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Episode 818: In this episode, we dive into the profound topic of God's promises, specifically focusing on Psalm 91, which speaks to God's protection over His people. We highlight its comforting verses that assure us of God's protection. We discuss how this Psalm was quoted by Satan during the temptation of Jesus, illustrating its significance and applicability even in that context. We reflect on the role of angels as God's messengers and protectors, noting that while they are not to be worshipped, they serve an important function in our lives.
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You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Hey, good morning, good morning, we talk through good morning, Good morning to you and you and you in the morning, in the morning. Love to stay up late in the morning in the morning with you. Hey, how about that? Wow, little bonus, got it? We got bonus material material there. Man, that's we should charge extra for this this episode. That's right. Hey, you just got to raise Yes, so did you. That's awesome. Yeah, we went from nothing to plus nothing. Actually you're saying just enough now we probably have to pay royalties. Oh no, say you in the rain. That's funny. Hey, well, good morning and welcome to the Bible guys. We are in the middle of a series about God's promises. Man, I'm so glad they're all here. Everybody, everybody's here, they're all tuned in today. Just the multitudes people. There are thousands. That's pretty that's pretty help. Like I hope. I mean, it's not like David Ann Wilson's podcast. I always think of that like four million a month or something. Yeah, but you know, if I had a better sidekick, Yeah, Dave has ann. Yeah. So it's a it's all It's all about you. It's all about you. If you had a better sidekick. It's Batman and Robin who wants to be Robin the boy Wonder with the green shoes and the shorts. Woa man. Ye. So anyway we are before we dive into Psalm chapter ninety one talking about God's protection. We are going to have a segment actually that we just did a whole week on this called stump the pastor. Yeah, that was a fun one. I'd like to do that again. It was a good week. Yeah, it was really like it. Yeah. And so this one comes from Jony p Yes, which which we've we've had questions before from Joe. Yes. Joni leaves comments often. Yeah. So here's what Jonie says. She's hi Joni, Hi Jonny, and she's a super fan. Yes, yeah, she's awesome. So Jonie says, I've heard y'all. Does she's y'all? Is she Southern y'all? She said y'all. Yeah, Okay, I have. A tendency to want to read it now like I'm in Georgia because I lived in Atlanta, Yes, ten years I heard y'all talk about your different spiritual gifts and how oh no, and okay, fine, I want to do it. You need some sweet tea, you're some sweet Okay, fine, I'll do it normal. Okay. I heard y'all talk about your different spiritual gifts. So how can anyone be sent to Hell if they are pre wired to not believe in something they cannot see? So she's saying if a person is pre wired to be a skeptic, or if somebody is pre wired to not have faith, if they don't have the gift of faith or something I guess is what she's implying. Yeah, I think we have to kind of be a little bit of a I think I have to fill in some of the gaps on the question. Well, let me read it again. I heard you all talk about your different spiritual gifts. So, and because she's saying y'all, I think she's referring to my gift of faith? Yes, okay, So how can anyone be said to Hell if they are pre wired to not believe something they cannot see. Let's first of all, Jny, great question. Yeah, let's unpack it in kind of the order. The main issue here, well, the main issue is why would anybody go to Hell. But first of all, let's get over to the where it seems to be confusing to the two of us, because yeah is particularly with regard to the confusion of spiritual gifts. So describe the spiritual gifts idea. Well, the spiritual gifts idea is, we believe that every Christian when they receive the Holy Spirit. First of all, you receive the Holy Spirit when you become a Christian, when you turn your life over to God, when you surrender, when you repent and you trust in Christ, then the Holy Spirit becomes alive. You house the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit gives us power. And along with power, God equips us. Phesian chapter four tells us that He gives us everything we need for a good spiritual life. And among those things the Bible talks elsewhere, also actually in Ephesians as well, where it talks about every Christian having a spiritual gift. So I believe every spiritual every Christian has at least one spiritual gift, and I think that many of us are wired to have many. And so basically, people have a propensity to lean in one way or the other. People are they gravitate toward they're just an incredible teacher, or they're an incredible evangelist, or they're an incredible person of serving. They have the gift of serving and helps, or they have the gift of wisdom or discernment or now or you know all the different. Spirits leadership, generosity. Yeah, there's a lot of those. You can find the lists. There's three lists of spiritual gifts, primary lists, and then there's a few other spiritual gifts. Romans chapter twelve as a list. First, Corinthians chapter eleven and twelve and fourteen kind of all talk about gifts in different ways, and then in Ephesians it gives a list of spiritual gifts. And so there's about twenty six depends on how you view gifts, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight spiritual gifts, and God supernaturally gives those to you so that you can fulfill the mission He has designed for you in his kingdom, rights for his glory, it's for the advancements advancements of the kingdom. So one of those spiritual gifts is the spiritual gift of faith, which is different from what theologians would call selvific faith. Selvific faith is the kind of faith that takes to be saved, to have your sins forgiven, to place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. So the gift of faith, the spiritual gift of faith, is this belief that God's gonna work things out, this belief that God promised he would and he can and he will. That's a different thing. Having faith that God's going to heal, having faith that God's going to provide the resources, Having faith that God is going to solve this problem is different. Then it's a totally different kind of faith from selvivific faith, the faith that takes to be able to have your sins forgiven and be and do. You believe that every person has the ability to have selvific faith. So this question, why would anybody who doesn't have the spiritual gift of faith ever go to Hell? Well, that's a different issue completely. It's not about the spiritual gift of faith. God gives spiritual gifts, but God does not force the will. And when it comes to salvation, placing your faith in Christ, it's a surrender thing. And that's a will issue, not a spiritual gift of I believe God's going to work miracles. That's a totally different thing. So what if she didn't necessarily mean the absence of the spiritual gifts of faith, And what if she was just referring to somebody being pre wired to not believe, as somebody who is a radical skeptic. Yeah, I would say God doesn't. So Romans Chapter one tells us that God has given us the universe, and all of creation points to a creator. God has given logic, he's given scripture, he's given testimony and miracles. He's given all these things. And God would say, listen, the evidence is there, and it doesn't require some stickle move of faith. It's just a surrender of the will God. You're God, and I'm not right. And that's not on God, that's on the person. Right. So, no matter how skeptical a person is, that person usually when you're skeptical, you're analytical anyway, right, right, And so you're you're more cerebral, and you're you know, analytic and intellectual, and so you know you can reason yourself to the point to where you know you're like, Okay, I need to investigate this for myself. Yeah. So God may wire our personalities different, but God did not wire our will against him anybody's will against him. And so even Ecclesiastes says that God has planted eternity in the hearts of humanity, right, And so this is why people are so revolted by death. When you're around a dead body at a funeral or something, there's this You go up there and you're sad, and at the same time you're revolted by this idea of death. Right. And it's because we know that we were made for something more. We know it, and God placed that in us. And so these are two different issues. And then God's plan never was for anybody to go to hell. The Bible says that the hell is for the devil and his angels, right, but those whose name was not found written in the Lamb's book of life will also be cast there. And so really it is a surrender issue. Whosoever will may come. Jesus said, right, anyone whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. That's it. And he's not willing that any should perish. Yeah, And so this is why he says in Roman's ten nine, he said, you have to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. Jesus's Lord. Literally, there's this surrender that I'm not the king anymore. You are the king, right, And that's a different thing than just the spiritual gift of faith that everything's going to work out. Okay, yep, Well that's good. That's a good question and certainly worth talking about. And you know what else is worth talking about? What's Yeah, that's a good one. Hey. Some ninety one is one of my favorite psalms. Stop stop Yeah. This one's written by anonymous. Yeah, we don't know who the author is, No, we do not. Yeah. So some of the songs were written by David. Some of them are written by Asaff, who is David's number one worship leader. Hey, some are written by Moses. I feel guilty because that was such a weak transition, and I promised to do. You want you want to do another one? I want to do another one? Try another one. Okay, I'll say this all right. I'll say I love I love that question because it forces somebody to think about spiritual things beyond what we can see, and that's exactly what our promise verse does for us today. Man, that's good, Chris, how about that? Yep? That that felt like it. Had some, so we're giving mulligans on this on the podcast. Now you know what today we do. Okay, okay, good, going to pick up the ball. I've got a mulligan. Swing it again, yes, okay, okay, yeah. Well, here we are. In a Psalm ninety one, it says those who live in the shelter are the most high, will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord. He alone is my refuge, my place of safety. He is my God, and I trust him, for he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from every deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers, he will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes and see how the wicked are punished. If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the most high your shelter, no evil will conquer you, No plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their head hands, so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras, and you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet. The Lord says, I will rescue those who love me, and I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call me, I will answer. I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation. That's awesome. Well, there you go. I told just one of my favorites. Those who live in the shelter the most high will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. What a great verse, that verse. It's one of my favorites. Yep, you're a big fan, big fan. But verse eleven is the one that we're concentrating on today. Oh, for he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. And where did we hear that before? Chris? Yeah, that is the verse that the Devil himself quoted to Jesus, that's right, for they will hold you up with their hands, and so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. Right. So, when when Satan was tempting Gus to jump off a big high place at the top of the temple, he said, hey, just do that, and then the angels will come down and save you, because after all, here's the promise of God. And then he quoted his verse for he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with. Their hands so that you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. Now, it's so interesting because sometimes we'll read an Old Testament verse and we know we'll read it like wondering about the context of the verse, and we'll wonder about like whether or not that verse applies to us today, right, And yet what we understand is the devil knows that Jesus himself can claim that verse that has written about God's protection. Right, so that will protect you by sending his angels. Right. So that is something that Jesus could have banked on had he jumped off of that high place. So both Jesus and Satan knew that this verse. Was written thousands of years ago, and yet was completely applicable to that day. Sure well, if you really are the son of God, God's already set yeh, He'll protect you with his angels, right, not just talking about the Son of God, but any of his people. Right. And so then if you're really a son of God, surely you can muster the angels to protect you, right, that's what he's saying there. Yeah, that's amazing. So there's this really great note here the Life Application Study Bible, and it says one of the functions of angels is to watch over believers, like in Hebrews one fourteen. There are examples of guardian angels and scriptures in one Kings chapter nineteen and Daniel six Remember the Angel came and protected Daniel Matthew eighteen Luke sixteen, Acts twelve, although there is no indication that God assigns one angel to every believer. So your little guardian angel on your shoulder, right. You look about the kind of angel that I get. That that's what is it. It's a wonderful, wonder our life. Yeah, you look about the kind of angel I get. That's so funny. It says angels can also be God's messengers like in Matthew chapter two when he shows up to Mary. Right, angels are not visible except on special occasions when they show up and then they make themselves visible. It says we are not to worship angels or become preoccupied with them. They're God's servants, actively present and at work in the world in the words of Psalm one nineteen. That's what Satan quoted here, Right, It's comforting to know that God and his servants watch over us even in times of great stress and fear, which is what David's highlighting here. This wasn't about Jesus. It was just about God's people and that God will protect God's angels, protect them God's. Which which is why I think it's so fascinating that Satan quo to Jesus. Yes, that's right, Yeah, it's really good. Yeah, So it is interesting this entire you know, idea of angels. Again, we we've mentioned this before, but we believe that there is a spiritual war. There's a spiritual realm that where a battle is being taken, you know, that's taking place all the time. I didn't say that very well. There's a spiritual realm where battles are being waged, waged right now, even maybe perhaps even in this room right So, and we believe that God has an agenda, Satan has an agenda, and we believe that there are angels that are fighting on our behalf all the time. And so, you know, we hear it in culture today. Somebody will come out unscathed with something and somebody say, who, man, the angels are looking. Out for you. You know, I've had moments in my life where I've had things happen where it was absolutely unexplainable. I fell off of a two story ladder all the way up on the second story on a cement driveway, completely fell off my ladder, landed on my back, hit my head, and got up and shook myself off and walked away from it. Wow. Yeah, it was the strangest. You hit your head. Yes, it explained a lot. No, But but you think that was God's angels protecting you. I can't explain it otherwise. I because you know, my my my friend, and my coworker and even my father in law came and the ladder was still up. I mean it was extended all the way up, and I was painting underneath. The loft and I was. I was two stories high on this barn, and I said, I leaned back because there was a wasp that fell on me. And I leaned back like this, and I. Completely went free falling and landed straight on my back and that and and just and just got up and didn't feel a bump on my head, didn't feel anything else. How does a person do that, Jeff, I do And so I'm like, I'm like that. And even back then, I said that was a miracle of God. I cannot explain how I just got up. You are invincible until God's done, until God's done with you. God had a plan, I guess so, but I I really can't explain how that happened. And there have been other times. There have been other times where I'm just like, I don't understand how that happened. But I got away with it. Your guardian Angel comes home and goes, who, there's a rough day? You know? There? You ever you remember the remember that than Clarence, Remember the what was it? The Hannah Barbara cartoons, like the Looney Tunes, Remember when the the sheep dogs are checking out, punching out the other. More than rough exactly. I can just imagine your angel crossing, you know, punching out, the next one's punching in. Going there's a rough day to day. This calm fell off. He had a wasp flying around his that he fell off the thing, landing on his back. I could barely catch him and keep an eye on him. Yeah, I mean I've had I've had things like that happen, and I have no other conclusion other than I have to believe there's an angel. And I told you already had an angel experience. I believe there was an angel experience. I believe that God talked me about it, which is a crazy story. And so yeah, I actually, really truly there is nothing that could happen in this world, seriously nothing, you know, God forbid that a tragedy come my way, and you know, and the worst things happen in my life. But even if. They do, I think I will go to the grave and nothing can convince me that God is not real and that angels are real because of my experiences. I like that. Yeah, and then I love the you know, so there's the heel order as angels protect you, and so God's paying attention. And then God's leveraging is his resources to be able to do whatever needs to be done to hold you up with their hands, right, so you won't even hurt a foot on your stone. But then fourteen through sixteen, the Lord says, I will rescue those who love me. So as promises are not just generic, they're conditional. Right, I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. And we know that Jesus name is above every name. Right, so when they call on me, I will answer. I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation. Who just anybody know those who love me and trust in my name. Then he also will be with us in trouble. He'll also hear us when we call. He'll also rescue and honor us. He also says, I'll give you a long life and give them my salvation. And so, really, what more could we do that would have a greater benefit in our life than to place all of our trust in him? Right, to learn to really love God and loving God. Real love is not based on what you can get from the other person. Right. Real love always drives us to action. It always drives us to giving, So what can I give to God? Really, you don't have anything to give to God except you. And I was invited to write a devotional along with some other Christian leaders on Jesus command, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Right. It almost feels repetitive heart, soul, mind, right. But what I realized was the other Gospel says strength to. Yeah, well, the dude round me does. But in Luke chapter two, Luke chapter or Matthew twenty two says heart, soul, and mind. And I thought it was really interesting. The heart is really all about what we want, right, That's really it. It's our feelings, It's our desire. On the seat of emotion. Our mind on the other end of this is all about our will and our intellect and our doubts, our thoughts. Yep. But the soul is who I am. It's the essence. I have no heart without my soul. I have no mind without my soul. So it's interesting. We've talked about this before a lot of times. The way Jesus would talk or Paul would talk, the most important thing is in the middle, and then everything else is about it, right, And the most important thing is the essence of who you are. Jesus is saying you need to love God with everything that you are, which includes all of your appetites and your desires and your emotions. And it also includes all of your will and your attitude, and your your your decisions and your intellect. Right, it's all of who you are. And this is what he's saying that I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust my name. The love is the emotional side. Trust is more logical. Right, Either I trust you, I don't trust you. So somebody say, oh, just run ahead, right, and you're like, nope, I'm gonna does that? Is that gonna hold me? Is that going to hold me? Trust is more logical and love is more emotional. And he said, I want both sides of your soul, right, I want both sides of who you are. And if you give me all of who you are, I'll hear you when you call, I'll be with you in trouble. I'll rescue you, I'll honor you. I'll give you a long life. I give you my salvation. It seems like a pretty good trade. Yes, give me, give God all of who you are. It's a great application as well, because a lot of us, I think, maybe struggle with one or the other. Right, So, you know, like we were just saying, hey, I have no problem with giving God what I want. I just I'm just you know, I use my mind to rationalize things away. Or maybe it's the opposite. Maybe it's like, hey, I have no problem intellectually accepting what the truth is. However, I just want what I want, you know, So maybe that's a great application. Just afraid it's really scary or right, the emotion side is taking over? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, So where do we struggle? Where do you struggle? Do you struggle emotionally with what you want or what you feel, or do you struggle with more of the skeptical party. I think I'm such a good Christian. I've got both of these nailed. I'm now ye, there is nothing else to get. Yeah, yeah, I think I go back and forth between the two. Yeah, I'm a pretty logical person. I think most of us do. Yeah, but there are times when when life seems a little overwhelming, and then at that point, you know, fear can cause you to make some bad choices. I think, so that's probably the side I would lean on. Yeah, and I think a lot of us, I think me included. I think the more you go through life and the more banged up you get, the more emotional, the more the more the emotional side gets fragile. Yeah, and I've definitely experienced that, So I wasn't this, you know, fragile emotionally, I think before I got banged up a little bit. So but hey, that looks like our time. So hey, what a great verse and what a great chapter. So we will go ahead and hopefully see you tomorrow on the Bible gas Hm hm