Called Shot/surgical Strike Psalm 21

The night's going out all around me One last candle to keep out the night

And then the darkness tore off me I know I'm a liar but I feel like I'll die

And all that's left to accept that it's over My dreams ran like sand through the face of May

I try to keep warm but I just grow colder I feel like I'm slipping away

After all this has passed I still will remain After I've cried my heart, there'll be beauty from the end

Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again And there'll be beauty from me

Your world will bring beauty from my veins My whole world is the pain inside me

The best I can do is just get through the day The life before is only a memory

I wonder why God lets me walk through this pain And though I can't understand why this happened

I know that I will when I look back someday And see how He brought beauty from passion

And made me as gold purified through these flames

After all this has passed I still will remain After I've cried my heart, there'll be beauty from the end

Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again And there'll be beauty from me

You will bring beauty from my veins Here I am at the end of me

Trying to hold to what I can't see I forgot how to hope this night felt so long

I cling to your promise that we'll be together After all this has passed I still will remain

After I've cried my heart, there'll be beauty from the end

Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again And there'll be beauty from my veins

You will bring beauty from my veins

I know that I will when I look back someday And see how God lets me walk through this pain

Fire is a very real thing that happens in the military, less so thank God today,

and the more advanced militaries become, the less that happens, but it still

happens, especially in less advanced militaries. And so if you are conducting a

surgical strike, the idea is to hit a specific target without hitting anything

around it. Okay, I want you to remember those thoughts then as we look at the

text for today. We do tend to say amen or hallelujah, hoot hollers, our Yahtzee guy

is not present, as we go today to Psalm chapter 21. Thank you. That marks the

Psalms 21 · chapter mention

time at which we stop thinking about what we think and we start thinking about

what God thinks. So we're going to read this text that the psalmist wrote. The

psalmist as far as we know is David. David, you'll recall, was a man after God's

own heart according to God's Word, and a king of Israel, and a king in Jerusalem,

and then on one particular occasion sinned very heavily against the Lord,

was called out by the prophet, and then later was repentant and ended his life

and God says he is a man after God's own heart. And so that being said, then we

understand David would write in Psalm 51, for example, that God is looking for a

contrite heart. So God wants you to put your heart in his hands and as we talked

about on Tuesday night, we talked about one of the locks. In fact the psalmist

writes elsewhere that if you cherish sin in your heart or willingly allow sin to

remain in your heart, God will not hear your prayers. So the psalmist said. And so

that is David and this is a psalm that he wrote about the thing that we are

talking about today. We're reading the second half essentially of the psalm

beginning in verse 8 and it says this, your hands, talking about God's hand, your

hand will find out all your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate

you. So this is being said of God and so you know God is omniscient, which means

God knows everything, right? So God is fully knowledgeable of everything that

he has created, the hearts of men. He can read our minds, he can hear your thoughts,

he can count the hairs on your head, he can see the veins and the leaves of the

millions of billions and trillions of trees that exist on the earth and so on.

So what does it say then that God will find out all his enemies and his right

hand will find out those who hate him? Well this doesn't mean to find out like

I go look in the cupboard and find out whether or not I still have tuna fish

and if so if I don't I put it on the grocery list because I am not able to

remember how many cans of tuna fish I last bought and how many I have now

eaten even though I'm the only one that eats them and so I have to go and my

right hand opens the cupboard and I look. It doesn't mean that, right? So to find

out in this case is to make known or to show, right? So it'll be obvious. To find

out is to eliminate that which clutters the issue and make it come forth, right?

So if you have a pretty flower growing in your flower garden but it's surrounded by

weeds you go and you cut out the weeds and now you can see the flower and so

God is saying, David is saying through God about God, your hand will find out

all your enemies your right hand will find out those who hate you and he's

gonna take that thought a little further. In verse 9 he says, you will make them as

a fiery oven in the time of your anger the Lord will swallow them up in his

wrath. And so a fiery oven obviously burns and you might want to I might want to

find poetic imagery there about hell but I submit to you it isn't there it may be

loosely connected at best but a fiery oven is a thing that consumes and so

people who will be found out to hate God it says that he will make them as a fiery

oven in the time of his anger and you can just imagine that as God is coming

against those who are his enemies they're gonna have something to say or

something to do and if they've gotten ahead by craftiness if they've gotten

ahead by money if they've gotten ahead by manipulating if they've gotten ahead

by violence they're gonna use whatever they've gotten ahead by that much more

in that moment when God has come against them and his wrath has become obvious

and they will be taking it out on their friends and family and even themselves

in an effort to overcome what is coming against them which we know is God that

says the Lord will then swallow them up in his wrath in fact you could say that

God's wrath likes spicy food if you will they will be hot on fire trying to

resist they will be doing everything in their power but when God's anger burns

against them they will not resist rather his wrath will swallow them up now

notice in 9 he says in the time of your anger and in 9b or the second half of

9 he says you will swallow them up in your wrath and you might have to go like

what is the difference between anger and wrath so anger is emotive energy in the

Greek which the Septuagint uses this word here but this was actually probably

written in Hebrew originally and the Greek the word is orgy and it means

packed with emotion or powerful with emotions it's where you might get the

old saying orgy where men and women get together and do unsightly things with

each other right and it's that same word is is coming from and so it's packed

pardon me packed with energy packed with energy packed with power there's

something's got to happen out of that emotion flowing out God's emotion let

me say this way when God is ticked off and it becomes evident those who have

been resisting him will respond as fiery ovens and the Lord will swallow them up

in his wrath and wrath is not emotions it's opposition there's a difference I

can be mad at someone I might want to see them dead I shouldn't by the way the

Bible says you shouldn't have anger in your heart like that if you can not I

would highly advise it but I might be mad at someone and not be opposing them

or I might be opposing someone and not be mad at them in fact if you find that

you have to oppose someone the best thing to do would be to oppose them

without being mad at them but here it says God will be both in fact it says

God will be angry at his enemies and that day there's a reason for that and

it says his wrath or his opposition will swallow them up so you could say that

God's wrath likes spicy food and you would well remember Psalm 21 9 verse 10

they are offspring so this is what they have generated now the literal word

there is their seed and oftentimes it does mean their children right but it

doesn't only mean their children you can imagine that it's also what they have

produced or what continues their process so just as Christians and lead people to

Jesus and those Christians lead other people to Jesus and those Christians

lead other people to Jesus just as that happens so too people in other political

movements or in false religion do the same in fact the word proselyting was

invented from the Jewish religion and it continues to this day and people are

led to become Jewish but being Jewish won't save you right being a follower of

Jesus whether you're a Jew or not would save you and so when a person is a

Gentile converts to Judaism they have no salvation in that there is no salvation

in that but still those who are in Judaism would still love to see people

convert to Judaism just as Muslims would love to see people convert to Islam and

so on right and Christians recognize that we have a job to do and I'm gonna

get ahead of myself but the bottom line is they have offspring both of their

bodies and also of their teaching and it says God will destroy from the earth

their offspring that will destroy from the earth and it says their descendants

from among the sons of men and the descendants there again the word there

is seed and so it's like it could be of their teaching or of their flesh verse

11 though they intend evil against thee and devise a plot they will not succeed

so now we see a new relationship between those that God is is angry at slash

wrathful towards and they have a plan and they've been acting a plan I submit

to you that those who respond in violence often do not have a plan those

who trust in their money often do not have a plan right there's a lot of got

false gods in this world that people trust in and they don't necessarily

have a plan but those who have a false religion of a sort have begun to think

about some steps that they may follow you know here's the tenfold steps and

the and the four pillars and and things like that of various false religions and

a various teachings that are out there and they say well these are our core

values these are our commands these are our rules for how we're going to be

saved or how we're going to be effective in this thing that we're trying to

accomplish and so they have a plan and God basically says though they have a

plan he says this through David though they have a plan they devise a plot they

have a plan but they will not succeed verse 12 then says because or for thou

will make them turn their back now this is interesting when you think about it

wasn't mean to turn their back now the word here is like a military routing and

if you're the army and you come against another army and then you turn your backs

and you're in the middle of combat what's gonna happen you're gonna be

demolished right in fact in the also in military sense and also in gaming sense

if you turn your back and run from an any that you're fighting there's a thing

called a free hack they get to hit you once for free right and oftentimes when

you're talking about military weapons guns and knives and bayonets and swords

and like that a lot of people do not survive the free hack and so this is a

people that they will come against God with a plot a plan and their plot will

not succeed because God will make them turn their back he will their plan will

obviously not gonna hold up against God they say well we'll run to fight another

day and God will overtake them in his wrath as it said back there at the end

of verse 9 says thou wilt aim with thy bowstrings at their faces and I thought

okay now this almost is getting a little bit kind of specific here and that's

pretty nasty right you're aiming right at their face well there's the called

shot that we're talking about there's a surgical strike because if they come

with their plot or they are their plan and God turns them away or God aims his

bow right at their face and realize that he is targeting specifically his anger

is directed specifically at those who are standing up against him so I have a

mock bow and arrow here okay I'll come be my volunteer I've all told you come

on okay so this is just a toy but anyone does anyone like this it probably will

hurt all right got some good stretch okay we just fire a little sample shot

okay I'm gonna get you out together on track this is a sample shot so as you can

imagine that might smart a little bit right here's another arrow just stand

there you don't have to do nothing but stand there okay ready okay you ready

how about now are you ready now no no definitely not ready now you're sure

okay I'm not gonna shoot you all right this is bad enough to take a shot in the

chest but when it's a shot in the head that's enough to make you want to turn

away you understand the concept of what God is saying do you not the picture is

imminent God will strike them in their face now I think it's interesting

because have you ever heard maybe that we were created in the image of God now

I doesn't mean that God has a beard like you have or God has wrinkles in his

forehead like you had or his skin is the color of you ever that is has skin at

all right because he's spirit the Bible says he's spirit but we were created in

the image of God and in the simplest sense the image of our God is contained

in our faces it's in our faces if they were gonna make a craftsmanship of the

false god Jupiter back in the day or Mars or Athena right the faces were

always made the same the equipment might change the clothes might change but the

image of the false god that they were created always looked the same and if

you look at people you will see even though people are different ever from

person to person everyone's different but everybody's basically got a nose

everybody's basically got an eye unless and if we see somebody doesn't have a

nose or an eye we look for tragedy we look for trouble right if you see

somebody's got a scar on their face you assume that the image of their face has

been marred and God is saying through David that he will aim his bowstring at

their faces that's a cold shot last verse we're gonna read today be thou

exalted oh Lord in thy strength we will sing and praise thy power now I should

say we are going to use a couple of reinforcing verses but that's the last

of our text for the day okay so the first thing I want you to see in here

that's painfully evident to me I hope it is to you is that in the long run

whatever it may look like now and I submit to you that even now it's true

but it may not necessarily look so but in the long run God will win God will

win the ultimate victory if there is any kind of a challenge I submit to you that

he pretty much already has he's already winning now right but some days it

doesn't necessarily look like God is winning on the days when we can't quite

see whether somebody is a friend of God or an enemy of God when your brother

your sister your mother your friend claims the name of Jesus but lives a

certain kind of way and they seem to be doing okay and you think to yourself

well you know if they can live that way and still prosper when you look at the

wealthy people of the world and they're clearly living at the best

hypocritically they're not practicing honor not being honest not having

integrity and yet they seem to be doing okay then you might start to think well

I'm not sure God is winning but but whether God appears to be winning today

or not God will ultimately win and the psalmist recognizes that God will make

it clear and evidence who the enemies of God are and who the friends and I could

go all over the New Testament we could talk about burning up the chaff we could

talk about the pitchfork already laid at the bottom of the stalks or the

axe already laid at the base of the tree we talked about the angels coming for

the harvest you don't need any of that this is what the psalmist knew and it

was all before Jesus spoke it was all before the parables this is what the

psalmist knew God will find out his enemies and he means he will make it

clear and obvious so sitting in this room sad to say there are those who are

truly on fire for God truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and then there

are those who are claiming the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who kind of don't

understand the concept of that and I don't know which is which and it's not

my job that's not my job to know which is which but it does say in the scripture

that you can kind of know a person by his fruit and I submit to you that it'll

become evident if you live with somebody now you know them you talked to them you

worked alongside of them and then one day he says well I pay a lot of rent and

he says well I pay a lot of rent let's get together we live together and after

you live together for a while you begin to know them a little bit more but even

then you don't know what they've been through you don't know how they're wired

you don't know their personality their emotions all the things they're facing

why they behave in the way that they are and you're trying to process it all you're

trying to assess it all and you hate to put a tag on somebody and judge them but

at the same time you kind of know them by their fruit and once you moved in

with them for a while you kind of find out who they really are and it's like

that the more that people claim the name of Jesus and live according to what they

say the more evident it becomes as to whether what they say is true or not but

even if it does not God will win he will eventually find out with absolute

certainty he will make known with clarity who the enemies are those who

bow their knee and confess that he is Lord on the day willingly leaping in

there let me I'll go first I want to get I want to go I want to praise God I want

to put my knee down those who willingly seeing the praises of God now when you

kind of wonder sometimes whether God is winning we'll clearly sing it then when

it's pained lap this is what I've been waiting for I've been so excited about

20 years ago I saw a video of a man he was sitting in a church much like we

were doing now listening to the preacher preach and all of a sudden there was a

sound like a Trump blue outside it shook the whole building and all the building

all the people were gone it was all empty except for him and he went oh

crud oh no and he felt didn't say a word he fell to his knees and he realized he

had just missed it and I'm not sure if that's exactly how it's gonna happen I'm

not saying that's biblical but what I am saying is that it is our job now to

realize that God is going to win and you want to be on the winning side if you're

playing games with God he is going to find you out and he already knows and

he's going to find you out so that is painfully obvious to one and all Isaiah

10 10 says it this way the prophet Isaiah as my hand has reached to the

kingdom of the idols whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and

Samaria so I shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images just as I have done to

Samaria and her idols don't you understand looking back at the

historical times of God this is the nice thing about prophecy and promises of God

as you can see them repeat over and over again God has exposed people who are

playing the game when David sinned by taking Bathsheba and arranging for Eriah

the Hittites to be dead we talked about that this last week when David did that

God sent Nathan to confront him Nathan told him a story so what should be done

this man David pronounced judgment on himself not knowing was talking about

himself pronounced judgment on himself he said that man should be killed and the

prophet said well you're that man and God found out not that he discovered

Davidson he already knew Davidson but he used the prophet to find out and make

it obvious and for David to pronounce his own judgment what judgment would you

pronounce on yourself not that you should but the truth is do you know if

you're playing games with God when God wins the day you'll be so ready to be

part of the winning team on that day and if you're not part of the winning team

between now and then you will not be part of the winning team on that day

because now is the day of salvation now is the time to make a decision notice

that he says here in this text that they will be as a fiery oven swallowed up by

God's wrath God doesn't even need to eat at piecemeal just swallowed up

completely consumed they'll be busy consuming themselves and others around

them thinking that they're they're finding their way they're getting what

they want they're prospering in the system that God created even they may

even think that God started the world and left it run and now they can do

whatever they want or that God started the world sent his son Jesus who died on

the cross for sins and now they can do whatever they want because they are

saved by grace not by works so I think now I can do whatever I want but the

truth is God's people need to respond to God you belong to the Lord and if you

continue to be his enemy after having done so you will pay a very dear price

swallowed up in his wrath the prophet Malachi on this kind of same topic in

chapter 3 the end of chapter 3 and going into chapter 4 writes as follows

beginning in verse 16 he says then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another

and the Lord gave attention and heard it and a book of remembrance was written

before him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem his name and they will be

mine says the Lord of hosts on that day on the day that I prepare my own

possession and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him so

you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked between one who

serves God and one who does not serve him for behold the day is coming burning

like a furnace and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff and the day

that is coming will set them ablaze says the Lord of hosts so that it will leave

them neither root nor branch

Malachi foresaw again this is before Jesus comes to the earth before the

death barrel in the resurrection while in the period of time as Paul says where

God still kind of scoffed or laughed at men's behavior and how foolish they were

but we're past that now Paul says now we're in the day where all men are

supposed to repent and turn to God because it's painfully evident what God

has done enemies of God will be defeated they will be crushed in their best

efforts and all the things that they're trying to do to resist God in this

lifetime will come to naught notice however that humans in their nature are

conniving a lot we're a dreaming lot we're a wise and crafty lot sometimes

people are taken in their own craftiness and I think that's what God's picture is

here the plans of those who resist God will be undone men's plans Psalm 2 the

psalmist writes it this way he says and this is then later quoted in the New

Testament Psalm 2 the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take

their counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed let us tear

their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us the world recognizes that

God is God and they just don't want to be controlled they just don't want to be

in submission they just don't want to be healed fixed changed made better all

the plans that men have all that they have done and yet God says I have a plan

it is a cold shot it is a surgical strike I will solve this problem

Psalm chapter 10 or Psalm 10 not chapter 10 it's on 10 verse 2 says in pride the

Psalms 10 · chapter mention

wicked hotly pursue the afflicted let them be caught in the plots which they

devise see this is God's plan that people who think that they're winning the day

will get away with whatever they think they're getting away with well meanwhile

they're consigning themselves to burn for an eternity well meanwhile they're

avoiding following Jesus's Lord and Savior and they are condemned already

by what they have done with the Son of God Jesus did not come to condemn he

didn't have to God Jesus did not come to sort and say you be a Christian you not

be a Christian you have to do that because there were those who were going

to accept what Jesus was doing there were those who were going to accept the

salvation that Jesus was providing and there were those who were not there were

those who were going to recognize him and there were those who were not the

plans of men will be undone and lastly thirdly I should say it says that the

enemies of God will be routed and face a surgical strike or a cold shot was

pretty clear and evident in Psalm 21 this is what it actually said though

they intended evil against thee and devised a plot they will not succeed for

thou wilt make them turn their back thou wilt aim with thy bowstrings at

their faces God will deal with his own enemies in his own time guess what that

means we do not need to it is not our job to come against men who are enemies

of God we do not have enemies that are flesh our enemies are spiritual in

nature evil spirits demons the world system political powers the things of

the world that stand against God God will deal with them in time as well but

God is already targeting them now with a surgical strike and a cold shot he has

said so and whether a man runs and goes down under a free hack or takes a shot

to the face either way he goes down but that's not our job God will be

responding with a surgical strike or a cold shot to his enemies in time then we

come to verse 13 and already our conclusion today for verse 13 says be

thou exalted you know something is when it's exalted right I think when it's

exalted is lifted up is recognized for what it is it is honored and glorified

as as far as sticks go this is a great one I have exalted the stick as far as

books go this is the best one I've exalted the Bible as far as God's go he

is the only one I've exalted God and so he says be thou exalted oh Lord and thy

strength I submit to you that here is the command of God that we could follow

and if you did this every day you would get enough right be exalted oh Lord in

thy strength God's power and ability how did Abraham get saved he trusted in a

way that God would make how did David get saved he trusted in a way that God

would make he exalted God and God's strength he trusted God's promises they

didn't know the name of Jesus most of the people who got saved before Jesus

was born didn't even know the phrase Emmanuel God with us they didn't

understand necessarily what a Savior would look like and if they did fuse

maybe Isaiah Micah maybe Jeremiah a few prophets began to get an inkling of it

it would be a suffering servant would be a man God a god man who would die for

sin they were beginning to get just an inkling of it but most of them trusted

in God's strength in a way if you were sitting here today and you say you know

that thing he's talking about about Jesus God that thing he's talking about

about Jesus I want to understand that I want to believe that I want to follow

Jesus I don't think I really know how but God I trust you the God of heaven you

alone I trust you this is the way show me the way if Jesus is the way show me

the way I'll follow Jesus if he's the way whatever that looks like that's how I

got saved Sherry asked me the previous Sunday before I went down to the office

she said she said well what does that mean you're gonna get saved you're

gonna follow Jesus gonna be saved I said I don't know but this much I know it's

gonna change everything and it did that's how I got saved I don't know you

don't know you don't know what tomorrow is gonna bring you can say I'm gonna

accept Jesus today and God forbid in ten years get diagnosed with cancer and as

you go through that process you're gonna have to use that cancer and your

circumstances and everything else to glorify God somehow how you gonna do

that people usually struggle with anger denial bitterness they pull back away

from family because they know they're gonna die and leave them they do all

kinds of stupid things when they struggle with real hardship like cancer

and I'm dying from it I've got a diagnosis I'll be dead in six months okay

well how do you handle that how do you glorify God and I have been at the bed

side of people who died from one illness and we're glorifying God all the way to

their very last breath or at least all the way to their very last breath

conscious and I have been at the bedside of people who did not know Jesus and

could not glorify God and most of what they were saying was oh forgive me and

I'm so sorry and call brother Sam because I really hurt him or call Tom

and ask him to come here or call that pastor I used to listen to and ask him

to come pray for me and they've got all these last-minute wants to take care of

regrets and things they didn't do what and they're trying to weave a plot or a

plan by which they're gonna leave this life with some kind of conclusion that

they can accept do you ever read a book and you get the last chapter you go I

know this is how this is gonna end and I don't like it I don't think I'm just

not gonna read it or okay I'm gonna read if I'm gonna hope for the best

because it doesn't look like it's gonna go good it's not what I want well that's

how they are they're at the last chapter of life they're going I don't get this I

don't want this I don't want to be here right now and yet they are and if you

accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today or if you have already done

so you are committing to endure that time to persevere through that time to

stand up for God why because God wins in the end he is strong and he will not

fail he does not fail to keep his promises and so whatever you go through

and you have a loved one that that turns their back on you walks away and you're

so hurt by that still using that to glorify God you lose a job that you've

been at for forever you thought oh it's gonna be I'm perfectly happier and all

of a sudden it's gone you've got to use that to glorify God you got out of bed

one morning you got a pain in your knee and you just won't go away day after day

week after week month after month you're in pain you've got to use that to

glorify God why because even when it doesn't look like it he's winning he

wins in the end and his enemies those who do not stand with him are his

enemies they will be consumed in his wrath they will face his anger even as

he targets their face their plans to to fix it all will be undone whatever God

puts you through that's what you're gonna go through and if you're choosing

to be an enemy you'll realize that you will be routed your plan will fail and

you will be stricken that brings us to our conclusion commanded to celebrate

God's strength we sing and praise him forever we start now start now as soon

as you know it's true but we sing and praise him and exalt him forever in the

book of Romans chapter 1 our first actual New Testament reference for the

Romans 1 · chapter mention

day the book of Romans chapter 1 it says this beginning in verse 1 Paul a

Romans 1 · chapter mention

bondservant of Christ Jesus called as an apostle set apart for the gospel of God

so this is who's writing the book he's an apostle means he's a sent one and he

set apart which means he's made holy for the gospel of God that's the truth about

Jesus and the truth that is Jesus which he promised beforehand through his

prophets God had already explained that this was coming Paul says in the Holy

Scriptures concerning his son who was born of a descendant of David according

to the flesh so he says the the truth that God had already told us is that it

would be a descendant of David who would come as a human for who was declared the

Son of God so that descendant of David Jesus was declared the Son of God with

power what power God's power God's strength with power by the resurrection

from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness Jesus Christ our Lord that's

who Paul was writing on behalf of that's who Paul is writing about that's who

Paul is living for that's who Paul wants to glorify that's who he exalts the

power of is our God he says according to the Spirit of holiness Jesus Christ our

Lord skip down then to verse 15 the same he says thus for my part I am eager to

preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome for I am not ashamed of the gospel

I am not ashamed of the gospel there is only one way to heaven and it is through

Jesus Christ our Lord no man cometh unto the Father even in prayer no man cometh

unto the Father except through Jesus Christ our Lord you can pray to God but

there is no guarantee he will answer any prayer except one of salvation from

anybody except the follower of Jesus if you can find a promise in the Bible I

would be amazed there is no promise that he will answer any prayer except the

salvation prayer of salvation for anybody except the follower of Jesus no

man cometh unto the Father except he come through me Jesus Christ speaking

John 14 six he says I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God

what what it what it's all 21 say exalt exalt the strength or the power of our

Lord be thou exalted or Lord in thy strength I will sing and praise thy

power for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for

salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek for

in it is the righteousness I'm sorry in it the righteousness of God is revealed

from faith to faith as it is written but the righteous man shall live by faith I

submit to you that we are now seeing the surgical strike the cold shot of our God

exactly how skilled is our God I think you may be getting be beginning to get

an inkling Isaiah 51 verses 7 to 8 so this is pre Jesus but I submit to you

Isaiah 51:7–8

that Jesus was a that Isaiah was a prophet who could kind of foresee what

was going to go on in Jesus's day Isaiah 53 for example talks a lot about the

crucifixion before crucifixion was ever invented right and in Isaiah 51 7 to 8

says as follows listen to me you who know righteousness a people in whose

heart is my law do not fear the reproach of men and that was it means

don't worry about it when people come against you don't fear it when people

come against you neither be dismayed at their revilings so in other words it

doesn't matter if they mock God mock you doesn't matter what dirty things come

out of their mouth or the way they behave how much of a slight to God is

don't worry about that he says do not fear that verse 8 says for the mouth for

the moth will eat them like a garment for the moth will eat them like a

garment and the grub will eat them like wool but my righteousness shall be

forever and my salvation to all generations here is God's surgical

stripe here is God's called shot the power of our God has singled out you has

singled out me has singled out us to be saved Jesus Christ was sent from all

eternity into mankind to go to the cross and die for Caleb show for Dan

Stevenson for Tim Mitchell it is a pointed arrow through all history you

are hearing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ because the power of our God is

such that he could target you amongst a billion humans amongst seven billion

humans that he could target the gospel at you specifically now that is a power

of God that is to be exalted if you're walking in your squad in the military

and there's a sniper out there and he puts his crosshairs on your head and he

pulls the trigger and blows your head off you're dead you're out if God puts

his crosshairs on you and he targets you with the gospel of Jesus Christ you're

in you're saved while the entire squad around you does not know Jesus while

your family while your friends while your co-workers while other citizens of

the United States claim some other version of Christianity here is the

version of Christianity that will get you where you're trying to get to it is

the gospel of Jesus and it is a surgical strike to save those who will be saved

why is it so important because if the God of heaven came into the earth now

and if there are let's say I don't remember what the number is now let's

say eight billion people alive on the earth or whatever and say there's eight

billion people if eight million people the God of heaven holy God came down

those eight billion people if they didn't know Jesus if there was no

salvation if there was no surgical strike of the gospel to save souls from

amongst them then those eight million people would face the wrath of a holy

God and they would go to hell for an eternity all of them every single one of

them except there is a surgical strike presented by God where he says will you

and if you say yes if you call upon the name of the Lord and you choose to

follow God through his son Jesus Christ amongst your family who may all go to

hell amongst your friends who may all go to hell against Toledo once who may all

go to hell against great political movements who may gather 12 or 15 or 20

million people all to follow their set of rules or great false religions who

may have the tenfold and have all these people go like I get about 90% of it

right and they're thinking they're going to heaven or those who blow themselves

up with a bomb thinking they're gonna get their virgins in heaven whatever all

of that they'll all go to hell because our God is able to surgically strike

those who will receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and what do you have to

do believe in the strength of our God Ephesians 2 by grace God will surgically

strike you and save your soul if you will believe in his strength to do so

the channel of faith opens wide by grace through faith the channel of faith opens

wide when you believe that God can do it when you believe that God will win when

you believe that God will overcome when you believe that God will make a way for

you to be saved and that he has done so through Jesus Christ his son who died on

the cross for your sins was resurrected on the third day stands at the right hand

of the father right now making intercession for those whom God has

surgically struck with the gospel you will meet all kinds of intelligent

people you'll meet all kinds of crafty people you'll meet strong people you'll

meet warriors and you'll meet Winklings but your walk of life your skin color

your level of prosperity your ability to solve problems do math or even your

ability to read not one of those things is a calculation and whether or not you

can be saved when God surgically strikes you when God calls to you all that

determines whether or not you will be saved is when he chooses you will you

allow it and don't kid yourself if you do not allow it you become in that

instant an enemy of God I remember when God called me forward to the altar as

the East little Baptist Church and I was supposed to walk down the aisle at first

Sunday I had gone alone first time I ever been in church alone in my whole

life I went until I was for just about like five months I was about five and

a half years old and there was a tragedy in my family and we never went again I

never went again to church until I was almost 25 and I've been going to church

for about almost six months I'm sitting in the back queue there and that morning

Sherry had worked until like 6 a.m. at her job she was supposed to be closing

the night for me that had been something going on and they didn't get out until

like 530 she got home to like 6 o'clock in the morning and she was just too

tired she couldn't get up and Alicia was the only child we had at that time we

had her out of wedlock we lived together before a marriage this time we're

legally married but our marriage was a mess and I got up and Alicia wasn't

going so I think she wasn't home she spent the night at a friend's house was

going to church with her friend I think but anyway pointed so I'm going by

myself so I go and I sit in the back to you there and God called me God said Dan

if you come follow me for the rest of your day I'll give you abundant life and

eternity I'll give you something to do something to do that matters more than

your writing lawnmower or your lawn or your house your loans or your cars he

said I'll fix everything about you if you let me and I said well God I

got to tell you you know I'm married and I ain't talked to my wife about this and

this is a pretty big decision so I'm gonna do that first and I declined and

the song ended and I was still standing in my pew from that moment in time I

became truly an enemy of God fact is I probably already was I certainly was an

object of his wrath according to Ephesians 2 because I was lost in my

trespasses and sins I was doing things that I should not do that's one of the

reasons why my marriage was such a mess because I was not a good man seven days

went by and I stood in the pew the next Sunday Alicia was there that Sunday but

she was in the little CC's because she was just a tot and the Lord called me to

come forward and he said Dan I'll do this all this for you save your soul

clean you up fix you up put you to work give you abundant life and eternity you

come serve me for the rest of your days I said darn it forgot to talk to my wife

said God you know I didn't talk to my wife the song ended I was still standing

in my pew and I walked out the door and by that time even I knew I was an enemy

of God let's not kid ourselves you know when God's aiming at your face you can

feel it if you can't see it so that Sunday afternoon I I got in the car we

were driving down to our favorite pizza restaurant Peglias or Polly eyes we

always call it pegs we as I was a kid is technically supposed to be Polly eyes

and we're driving down and I just decided to drive along the Portage River

instead of driving down 75 and get there both ways Port River slower and it's

windy and we had my dad had taken that way a lot when we were kids and so I

decided I'd do that we hit the first curve on the Portage River where the

road kind of curves around and used to be a big old barn there and I recognized

the curve and I I was driving our Toyota Corolla the car that I bought that I

never wanted to buy but my wife talked me into it

cause a lot of strife between us at the time and I looked at her and I said I

got to talk to you about something and my heart shook and my mind was frayed and

my palms were sweaty we had that Toyota Corolla had one of those plastic

steering wheels remember those plastic steering wheels no cover on it and I

said dear I think I'm gonna give my life to the Lord and she said she kind of

went what does that even mean and I said I don't know but I know it's gonna

change everything everything about me is gonna change see that's the thing

everybody wants to come to Jesus but they don't they aren't willing to let God

be in charge you got to exalt God's strength okay so I said well everything's

gonna change so then in in true fashion of our friction marriage she said back

to me she said well you do whatever you got to do and I'll do what I got to do

and I already knew that there was a good chance we were gonna get divorced

because we didn't have a good relationship and I thought well if

everything changed everything about me she liked who I was before I couldn't

imagine she liked who I was then but except she liked who I was when she

married me and she wanted me she wanted me before I wanted her marriage anyway

and I said if she liked me before and now everything's gonna change she's

probably gonna want me no more and so I thought but so I actually that following

Sunday I'm sitting in the back pew and I'm alone again she didn't come to

church I'm alone again even great-grandma wasn't there that Sunday and she was

the only other person in the church that I knew and God said Dan I'll save your

soul I'll clean you up I'll fix you up I'll make you able I'll give you an

abundant life and an eternity it's all prepared it's all paid for already if

you just trust me if you just believe in me open up I'll do it and here's my

thought I'm thinking to myself well if I do this my wife is probably gonna

divorce me and I wanted Jesus so bad I wanted Jesus so bad in that moment that

if if I had done that if I could have never breathed again I'd have gone

forward except there was one huge barrier and that was that I as a non

Christian I'm super intimidated I could never preach never teach I missed 38

days of my junior year high school to miss every report in front of the

classroom that I would ever have to give and only got caught once one time I went

back and they made me give the report but other than that I gave one new junior

year's lot of talking in front of the class or at least it used to be back

then and I gave one I missed 38 days the truant officer used to go stand in the

doorway of my school trying to catch me coming in late because I was always

late and if I wasn't late I was never wasn't there and he'd been at my house a

couple of times this back in the day when they cared now you got to drive to

Columbus if you're missing too much school the point is he would go looking

for me he was looking for Dan Stevenson why Dan seems not in school why is he

showing a plate whatever and I I knew I had to walk forward in front of that

church but I wanted abundant life I wanted eternity I knew I needed to be

forgiven I knew I was an enemy of God and believe it or not in my foolish place

that I was at I knew that God wins and so I exalted God's strength and I said

God I can't do it but if you'll do it for me I'll do it and standing in the

back of that pew my feet were side by side like this and my knees were

probably shaking and my hands are sweating my mouth full of cotton and I

turned my foot out about three inches like that and the next thing I know I

swear to God I did not take those 50 steps I was nose to nose with the

pastor and he said you want to become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and

serve him for the rest of your days and I said yes I do and he said you want to

come and be baptized name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit just as

Jesus commanded and I said yes I do even though I knew that man I was gonna have

to get up in front of the church again and he said and you want to come and

join this church and be part of this church and serve God for the rest of

your days and I said yes I do and every time I said yes I my my body my desires

my flesh screamed don't do that don't do that don't do that but now my body is

on board baby my body loves this life that I'm living for Jesus even though I

mess it up a lot of different ways it's so glad because if it wasn't for that

day I'd have been gone a long time ago I'm here to tell you today this simple

fact or this set of facts one God will win the enemies of God will be defeated

the plans of men who stand against God will be undone that'll look like the

wrath of God completely swallowing burning hot ovens as people try

everything in their power and there is no other solution and God consumes them

for an eternity unfortunately his wrath will consume them for an eternity