(Breath of Life Theme Music)
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Sermon #B660 - Covered
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Dr. Bryrd:  Psalm 91, and I'm
going to read-- and you're
hearing from the King James
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version of the Bible. And
please, follow along. Psalm 91,
the word of God says,
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"He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the most High shall
abide under the shadow of the
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Almighty. I will say of the
Lord, He is my refuge and my
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fortress: my God; in Him will I
trust. Surely He shall deliver
thee from the snare of the
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fowler, and from the noisome
pestilence. He shall cover thee
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with the feathers, and under His
wings shalt thou trust: his
truth shall be thy shield and
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buckler. Thou shalt not be
afraid for the terror by night;
nor for the arrow that flieth by
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day; Understand that He-- A
thousand shall fall at thy side,
and ten thousand at thy right
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hand; but it shall
not come nigh thee.
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Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the
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wicked. Because thou hast made
the Lord, which is my refuge,
even the most High, my
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habitation; There shall no evil
befall thee, neither shall any
plague come nigh thy dwelling."
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Verse 11, "For He shall give His
angels charge over thee, to keep
thee in all of thy ways.
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They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot
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against a stone. Thou shalt
thread upon the lion and adder:
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the young lion and the dragon
shalt thou trample under feet.
Because he hath set his love
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upon me, therefore will I
deliver him: I will set him on
high, because he hath known my
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name. He shall call upon me, and
I will answer him: I will be him
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in trouble; I will
deliver him, and honor him.
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With long life will I satisfy
him, and show him my salvation."
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Today I just want to challenge
and encourage you on the subject
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covered-- covered. God bless us
now as we go into your word,
make your word real and alive
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and applicable for us today. We
hide-- myself, Lord, I hide
myself behind your cross.
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May your anointing flow full and
free, not just here from this
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pool pit, but across the
airwaves today. May your people
see Jesus and never be the same
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again. Forgive me of my sins,
and Lord, even during the
appeal, do what you do.
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May your spirit flow full and
free. We give you praise, we
give you honor, we give you
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glory. In the name of Jesus,
Amen. Covered,our world is in
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turmoil. The coronavirus
pandemic has reached epic
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proportions. I was watching the
news on yesterday, and watching
and reading the internet,
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and as of yesterday, there were
nearly a quarter of a million
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cases worldwide. And we know
there are more cases, but
because there are not enough
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testing instruments or equipment
to test people, people have the
virus but they just don't know
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it yet. Worldwide there
have been over 11,000 deaths and
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counting. Right here in the
United States, there are over
19,000 cases and 250 deaths, and
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counting. Stock market is
falling. There are restrictions
on gatherings, curfews imposed,
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churches closed, schools closed,
universities closed, beaches
closed, businesses closed,
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and many businesses drying up as
people are staying home and not
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buying. We have self-imposed
quarantines, we have
government-imposed quarantines,
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fear and uncertainty are
everywhere. If you don't know it
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by now-- You better know by now
that the coronavirus is real.
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Coronavirus, it's a pandemic,
which means it's all over the
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world. It has no respecter of
persons. It affects both young
and old, Black and White,
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the coronavirus
my friends is real.
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Now, when we study history from
biblical times to the present
day, all throughout history,
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there happened epidemics
and pandemics with devastating
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effects. In 1965, as I was
reading this week, there was the
great plague of London,
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when fleas from plague infected
rodents where transmitted to
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humans. And by the time the
plague ended one year later,
about 100,000 people,
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which was approximately 15%
of the population of London, had
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died. In 1889, there was the
global flu pandemic and 1
million people died.
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But then, if we fast forward to
modern day, you will remember
H1N1, the swine flu,
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wherein one year, the swine flu
infected as many as 1.4 billion
people across the globe,
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killing between 150,000
and 600,000. Then there was the
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ebola epidemic. Ebola devastated
West Africa between 2014 and
2016, with 28,000 reported cases
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and over 11,000 deaths. And
now, we have the coronavirus.
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But in the name of Jesus, let
me remind you today, that God is
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still in control. As the old
folk used to say, He sits high
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but he looks low. And God is the
one we must look to when living
through a pandemic.
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God, let me remind you, is
omnipotent, which means He's all
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powerful. God is able to come up
with a cure, God is able to
strengthen caregivers,
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and God is able to heal
those who've been afflicted.
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But not only is God omnipotent,
God is omniscient, which means
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He's all-knowing. God is able to
give wisdom to doctors, wisdom
to nurses, wisdom to government
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leaders, but not only that, God
is omnipresent, which means God
doesn't just watch from heaven,
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but God is present
even when we can't see Him.
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And so the good news today,
through this pandemic, are the
words recorded in Psalms--
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Psalm 91. "He that dwelleth in
the secret place of the most
High shall abide under the
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shadow of the Almighty. I will
say of the Lord, He is my
refuge, he is my fortress.
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He is my God and
Him will I trust.
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Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler and
from the noisome pestilence.
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He shall cover thee with His
feathers, under His wings shall
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thou trust: His truth shall be
thy shield and buckler. Thou
shall not be afraid of the
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terror by night; nor for the
arrow that flieth by day; nor
for the pestilence that walketh
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in darkness; or nor for the
destruction that wasteth at noon
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day." Now you need to
understand, Psalm 91 is a good
Psalm to read during this
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period, because it lets us know
that there's security when you
put your trust in Jesus.
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There is safety when
you put your trust in Jesus.
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There is coverage when
you put your trust in Jesus.
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One of David's secret hiding
places when he was an earthly
fugitive running from Saul,
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when Saul was trying to get
him, was in the intimacy and
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communion of God. He is able to
say that he that dwelleth in the
secret place of the most high
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shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty.
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But truthfully, my friends, I
like the Spanish translation of
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this text. It is interpreted, 
"He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the most high shall be
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kept under the overcoat of God
Almighty," which means, friends
of mine, "Hallelujah, I'm
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covered. " I wish somebody
knew what I as talking about.
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David then mentions, in verses 1
and 2 of Psalm 91, five names of
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God. He shares five ways in
which God is revealed. Number
one, he says He is the most
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High. Number two, he says He is
Almighty. Number three, he says
He is the Lord God.
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Number four, he says He is
refuge. Number five, he says He
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is fortress. And then in verse
3, David says God will save you
from the snare of the fowler,
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which means, God will
save you from hidden peril.
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But not only that, David
continues in verse number three,
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he says God will save you from
noisome pestilence, which can
also be interpreted,
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God will save you
from deadly pestilence.
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A pestilence is a
dreaded disease, an epidemic,
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a pandemic of sickness
that has caused a lot of deaths.
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And that's what we're
dealing with with coronavirus.
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It has caused thousands of
deaths, thousands have been
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infected. But today, I'm so glad
that the word of God says that
God will save us from noisome,
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or deadly, pestilence.
Now, we know God can do it
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because all throughout
scripture, God saved his people
from deadly pestilence.
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What am I talking about? Before
the Israelites saw the Egyptians
perish in the red sea,
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they witnessed the pestilences
that fell on the Egyptians--
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Water turning to blood,
flies, frogs, lice, boils, hail,
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locust, darkness, and the
killing of the first born, they
saw that deadly pestilences on
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the Egyptians. But my Bible also
says that the plagues never
touched the children of Israel.
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The plagues never touched God's
people. And in the same way the
people were covered,
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back in the day in Egypt, that's
the same way-- Hallelujah, God's
people are covered today.
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Ellen White I was reading her
this week. She says in great
controversy-- page 629,
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that in the last days-- Which,
by the way, in case you didn't
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know, we're living in right now
because Jesus was clear in
Matthew Chapter 24 that just
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before his coming, there would
be famines and pestilences and
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earthquakes. And just this week,
there was an earthquake in Utah,
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and just this week, we're
dealing with the pestilence of
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coronavirus. But if we're in the
last days, and Ellen White says
that in the last days,
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the people of God will not be
free from suffering. But while
persecuted and distressed,
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they will not be left to perish
because he who numbers the hairs
on their head. Today
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I want to remind somebody that
there's safety under the shadow
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of the Almighty, that there's
safety under the overcoat of
God, that there is safety in the
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arms of God. God's people are
always covered in the arms of
God. Bubonic plague? Covered.
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Flu pandemic? Covered. Swine
flu? Covered. Ebola? Covered.
Coronavirus? Covered.
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Deathly pestilence? Covered.
Terror by night? Covered. Arrow
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by day? Covered. Your finances
during this time? Covered. Your
marriage? Covered. Your
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children? Covered. Satan and
demonic attack? Covered. Sin and
its penalty? Covered.
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It doesn't mean we won't
troubles, but we are covered.
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David continues to Psalm 91 and
says "A thousand-- in verse 7,
shall fall at thy side,
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and ten thousand at thy right
hand;" but he says it shall not
come nigh unto thee.
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So in other words, as followers
of Christ, we don't fear like
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other people fear. The way the
world deals with fear and the
way of child of God deals with
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fear, has to be different. That
the way we deal with tests and
trial has to be different,
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the way we deal with tribulation
and trouble has to be different.
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You see, we have a
different pasture in our pain,
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we have a different
stands in our situation.
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When the world looks at us--
When the world sees Pastor Byrd,
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they ought to see
something different.
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Because when the world
holds their heads down,
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we lift up our hill-- eyes to
the hills from when it's come at
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our help. Our help comes from
the Lord. When the world says
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there is no hope, we say, "My
hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and
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righteousness." When the world
cries all night long, we say,
"Weeping may endure for a night,
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but joy comes in the morning."
When the world sees the sour, we
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see the sweet. When the
world sees the ugly, we see the
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pretty. When the world sees
the glass half-empty, we see the
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glass half-full. Because what we
have, the president can't
dictate. What we have, congress
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can't legislate. What we have,
haters can't eliminate. What we
have, the devil can't
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anticipate. What we have is the
knowledge today that through
test, through trial,
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through tribulation, through
pestilence, we're covered.
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And so, through this coronavirus
pandemic-- while I'm careful,
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I'm also covered. The Bible
continues in verse 11 of Psalm
91, that he shall give his
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angels charge over thee, to keep
thee in all thy ways, which
means God will place angels, God
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will place messengers. God will
place invisible, supernatural
beings all around you to guard
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you, to protect you, to lift
you, and to give you power to
trample on forces that would
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otherwise be deadly to you.
People all around here panicking
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about coronavirus, but I'm here
to let you know God will put
angels-- invisible walls all
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around you, so that it will
not come nigh your dwelling.
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Let's rewind a bit, go back
to the pestilences of Egypt so
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you'll know what I'm talking
about. Remember when the tenth
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plague, the death of the first
born occurred. The plague went
to everyone's home there in
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Egypt, but the plague did not
enter the homes of those who had
the blood of the lamb on their
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doorpost in Goshen, which
means God's people were covered.
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God put a wall around his people
to protect his people, God has
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given us angels. But some people
don't believe in angels, but I
do believe in angels,
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and I believe angels exist. From
the beginning of Jesus' life, we
see that angels exist.
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At Jesus' birth, his life was in
jeopardy when Herod tried to
kill him by killing
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all the baby boys under the age
of two, but that's when Jesus'
guardian angel went to work.
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Jesus' guardian angel came to
Joseph in a dream and told him
to go to Herod to Egypt rather
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to flee Herod,
Jesus was covered.
00:16:50.34\00:16:54.01
In the temptations of Jesus in
Matthew Chapter 4, in Satan's
second attempt to tempt Jesus,
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even Satan focused
on the role of angels.
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The Bible says that the devil
took Jesus way up in the temple,
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set him into the Holy City at
the pinnacle of the temple, and
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he said to him, "Jesus, if you
are the son of God, throw
yourself down, for it is
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written, he shall give his
angels charge over thee to keep
thee in all of thy ways."
00:17:22.60\00:17:26.64
But Jesus said unto him, "It is
also written, thou shall not
tempt the Lord, thy God."
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Jesus was covered. The apostle
Paul, he also had his guardian
angel in the experience of a
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shipwreck. In Acts, Chapter 27,
Paul and 275 other prisoners,
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guards, and crews, were fighting
for their lives when a storm
threatened to destroy their
00:17:46.46\00:17:52.17
ship. But Paul, he encouraged
everybody. He said, "Hold on,
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everybody, because none of
us are going to die. Nobody is
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going to be lost." He said in
verses 23 and 24, "For there
stood by me this night,
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an angel of God to whom I belong
and whom I serve saying do not
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be afraid, Paul. You must be
brought before Caesar. And
indeed, God has granted all of
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you, all those who sail with
you, safety." Paul, was covered.
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But then in Hebrews, Chapter 13
verse 2, it says, "Do not forget
to entertain strangers."
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For by doing so, some of us have
entertained angels unaware. We
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are covered. And then Psalm 91
says, "For he shall give his
angels charge over thee to
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keep thee in all of thy ways."
We're covered. God sends angels
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to protect us, but we're
covered. Coronavirus is here,
but we're covered. Sin is here,
00:18:48.02\00:18:57.03

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