God’s Protection

1. Intro a. Give the youth a round b. Thankful that God has me in this position with the youth and the team 2. Lauren a. Lauren should have been up here i. She told me last Sunday that due to her school requirements that she would not be able to make it. ii. About 3 weeks ago, I told Kalah that the HS told me to get a message ready iii. Cool how God works 3. Why this topic a. Not that long ago, I witnessed Gods protection on an individual that I had not witnessed before. There was a group of people who were going through a trial. One individual from the group was not affected at all during this trial, while the others were. Taking a closer look at the group, the one individual who was not affected, was a strong, bold, upright Christian, while the others were not. It was amazing to see. It captivated my thoughts for several weeks. And while I was watching this situation unfold, I had to know more about Gods protection. So, I started studying Gods protection, who falls under that umbrella, and why they do. How do I live a life where Gods protecting hand is upon me. b. What I want to talk about tonight is how some people are covered under Gods protection and others aren’t. The question I sought to understand is what keeps people protected and other not being protected, even if we are talking about Christians. 4. Two different types of protection: a. Individually standing upright with God, having favor with God and intercessory protection

Favor of God

b. Its starts here. c. A somewhat elementary theological answer to who God protects is those who God finds favor with. 5. Meaning of favor: a. Hebrew and Greek translation of favor is charis i. Both mean grace and kindness b. Favor is given to a person as an expression of Gods affection towards you. God is honoring the faithfulness in an individual to carry His presence to exalt Him, not you. It’s a means of encouragement. 6. Who around you do you seem to favor??? 7. Why would someone favor you? Why would someone want to be around you? You enjoy others because normally they enjoy you. Have you ever been around someone who thought you were really funny or they were being noticeably joyful after you said things? Is there anyone you know who thinks you hung the moon? If you can think of a person like that, I would bet that you would favor that individual more than others. 8. Delight a. God shows favor to the ones who delight in, connect with, and give honor to Him. i. Psalm 149:4 1. For the Lord takes delight in His people; he crowns the humble with victory. ii. Isaiah 66:2 says, “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” iii. Each thought 1. Word 2. Motive 3. … 9. It’s also for our environments. a. God uses the favor that He places in people to help build and establishes relationships. Look at the draw that the true presence of God has. The unexplainable presence make atheists ponder. The joy of the Lord in an individual will draw people in and want them desiring the origin of that joy. God is desirable when manifested in His unfiltered light, people can’t help but to stop and think about the presence they encountered. You could ask, but how will they know that the presence that they are encountering is God/ that our job. We will overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony! i. Favor with man.. I think it’s in here. Do u have favor with man? The presence of God is a draw to the world today who is in such disarray. Go anywhere and start praying for people. I see it time and time again, praying for people in messed up environments the presence of God will convict their hearts so much that it’s common for hardened individuals to weep. 10. Noah a. Genesis 6:5 i. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. b. Genesis 6:6 i. “And the Lord regretted that he made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. c. Genesis 6:7 i. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have mad them. d. Genesis 6:8 i. But Noah found grace (or favor) in the eyes of the Lord. e. Genesis 6:9 i. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God f. One man sways God i. Look how the righteousness of one man, swayed the decision of God. If we go in order through Genesis 6, God was about to wipe humanity off the face of the earth. But, Noah. God protected Noah and his family. ii. I believe that God is looking for any reason to NOT to lift His hand of protection out from over top of us to pour His judgement out upon an individual or individuals. It was and still is Gods design for us to walk in constant fellowship with God, being with God. He is looking for those who have the walk like Noah. g. Your trial i. Gods hand of protection was off the earth in Noah’s day and His judgement was about to be poured out. But Noah… ii. Think of a trial in your life… 1. Even though you might not be able to say this, God desires that you can assuredly say this with confidence. I know this, because that’s the design. 2. Prophesy a. Call it prophesy, but prophesy boiled down to its finest matter is proclaiming what God has already spoken over your life. God has spoken that you live blameless and righteous and that His hand of protection will be upon you. 11. Mary a. Luke 1:26-38

i. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (side note is that the greek translation literally means, favored with grace)

ii. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

iii. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

iv. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

v. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

vi. 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

vii. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

viii. 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. ix. 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

x. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

xi. 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. b. for thou hast found favour i. the greek word for this is heurisko (hugh-reese-ko) 1. the meaning is: to find, learn, discover, especially after searching. 2. To find by enquiry, thought, examination, scrutiny, observation. ii. To find something is the result of searching for something. You don’t find something that you are not looking for. 1. Kitchen sink a. Issac, I know where the kitchen sink is at my house. Never have I said “Kalah, come down here, I found it! The sink. There it is.” We both know where the kitchen sink is. iii. Second Chronicles 16:9 1. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” a. To be “perfect” toward Him means we seek His favor more than we seek the favor of anyone else, even ourselves. 2. The scripture tells us that God is literally searching for people like this. God wants. 3. Sadly, if God is always looking for it, it’s not always present. iv. Is God finding favor with you? c. 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. i. That’s the heart that God is searching for. That’s who God is looking for. ii. Not that he would, but if Gabriel had any reservations that this women was humble enough to carry the Son of God, he left with full confidence that she would fulfill the mission given to her. 12. 13. How you lose the favor of God/never receive it a. My example i. The best example that I can share is what happened to me…. b. Didn’t tell this to make a fool of myself, God taught me some valuable lessons that directly coincide with this message. c. Two lessons: i. I don’t know if many can fathom, the protection that God has on our heads. God gave me a glimpse of the spiritual warfare that the Holy Bible talks so much about. ii. The moment that we pridefully run with His favor is the moment that you will lose it, and it shows just how much praise that you can be trusted with. Our level of obedience will dictate the level of Gods favor, that can be poured out upon us.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER 1. Study a. As I was studying this, what struck me as interesting is how Gods protection will be on an individual who is not living a righteous life. This made me dig a little deeper. I was thinking, how could Gods protecting hand be on an unbeliever. i. Andre 1. Mom praying, got him out of prison early ii. Me iii. I feel that I am a product of this. I have only being Christian for about 8 years now. Before that, I was a Christian in name only, and that is being generous by saying that. I had many very close friends who have lost their lives to a lifestyle that we all lived at one time and almost all of my group at one time is still living a worldly lifestyle. 2. Interceding a. Meaning: to intervene on behalf of another. b. An action i. First fast ii. An action of bringing two parties together c. Jesus i. The best example of this is Jesus a. Bc Jesus is in Heaven, doesn’t mean that we should stop modeling His behavior. ii. 1 John 2:1 1. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2. John tell us not to sin but if we do we have an advocate with the father. What is interesting is how John wrote this. He says, Jesus Christ the righteous. He just doesn’t say, Jesus Christ. He says Jesus Christ, the righteous. We all know that Jesus is righteous, but John is making sure that “the righteous” is included in His name when talking about being an advocate for us, for interceding for us. a. The righteous can make intercession. 3. 1 Samuel 12:19-23 a. 1 Samuel 8, Israel tells Samuel that he is getting old and that they want a king. They wanted a king because other nations had kings and they taught that a king would fight their battles. Against Samuels pleading to Israel that God was sufficient that they didn’t need a king, Saul ended up becoming the king. In Samuels farewell speech, he calls out the Israeites and tells them that they will realize what an evil thing that they did in the eyes of the Lord when asking for a king. Samuel called on the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of

Samuel. 19 The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.” 20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away

from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are

useless. 22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. 23 As for me, far be it from me that I should

sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good

and right. 24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 25 Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.” b. Note that Samuel is showing us that there is an obligation on our part to not only pray for people, but that we address the issue with these people, on why God does not find favor with them. He just doesn’t say “sure, I’ll pray,” he first instructs them to stop sinning, and then prays for them. i. I have mentioned this several times that it is really a disservice to that individual if we notice something in their lives which is clearly hindering their walk with the Lord, and we don’t say anything. I, personally, am very thankful for those in my life, who in love, has addressed issues in my life that I need to deal with, to come into a deeper relationship with the Lord. ii. Second, see how Samuel said that not praying, interceding, would be a sin against God. d. The prayer of a couple motivated God to change His mind, or away Gods decision regarding something e. God honors his word,

Closing

14. Everyone want to be under God protection 15. Jesus most taught message (power point slide?) a. 7 places Jesus teaches this: if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” i. Matthew 16:24. Matt 10:38, mark 8:34, Luke 9:23, 14:26, 17:33, John 12:23. To deny yourself really thins the crowds. The crowds thins out more when Jesus says I expect you to die if needed for me. The crowd thins more... b. The greek word is aparneomai (a-pot-o-nay-o-my), which means literally that- deny. Another greek meaning, which goes along with deny, but more hit home with me is: disregard. 16. 17. Delight a. More than you b. Your children 18. Not on a low note a. Empowerment b. Why wouldn’t we deny ourselves

I would like to leave you with a quote from Dr. Bruce Shelly. Dr. Shelly was a professor of church history at Denver Seminary, who actually graduated from Bosse High School. He has written over 20 books that circulate throughout the academia realm. In his book “Church History in Plain Language” the first sentence reads like this: “Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event the humiliation of its God.” We as His followers should expect anything less. Matthew 28:18- all authority is Heaven. We are called to live like Christ. If we live like Him we can expect to be empowered as Him, cherished as He was. Not because we deserve it, because God promises it.

Look at what God went through. Look at what Jesus went through. God came to earth and we tortured and killed Him! He did this to wipe away our sins, and to empower us to live as He lived. Not for us, but to transform our environments.

The majority of the church finds it socially awkward to even bring Jesus name up in conversation, let alone be empowered by the Holy Spirit. I don’t see in the Holy Bible where the comfortable mundane life is what God is looking for when His eyes to and fro this world searching for the righteous. Searching for those he can use. Searching for those who are sold out for Him. Look at the humility that Jesus went through for us. Praise God for our savior!

What keeps you from His protection (taken from Derek prince invisible barriers to healing Isaiah 53:5)

Not knowing Gods word. Ignorance of Gods word and Gods will. Christians don’t know simple truths of God. Isiah 5, he says that they go into captivity bc they do not know Gods word. Josea 4;6. NT calls, heb 3:12-13, ignorance a sin and evil

Mosaic covenant, deu 28:1-14. God told His people that He will bless them if they lived according to the mosaic covenant, and if they did not obey that they would live out the curses spelled out in the covenant (deu 28:15-68).

https://www.gotquestions.org/favor-of-God.html

What does all of this mean for you? Right now you are being forced to be around things at school and possibly your home which do not line up with the word of God. Each of you are old enough and have the biblical knowledge to know good from bad. And actually you guys are at the age where your old enough to know, but young enough to where many of you haven’t polluted your minds with the world and twisted your values/agenda/doctrine. I hear a lot of people say, yes I grew up in the church but now I think this way or that way. When an individual says something like that they are saying that I have ran from God and am playing god myself

• Psalm 67 . Bless me cause your face to shine on me... • Have to listen to God • If we listen, we have to recognize His voice • It’s an elite group • • God honors his word,

Holy Bible verses: • 2 Thessalonians 3:3. But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. • Psalm 34:19. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. • Psalm 12:5. “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” Gods protection is a result of His favor upon us • Proverbs 3: 3-4. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. • Proverbs 3:34. Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor. • Genesis 6:8. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. • Luke 1:30. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. • Isiah 66