Everyday Church
In the Presence of Enemies
(upbeat music) - Hello, friend. Welcome to today's podcast, Everyday Church, with Pastor Jason Keefer. Everyday Church is a daily podcast where believers learn together, grow together, and serve together. (upbeat music) - The God, the Lord, Jesus Christ is our shepherd. Amen. It is, we can surrender to that, we can submit to that, but it is not something that we did or accomplished, it's just, he's that good. And he said, you know, people without a shepherd, it's a bad thing. I'm reminded of what Jesus, when he was moved with compassion in one of the places in the book of John, the Bible says that he was moved with compassion because he saw the people, and he saw them as sheep who had no shepherd, right? And so the Lord in his compassion said, you know what, I'll be their shepherd. And so the Lord is our shepherd. And then in verse two, we're reminded how that he makes us to lie down in green pastures. He provides for us these places of waiting and resting in him, and he leads us besides still waters. He refreshes us through the power of the Holy Spirit. And then in verse three, we learned that he restores our soul. There's times in the life of a believer that we just, we need a fresh start, right? We need the Lord to come on and come alongside of us and restore us and renew us by the power of the Holy Spirit. And then last week, we talked about the oftentimes we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, right? Nothing that no one desires, no one seeks this out, no one prays, Lord, send me a valley to go through, send me a dark time to go through, that doesn't happen. But in life, God provides those times for us. And we were reminded that he provides them for us so that he can get us to greener pasture, and so that he can get us to better places and to a deeper walk with him. And this morning, we are gonna put five and six. They really go together hand in hand. But the statement that's made in verse five is this, "Thou prepare us to table before me in the presence "of my enemies." I don't know about you, but I don't like my enemies. Like, I don't know how you feel about your enemies, but I don't like my enemies. Like, I have never just thought, well, what if I go to a restaurant and sit down at a restaurant and just invite my worst enemies to sit with me? Like, I wanna eat dinner in the presence of my enemies. Like, I love to eat, I don't know how you are, I like a good steak dinner, man, I love. And if I'm gonna eat, I don't wanna have to deal with any problems, right? I don't wanna deal with any issues, I don't want there to be contention. But I'm sure, and I'm for sure I'm not inviting my enemy to sit down and eat with me. And David makes the statement, he says, "Lord, you prepare a table before me "in the presence of my enemies." I heard about a pastor that was preaching a message on forgiveness and love and how that we ought to pray for our enemies and what'll love our enemies, you know, 'cause that's what Jesus tells us to do. And man, he just got to preach it and preach it and man, the spirit really moved in that service and at the end of the service, he asked everybody, he said, "Hey, "if you have an enemy, raise your hand." And every person in the auditorium raised their hand, except for one lady. And she was like 98, 99 years old and she was sitting on the front bench and she just stood there. And the pastor said, he said, "My." He said, "Ma'am, how old are you?" And she said, "I'm 99 years old." And he said, "You don't have any enemies?" She said, "No, I don't have one enemy." He said, "Really?" He said, "How in the world is that possible?" 99 years and you have no enemies. She said, "I outlived all them snakes." (congregation laughing) David is not talking about people. David is not saying, "Hey, look, "God is gonna set Saul in front of me "and he's gonna give me this big steak dinner." Right? David's not saying, you know, the fullest things, God is gonna prepare a physical dinner for me in the presence of my enemies in that sense. David did have a lot of enemies. And if you read the book of Psalms, you'll find out David did not think very highly of his enemies. Like David probably needed to hear the message that Jesus preached on praying for your enemies. When David prayed for his enemies, he would just pray things like that God would you pour your wrath out on my enemies. Like that's what he would pray. Like Lord subdue them or overrun them. He would say things like that. You know, it was not saying, "Lord, I love Saul." And I'm praying that you'll give him a long life. And the Philistines through his reign over Israel was one of his most notorious enemies. I mean, he was always at battle with the Philistines. And of course Saul, you know, Saul tried to kill him on several occasions. And I always, Saul had this spirit of jealousy that rose up in him, right? David comes along and David spares Saul from embarrassment from the Philistines. And he goes out there and through the power of Christ, he defeats Goliath. And you would think that at that point, Saul was like, "Man, all right, I'm putting this guy on staff." Like this guy, he's going full time. I mean, he's gonna be right, right, hand man. Well, David starts winning battles and growing and man, Saul hates David. And in the midst of all that, God protects David, God blesses David, God begins to use David right in front of Saul. And then if you think about later on in David's life, David's own family hated him. Absom tried to take the throne from him. He tried to undermine David and take the throne from him while he's still alive. And so, I mean, right there in his own family, his own family members hated him. And yet God still blessed him and God still used him and God still moved on him. I think about you and I and the age that we live and the time that we live in. I mean, in reality, wouldn't it be easier if once we got saved, God just kind of eliminated all of our enemies? Wouldn't that be great? I wouldn't it be great if once you and I got saved until the day he called his home that man, it was just nothing, no problems, no issues, no, like why in the world is God even providing us enemies to have dinner in front of in the first place, right? And yet he has the wisdom and the sovereignty to say, hey, look, I'm gonna provide a way of life for you right in the midst, right in the middle of your enemies. I mean, Peter tells us, reminds us that the devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he made a valor. And I can think of a lot of things that are my enemies this morning. I think sometimes of the enemy of fear and how that God doesn't just take away fear. He doesn't give us fear, but he doesn't take away the things that cost fear, does he? Right, I think of the enemy of anxiety. I said this last Sunday and it's still true this week, but our young people, teenagers, they deal with anxiety like never before. Never have we ever seen a time where teenagers can't even function in a classroom because of anxiety. And I know it's a real thing and it's an enemy. It's an enemy that we deal with, I think of the enemy of bitterness. Many people will live their whole life eat up by bitterness and anger. I think of trauma that people experience loneliness. I think of grief. Oftentimes people will experience the lost of a loved one. And life goes on around them. Everybody goes on. I mean, for a few weeks, people are there right there with them and they're, hey, how you doing? We love you, we're praying for you. And after the weeks go on and the months go on, nobody's walking up beside them, patting them on the back saying, we love you, but the grief is still there. And it's an enemy. It becomes an enemy. And you know what God says? He says, look, he said, I've got a place prepared for you in the midst of all that. And it's a place where I'm gonna use you. It's a place where I'm gonna bless. It's a place where I'm gonna be seen by your enemy. And it's gonna be a testimony to them. I think of depression, sickness, pride, sin. There's many enemies that we have here this morning. And the enemies that we're talking about this morning, they're not people in our life, right? I mean, how many of you have ever said, I'm my own worst enemy? You ever done that? Right, we've all done that. So if that's the case, we've all eaten. We've all eaten dinner with our enemies, right? I mean, listen, if somebody comes up to you and invites you to launch after service, I would be suspect of that. They may think that you're their enemy. So be careful if someone invites you out to dinner. I don't think we're inviting anybody out today. But I want us to, I hope we can find out this morning that this place that God has prepared for us is a place that he also enables us to go through by the power of his Holy Spirit. I think of what Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter four in verse eight, he said, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed." Paul said, "Every side, everywhere we turn, "everywhere we look, there is trouble, "yet we are not distressed. "We are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, "but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed. "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, "that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest "in our body, for which we live, "which we live are always delivered unto death "for Jesus is safe, that the life also of Jesus "might be made manifest in our mortar flesh. "So then death worketh in us, but life in you." Paul is telling them literally every day I face death, so that I can do what I've been called to do for the glory of God. Everywhere I look, Paul's saying, "I have to face the enemy of death." And Paul ultimately gives his life as a martyr for the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we, in verse 13, he says, "We having the same spirit of faith." Paul says, "I have the same spirit of faith that you have. "According as it is written, I believed "and therefore have I spoken, "we also believe and therefore speak, "knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus "shall raise up us also by Jesus "and shall be present us with you. "For all things are for your sakes, "that the abundant grace might be through the thanksgiving "and may redound to the glory of God, "for which cause we faint not. "But though our outward man perish, "yet the inward man is renewed day by day." Verse 17 says, "For our light affliction, "which is but for a moment, "worketh for us a far more exceeding "and eternal weight of glory." So while it would be so much easier, if God just kind of said, "Look, "I've completed the work, right?" I mean, he said on the cross, he said, "It's finished." And wouldn't it, I mean, part wouldn't it be easier if he just raptured his out of here? I'm like, "This is it. "No more sorrow, no more problems, no more enemies." But he says, "You know what, it's not gonna happen." There is this weight of glory. There's this eternal glory that God is wanting to display, and he is wanting to show ultimately to the whole world the glory that he has. And in part, it happens through you and I, living a life that is prepared right in the presence of enemies. I mean, I think that, you know, there's people still to be saved, right? I mean, while it would be so much easier for us to be out of the presence of all these problems, there's people that haven't trusted Christ as their Savior. You may be here this morning in heaven, trusting Christ as your Savior, and maybe today the Lord will speak to your heart, and today is the day that you answer the call to salvation, but there's people that still have to be saved. There's still this process of sanctification that God wants to work in our life, and he's bringing us to a place where we're more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. And ultimately, it's just God's choice. He's God, right? There's just some things we'll never understand. And so, he's placed us this morning in the presence of our enemies. - Thank you for listening to Every Day Church, a daily podcast where believers learn together, grow together, and serve together. If this episode was an encouragement to you, be sure to hit like, share it, and subscribe for future content. (upbeat music)