Hello, I'm Doctor Kylie Fisher. Welcome to heavenly harmonies. Daniel, chapter twelve and verse one says, at that time shall michael stand up the great prince which standeth the children of thy people.
And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was, since there was a nation, even to that same time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. At the very close of earth's history, Jesus will finish his work in the heavenly sanctuary.
This marks the beginning of what the Bible calls the time of trouble, a time on the verge of which we are even now living. How can we be prepared to stand during this time? Our hymn for today tells us, stay with me to discover how the song under his wings can keep you near to the heart of Goddesse. Under his wings I am safely abiding though the night deepens and tempests are wild still I can trust him I know he will keep me he has redeemed me and I am his childhood under his wings, under his wings who from his love can sever under his wings my soul shall abide safely abide forever under his wings.
What a refuge in sorrow. How the heart yearningly turns to its rest. Often when earth has no balm for my healing there I find comfort and there I am blessed.
Under his wings, under his wings who from his love can sever under his wings my soul shall abide safely abide forever under his wings oh, what precious enjoyment there will I hide till life's trials are o'erdez sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me resting in Jesus I'm safe evermore under his wings, under his wings who from his love can sever under his wings my soul shall abide safely abide forever. Such a beautiful hymn. And this hymn speaks of an experience that we all can have now.
And I hope that as I was going through the words of that song, you were perhaps thinking back on your own experience, reflecting on your experience in times when you felt just overwhelmed with sorrow or worries or cares whatever, and you went to Christ and you just poured out your soul in prayer, and you found refuge under his wings. And this is taken from psalm, chapter 91, particularly from psalm, chapter 91. And let's have a look at this, because this is such a beautiful, beautiful psalm.
And this, I think, is kind of really the basis of this song. So I'll read through a few of the verses, and you will hear the ideas contained in this song, in this psalm. So starting at verse one, he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty.
I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God. In him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. And so particularly verse four, that's really, you know, the heart of this song there in the chorus, under his wings, under his wings, you know, that's the part that's repeated right at the beginning of every verse and also in the chorus.
So, yeah, psalm 91 four, he shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. And so, yeah, that's just so beautiful.
And Jesus invites all of us, you know, whenever we're struggling with problems, temptations, things that we don't know what to do, we can come to Christ and we can ask him for help. Love, James one five that says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, which giveth to all men liberally. So, you know, no matter what it is that you're needing, whether it's wisdom, whether it's strengthen, whether it's comfort, you can find it all in Christ.
Christ is the helper. But let's also notice, so this has a general application. I hope that you can see the application to your life.
If you haven't experienced this, you know, I don't know who's going to be listening to this podcast. Maybe you've just randomly found the three ABN radio station and you just suddenly tuned in listening to my voice. I don't know, maybe you've never even read the Bible before.
If you haven't prayed or read the Bible, I would encourage you. This is a great place to start. Psalm 91, beautiful, beautiful psalm that can help you to find comfort and hope and shows you that God wants to comfort you no matter what experience you might be going through.
So if you haven't experienced this, I would encourage you to take these promises in the Bible, go to God, take them there and he will draw near to you and you can find comfort in him. But no doubt many of the people that are listening to this podcast have experienced that. So I hope that you can reflect back on your personal journey, your personal experience, those times when you've experienced comfort through prayer and through being under God's wings.
But I also want to draw your attention to some other verses in the Bible that talk about this idea. And so let's have a look at Matthew chapter 23. Matthew, chapter 23.
And Jesus read the very conclusion of his ministry when, you know, he came, the Bible says he came to his own and his own received him not. You know, he came to the jewish nation and they had been entrusted with the guardianship of the sacred scriptures and the prophecies about the coming Messiah. They'd been entrusted with these things for over a thousand years.
They should have been the first to recognise Christ. But it says in John chapter one, Jesus came to his own and his own received him not. You know, he was destitute, he was afflicted.
And, yeah, we looked at that in our last episode. So, yeah, Christ came. He was rejected really largely on the whole by the very nation that, you know, had had this sacred trust for over a thousand years.
And it should have been the first to recognise him. And so these were the words of Christ as he, you know, during his ministry on earth, he spent time in the temple, which he spoke of as his father's house. Yeah, in the temple of that day.
And as he left the temple courts for the very last time, he uttered, really a heartbroken cry. So let's look at this. Matthew chapter 23 and verse 37.
This heartbroken cry of Christ as he left the temple courts for the last time. Matthew 23 37 says, o Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which is sent unto thee. How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.
So these words that we read in Psalm chapter 91, Christ took those words and, you know, he had been the one making that invitation to the nation of Israel over a thousand years. And yet finally they rejected him. And so this was his heartbroken cry about how he wanted to gather them as a hand gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.
The nation of Israel as a whole refused Christ. They refused the infinite blessings that he came to bring. And sadly, it was only individuals like, you know, Peter, James, John, all these people were jewish people.
It's not that the jewish people after that were excluded from salvation. You know, there will be many people who are of, you know, jewish descent who will be saved, but the nation of Israel sadly rejected Christ. It's very interesting in the next chapter, which is what I've got down in my notes.
And so I was looking at my notes and thinking, Matthew, chapter 24, no, it's not in there. I'm sure it's not there, but it's right before that Matthew chapter 24, the disciples actually asked Christ really two questions. They asked Christ two questions because jesus foretold the overthrowing and the utter destruction of the jewish temple as he left that building for the last time.
You can see that in Matthew chapter 24 one and two. Jesus foretold the utter destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and Jerusalem, which occurred in ad 70. And the disciples thought, wow, destruction of Jerusalem.
They felt, that must be the end of the world. Nothing could happen after that. And so let's notice Matthew chapter 24 three.
As he, that is Jesus, sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? They asked jesus two questions. And so Jesus gave them an answer that answered both questions. And interestingly, we find that the destruction of Jerusalem literally occurred in ad 70.
You know, you can look in the history books, and it was. It was tragic. It was just.
Yeah, it was tragic. Actually, if you want to understand more about these things, the great controversy, the first chapter in this is about. Got other notes in there as well.
The destruction of Jerusalem. And, yeah, just vividly describes the destruction of Jerusalem and how it was the rejection of Christ and of his love and mercy and the. The blessings and the character that he came to bring to the jewish nation was the rejection of that that finally sealed the fate of Jerusalem.
And the end of this chapter explains how that is. That literal event is actually a type. It is a symbol of what will happen to the whole world at the end of time.
Now, the destruction of Jerusalem, as I've been saying, was a terrible, terrible event. But do you know, Christ gave warning to his disciples about how they could escape that destruction. And, you know, not one Christian perished in the fall of Jerusalem.
Why? Because they took heed to the warning of Christ. They watched for a promised sign, and they fled from that city to a safe place. And that is a depiction of the experience of God's true followers right at the very end of time.
Because as we have been saying in the last episode, and as we're saying in this episode, and as we've been reading from the scriptures, there is a terrible time of trouble coming upon the world. And now, some people think that the righteous will not actually be on the earth during this time. The Bible does not teach that.
In fact, if you look at other events that have happened in the Bible, God does not. Well, I guess there are occasions when, you know, God takes his people out of a really troubled place. You know, because, you know, for whatever reason, but almost invariably, God's people are not just whisked away during a stormy time, that God saves them in the storm, he saves them in the fire.
And I'm thinking particularly of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three Hebrew worthiest. You know, they refused to bow to that image, that golden image that Nebuchadnezzar set up on the plain of Dura. You can read about this in Daniel, chapter three, if you're not familiar with the story.
But, you know, God didn't stop them from being cast into the fire. They were cast into the fire. But all that the fire did was consume their ropes, and it brought them closer to Christ, because Christ walked in the fire with them.
And this will be the experience of God's people right at the end of time. They will not just be whisked off the earth, you know, nice as that might sound, as much as we might wish that that would happen, they will be refined through these terrible trials and through this terrible time of trouble. And so, going back to what we were saying before and how I was saying that our hymn for today, under his wings, this speaks about an experience that we can have now.
And, in fact, if we are going to stand during that terrible time, we need to have that experience right now. We will never be prepared for this time of trouble, the time, you know, the great time of trouble, I said in Daniel, a time of trouble such as never was. And, you know, there have been terrible times in earth's history.
But the extent of this will be, you know, beyond anything else, there will be nowhere to escape to apart from under his wings. Only through God and through God's protection can the righteous stand during that time. And only through, as we've looked at in previous episodes, only through being founded upon the solid rock of God's word will we be prepared to stand through that time.
Because it's not only are the righteous are not so much seeking during this time of trouble to escape from, you know, the physical dangers that are around them, although through God's protection, those who do still remain on the earth at that time, those who are righteous, you know, will be protected from those things physically. But what they need more protection from is the deceptions of Satan. And they need to, you know, maintain their fidelity.
They need to maintain their loyalty to God amidst terrible, terrible pressure. And so only if we make God our stay now can we ever hope to stand during that time, and it will be through continual surrender of ourselves to God. So look, it's often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality.
But this is not true of the cross before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of that ordeal. And so, in that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God.
Ezekiel 1420 says, though Noah, Daniel and job were in the land as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter. They shall but deliver their own souls. Bye their righteousness.
So will the Lord forget his people in this trying hour. Well, let's consider. Did he forget faithful Noah, when judgments were visited upon the antediluvian world? Did he forget lot when the fire came down from heaven to consume the cities of the plain? Did he forget Joseph surrounded by idolaters in Egypt? Did he forget Elijah when the oath of Jezebel threatened him with the fate of the prophets of Baalje? Did he forget Jeremiah in the dark and dismal pit of his prison house? Did he forget the three worthies in the fiery furnace? Or Daniel in the den of lions? Let's read some verses about how God will care for his people during this time.
And you know, there are so many verses that we could read, but let's just look at a few. And if you want to read more verses again, I direct you to this book, the great controversy. It has many, many verses, and I'm just going to mention some of them that are mentioned in the great controversy.
But it has many, many verses in the chapter the time of trouble. These are wonderful, encouraging verses that show us that God will not forget us. And we can think about this song as well.
So let's have a look at. I really love Isaiah, chapter 33. Isaiah, chapter 33 and verses 15 and 16.
You know, during this time the righteous will be threatened with death because they refuse to disobey God's law. So eventually it says in revelation, chapter 13, sanctions will be brought against those who choose to keep God's law, and in particular the 7th day Sabbath, holy. And so sanctions prevented God's people from buying and selling.
Will it first be instituted? And finally there will be a death decree against all those who continue to keep God's law. But God will not forsake his people during this time. They will have to flee.
They will have to flee as the christians had to flee from Jerusalem. But let's notice what Isaiah, chapter 33, verses 15 and 16 say. Beautiful, beautiful.
Promise. Promise. He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly, he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.
And so we can see here that these are those that are keeping God's law. These are those that are faithful to God. What does it say about them? Verse 16 says, he shall dwell on high.
His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks. Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure. So that's just such a wonderful thing.
You know, the righteous during this time will be terribly persecuted. Some of them will be, you know, out in the wilderness and they'll wonder, you know, where will we get food from? But God will provide for them in some way, as he provided for Elijah. Some of them will be thrust into prison.
But, you know, prison walls cannot cut off the communication between God and his people. And so the chorus of our hymn for today, we've looked at the main thought behind it. The chorus of our hymn for today says, under his wings, under his wings, who from his love can sever.
So let's look at just before we listen to this song sung by Archipeldridge, let's notice Romans, chapter eight. And this is where this idea who from his love can sever. Romans, chapter eight, verses 35 to 39.
That's where this line comes from. Romans, chapter eight, verses 35 to 39. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed.
All the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ if we will taste and see that the Lord is good, if we will make Christ our rest. Today, I also want to draw your attention, as I was, and just really underline the point that I've made before. Notice what this song says in the second verse, under his wings, what a refuge in sorrow.
And then it says, often when earth has no balm for my healing, there I find comfort and there I am blessed. Often we need to experience that rest in Christ. Often we need to experience that the abiding presence of Christ.
Now, if we would stand for him during whatever troubles we may encounter in life, particularly if we're privileged to be amongst those living right at the end of time, living through that great time of trouble. We need to experience the presence of Christ now. So I hope that you can think about these things and meditate on them as we listen to this beautiful hymn.
Under his wings, under his wings I am safely abiding though the night deepens and tempests are one still I can trust him I know he will keep me he has redeemed me and I am hash his joy hash under his wings hash under his wings hash who from his love can sever under his wings my soul shall abide hash safely abide forever Hashem hash ever under his wings what a refuge in sorrow how the heart yearning returns to its rest often when earth has no bump for my healing there I find comfort and there I am blessed under his wings, under his wings who from his love can sever under his wings my soul shall abide safely hash abide forever under his wings o what precious enjoyment there will I high till life's trials are home sheltered, protected are evoking resting in Jesus I'm safe ever more under his wings, under his wings who from his love can sever under his wings my soul shall abide safely abide forever in Matthew 1128, Jesus says, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We can find rest under the sheltering wings of Jesus. Join with me in prayer as we ask for this blessing.
Dear Lord, we're so grateful that you invite us to come to you and find rest beneath your sheltering wings. Help us not to be like the ancient nation of Israel that chose to reject you. Dear Lord, may we come to you today, now, and find that rest.
I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you so much for joining me today on heavenly harmonies.
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Do join me again next time to discuss another beautiful hymn. But until then, may you stay close to the heart of God through song.
