Simple Faith

Guest (Male): Most people believe in God, but a lot of those people are not one of God's children. Here's Pastor Bill Henry to explain.

Bill Henry: This promise is only for those who are God's children, who have been born again of the Spirit of God. Jesus said, "You must be born again."

Bill Henry: This is one of the reasons that it's so important that we all understand that the whole world are not the children of God, that all the people in the world are not the children of God. Because a child of God, then has the inheritance of God.

Bill Henry: So, in other words, God created the world. God loves the world, all the people that He created. He loves those people, but they are not His children until they repent of their sins and are born again of the Spirit of God.

Guest (Male): Hello and welcome to Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry, the senior pastor at Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver. On this first broadcast of 2022, we begin the final message in Pastor Bill's series through Psalm 23.

Guest (Male): This is easily the best-known of the Psalms and we're going to take a look at the final verse today, "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." That's a wonderful thing to contemplate, isn't it? When we get to heaven, we'll be there dwelling with the Lord forever. Amen to that. Let's join Pastor Bill for today's edition of Simple Faith.

Bill Henry: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Bill Henry: As I was meditating upon this Psalm and studying this, this last portion of the Psalm, I was thinking about home. And how just how we like, like there are many songs written about home, "I'll be home for Christmas," "Home" by Phil Phillips, "Sweet Home Alabama." Does anybody out there, even Simon and Garfunkel, "Homeward Bound."

Bill Henry: And you know what's interesting, I believe that the Lord, just as He has built in us a need to worship God, a need to be in fellowship with God. I believe He's also built into us something special about home. He's put into us to look forward, even for unbelievers, that there has to be something more.

Bill Henry: You know, it's interesting, in "Homeward Bound," we read the words of Simon and Garfunkel. The last part of it says, "Tonight I'll sing my songs again, I'll play the game and pretend, but all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity, like emptiness and harmony. I need someone to comfort me."

Bill Henry: Talk about a crying out for the Lord. They go on to write, "Homeward Bound, I wish I was homeward bound, home where my thoughts escaping, home where my music's playing, home where my love lies waiting silently for me."

Bill Henry: And many more songs about home, movies, and books, and poems about being homesick, leaving home, going home. I remember the song, "Take Me Home, Country Roads." And that was the first song I actually learned to play on the guitar.

Bill Henry: As I was learning guitar, but what's interesting, a friend of mine, I was going to Australia to travel for six months. And a friend of mine said, "Hey, take this guitar with you," an old Yamaha, and said, "Learn how to play the guitar while you're gone." So I got myself a cheap songbook on how to do chords and things and I started learning how to play the guitar as I traveled around Australia.

Bill Henry: Now, what's interesting about this is, as I continued to practice and learn, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" began to take on a new light as I became more and more homesick. As I became more and more looking forward to the end of my six months, to see my family again, to see my friends again.

Bill Henry: Hey, I had a wonderful time traveling. Traveling can be a very fun and exciting thing, but man, when you have family that you love and friends that you love, there's nothing that compares.

Bill Henry: And so, as I was getting homesick, this song just meant more and more to me. Man, what a poignant picture of the Christian life. To be coming more and more homesick to go to heaven. More and more homesick to go to that place where the Lord, where we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Bill Henry: And, guys and gals, we need to remember as Christians that this world is not our home. This is not the end. And we're told this continually throughout the Word of God. Turn with me, please, to John chapter 15. The Gospel of John chapter 15. And we come into the middle of Jesus speaking here to His disciples. John 15, starting in verse 18.

Bill Henry: "If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because, notice, because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

Bill Henry: You see, guys and gals, we are no longer to be of the world. We are not of the world. Turn with me to John chapter 17. Just over a couple of chapters. And we come into the high priestly prayer of Jesus as He's praying for His, praying for His disciples. Here in verse 16.

Bill Henry: John 17:16. Jesus prayed, "They are not of the world." Notice, the Amplified says, "worldly, belonging to the world, just as I am not of the world." See, we are not of this world. Turn with me, please, to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. Verse 20. Philippians 3, verse 20. "For our citizenship is in heaven."

Bill Henry: You see, we need to understand and we need to remember, it goes on to say, "for which we also eagerly await for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, but our citizenship is in heaven." When we became born again of the Spirit of God, when we repent of our sins and believe on Jesus, it's almost like we've taken our citizenship and it's like, "Now, I've traded in. I am now a citizen of heaven."

Bill Henry: And that's what we need to remember. Hebrews chapter 11, please. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11. The name of more than one coffee shop around the world. Hebrews. Hebrews 11, starting in verse 13.

Bill Henry: Now, this is going back to the Old Testament, as the writer of Hebrews is talking about those who even then understood that they were strangers. Hebrews 11:13, it said, "These all died in faith, not having received the things promised." By the way, we have received those things promised. "But having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged, notice, that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." Have we acknowledged this? Do we acknowledge this today that we are strangers and exiles on the earth? It goes on to say in verse 14, "For people who speak thus, make it clear that they are seeking a homeland."

Bill Henry: See, this isn't our home. It goes on in verse 15, "If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had the opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city."

Bill Henry: You see, even Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, they were all looking forward. David, they were looking forward to this promise. They knew they were not of this world. Turn to First Peter, please. First Peter chapter 2. Tried to make it easy. We just be going in one direction here, turning into the different things. First Peter chapter 2, starting in verse 9.

Bill Henry: Love this description. This is, by the way, a description of you and me as we're in Christ Jesus. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, notice, as aliens and strangers in this world to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul."

Bill Henry: We are strangers in this world. We are aliens. I remember, if maybe some of you remember back in the 80s and 90s, there was a band called Petra, a Christian band. And in the early 2000s, they actually wrote a song about this and it's called, "Not of This World." Let me read some of the lyrics. It's so poignant.

Bill Henry: They said, "We are strangers," or, "we are pilgrims in a strange land. We are so far from our homeland. With each passing day, it seems so clear, the world will never want us here. We're not welcome in this world of wrong. We are foreigners who don't belong. We are strangers, we are aliens, we are not of this world. We are envoys, we must tarry. With this message, we must carry. There's so much to do before we leave, with so many more who may believe. Our mission here can never fail, and the gates of hell will not prevail. We are strangers, we are aliens, we are not of this world." And lastly it says, "Jesus told us men would hate us, but we must be of good cheer. He has overcome this world of darkness. Soon we will depart from here." "We are strangers, we are aliens."

Bill Henry: So again, why is the focus on being aliens? Are we going to wait for the mothership to come, you know, pick us up after service? No. But again, we need to remember as born-again disciples of Jesus Christ. We need to remember whose we are. We need to remember who we are, and we need to remember where we're going.

Bill Henry: Hey, we can get so caught up in this world that we forget, this is not forever. Praise God. Hallelujah. Amen. I mean, there's some wonderful things about this world. I mean, I love this time of year, and getting sunshine and the weather we've had the last week or two. You know, I'm looking forward actually to some rain. That's weird, if you know me, that's weird for me to say. But it's been so beautiful. I ride a motorcycle, man, this is perfect motorcycle weather to be out riding and enjoying God's creation. But again, we're strangers here.

Bill Henry: And we need to remember this, guys and gals. We need to remember whose we are, who we are, and where we're going. Notice back in our text in Psalm 23, "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." That's where the Christian is going. We're going to dwell there forever. You're not going to be in this body forever. And praise God on so many different levels.

Bill Henry: I mean, sincerely, when you're getting older and things start falling apart, maybe you've had, you know, things happen or, you know, it's just such a blessing and the sinfulness of our human body. The nature, the nature that fights against our spirit continually.

Bill Henry: We are to live now as if this is our temporary home, in the words of another song. You know, the lyrics, I love it. It says, "Old man, hospital bed, the room is filled with people he loves. And he whispers, don't cry for me, I'll see you all someday. He looks up and says, I can see God's face. This is my temporary home. It's not where I belong. Windows and rooms that I'm passing through. This was just a stop on the way to where I am going. I'm not afraid because I know this was my temporary home."

Bill Henry: Do you know that, beloved in Christ? Do you know that the world, as we look around it, and honestly, as it's getting darker and darker, and as we're growing closer to Christ, even if it was staying the same, it still should look darker and darker because we're hopefully and prayerfully becoming more holy. And we see these things in a different light, and we feel strange, we feel like aliens when we stand up and say, "Hey, this isn't godly, this isn't right." And people look at us like we're nuts.

Bill Henry: Hey, you know, we need to keep our eyes on, "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." "I will dwell forever." I love this. You see, if we are, for we are God's sheep. And this is where God, our good Shepherd is going to take us to His house to dwell forever. He loves us.

Bill Henry: You know, as I was looking at this scripture, how do you not think about, in Second Samuel, if you remember when David had sinned with Bathsheba? And in that sin, she became pregnant. He committed adultery, and, and, and so then all of a sudden it's like he, he ended up having her husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed purposefully, and, and so then he took her into his house. And, and so the Lord sent a prophet named Nathan. And the prophet came to tell David this story. And this is the story that he told David.

Bill Henry: He said, "There were two men in a certain town. One was rich and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man's own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter."

Bill Henry: Now, we can go on and, and, and, you know, have David's reaction, but I just want to look at that portion of the scripture this morning. You see, guys and gals, that is God's love for you and for me. That, that is His love. He, he, he raised that little lamb, grew it up with his children. It ate from the man's own plate and drank from his cup. Man, there's nothing like little baby animals. Amen? I mean, little baby animals are so cute. Our, our oldest daughter just got a dog a couple weeks ago. And she is now, I think, six weeks old, or no, nine or ten weeks old, whatever it is. But she's a cute as a button. You know, there's always so fun to hold and to cuddle and to play with. And there's something about the baby animals.

Bill Henry: I remember years ago, when we were teaching our girls to drive, and even still we're teaching one another. One of the things we've always said, "Hey, if an animal comes in front of you, a squirrel, or, you know, a rabbit or something like that, try and miss it, but don't swerve out of the way into where you crash and get killed." So, we've always told them that. And, and, and I've always kind of driven like that.

Bill Henry: This morning, we're driving to church. And all of a sudden, up in the road, right, you know, right in front of our car, there were these two little baby squirrels. Dude, I mean, these little baby squirrels running across. And the second one kind of stopped, you know, as it was following its brother or sister. And I'm like, "Oh, that's two. I got to try to stop. I got to try to, you know, I, you know, for me, I'm like, I'll swerve off the road and we'll all get killed. I don't want to kill these little baby squirrels." There's something about those baby animals that we love. You can see little baby tigers, or, you know, even baby wolves. I saw a guy that had a, he, he, had raised a hyena from, from, you know, being, you know, in his, being a baby and stuff. And those, those are gnarly animals. Even their, their cries and stuff, but it was so cute seeing him with even this little baby. And here's my point.

Bill Henry: You see, we are called sheep here. And in the sheep, in, in, you know, the little lamb that in, in the story there with David, that is us. We are that little lamb to the Lord. That is how the Lord sees us. We are the lowliest of people as we are lambs. We are little because we've been crippled and maimed by our sin. And yet the good Shepherd takes us into His house forever. To love us in this way, we eat from His own plate, drink from His cup. I mean, you can see the parallels, even, you know, going into the New Testament, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's a beautiful picture. This is who the Christian is. We are adopted forever in Christ Jesus as the children of God.

Bill Henry: You know, I love this. Now, one thing though, I want to point out within our text this morning. That this promise is only for those who are God's sheep. This promise is only for those who are God's children, who have been born again of the Spirit of God. Jesus said, "You must be born again."

Bill Henry: This is one of the reasons that it's so important that we all understand that the whole world are not the children of God, that all the people in the world are not the children of God. There are songs that say that. I've heard pastors, I've heard guys that I respect from the pulpit even say, "Oh, we're all God's children." No.

Bill Henry: Because a child of God then has the inheritance of God. So, in other words, God created the world. God loves the world, all the people that He created. He loves those people, but they are not His children until they repent of their sins and are born again of the Spirit of God. Why is this important? Because we need to understand. That if we do not become the children of God, if we do not repent of our sins, if we're not born again and then adopted into the family of God by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, then we will not dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Bill Henry: This is a very important thing that we need to understand. For there, you know, are also those that do not call God their, their Father, which are in heaven, their God. You know, here's the key. Notice it says again in our text, "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Can I ask you a question this morning? Do you want to dwell in the house of the Lord forever?

Bill Henry: Raise your hands if you want to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. I know some of you had to raise your hands because you don't want to look, you know, whatever. But sincerely, do you want to? Here's the, here's the reason I ask. Because it's an interesting thing. When I lead worship or when I'm preaching and teaching, and this has been for years and years, sometimes I don't look around too often when I'm preaching. I obviously do. When I'm leading worship, I don't. But it's interesting because sometimes when I'm leading worship, sometimes when I'm teaching and preaching, I can tell that there are many that really don't seem to want to be here.

Bill Henry: They're not worshiping the Lord. We, you know, we encourage people to raise their hands and they just sit there, they don't raise their hands. They're, they're hardly even singing. There's no seemingly emotional attachment at all. And they just kind of seem like they don't want to be here. Maybe they fall asleep during the sermon, during the teaching. We've had some of those.

Bill Henry: But, you know, most times, you know, these are the same people who want to leave immediately right after service ends because they don't want to have to fellowship with others. Let's get out of here quick before somebody says hello and we have to actually talk. Yet here they are, they're still here. Perhaps it's become some, because someone lovingly dragged them here. Maybe some are here this morning. Perhaps it's because somebody unlovingly dragged them here. "You will come!" And I wrote that with a little smiley face after, so make sure that.

Bill Henry: You know, perhaps there's others that feel like they have to be here to be a good Christian and to make it to heaven. But you see, here's the difference. For the true Christian, for the true child of God, they want to be here. You see, a true Christian, a true child of God, wants to be in fellowship with other believers. Not even just wants, but needs to be. You see, there's a lot of people today that say, "Oh, I, you know, I'm just, I go out and I go into the mountains and I hike, and that's my church. I don't need all the hypocritical Christians." I've heard other people say, "Hey, church would be great if there were no people in it." I've heard, I've even heard pastors say that.

Bill Henry: I'll give him an amen, not just kidding. It's crazy the things I hear as a pastor, even just as a Christian. "Well, you know, I don't go to church because there's so many hypocrites there." I look at people and say, "Great, you'll fit right in."

Bill Henry: Seriously, because we're all hypocrites. We all sin. Yes, I'm raising my hand highest and first. Because we all are hypocrites. Welcome to the body of Christ. If you're looking for perfection in a church, you're never going to find it. And sometimes I think that's what people want. They don't want to find it. Because we're all sinners still saved by the grace of God, so we all still have things that God is working in our lives. And sometimes it's going to come to a head.

Bill Henry: That's why Jesus told us what to do if someone sins against us. We don't sit there and let's go talk to everybody else about them. Let's go talk to the whole church about this person or that, and let's get everybody praying for that person under the guise, we're gossiping under the guise of prayer. No, Jesus said, "If someone sins against you, go to them." Paul told us, or James told us, "Hey, look, if someone's fallen into sin, go to them." Try to to restore them, seek to restore.

Bill Henry: You see, guys and gals, the true Christian wants to be in fellowship because they love other Christians. They love other Christians. Man, I've been to churches around the world, and what a blessing it is to even walk into a church where you cannot speak a word, but you have Jesus Christ in common. I remember years ago being on a missions trip, and one fellow we were witnessing to, he found our interpreter pretty, and so he invited us over for to meet his grandma who was a Christian. And so, as we go over, this little old lady, I think, I think they call her Papushka, I'm not positive. She meets us at the door, and I'm going to start getting teary eyed, she just starts weeping. And she says, "What an honor it is to have other brothers and sisters from around the world. I never had anybody from outside our country to visit my home. What an honor, what a blessing." She had her finest China out, her finest everything. And it was such a blessing. And we had Jesus Christ in common.

Guest (Male): Thank you so much for joining us for Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry from Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington. Now, if you were blessed by today's message from the 23rd Psalm, you can go to our website and watch the video or download an audio MP3. And we have a large number of Pastor Bill's messages archived there. You can find them all at simplefaith.org, that's simplefaith.org. And if you'd like to contact us via the US mail, our mailing address is Post Office Box 55, Battle Ground, Washington, and the zip code is 98604. Here at Simple Faith Calvary Chapel, we have two services on Sunday morning, at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. So if you're looking for a church home, make plans to join us for fellowship, worship, and a great time in God's Word at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM every Sunday morning. Thank you so much for joining us today and be sure to set aside another half hour next weekend at this same time, as our study in Psalm 23 continues here on Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry. Brought to you by Simple Faith Calvary Chapel. Have a wonderful week in the Lord.