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10, if you would. I've seen this so many times where people would basically start coming to church and maybe they were already saved or maybe they just got saved. But they started coming to church and boy, they start growing in the Lord and they're excited. They're reading the Bible. They're seeing all kinds of people saved on soul winning and their whole life is transformed. And then the devil begins to attack that person. Let me show you what I'm talking about in Hebrews chapter 10, for example, it says in verse number 32, but call to remembrance the former days in which after you were illuminated, he endured a great fight of afflictions. After you're illuminated. Talk about when they heard and understood the gospel and then they got saved, they learned about the Bible. He says they endured a great fight of afflictions. Partly whilst you were made a gazing stock, both by reproaches and afflictions and partly whilst you became companions of them that were so used. So either you yourself are persecuted or he says just by being companions of those who are persecuted. Or by going to a church where people are zealous and serving God and doing great things for God. That's why so many people fall out. That's why Jesus told the parable of the sower where he talked about the seed that was sown in the good ground and the thorny places, the stony places, et cetera. Well, if you remember the one that was sown in the stony places, there was a little bit of earth and so the seed did spring up, but it didn't have a root. It wasn't rooted and grounded and therefore it said when persecution or tribulation arise because of the word, by and by, he's offended. And so many people, they come and go through the revolving church door, you know, it seems like they come, they're gone, they come, they're gone. And we constantly, I mean, think about this, what if every person who'd ever been here still went to this church? I mean, would there be over a thousand people? I'm not kidding. Literally. I mean, it's just a revolving door. Okay. Part of it is just because, you know, people just visited and like whatever, but part of it is people who sincerely wanted to serve God. They wanted to be in church. They wanted to be in a church like this, but then the devil caused things to come into their life to attack them and to try to discourage them and to keep them down and that's what made them fall away. And I can think of a ton of examples right now. And so he said in verse one of Psalm three, Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God, Selah, but thou O Lord are to shield for me my glory and the lifter up of my head. Now turn if you would to proverbs 30 just right after Psalms, the book of proverbs. So he says, look, there are a lot of people that were attacking David. They rose up against him and they said of his soul, there is no help for him in God. Basically God's not going to protect him. God's not going to help him. But he said in verse three, but thou O Lord are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter up my head. I want to talk about what that means. Proverbs 30 verse five, every word of God is pure. The Bible says he is a shield unto them. See the same term there. He's a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar. You see, God's word is pure today. Notice he said the words of the Lord are pure words, present tense. And that was written hundreds of years after many of them were written. Today people say, Oh, the Bible's not preserved or this isn't exactly what God said or you know, it was inspired in the originals, but today we don't have the actual inspired word of God. Look, the words of the Lord are pure words. What does it mean to be inspired? It means to be God free. It means God spake all these words and if God didn't speak these words, then why even read the Bible? Why even preach the Bible? Why even stand up and claim thus sayeth the Lord? But yet today people will say, Oh, well, you know, you got the King James Bible and you've lost something in the translation and the originals are gone and it's a copy of a copy of a copy. Then what's, what's the point of it all? Why would God take the trouble to give God's word to man if he wasn't going to preserve it for us? And that's why he said heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. He said it's easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one jot or one tittle of the law to pass till all be fulfilled. But why is God's word a shield to us? Now think about this. He said every word of God is pure. Notice not the thoughts, not the ideas. He said every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Well think about this. Remember Ephesians six where he basically is saying, you know, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand the evil day and having done all to stand, stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace. He says, and above all, listen, above all taking the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. So what are the fiery darts of the wicked? That's the attack from the enemy and that's what David was talking about in Psalm three. People rising up against him, people increase that trouble them, people rising up against him saying there was no help for him and God and he said God was his shield. And he says you must take the shield of faith in order to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Tie that in with Proverbs three five where he says every word of God is pure. He's a shield unto them that put their trust in, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. You see how this ties in? So that shield of faith is basically when you know what God said, you believe what God said and any attack that comes your way, the fiery darts of the wicked as the Bible calls it, any attack that the devil throws at you is not going to shake you because you know what you believe, you have the word of God, you have faith in the word of God and that's the shield. He said that's the most important part of the armor. That's what he said. He said above all taking the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. But you see if you don't know what the Bible says, if you don't really know what you believe or why you believe it and you just say oh why is this what I believe because I go to a Baptist church or that's what Pastor Anderson said or that's what my parents taught me. You're going to be shaken so easily if that's what your faith is relying upon because people are going to attack you and they're going to try to tell you that it's not true and that you're wrong. Unless you know what the Bible says, you're basically going to back down. You're basically going to fall because he said you want to be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand. The opposite of standing is falling, backing down, giving in, retreating, failing. What's going to make you stand? The shield of faith. What is faith? Faith is believing God's word. People talk about it all the time, well I did so and so by faith. But if you say to them well can you show me the Bible, why you did that, is that really faith? They say well I moved to such and such a city by faith. It's like what do you mean by that? They just basically say it. In reality every time you see faith mentioned in the Bible, it's basically talking about faith in something that God has said. God says something, we believe it. That's the faith that the Bible is talking about. What he's saying here is that God's word is pure. God's word is preserved. God's word is inspired. God's word never changes, Jesus Christ the same, yesterday and today and forever. And so therefore, no matter what kind of barrage of attack, no matter what people say to you, and if people say to you, hey God is not with you, like they said to David, where they said there is no help for him in God. You can say wait a minute, I know God's with me because the Bible says right here that what I'm doing is right, that what I'm preaching is right, that what I'm saying is right. This is why Psalms is a book that you should go to when you're experiencing difficult times. This will strengthen you. This will build you up. And it gives you the answer of how to stand because you know what you believe. God has to be your shield. Back to Psalm 3 where we were, he says, But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. Now, this is talking about prayer, obviously, crying out to God from the help, from the step in, and it's interesting that he throws in that phrase as I cried to the Lord with my voice. Now, that seems a little redundant, but wait a minute. All throughout the Bible, people in the Bible just prayed in their heart, in their mind. Like for example, remember when Nehemiah was standing before the king and he was speaking to the king about Jerusalem, and he basically prayed to God, in his heart, not out loud to the king, but in his heart he just prayed to God. But here we see him praying with his voice. I believe that there's something good about getting alone with God and praying out loud to God. Now, a lot of our praying, maybe even most of our praying is done silently, just because we live in a society where we're all jam-packed with people all the time. You know how I walk down the street and people think that you're insane because you're talking to yourself or something. But when you're alone, when you're by yourself, like what the Bible says, when thou prayest enter into thy closet, when thou shut thy door, pray to thy Father, which is a secret, pray with your voice. I mean, lift up your voice to God. Sometimes when there's something that I'm really serious about praying for, and I really need God's help with something, I'll go somewhere and really pray to God, and sometimes I'll actually cry out to God in a loud voice. And that's what he means when he says, with my voice, he's referring to the volume of his voice. I mean, he's saying, I cried out. He didn't say I just spoke softly. I mean, crying out is talking about with a loud voice. He's saying, I cried out with my voice to God. You know, he prayed fervently. The Bible says the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man at veil of much. You don't want your praying to become just a vain repetition. You know, now I lay me down to sleep, I pray to the Lord, my soul to keep, but this is the way a lot of people pray. And Jesus said this in Matthew 6, he said, But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking, be not ye therefore like unto them. For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. And yet people today will chant vain repetitions. Our Father return in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, Earth was dim, and heaven giveth his air to dim. And the amazing thing is that Jesus said, don't use vain repetitions. He said, after this manner, therefore pray ye. Basically he's saying, pray in this way, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And he gives that example of a prayer, and people will take that prayer and chant it when he just finished saying, do not use vain repetitions. God doesn't just want to hear you running your mouth and chant this 500 times. He wants you to pray fervently. What does the word fervent mean? Well, look at the first three letters, F-E-R. Well, let the Bible define itself. You remember when they heated the furnace? Notice the first three letters of that word, F-E-R. Furnace. They heated the furnace with a fervent heat. Read the Bible in 2 Peter chapter 3 where it talks about the elements are going to melt with a fervent heat. So the word comes from the word fire. And basically the effectual fervent prayer. He's talking about basically having some passion behind it. Not just a mindless robotic droning of words, but rather feeling deeply and having a passion. You know, fervently praying. Crying out to God. God will hear you. That's what it's saying. But you see, God's not just going to hear some chant that you make because God commanded us not to do that. And yet many religions today, that's what they're all about. He says, I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. Selah. I laid me down and slept. I awaked, for the Lord sustained me. Think about Psalm 127. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain building. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. In vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows. For so He giveth His beloved sleep. Basically what Dave is saying here in verse 5 is that he's not worried. He says, God's my shield, God's going to protect me, God's on my side no matter how many people are increased against me. He says, I'm not going to worry about it. He says, I laid me down and slept. He's basically saying, hey, I put my head on my pillow and slept like a baby because I know that God's going to protect me. He said, I laid me down and slept. Think about what he says in Philippians chapter 4. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. You see, when you pray to God, when you know that you're following God's word, you're living in the will of God, and then you pray for God to step in and help you, he says, you can lay down and sleep and not worry about it, and not be stressed about it. He continues on in the next verse. He says, I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about. Now, it's easy to just blow past a verse like that, okay? But stop and think about having ten thousands of people, you know, surround you, okay? You can just blow past that and just say, oh yeah, yeah, me neither, you know? I won't be, I won't be afraid either, you know? But wait a minute, ten thousands of people? Ten thousands of people against you. Stop and think about that. I mean, ten thousands of people that were coming to attack David, because he's talking about physical warfare, you know, this is back when he was the king and he had enemies surrounding him. He said, ten thousands of people have set themselves against me round about. That's easy to blow over. But imagine being in your house and having ten thousands of people. You see, I will not be afraid, you know? I'm not scared at all. I'm going to go to sleep, you know? I'm just saying, you know, but think about this. All throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, fear is always negative in the Bible, unless it's talking about fearing God, then it's always positive. And I mean, fear is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible, and every time it's talking about God, it's a positive thing, that we should fear the Lord, fear God, you know, on and on. That's mentioned over and over again. But then every other time he talks about fear, he's telling you not to fear. How many times does Jesus say, Fear not, be not afraid, oh ye of little faith. Fear not, fear not, be not fearful. Why are you fearful, you of little faith? Okay? And then stop and think about, you know, what it says in 2 Timothy 1-7. For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. That means that fear did not come from God. So let's say you're ever, and you've got to stop and think about this, and really apply this. Whenever you're experiencing fear, just realize that that did not come from God. That's not God that's giving you that. And in fact, God is telling you not to be afraid. Psalm 23, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Now I remember, I've thought of this different times, I remember one time I was working on this job in South Chicago. Now this was a really bad neighborhood. I was working on this job and I was working all night because I was going to school by day so I would do a lot of stuff by night. And I was installing this fire alarm system and it was off like the Dan Ryan and like 75th street, you know what I mean? It was bad. And so I'm over there and I'm working on this job and I remember I get out of this job and this is when I first moved there because by the time I left there I was really used to it and I didn't think anything of it. But when I first moved there I wasn't used to the environment of South Chicago. And I just remember, I mean there's just so much crime. I'd already been robbed, you know, like where they busted out the windows of my car, stolen my stuff in broad daylight in the crowded street. I mean, just, it's a different world. And I mean, you know, after a while you get used to it and you just learn how to never leave anything anywhere. You know, I mean, it's hard. But I remember walking out of there at like two in the morning and there were all kinds of people looking at me weird and, you know, it was really kind of a scary area. And I mean, the danger was real because, you know, there's a lot of crime. I mean, there's two people being murdered per day approximately in that part of America because I believe they had 599 murders that year when I was there. And so, you know, there's all kinds of robberies and stuff. So, you know, obviously your natural tendency is to be a little bit fearful to unlock, walk out that door and hike, you know, a quarter mile to where my car was parked, okay, in this horrible neighborhood in the middle of the night. But, you know, I thought about this and I said, you know what, God is commanding me not to be afraid. And if I'm fearful then it's a sin unto me because he's saying, be not afraid. He said, yea, though I walk through, and I quoted that exact verse, yea, though I walk through the valley of South Chicago, of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. And I just thought to myself, hey, God is with me. I have nothing to be afraid of. If God allows something to happen to me then that's his will, that's fine. I mean, if that's what he wants then so be it. But God can protect me and the Bible says the angel of the Lord and campeth round about them that fear him. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of them all. And so we don't have to be afraid. And that's even just a really physical application of just saying, you know, I'm in a scary situation. God says, fear not. We don't have to be afraid when we know God's with us and that's what he's saying here, saying I will not be afraid. And I dare you to try to find a verse in the whole Bible where fear is the right emotion to have unless it's talking about fearing God. That's the only legitimate fear for the Christian to have. We shouldn't fear the devil, we shouldn't fear other people, what man says, what our enemies say. Fear not is the answer. And let me tell you something, fear paralyzes people. A lot of people don't go soul winning. Why? Because they're afraid. They won't talk to maybe friends and loved ones about the gospel of Jesus quite because they're afraid. Oh, I'm afraid what people are going to think. Preachers get up and preach a watered down message because they're afraid to say what the Bible really says. They're afraid of how people are going to react. They're afraid of what the backlash is going to be. They're afraid of people leaving the church or they're afraid the offering place is going to be in. You know, so what? It's not about money. The things of God aren't purchased with money. This church doesn't need any money. This church started with no money. We started with a couple of chairs, a couple of song books, the Bible, preaching, singing. It costs nothing to knock doors and win souls. It costs nothing to preach the Bible. It costs nothing to sing these songs. You say, well, the building costs something. We don't even need this building. If we don't have this building, we'll meet outside somewhere. We live in Arizona. We'll meet in your house. You know, I'm sick of having church in my house. We'll meet in your house and have church in your house for a while. We don't need a building. It's not about money. It's about preaching God's Word with integrity. It's about going out and getting people saved. It's not about money. And so many churches have become so centered on money that soul winning has to take a back seat. Soul winning has to take a back seat because it's all about the money. I know young guys who are going to a city to start a church and it's like, oh, how's the progress of starting a church? Well, I'm still looking for a building, still trying to find a place to meet. They haven't even gotten a single person saved. They haven't talked. They don't have any members. But they're just trying to find that building. You know, I've been looking for a building for like a month now, trying to get the right building. You know, when I got to Phoenix, I didn't look for a building. I looked for somebody to get saved. You know, we didn't have a building. We just started getting people saved. Oh, but they're not going to want to come to a church that meets in the house. And you know what? The same people who didn't want to come when it was in the house still don't want to come in the building. You know what I mean? It has nothing to do with the house, the building. It's the preaching. So it doesn't matter, you know, whether you're in the house or outside. You know, there's a church in Southern California, an independent Baptist church. The pastor started the church and they had a building but they had all these problems with like zoning or they couldn't get a building built. They met in a tent for like 10 years. And this was a pretty big church of hundreds. And they met outside in a big giant tent, you know, that they had set up. And that's how they met. It was a huge tent, you know, with hundreds of people. It wasn't like a tent, like... It was like a big tent, you know. And they met in that tent for years. It's not about the building. And yet people are impressed by buildings, you know. And it's all about the money. And it's all about the big thermometer on the wall. We've got to raise money and the building fund and the missions fund and the bus fund. And, you know, I'm all for... You know, we give money to missionaries. We do all this stuff. But you know what? We don't need any money. If we never have money again, hey, we'll be just fine. We'll succeed just fine. Because we can just preach and win souls and sing the songs and we already have the song books and otherwise we'll find them, some church that's getting rid of them somewhere. I mean, seriously, for real. And so I'm saying that it's about... I don't know what that has to do with this chapter or not being afraid, but, you know... I'm sure it tied in somehow. I don't know. Oh, yeah. Fear paralyzes people, you know. And they don't serve God because they're afraid. They won't step out in faith and start that church. They won't go soul winning. They won't, you know. Some guys are single because they're afraid to talk to girls. You know what I mean? I'm just saying fear... I'm just saying that fear can paralyze you in every area of life to where you cannot do the things that you need to do. You know, you won't get up and preach because you're afraid. You know, obviously, fear is a natural reaction but that's why God's Word needs to be a shield to you and build you up and take away your fear. And you ought to pray for boldness. The opposite of fear is boldness. The Bible says the wicked flee when no man pursues but the righteous are as bold as a lion. Remember in the book of Acts they prayed for boldness and when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the Word of God with boldness. Someone who's fearful is not filled with the Holy Spirit. Don't tell me that somebody is filled with the Holy Spirit when they're scared. Some scared preacher is not filled with the Holy Spirit. A scared Christian is not filled with the Holy Spirit because the manifestation of being filled with the Holy Spirit is boldness, which is the opposite of fear. But let's get through this. It says, verse 6, don't blow past this verse. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me right about. You say, well, if ten thousand people are against you, you must be wrong. Right? No. Wrong. You're probably right. If you have ten thousand people against you. But anyway, it says in verse number... You see, the broad is the way which leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in their advocates. Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. He says in verse number 7, Arise, O Lord. Now remember, he's kind of encouraging himself in the Lord in this psalm. It's basically what this psalm is about. People are rising up against him. He's under attack. He's being persecuted. He's got ten thousands of people that have set themselves right about. So he's basically praying for God to step in. He says, Arise, O Lord. Save me, O my God. Again, every time the Bible says the word save, it's not talking about being saved like you're going to heaven versus going to hell. It's probably just talking about physical salvation. Like, for example, when Peter fell off the... or he didn't fall off, but he was walking on the water and he began to sink. He cried out, Lord, save me. And he was pulled up. Obviously, the word save can refer to a physical salvation. Like David here is talking about being rescued, being saved out of the hand of his enemies. And he says, Arise, O Lord. Save me, O my God. For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Now, stop and think about this. Have you ever heard this term about turning the other cheek? Right? This is what the Bible talks about where Jesus says, Hey, whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Right? And he basically says that, you know, you shouldn't fight back against someone who's, you know, angry at you or, you know, I've had people come up to me and, you know, chew me out and curse me out for no reason. And, you know, God doesn't want us to just lash back. You know, he wants us to turn the other cheek and just say, you know what, whatever, and just be forgiving about it. You know what I mean? Like, I remember different times on the job, you get into disputes or people get mad at you or they want to blame you because things aren't going right and they're looking for a scapegoat. And so many times, you know, I've been chewed out. You know, my former boss, oh, man, good night. I mean, this guy would chew me out. And I was, you know, his top employee. I was like his right hand man. It was like he and I ran the company. And man alive, he would scream at me and call me every day under the sun. And I mean, even after I worked for him for years, you know, I'm making him all kinds of money. I mean, he would chew me out. He was Irish, you know, so he had a real bad temper. He was screaming at me. It was bad. But you know what? God doesn't want us to just say, we'll all do to him as he's done unto me. You know what I mean? And basically what God wants us to do is to just turn the other cheek and not return cursing for cursing is what he's saying. Okay. You know, somebody comes up to you and, you know, like sometimes we'll be out. I've been out so many before. I had somebody, hey, you remember this? You know, remember that guy? This guy shoved me. I mean, just, I mean, I didn't even do anything. Yeah, he kind of bounced me off his big fat belly, you know. That's right. But this guy just shoved me. And I mean, I didn't even do anything. I mean, I just came to, you know, get the God of the Gospel. But you know, if you go long enough, you'll run into people that are just, you haven't even knocked the door yet. You know, swing the door open. Yeah, I love it. It's like, whoa, man. One time I had this car, one time I was walking down the street, someone in this car drives by and rolls down the window and screaming at me out the window as they drive by. Then the car drives back around like ten minutes later and says like, oh, man, I'm sorry, we thought you were Mormons. They're like, yeah, we're Christians. We go to this non-denominational church. Like, oh, man. But anyway, you know, people are going to get mad at you. People are going to attack you. And the Bible says, for example, that to be a pastor was one of the qualifications. No striker. Right? And he says, not a brawler. So as a pastor, am I supposed to be getting in fistfights? Never. Never, you know. If somebody walked up and slapped me on the cheek, am I supposed to give them a left jab? No. No, if I'm trying to defend my life or something, defend my family, that's a different story. But I mean, if somebody's just picking a fight with me, okay, like a personal fight, they want to get in a fistfight or they want to slap me down or whatever, I'm supposed to turn the other cheek. Why? Because God said, vengeance belongeth unto me, sayeth the Lord. I will recompense. He said, I will repay. Here he says, look, God has smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Look at Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, the sixth book in the New Testament. You see, a lot of people twist the Bible, though, and they, uh, like, believe it or not, believe it or not, there are actually Christians who do not believe in the death penalty, even though the death penalty is throughout the Bible, all the way back to Noah getting off the ark. You know, Noah got off the ark and it was, you know, he explained to him why the death penalty was necessary. And, uh, basically throughout the Bible, the death penalty's reiterated for murderers, for rapists, et cetera, uh, violent criminals. And, uh, I have a whole sermon on the death penalty that I did, like, three years ago. But they basically take this thing of where God says, turn the other cheek, and he says in Matthew chapter 5, you've heard that it's been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And, by the way, that was God's law. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, life for life, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning. That's what the Bible says. And they try to say, well, that, no more eye for eye. Now, it's, but I say unto you that you resist not evil, you know? Whosoever shall smite down thy right cheek, turn them the other also. Now, wait a minute. What is God saying there? God's saying when somebody smites you on the cheek, you don't have to fight back. You don't have to, you know, revenge yourself. God said, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. It's not our job to take vengeance against people who do wrong to us, okay? I've had people do wrong to me. I've had people steal from me. I've had people beat me. I've had people attack me. I've had people lie about me. Should I go out and take vengeance on them? Absolutely not, because God said he's the one to take vengeance. But they'll take that, and they'll say, well, see, God did away with the eye for eye. No, it's still the government's job to punish criminals. I mean, you can't say, well, because the Bible teaches forgiveness, we're never going to punish any criminal. Empty all the jails because forgiveness. That doesn't make any sense. Do you see what I'm saying? And so this is where people twist the Bible. God's talking about our personal enemies, people who personally do us wrong. They slap us across the face. They steal our money. They do whatever. They lie about us. They despitefully use us and persecute us. We are not to take vengeance. We are to turn the other cheek and pray for God to let his will be done. But that doesn't mean that we don't believe in justice. Obviously, still, you have to have government's injustice. This is all taught in the Bible. The Bible says in Romans 13 that government is there for the punishment of evil doers. But look what he says in verse 19. Romans 12, 18 says, If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men, if it's possible. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thy enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. So basically, you love your enemy so much that, you know, you want to heap coals of fire on his head? You know, but then, I mean, think about it. He's saying, look, you love your enemy, you turn the other cheek, God will take care of it for you. That's why you don't have to worry about it because God will recompense. God will repay. We don't have to worry about it. But again, this is talking about our personal enemy. This is not talking about wicked evildoers that obviously need to be punished for their crimes. It's talking about our own personal enemies. And so he says in Psalm chapter 3, where we were, Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. And he smote them on the cheekbone pretty hard because it says thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Okay, now that's a pretty serious blow to the mouth if somebody's teeth are broken out of their head and that's what it says right here. You know, turn to Psalm 58, almost the same thing in Psalm 58 because it said in Psalm 3, thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. It says in Psalm 58, this is David praying again in Psalm 58. He says in verse 6, Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions. Let them melt as waters which run continually when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away like the untimely birth of a woman that they may not see the sun. Look at verse 10, The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So that a man shall say, Verily, there is a reward for the righteous. Verily, he is a God that judgeth in the earth. And so this is basically just teaching the most simple basic concept of the Bible and that is that, Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. So it's not our job to avenge anyone because people will reap what they've sown. You know, we go through life and say, That's not fair. You know, we see someone who is a god lie and therefore advance on the job. And we say, It's not fair. We see the wicked that prosper in the world, as the Bible says, and we think it's not fair. But wait a minute. God will balance the scales. I mean, people will reap what they've sown. No one gets away with anything. I mean, this is the way the world works and it's the most basic principle of mankind. Eventually, you reap what they've sown. It doesn't come right back around. Think about this. When you plant a seed, and that's all he's talking about here about these people getting the teeth broken out and everything. Let's say you plant a seed today. Okay. Are you instantly going to reap the harvest? No. It's going to take years before that seed becomes a tree that actually bears fruit. Because first you're going to plant the seed and it's going to be a tiny little sapling and it's going to grow. And after years, you'll get your first crop. Now think about this. You took the seed from one apple. But how much do you reap? A hundred times. Two hundred times. You reap a lot more than you sow. You sow one kernel of corn and you get a whole stalk with several ears of corn with hundreds of corn kernels each. So this is the law of sowing and reaping. You always reap much more than you sow. You always reap much more than you sow. Get this. This is important. You don't reap exactly what you sow. You sow the wind. You reap the whirlwind, the Bible says. You reap much more than you sow. But this goes for good or evil. The Bible says that if you sacrifice for God and He said, who soever giveth up, houses, lands, sister, brother, whatever, He says, I'll give you a hundred times in this earth. The things that you sacrifice, He'll reward you when He comes. But at the same time, for all the evil that people do, it doesn't catch up with them right away. And we think people are getting away with things, but you know what? Eventually it will catch up to them and they will reap what they've sown. And if they don't reap it in this life, then they'll reap it in the next. It's that simple. But most of the time people reap it in this life. I mean, you've seen it. You've seen people who've sown and reaped. And the enemies of God will reap what they've sown. And your personal enemies, you have to love them because who knows? Someday they might get saved. They might change their ways. But those that are the wicked evildoers that are never going to change their ways. The Bible says evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. People that are just reprobate and just rejected. Okay, those kind of people don't worry about it. Don't lose any sleep tonight about it. Just realize that God is going to cause them to reap what they've sown. God's going to balance the scales of justice. Look at verse 8 of chapter 3. It says, salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah, this is the last verse of the chapter, but salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people, Selah. Who is that? Who are God's people? Who are they? Believers. Believers, that's what the Bible teaches. Is it a certain nation? Is it a certain race? Is it a certain nationality? Is it because we're American? Is it the Jews? Who is it that are God's people according to the Bible? The Bible says that it's those from all kindreds, tongues, nations, peoples who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. The Bible says that we are the children of Abraham if we believe on Christ. He told the Jews when he was on this earth, he said Abraham is not your father because you are not believing on Jesus Christ. He said, Abraham is the father of those who have faith. And so God's people is not a nationality. And so many people are preaching this today. You know, Zionism. And so many pastors today will preach this. That the Jews are God's chosen people. But wait a minute. Hold on a second. The Bible says he that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the sun shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on it. That's not God's blessing. That's the opposite of God's blessing, God's wrath. He said thy blessing is upon thy people. God's people are born again believers in Jesus Christ. Doesn't matter what race. Doesn't matter what family. Doesn't matter what nationality. Doesn't matter what country they live in. Rich, poor, young, old, free and bond. If we're believers, we're God's people. And God's blessing is upon his people. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, please just bless the sermon to our ears, dear God. Help us not to be afraid. Help us to have your word, dear God, as a shield. Our faith in your word should shield us from attack, dear God, and help us to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. Please just bless our church, dear God. Help us to continue to see many people saved. And God, if there's anyone here that's going through a difficult time right now or maybe the devil's attacking them or there are many adversaries, I just pray that you'd help them to take comfort in these words of Psalm 3 and the other Psalms. And just please help us to continually grow in the Lord and be strong. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, let's sing one more song before we go.