Category Archives: Sermons

Psalm 51-The Audience is Listening

Gallery March 6, 1994 David

Dancing with Broken Bones-A Series on Psalm 51-The Audience is Listening
March 06, 1994	Sermon by DRW	Passage Psalm 51.14-15

Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

Outline:

Introduction

Tourist trap like “Jesus of the Ozarks” (The Ozark’s Passion Play). The parking lot looked like Disneyland’s (huge). I remember when I went there with a friend of mine. The year was 1984, the year of hair and tans. Well, I had both: long hair and beard and brown skin. Any how, when I got out of the car a woman came up to me and asked if I played Jesus in the play because I was so “swarthy” looking. It was a mad house of religiosity. People came in checked shorts and argyles; in flower hats and dresses. It was a spectacle to behold. The message was told but the meaning was gone, for most. Much like church in some parts of the world and in some people’s lives. A place where people come to see where God might have been. Much like the windows with Mary of Jesus face glowing through it, a religious shrine to be visited with Polaroids but not experienced with the heart.

Today we will look at two types of worship: The counterfeit and the Real

I. The Counterfeits

A. Dry as Dust

The lifeless assembly looking more like a wax museum than a place where the living God could and should be worshiped. Or as Paul wrote to Timothy: having the form of godliness but denying its power.

1. there is much visible but not much reality

a. lack of depth and fellowship

(1) the motto: “we are here to do, not to be”

(2) appearance of but not really

(a) seen in activities

(b) cordial but not deep

i) saying “hi” to new people but

ii) no depth with the old people

b. true depth and fellowship

(1) fellowship is a group of people with one goal: Jesus Christ

(a) He saved them—and they speak of it

i) Romans 8 He brought them into the family

ii) Ephesians 2 He brought them from darkness to light

iii) Rom 6.23 He brought them from death to life

(b) He is developing them—and they share the truth of what God is doing (as iron sharpens iron, so one friend another)

i) 2 Timothy 3.14-17

a) instruction

b) correction

c) reproof

d) training in righteous

ii) 2 Co 3.18 changed from glory to glory

iii) 2 Co 5.17 transforming into new creation

(2) example of reality in fellowship with Dave Chen and myself

i) spiritual conversations

a) what God is doing

b) what God desires to do

c) evaluation of our services to God

d) topics of import

e) laughter

f) tears

ii) iron sharpening iron

a) honing our beliefs

b) sharing and reshaping our wants and desires

c) sharing our joys and hurts

Another aspect of a dry, lifeless assembly of worship is:

2. conformity without understanding

If the first aspect is due because of the attenders this one comes because of the leadership.

a. lack of knowledge of the spiritual undercurrent of what we do, why we do what we do.

(1) content is done without understanding why

* look at the bulletin

i) why do we do the center page activities?

ii) why do we make a bookmark for you to take with you?

(2) An example: why do we praise—God is worthy

(a) it is because we know what God has done for others (either through His Word, biographies, or fellowship) and what He has done for us and what He promised He’ll do;

(b) more so, as we shall see, it is because of who He is.

(3) worship is not going through the motions of

(a) singing

(b) reading

(c) unless they are directed to our God with full knowledge of who He is and what He has done. Our praise is sweeter the deeper we know Him.

Another counterfeit is

B. That’s Entertainment

1. Intentionally focusing on size and spectacle

a. God isn’t opposed to this when His glory is the focus

(1) Solomon at the Temple

(2) David and the Ark (2 Samuel 6.12f)

(3) Year of Jubilee

b. But today, we leave bedazzled but not deepened in relationship with anybody

(1) when discussion changes with the last song to “where to for food” then worship probably didn’t happen

(2) When God comes in our worship, we don’t worry about what’s next for we are with the God of the universe.

2. WHILE CHURCHES PLAY GAMES, AMERICA DIES!
One author feels that American Christianity is ill, and preaching a shallow gospel to those who desperately need substance and help. Bigness has become a standard for success. Churches have become entertainment centers. Christianity and Christians have never been, and never will be, popular or in the majority. “The job of Christianity is to worship God by the winning of souls.” This does not allow for shallowness or frivolity. The answer to this situation is in the Gospel message (Wells, 1989).

. 1. True Love Outreach is a good example of worship in evangelism

2. Picnic-on-the-Green is a good example of worship in fellowship

We’ve seen the counterfeit, now let’s look at

2. The Real Thing

1. True worship

Far from being a religious ritual, true worship is an individual reflecting a proper value judgment about God. In fact, the English word “worship” comes directly from the word “worth.” Our God is worth praising.

1. It is being dwarfed but drawn to Him

1. Isaiah 6.1-5

1. Worship is not just personal introspection, or we would worship our feelings. Worship is not even a warm glow, or we would worship that. We worship One outside ourselves. We concentrate on Him, we praise Him, we adore Him, we hear his Word for He is announcing it to us. We listen in holy awe to the word of God.

2. It is seeing Him, knowing only in Him are we worthy (“weight”) to be in His presence, attracted to be with Him, even though it could be uncomfortable for us.

1. when we encounter the light our darkness is shown

2. whenever we come into contact with God He changes us

2. Revelation 1.12-17

1. In His holiness we see our shortcomings, our sins;

2. the closer we come to Him in worship, daily living, the more we’ll desire to change to be more like Him for He shines His light on our darkness.

2. Christian worship is no tourist trap, no Polaroid; no desire to leave, time ceases, words are unnecessary, if there are words they are words of praise.

“In a world so polluted with empty, foolish, and hurtful words, let’s fill our hearts and homes, our workplaces and worship houses with a cleansing current of praise.” (Hayford, 2003).

3. Too often we cheapen our praise to a gratuity, a tip. If God performs right we will praise Him. David calls this “bloodguiltiness” and he forsakes it desiring only to truly praise God.

How do we break from tipping God with our church attendance and praises: these three things we need to know and do:

2. Majesty

Def: reverent respect due the splendor of royalty.

1. the American disposition against royalty shows we have an inbred resentment to majesty and must really work on seeing and respecting His majesty

2. When you see God as King you will fall down in worship.

1. When people come to an earthly king, they do not strut in and place demands

2. they bow awaiting commands.

3. Only when the royalty says arise do we.

3. God has called us to come boldly into His throne room.

1. this doesn’t mean to strut in but to have the confidence that He wants us there

2. and if He wants us there, according to 1 John 5, He will speak to us and we with Him

4. We come before Him, willing to wait for His voice, then we respond.

our response is awe:

3. Awe

Def: struck speechless with wonder

1. TV takes it away

1. joy and tragedy are controlled with a push of a button

2. Bangladesh doesn’t matter until it come to Arcadia

1. I was speaking with one of our own the other day. He told me he had never seen a homeless person before

2. until he went to LA

3. no remote control button could remove this reality for him

2. Our “I want it yesterday” mentality is against awe.

1. Awe doesn’t explode but overtakes in time to the point we are soaked in it

2. John 1.16 (waves)

3. look and be awed

1. mountains

2. churning ocean

3. stars

1. I was asked on a personality typing test what I do when I look at the stars

2. to my amazement it had “Stand in wonder of who God is”

3. that was my choice

TRANSITION: I like natural phenomena like rain, thunder and earthquakes … One personal encounter with a power that before was only theoretical can make all the difference. You live differently after that. You respect the power. You live in awe of its presence and tremble to think of its potential. Above all, you live in profound humility because you recognize your inability to control it.

If all this for created phenomena, then what of the Almighty God? I am reminded of the quote from C.S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” where Mr Beaver describes the might and majesty of Aslan, the lion-God. When he finishes, Lucy asks, “Is-is he safe?” Replies Mr. Beaver: “Safe? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. but he’s good. He’s the King I tell you.” This is our God: hardly safe but thoroughly good. We cling to the King in fear, but much too afraid to let go (Ratzlaff, 1991).

Now that’s awe and that’s worship

4. Reverence

1. Mark 4.36-41

1. before the calming of the storm they feared death (natural)–36-38

2. after the calming of the storm they had a greater fear than the fear of death: the fear of the Author of life. (39-41)

2. Do not fear him who can kill just the body but fear Him who can destroy also the soul (Matthew 10.28)

CONCLUSION

Men have an inbred hunger to know God and see His greatness. Even though our more direct, personal glimpses of Him may be few, our response to Him should always be spontaneous and instinctive. David’s praise flowed freely. That’s the way it should be with all of us. The church does not have to wait to sample the exalting chorus of heaven. Rather, we must be willing to be transformed from lifeless assemblies and entertainment centers to the people of God, people who delight in praising the sublime, majestic Author of life. He simply refuses to be imprisoned either in color slides or in a one-hour time slot on Sundays. Rather, He wants our undivided attention, our entire being. When His people gather, He alone is the audience—the audience of One (p 129).

Let’s praise our God. Turn to your neighbour and praise God with them for who He is. I will ask the musicians to come and lead us in some praise songs before we give the closing word of encouragement.

Benediction

1 Chronicles 29.11-13

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, praise Your glorious name.

Be seated in prayer, then you are dismissed.

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Old Testament, Psalms, Sermons

Psalm 51-How Does the Kingdom Grow?

Gallery February 27, 1994 David

Dancing with Broken Bones-A Series on Psalm 51-How Does the Kingdom Grow?
February 27, 1994	Sermon by DRW	Passage Psalm 51.10-12

How Does the Kingdom Grow?

After we have turned back to God, after we have repented of our deeds and our ways; when the verbal confession is made complete, we must be about the King’s business. If we return to our former ways we will do our former deeds. We must finalize our verbal confession with the willingness and steadfastness in the Holy Spirit which we spoke of last week; this means, doing the work of God—fulfilling our purpose on earth. Sometimes this obedience is difficult to follow through with because we have been in that rut for so long we naturally tend that way. This is why our next series of sermons will deal with the disciplines of a godly life. Things we can and should do to maintain our purity and not fall back into the same old rut. Today we will look into two areas where we need to focus our attention. Once repentance is made we must seek first His kingdom in quantity and quality; that is, evangelism and discipleship. This is what David said when in verse 13 he writes, “Then.” Let us look at this as we answer: “I have repented and turned from my former ways, what then?” That is, now that I am a disciple of God, what do I need to do?

To put it another way, “What is my purpose in life?” If this question were asked in polite company many different answers would ensue. However, asked late at night over a cup of coffee in a small diner on the outskirts of a town called Lonesome and the truth will come like a piercing arrow. People find it increasingly difficult to find goals and objectives, purpose, worthy of the high calling that God has created in each person, that will sustain them through the heaviness of life and the reality of death. Dostoevski once wrote: “Man’s whole business is to prove that he is a man and not a cog-wheel.. . .” Or as Meatloaf once wrote: “I’m a man! I am not a number.”

To many people, life leaves a bad taste in their mouth. Most people would prefer to be gone (no where in particular, just gone) than have to hear the faint whispers telling them life is merely a cruel joke. This is why it is important for us to listen to David on this point: He was a man who could cry out: Come taste the goodness of the Lord! God doesn’t leave a bad taste. What does David tell us to do in light of the goodness of our God, in light of the high calling of God. After everything has been said and done: “Did you show transgressors God’s way? Did you show sinners how to get back to God?” will be asked of us. David knew that any man or woman or child that wanted to live life with purpose, with the taste of victory, with God’s stamp of approval, had to live a life that called people to God in salvation and discipleship.

For David this was a large step to consider. For us it is as-well. For David to come to the point of verse 13 is dramatic. He needed to admit a lot about himself, as we have seen in the first part of Psalm 51. He had to admit that God is Lord, and not King David. We must admit that too. Who is the master of your life? Are J-E-S-U-S the letters of His name or is it M-E? “David had learned that among all challengers, God alone was a sufficient master. This earthly king no longer needed to dazzle men with his own claims, but now longed for them to know the heavenly King whose grace had cleansed him” (91). This is where God calls us and this is where our text brings us.

1. Who is your Master?

1. It is not a question of if there will be a master; Matthew 6.24 tells us it is a given.

2. A purposeful life is not in what you conquer but really in who you are being mastered or conquered by

1. the test of a worthy goal is whether it is a portal to another worthy goal or a dead end

1. the astronaut who finished his mission only to ask, now what

2. Rockefeller wanting just a little more

2. scientists tend to be mastered by goals and objectives that are worthy to some degree

1. they strive to find new and exciting things and end up making and re-making history

1. Ray (Ira’s dad) committed suicide

2. outside of Christ even the noblest goals are fleeting

2. Joe Muslin

1. Smithsonian, you’ll see some of his work

2. His greatest work though

1. SBBC High school group of the 70’s

2. SBBC adult group of the 90’s

3. Is it possible for us as Christians to have that?

Is it possible to have a goal that reaches out from beyond limits, beyond space and time, drawing us and fulfilling us? Is it possible to have a sense of purpose and meaning, independent of circumstances and levels of achievement, that satisfies us completely? (93)

1. The hint of the infinite in Christ’s voice captured the heart and attention of many people

1. the eternal living water (John 4.10-14)

2. the eternal bread of life (John 6.35)

3. the eternal heavenly treasure (Matthew 19.21)

4. the eternal fruit of being fishers of men (Matthew 4.19)

2. In light of the infinite, the eternal words of Jesus,

1. how tragic that many Christians find themselves mastered by the urgent, the small.

2. we read, study, attend church services and yet nothing tastes as good as David said it should, “good,” for we are mastered by the wrong lord.

If God’s people fail to find an overall principle for integrating every segment of life, they will find themselves fragmented over a host of secular and badly diluted Christian agendas (93).

3. Christ is calling us to the heroic

1. France (WW II)

1. struggled against the Nazi regime

1. average people took incredible risks to fight a terrible evil

2. little old ladies -> pickpockets

3. salesmen and chefs -> explosive experts

2. not a part time affair, something done on the side but something which mastered and transformed them

2. God has called us to be like them, heroic (Matthew 6.33)

1. throwing your entire life into His kingdom work is an incredible risk in fighting the terrible foe

1. you will address your sin (as David did), your friendships, your hobbies, your career, your failures, your ambitions, your life in light of the Kingdom

2. you will address poverty, hunger, pollution

As Elton Trueblood said in The Company of the Committed:

A Christian is a person who confesses that, amidst the manifold and confusing voices heard in the world, there is one Voice which supremely wins his full assent, uniting all his powers, intellectual and emotional, into a single pattern of self-giving. That voice is Jesus Christ. . . . He believes in Him with all his heart and strength and mind. Christ appears to the Christian as the one stable point or fulcrum in all the relativities of history. Once the Christian has made this primary commitment he still has perplexities, but he begins to know the joy of being used for a might purpose by which his little life is dignified [and, I add, made heroic] (23).

2. The heroic is allowing God’s life to be manifest through you.

1. An interesting aspect of all history is how people have sought and still seek after a hero.

1. Israel’s literature seeks after the ultimate hero, is written of heroes by heroes

2. Greek mythology is crowded with the heroic.

2. those who have studied sociology or anthropology understand the concept of the heroic is embodied in Germany’s Übermann, or as he is called here, “Superman”.

* A god-like person with the possibility of failure (for superman it was kryptonite, some say it was also Lois Lane)

3. When we are mastered by the King of kings and Lord of lords we are heroic.

1. God can never be a hero, He would never have the chance of failure.

2. Man without God could never be heroic, he’d fail all the time.

3. It is only the one who is wrapped in God’s calling that can be truly called heroic

1. his or her life will never grow stale, nor dull because their eyes are always on Jesus

2. the ultimate satisfaction and purpose in life is knowing that in Jesus I have been called and equipped for the heroic

We were made for more exquisite things than trying to fill our empty days with our own thunder. But we must all choose. Will I go on tinkering on my own agenda and my own kingdom, which will pass away when I do? Or will I tie my life and destiny to His life, His cause, His Kingdom? Only Christ offers the calling whereby we can harness our lives to a source of purpose that lasts forever (96).

Seeking first His Kingdom restores the fervor of the heroic in our lives, knowing we must do the work of God that only a child of His could do. God’s children who follow after Him are always a hero. And a hero always has purpose, life and vigor when he is pursuing the Voice of his Master.

What does that voice cry for us to do?

2. Discipleship

Allow me to illustrate the heroic life that God has called us to. A life of meaning and purpose. What would this life look like? When we bag the old ways and do the God ways, what would we look like? Well, manifesting God to the world. To put it another way, it is essentially evangelism and discipleship.

Let me tell you a story, a tragedy, after the story you will see what is not heroic and understand what God has called us to. It is the story told by Oz. Not “the wonderful wizard of” but one of the first American missionaries to Taiwan. He recounts a true story that went something like this:

1. When China was overrun by Communism many fled to Taiwan

2. Shantytowns were built overnight

1. overcrowding

2. huts built to the very edge of the street

3. Oz feared driving down these streets for he thought he’d run over a child at play

4. he drove by one day

1. saw a boy hit by a truck, dead

2. heard a woman wailing, running to the boy

1. fell on him

2. picked him up sobbing

3. then strangely smiling

3. heard her say, Oh, its all right, it’s not mine.”

Not too heroic, not the Kingdom life, not purposeful. If it were so she would have continued to mourn and weep with the boys mother instead of depersonalizing (“it”) and walking away. We have all done this in one way or another, haven’t we?

What would a disciple of Jesus, one who has tasted and seen that the Lord is good, one who is mastered by Jesus, look like?

2. A concern for all that grows from knowing God

1. we need to know what is going on around us politically, spiritually, economically, globally

2. Did you read the article Joe gave called Kairos. It is interesting and illuminating reading of how God is in the rest of the world.

3. A dreamer of God’s dreams

1. when we see the world through God’s eyes He will provide dreams of how we can participate in His work

1. World Impact (large task only God could do)

2. God never calls us to do things that we could do without Him for it wouldn’t be heroic

And what about you? Your dream should raise important questions in your mind. How will this dream stretch you to trust God in a greater way? Will it galvanize other Christians into a living force for God’s Kingdom? Will it reveal Christ to lost men? Will it help to reverse the fragmentation sin has caused at every level of human existence? (103) If it will, then follow that dream

4. A sacrifice for God not

1. school, work, etc

2. Christian growth costs in ultimate figures. Some tough questions must be stared down if we want to mature God’s way rather than our own. What will it take to solidify your spiritual disciplines? How can you sharpen your spiritual gifts? Will it mean going to school or taking up correspondence study? Are you prepared to view aggravation and pain, both past and present, as finishing tools? What legitimate pursuits and pleasures may have to be foregone in making any of the above happen? Are you willing to work to maintain the primary relationships (God, spouse, kids) during all this? (105). It is indeed a sacrifice.

5. An embracing of the pain of others, even strangers

1. we have become dulled to the needs around us

2. I know a man who reaches out to the homeless despite the pains it cost him

6. A call to the underground, the uncommon way

1. Every area of a Christian’s life, every thought and action, must be evaluated in light of whether it helps or hinders us in fighting for God’s Kingdom. It includes our spare time, the substance of our daydreams, professional advancement, and our relationships with other people (106).

2. Anything that interferes with our fighting for the Kingdom, no matter how innocuous or respectable it may seem, must go (107).

7. A daily reminding of our calling

1. we have all been called

2. we must take orders from God and not give them

3. we are necessary and important

3. Evangelism

1. Churches grow by evangelism and multiply by discipleship

1. Evangelism must happen

1. training is good but incomplete (there are so many Christians trained but don’t witness)

2. motivation is needed

When you’ve been where David has been, the truth about God’s forgiveness doesn’t have to be yanked from your throat like tonsils. It explodes. . . . [it] motivates (112).

2. show them they are sinners (John 16.8-9)

3. show them God wants to take care of that (2 Corinthians 5.17)

1. He works it

2. we live it

2. How?

1. develop a healthy fear of God not man

1. cure for cancer

2. cure for sin

2. develop compassion (as we are concerned our compassion grows)

1. not a four step approach that is memorized, but people to talk with

2. not an argument to be won, but one who needs to be restored

3. realize God wants back what’s His

3. Joy follows

While the New Testament commands the church to evangelize, it doesn’t do so in a negative, critical way. The early Christians never seemed to think of anything else to do with their faith but to give it away. It was the natural overflow of loving Jesus (119)

These men did not spread their message because it was advisable for them to do so, nor because it was the socially responsible thing for them to do. . . . They did it because of the overwhelming experience of the love of God which they had received through Jesus Christ. The discovery that the ultimate force in the universe was Love . . . had an effect on those who believed it which nothing could remove. . . . Conversion and joy are closely related in the Acts of the Apostles, and it remained a characteristics thing about the early Christians which attracted others into their company. Their new faith did not make them miserable. Often outward circumstances were unpleasant enough, but that could not rob them of the joy which was their Christian birthright (Green, 1970).

2. People in Christ who are fulfilling His purpose in life do not have dead eyes. I remember hearing some people discussing this the other day . . . (Robert Lee)

CONCLUSION

One more story to illustrate the purposeful, heroic life that God has called us to.

Arlie and Tommy

2. Arlie poor, Tommy rich

4. orange peels and orange slices

6. teacher saw

8. Christmas time, snow and teacher coming with a bagful of toys and oranges.

10. Arlie peeled and ate the peels, teacher showed him the slice and broke one open

12. Juice squirted, laughter rose, taste buds swelled, air filled with orange perfume

14. tasted and saw it was good

16. we are heroic when we take the gospel that is in our lives and show how fine it tastes to those who have only tasted the rind of this life

More than a few of us have asked that question: “Why am I here, what’s my purpose?”

David reminds us: it is to tell others of God and bring them closer to Him. This is seen in concern and compassion. It is heroic. It is dreaming God’s dream, doing God’s will. It is even failing and growing despite it.

It is saying: Hey, above all else I want to be a disciple, one who repents and turns to God and then desires to tell others of God’s goodness.

If you are interested in being discipled of being trained up in the godly values of life, to understand the basics and live them. I will ask you to fill out this sheet of paper and turn it in as the ushers pick them up. This is not a commitment to be discipled but a commitment to talk with me about what we would do if you decided to follow through with God’s call to discipleship.

Name: ________________________ Date: _____/_____/_____

□ Yes, I am interested in learning about my God and my faith. I am available to talk with you on _____________ about a study.

□ I am currently being discipled by _______________.

□ I am not interested at the moment, but will talk with you when I am.

Old Testament, Psalms, Sermons

Psalm 51-I’m Not a Baboon, I’m a Child of God!

Gallery February 20, 1994 David

Dancing with Broken Bones-A Series on Psalm 51-I’m Not a Baboon, I’m a Child of God!
February 20, 1994	Sermon by DRW	Passage Psalm 51.10-12

Introduction

Some of us feel like we have been trapped on a slot car set, like the one Pete got for his roommate—on the surface it appears as though we are going somewhere in life but underneath we know that scenery looks strangely familiar. Our lives can become like that—falling over the same sin, the same thing, we begin to see the rut our lives are beginning to cut, we watch as that rut becomes our lifestyle—its then we feel the paralysis, the erosion of life and joy,

At this point in our life is where we must make a choice: to continue in the rut, never to change or to allow God to change us and build upon that devastated past a new foundation in Jesus.

1. We need to realize that we are desperate without God working within our lives.

1. He has pardoned us from our sin, made us clean; but David know that wasn’t enough.

1. We need a new heart.

2. David know nothing less would do

2. Today we have the technology to transplant hearts that will keep us alive for a few more years

1. its usually the heart from a baboon

2. but, I’m not a baboon, neither was David.

3. David knew that what he needed was a new pure heart that could allow him

1. not to re-enter his old passionate ways of sin

2. but into the new passion of his God

2. David got down to business.

1. He became like Christ.

1. In Luke we read that Jesus was on His final journey to Jerusalem and His death not with a hollow spirit but one with passion and determination:

2. He set His eyes to Jerusalem.

2. He was like Paul.

1. There is a biography of Paul called “The Man of Steel”, for he was determined to pursue God’s righteousness alone (Philippians 3)

2. and refused to be satisfied with the status quo.

We need these: Are you desperate for purity, do you thirst after it? Are you ready to get busy pursuing it?

Today, we will look at the seven consequences of sin and God’s way for us to overcome the sin in our life (we must realize that the consequences are still ours except by God’s grace He removes them).

2. The Seven Consequences of Sin (7-12)

1. Defilement (7)

1. contamination

1. levitical law requires those contaminated be withdrawn from the city

2. as the leper, they couldn’t associate with clean people

3. Jesus offers this in Matthew 8.1ff

2. possible exclusion from worship (11)

2. Deafness (8)

1. one writer puts it this way:

He had become deaf to the voice of God, deaf to all sounds of joy. Once he had been able to take his harp and make the halls of his palace ring with joy and gladness. No more! (Phillips, 91)

2. illustration of me and my guitar (I play when I am in fellowship with God)

3. He had no way to regain that song except in restoration of fellowship with God that is found in

1. repentance

2. and forgiveness

3. Disgrace (9)

1. There is always shame and disgrace associated with sin

* the criminal brought to the courthouse will cover his face

2. David’s sense of disgrace went far deeper than that. He was not just ashamed of what man might thing; he was ashamed that he had been seen by God (Phillips, 92).

1. 1 John 3.1-3

2. Like Jonah, he wanted to run and hide; but like Jonah, he knew he couldn’t

4. Damage (10)

1. barah

1. Genesis 1.1

2. to create absolutely, supernaturally, to make something out of nothing. David wanted a new heart. He did not just want to have the old one changed. If he was to be kept from sinning in the future, a radical work needed to be done in his soul. As Jesus would later put it to Nicodemus, he needed to be born again, to be recreated. The word bara implies all that. The word describes the creative activity of God which brings something out of nothing. It was not just restoration David wanted, he wanted regeneration. He wanted a new, clean heart (Phillips, 92).

2. David knew that a pardon was good but not complete. He needed the radical change that God would bring through Jesus Christ or else his future would be a mere repetition of the past.

5. Doom (11)

1. David had seen Saul become the tormented victim of an evil spirit. David was afraid that this might happen to him.

2. The Holy Spirit

1. The OT shows us that the Holy Spirit set upon people and left after the work was completed or sin had interfered.

2. The NT shows us that the Holy Spirit has been given to indwell permanently God’s people (John 14.16-17)

3. Being cast away from His presence

1. a true consequence of sin is not being allowed into God’s throne room because of the unrepentant, unconfessed sin

2. today this is visually seen in Matthew 18 and the loss of fellowship with God’s Body

6. Depression (12a)

1. Much of the depression in the lives of Christians today is caused by sin. It may be flagrant sin, hidden away somewhere in the past, gnawing away at the conscience. It may be something spitefully said, some fit of temper indulged, or some lie told. Sin causes depression (Phillips, 93).

2. Much freedom is gained through confession to God of these sins.

1. John Gibson’s song that says: “He’s the only free psychiatrist, that is known throughout the land.”

2. Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5)

3. Today, we can’t lose our salvation but we certainly can lose the joy of our salvation and this is a cause for depression and rejection among Christians

* willful, unconfessed sin

7. Defeat (12b)

1. the sin-repent-sin cycle had to be broken

1. remember the slot car life we tend to feed

2. the only way out is Jesus

2. This requires perseverance and willingness to allow God to work in and through us.

Do you see the desperate strait the consequences of sin bring our way? This would be our lot if God didn’t do something about it. He did, He gave those who believe in Him a new heart.

3. A New Heart (10-12)

These three verses are verses of intense emotion. Verses that tell us a little bit about the new heart we received when we accepted the love of God in Christ Jesus. It is not the heart of a baboon but of a loving God.

This new heart David asks for is promised to God’s people in Ezekiel 11.19 and 36.26.

I like what Spurgeon had to say about verse 10:

What! has sin so destroyed us that the Creator must be called in again? What ruin then doth evil work among mankind! Create in me. I, in my outward fabric, still exist; but I am empty, desert, void. Come, then, and let Thy power be seen in a new creation within my old fallen self. Thou didst make a man in the world at first; Lord, make a new man in me.

In the seventh verse he asked to be clean; now he seeks a heart suitable to that cleanliness; but he does not say, “Make my old heart clean”; he is too experienced in the hopelessness of the old nature. He would have the old man buried as a dead thing, and a new creation brought in to fill its place (240).

Jesus death, burial, and resurrection, what we commonly summarize in the word “blood”, granted us the promise of Ezekiel and the desire of David’s heart. He doesn’t give us a transformation but a totally new creation (2 Corinthians 5.17).

Why? Ezekiel 11.20 and 36.27 tell us to enable us to follow Him, to get us out of the rut and into God. Romans 1.16 tells us the Gospel, our salvation, is His power for our lives. Philippians 2.12-13 tells us it is God who works in us to do His work through us. It was done to give us a single mind to follow Jesus (Matthew 6.33).

This new heart He has given us is characterized by three manifestations:

1. A Steadfast Spirit (10)

1. this is to persevere through life

1. Romans 5.3-4

2. James 1.2-4

3. perseverance is one reason Paul was Paul, Martin Luther was Martin Luther, and Billy Graham is Billy Graham

2. not a burning out but a shining forth

1. Dunker Days of Glory, Seasons of Night

2. Philippians 3.14-16

3. One writer comments on this:

Blessed is the person who wants growth so badly that he refuses to shrink from the process that produces it. David wanted grace that could not only weather fierce storms but also bring stability into a life tossed with guilt, regrets, and fear of discovery. Sin fractures our ability to last, to resist the beetles that chew on our lives through unending petty aggravations and mundane routine. Then, when the pressures intensify, the beams of our soul no longer stand the strain. We collapse. That’s why David coveted a steadfast spirit more than gold (Swartz, 1990).

4. The result of this is the eagle who is able to soar above the gales that blow because he used them to bring him above them.

2. The Indwelling Holy Spirit (11)

1. A scary truth is we know more about the Holy Spirit today than David ever did, but we seldom hear this intense cry from our mouths.

Perhaps we know more truth about the Spirit’s working, but David might have known more about the reality of His power. In quiet moments, he felt the loss and grieved over the alienation and blindness covering him like a shroud. Sadly, we often do not. Many times we are so confident of the indwelling presence of the Spirit, which cannot be taken from true Christians, that we forget that the Holy Spirit can be held back by our failure to yield to His guidance (Swartz, 1990).

2. We are to yield to the Spirit of God by being obedient in what the Word of God has commanded us and therein giving glory to God if we don’t we grieve the Holy Spirit.

The evidence is that He is regretfully compelled to withdraw His gracious influence and working, and His grief is reflected in the gloom and heaviness of the estranged heart (Sanders, 1970).

3. The life of the new heart manifests the gifts and the workings of the Holy Spirit to the glory of Christ Jesus.

3. A Willing Spirit (12)

1. Too often today we would rather surrender to God on our own terms rather than His

1. the WW II movie where the tattered army tells its victors that they will surrender on their terms

1. “We have come to negotiate the terms of surrender.”

2. “You will surrender unconditionally, and here are the terms . . .”

2. One writer states:

That’s so much like us isn’t it? Modern man demands the right to dicker, barter, or negotiate with God, who demands unconditional surrender. David sought a willing, renewed spirit. Knowing that a guilty man has nothing to negotiate with, David longed for the kind of perpetual inner kneeling that would receive mercy gratefully and render obedience ungrudgingly (Swartz, 85).

2. The evidence of a willing spirit? obedience to God seen through obedience at:

1. home (Ephesians 6)

2. school (2 Timothy 2.15)

3. everywhere we need to show unconditional obedience to the One who seeks the best for our souls.

If this is our life, steadfast, yielded and obedient we will become a beautiful tapestry for God where He will receive glory for our new heart; if not we will act like we have a baboon’s heart within us and not give glory to God but look foolish in His sight.

We have been given a new heart. This new heart is changing us daily from one glory to God to the next (2 Corinthians 3.18; 4.16-18).

Is this you, even in the consequences of your sin, do you hold steadfast, allowing God’s Spirit to work in you, and willingly giving your all to follow Him? He will take these people to new heights in victory, as the eagle soars, and to new heights in blessings for these are them that seek after Him.

During these next few moments, take the time to reflect on the condition of your heart. Do you lack these things, ask God to restore them to you. If there is sin that blocks you, confess it and repent of it. After you have spent a moment in prayer for yourself turn to your neighbours and pray for them.

Father,

We thank You for the new creation that we are in Your Son Jesus Christ. We ask now that we will have His character renewed in us. We pray that we will give you the glory for the work You do in our lives. We pray Father that we may see Your Spirit at work within us changing us daily. Be glorified now in Your Bride, Your Body. Amen.

Please Stand:

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Old Testament, Psalms, Sermons

Psalm 51-Snap! Crackle! Pop!

Gallery February 13, 1994 David

Dancing with Broken Bones-A Series on Psalm 51-Snap! Crackle! Pop!
February 13, 1994	Sermon by DRW	Passage Psalm 51.6-9

Psalm 51.6-9

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Could you hear David’s remorse in these words. He couldn’t even hear joy or gladness anymore. It was far removed from him. He couldn’t hear the sound of song that belonged to the dance he once did. His longing was to be able to dance, even with broken bones, to the music that resounded with God’s joy and gladness.

We already know what happened with David. He sinned, like we do. He lived a time with the knowledge of that unconfessed sin, like we do. He felt totally demoralized by that sin, like we do. He knew that God was his answer, like we do. Yet, God had to break him to bring him back home, like he has done to some of us here and will do as long as we continue in our sin.

Today I want to look briefly at the how and why of broken bones and how we can dance again with them.

Father, this room has now become our place of worship of You as Your local body. We ask that You would cleanse us from our sins, to break our bones if You must, and to allow us to have a closer intimacy with You today; closer than we have ever had. Cause us to come. Amen.

OUTLINE

I. Breaking of Bones (8)

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have broken dance.

A. Why?

1. We miss the little ways the Holy Spirit prods us

2. If we are not willing to turn from our sin and allow God to heal the cause, then He will get our attention

* David reminds us of this in his other account in Psalm 32.3-5

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”–and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

B. How?

1. Through confrontation

a. Nathan (2 Samuel 12.1-24)

The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.'” Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.” After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. On the seventh day the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, we spoke to David but he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.” David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.” Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. His servants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!” He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah (Jedidiah means loved by the Lord).

We desperately need people like Nathan to keep us in line with God’s Word and will; to tell us the truth even when it hurts. Today we believe that if we love someone we will not tell them things that might hurt their feelings. But the testimonies of Jesus dealing with the Pharisees tells us that their is something more important than hurt feelings at stake, and that is the purity of the church!

2. Present life

1. I had a pastor who was confronted in his earlier ministry by his senior pastor

1. “when will you quit playing and except the Lord?”

2. Ouch

2. The young preacher in the south

1. Was you called or did you just run?

2. Ouch

3. The one who confronts must be broken on the wheel of many fears before he confronts:

1. he or she must ask

1. Is this the only way of dealing with the situation?

2. Am I the right person to confront them?

3. Who am I to do this?

4. Are my hands clean in this?

5. Can I handle it if he doesn’t listen?

2. the feelings happening

1. look for any other alternatives

2. don’t look away

* too many people do

3. only option: confront

2. In regret over past opportunities not taken

1. Illustration of Elvis Presley who continually returned to Gospel out of guilt or frustration

2. What of us?

1. Avoidance, dropping out to only come back periodically as Presley did

2. Pseudo-endurance,

1. regular attenders who have given up

2. actual worship is gone

1. they mumble the words

2. they are constantly reminder by the Holy Spirit of where they went wrong (or that they went wrong)

3. Repentance heals

3. leaders

* lead to lead not to minister

3. The way back?

1. Go back to the point of disobedience

2. confess your sin

3. confess why you did it (the motivation)

1. selfish

2. pride

4. The result of confrontation?

1. peace with God

2. the joy of His salvation returned

2. Broken Bones (6)

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

1. What causes this?

1. Temptation, the striptease of sin seduces and we follow, like a pied piper, what began as a striptease becomes spiritual rape.

1. it calls from a shallow grave with separation from God in mind

1. it is gradual

2. it is draining

3. it is debilitating

4. it cheats us of qualities of soul and character

2. it can only be regained through repentance

2. Compartmentalization of living

Look, it’s my life. As long as it doesn’t overflow into other areas of my life I will follow Him

1. compromise of integrity

1. the end never justifies the means

1. God may not be necessarily be pleased with visible results

* He looks on the heart

2. I’m as good as anyone else

The standard for our principles should not be the world, nor even the Christian community.

It must be the Word of God.

When God’s Word is abandoned

our sense of His will is numbed and we succumb to what may be called a sin binge.

3. loss of spiritual zeal and integrity

1. John 8

1. Jesus professes the truth

2. He basis the entire authenticity of His ministry not on the results of His ministry, but on the integrity of His character.

2. When our integrity is shot, the message of the Gospel is strangely muted.

Integrity means being willing to stand straight when standing straight isn’t popular.

It holds to the truth even when crowds are not around,

and delights in the playing to the audience of God alone.

2. judging ourselves against the wrong standard

1. others

2. not God

3. producing

1. loss of zeal

2. loss of integrity

3. loss of joy

2. Temptation is a dangerous thing

1. illustration of the rattlesnake with the head chopped

2. we may be dead to sin, but its bite is still powerful and deadly

3. Dancing with Broken Bones (7-9)

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have broken dance.

Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

1. Intense

1. not an emotional icebreaker

1. it’s not wanting to feel good

1. too many of us have settled for emotions that leave and come as quickly as the moment that carried it

2. to be honest, it does feel good and does make me feel better, but it is not right

3. to be honest, we all need something to cling to, to look forward to, something to hang our hat on but it shouldn’t be emotions it should be:

2. wanting Jesus more than the emotions

1. it is the willingness to allow Him to be Lord at all times

1. in the light

2. in the dark (Isaiah 59.10-12)

2. it is telling Him that the joy of His salvation is what we desire

1. that which lasts

2. that which is not fleeting

2. the pounding of dirty socks continually against a jagged rock to cleanse it

1. it works fine on socks

2. but is hard on the human soul

3. it asks us to be whiter than snow (snow has a tiny speck of dirt at its center)

1. a leper is white, we must be whiter

Leviticus 13.3 The priest is to examine the sore on his skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is an infectious skin disease. When the priest examines him, he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean.

2 Kings 5.27 Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

2. snow is white, we must be whiter, pure but we must be purer

Isaiah 1.18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

2. Intimate

1. The Holy Spirit and Broken Bones

1. He convicts of sin (He is the bone breaker) [John 16.8]

1. The book of Micah has an interesting phrase for the Lord as He comes to take His people to Himself.

* He is called the Breaker, that is, one who comes forth destroying all that doesn’t belong.

2. The Holy Spirit is the One who indwells us (John 14.16-17)

1. He is also the One who reveals and testifies Christ to us and through us.

2. None of these are options. They come in the package we call salvation.

2. He can never peacefully co-exist with sin

1. He will break our bones to bring us back into fellowship with God (1 John 1)

2. He will drive us back to Him

3. A note on guilt

1. the Holy Spirit’s guilt

1. the pain of His breaking is specific and sharp

2. drawing us to the Great Physician

1. reconciliation

2. confession

2. Satan’s guilt

1. the pain of his breaking is ambiguous and mocking

1. tempts

2. accuses

2. drawing us away from God

2. The Joy of God amidst Suffering

1. Joy is not tied to circumstances but to God

1. we will never be able to freely experience joy until we have willingly let go of what the world has to offer and come to Jesus (Matthew 6.33)

2. Joy is the natural overflow of a life in communion with God

3. It can never be shaken, except in the disruption of fellowship with God (that is, the presence of sin)

2. Abba! Father!

1. Most of us know this verse just well enough to take it for granted.

1. We think the world of God as He gets to know us

2. We miss the remarkable truth of it: He wants us to get to know Him

2. God tells us to call Him Abba! Father! because He is and He wants us to truly become intimate with Him

We can call Him Abba and Father because He is. We can rejoice in Him, even in pain and suffering, because He cares and shares those pains with us. Satan doesn’t like the words expressed today because they throw light on his work of accusation and throws light on God’s work of mending the very bones He chooses to break.

As a closing today, I want us to shout to God that we love Him and why we love Him.

Hebrews 13.20-21

May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Now, sit with the person next to you and pray for God’s work to be done in you this week. Let this be a week that is purely for Him, where He is glorified by all we do. Where we confess when we sin; where we lean on Him in our temptations; where we purposefully choose to tell another about the amazing God we serve. After this, you are dismissed.

Old Testament, Psalms, Sermons

Psalm 51-The Confession of Completion

Gallery February 6, 1994 David

Dancing with Broken Bones-A Series on Psalm 51-The Confession of Completion
February 06, 1994	Sermon by DRW	Passage Psalm 51.3-5

OUTLINE

Introduction

We learned in verses 1 and 2 David’s confession of knowing God’s grace and his own sin. In these three verses, David confesses that he knows his sins. Both of these are necessary for true repentance: knowing I have sinned and that God will forgive them (1 John 1.9). It is in knowing the reality and “lethality” of our sin that brings us sorrow that leads to repentance. And, it is knowing that God does forgive through His loving kindness that leads us to repent. That should show you why there is not as much repentance today as in years before. Its not that God is less kind, it is that we have lost sight of the reality and “lethality” of our sin. If is like the snake pit at the San Diego Zoo. I trip out when I go to it. There are snakes in it that look stuffed. So you get real close to them, then they move and scare the stuffing out of you. The apparent reality, harmless; the true reality, lethal.

We do the same thing with sin, thinking we can handle it, thinking that it is mundane and harmless and then the Snake from the pit of Hell lurches out bites you and then, and only then, do you see how lethal it really is.

Let us look into David’s personal diary and watch as he shows his remorse and completes his confession of sin.

1. Remorse

1. The Ghost that Haunts Him (3)

This is an ever present tension which is the source of his shame, despair, fear and his ultimate hope. For it is like the ghosts in Scrooge: A Christmas Story that brought him through the shame of yesterday, the despair of today and the fear of the future into his ultimate hope. So did David’s and so do ours.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Everywhere he went there was someone there to remind him of his sin. One year had passed from the adultery to the confrontation by Nathan of David’s sin. All during this time he lived with these reminders and the guilt that they brought.

1. The people who remind him

1. Uriah

1. memory

2. the general and husband of Bathsheba

2. Bathsheba

1. everything about her from her presence to her perfume, from her breath to her body

2. if the blood of bulls and goats couldn’t cover his sin, a wedding ceremony couldn’t either

3. His dead son

1. Bathsheba was pregnant

2. Six or seven months after their wedding she had a son, a few days later he died

1. watching her grow full with child

2. watching and hearing the birth

3. watching and feeling the death

4. Joab and the army

1. these are the ones whom he commanded to make sure that Uriah died.

2. Joab was his major military man

5. His very soul

2. The Holy Spirit reminds him

1. John 16.5-11

The very Spirit whom he prayed not to leave him in Psalm 51.11 is the one who reminded him of his guilt, shame, and despair.

A side note to be developed in a later message: In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came and went as He pleased; in the New Testament He abides forever in the believer because of Jesus Christ.

transition 1. The truth of daily existence that reveals it

2. He knows it and feels it as God does (Isaiah 59.12)

1. no excuses, there are none, for God knows our sin

1. why confess? to admit to ourselves that we have stepped over God’s line and to restore fellowship with Him

2. David’s sin was always before him, oppressing him (Psalm 32.1-5). His request is that God will take it away from both his and God’s presence (Psalm 103.7-14).

2. he had to make a choice

1. repentance or

2. judgment

He chose repentance but still received earthly judgment (seen in the death of his son) for he was God’s man doing Satan’s work.

We need to remember: God is not mocked, whatever a man sows he shall also reap whether here or in eternity. Paul tells us if we sow corruption (adultery or whatever your particular sin may be) we shall sow corruption.

2. The Guilt that Horrifies Him (4a)

1. Known by God for it was against God only (emphatic) and it was before Him

All human relationships are established and upheld by God. Anyone who disrupts that relationship has sinned against the one who established it. As one author points out: “sin against man is not the infringement of rights which are man’s by nature, but the infringement of rights which are his because God willed that they should be his” (Rowley, 1945) (see Proverbs 17.5).

1. Prodigal Son in Luke 15.21 tells us this truth when he returns home to the father (representing God the Father) and tells Him, “Against You I have sinned.”

2. Psalm 139.7-10

1. have you ever had to face someone whom you have offended?

2. When we sin, the God whom we offend is present and sees our sin (omniscience and omnipresence).

1. Illustration of the one who sinned in front of her husband but didn’t know he was there. Both knew the sin but no fellowship ensued until forgiveness was sought and given.

2. tense

2. Deep sorrow and repentance

1. not remorse merely for the consequences

1. Saul wept because

1. he knew his kingdom was to be taken away from him

2. not because

1. he was sorrowful over attempted murder

2. and idolatry

2. Judas wept and committed suicide because

1. he felt pity for himself and was ashamed that Christ was to die;

2. not because he betrayed his Master and assisted in shedding innocent blood.

2. remorse for the sin itself and the deep rooted passion that set it aflame

To the one who has seen his sin, it is not a casual thing to encounter or write-off, but is intense. This intensity leads to repentance. Remember, its His kindness that leads to repentance and sometimes kindness is found at the end of a whipping post (Hebrews 12.4-11). David’s sorrow came not from a heaven to lose or a hell to gain–for he knew his God would not forsake him–but the sorrow came because in his heart he knew he had grieved God.

* Peter wept because

1. he knew he betrayed his Master

2. his was remorse for the sin and the passion that led to sin

3. this is true repentance

TRANSITION/ILLUSTRATION: My tree in Torrance, easy to cut but hard to remove because of the deep root system. Such is the root system of sin.

2. Completion of the Confession (4-5)

His was a completion of the confession, not an excuse for his sin.

1. He knew he was stained to the core

1. Original sin

1. nothing in man that can commend him to God

1. Romans 3.23

2. Ephesians 2.1

3. Ephesians 2.8,9

2. tainted to the core

* dead and rotting meat

2. Universality of sin

1. we all have it and only Jesus can change it

2. Only Jesus can take us out of this miry pit

* septic tank illustration

1. in rural areas a septic tank is used

2. an area of the tank caved in creating a massive whole in it

3. a dog fell into it

4. the owner had three choices

1. let the dog die there

2. put a ladder down and see if the dog will climb out

3. go in after him

5. God had three choices

1. let us die in our sin

2. send an angel (wouldn’t do)

3. go in after us (He did)

3. while God desires faithfulness in man, man dwells in sinfulness [broken with Jesus]

1. that is lies, deceit and murderer of victory and fellowship and intimacy

2. sounds like John 8.44

2. that God was just in disciplining him

1. He knows us

1. John 2.25

2. 1 Samuel 16.7

2. He wants us to grow into His Son (Ephesians 4.12-13; 1 John 3.1-3)

1. sin breaks the growth (no fellowship)

2. sin destroys victory (Achan)

3. He wants us to know Him

1. John 17.3

2. know intimately

* no one knows Pastor Chen like his daughters do

CONCLUSION

David went through a lot, but no more than we have. How many here have never sinned? . . . I’ll make it easier, how many here have not sinned this year? . . . I’ll make it easier, how many here have not sinned this weekend? We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3.23). To say we haven’t is to call God a liar (1 John 1.5-10).

David confessed a lot, he didn’t offer excuses but confessed and repented of his sin; have we? If we don’t turn from our sins we destroy fellowship (read the thought for the week) and freedom in Christ and we destroy our souls.

Allow me to expand Psalm 32, David’s other confession for this sin, from personal experience.

You are free when your sins are forgiven,

Because your sins don’t separate you from God.

You’re dying when your sins are kept hidden,

Because your sins do separate you from God.

The most trying times of a man’s soul is when he attempts to live in fellowship with God and maintain his sin. His soul becomes downcast, his outlook becomes bleak, his desire to really live has left him, he becomes overwhelmed with guilt; he endlessly repeats the cycle of sin, repent, sin, repent, sin; his very reason for living is gone for he has denied his God; and he is without hope in this world. He feels in his heart that it would be better to forsake God and continue in his sin or commit suicide thinking this will relieve the pain and everything else. He tries to do what Saul and Judas did. He listens to the accuser and tempter, Satan. Every time he listens to that hissing sound he believes a little less truth and is less free. His soul is in bondage. When he believes and lives the lie he will walk a living death. The truth is what David says in Psalm 32.5: acknowledge your sin (admit what you have done) for God wants you to see as He sees the heinousness of your sin against Him; turn from it. God will forgive, restore fellowship, give hope, declare “not guilty,” and give victory in His time.

Will you today take hold of the cleansing flood? Will you today allow God to make you whole in His Son? Will you today allow God to search you and let you see the sin that is in you? Will you today be released from the ghosts and guilt that haunts and horrifies you? Will you be set free and complete the confession? If you will, come up here and pray with me.

Jesus says, “Come unto me all who are heavy burdened and I will give rest to your souls.” God bids you to come and confess (Romans 10.9). The Spirit seeks and finds and cleanses (John 16). Come.

Father, this is the first step You’ve given. Help us to seek forgiveness of those we have sinned before. Thank You for forgiving us, restoring us, and cleansing us. We thank You for the kindnesses You’ve bestowed on us in Jesus. We thank You for allowing us to come to You. Amen

Those of you who would like to be held accountable to your repentance to bear the fruit of repentance, please talk with me or a trusted brother or sister in Christ. Allow us to fulfill Galatians 6.1-4.

Doxology

Read Jude 24 and add: “May He lead you into the way everlasting. Amen.”

Please be seated.

[go sit down and pray]

Old Testament, Psalms, Sermons

Psalm 51-The Nature of Sin

Gallery January 30, 1994 David

Dancing with Broken Bones-A Series on Psalm 51-The Nature of Sin
January 30, 1994	Sermon by DRW	Passage Psalm 51.1-2

OUTLINE:

Introduction:

There exists today an interesting tension. It isn’t really a new phenomena but is felt as though it was. It is the tension for immediate quality at minimal cost. This transcends the spiritual but we shall merely peer into the spiritual. We desire immediate godliness, revival, fulness, holiness and we want it at a minimal cost. We exist in this extreme tension. It is a tension for we know there must be more to the Christian life than we are now experiencing. It is an extreme tension for we know that the more, which we seek, will cost us our very lives, and we aren’t willing to give that. Allow me to read Hebrews 12.1 and explain a little bit here.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

I would like to point out two things from this:

1) We need to work at throwing off sin, transgression and iniquity (that which entangles and hinders us).

2) There is hope in doing this. The verse begins with: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses . . .” This cloud of witnesses is the list from Hebrews 11. Those great saints are testimony for us that we too can live through rough times. These saints are not standing over watching us to see if we will make it, fall or fail; to applaud or hiss. I have a tough time preaching in front of other preachers because I feel they will judge, criticize, and tell me where I blew it with no encouragement. This is not what the witnesses of Hebrews do. I find it a great relief to preach to a group of pastors when they tell me beforehand that they are rooting for me and they too have gone through some tough times. That is what the witnesses are saying to us. We know we can throw off sin, transgression and iniquity because we have these witnesses who testify to its truth.

And so, relentlessly drawn to the riches in Christ but fearing the light of discovery on our soul, we grope for shortcuts and techniques. Examining the externals rather than our own heart is indeed less painful, but also less illuminating. In the end, too many of us stack our hopes on Band-Aid solutions to problems of the magnitude of spiritual cancer. To keep what we should throw away, although it is comfortably killing us, and to do so at the expense of all Christ wants us to be, is a blind man’s bargain. (p. 11) and the tool of Satan.

There are many Christians today who believe that as long as we are visible we are doing okay. If this is true, then why is it that with so many Christian radio stations, TV stations, album labels, musicians, writers, books, publishing houses we do not have a greater impact on the world? Could it be we are only talking to ourselves? Could it be that we have grown so comfortable with our Christianity, and haven’t dealt with the tension we exist in, that the world has decided that what we say is no longer of importance or valid because it doesn’t seem true for the Christian? Could it be that in becoming experts in techniques and methods we have become amateurs in practice? Could it be that we only speak the language and have forgotten the walk? Could it be that we have forgotten what God desires more than anything else? Have we forgotten holiness? Have we become like Adam and Eve who tried to hide their spiritual nakedness with fig leaves, only our fig leaves come as the “ten” or “twelve” steps to maturity or holiness or whatever, which can only hide our barren and superficial lives? To some extent I say yes.

Yes, we have not come as far as we should be. Yes, we have forgotten some of the basics in search of the greater (forgetting that God only blesses with the greater when faithfulness to the lesser is practiced). Over the next several weeks we will be discussing a lot of what the church has forgotten or neglected. Our text for these few weeks (six or seven) will be Psalm 51. I ran across an interesting title and decided this was to be the series title: Dancing with Broken Bones. We will cover many things from today’s message on sin to the final message on revival. We will touch bases with things like the nature of the heart, the confronting of sin before it steals our joy, evangelism and salvation, and life as worshiping God. I am excited about this series–please join in my excitement as we pray.

Father, direct our heart, soul, mind and strength to Your desires. Teach us today about You. Teach us today about how lost we are without You. Teach us today more of Your love. Show us today where we are in relationship to You. Open our eyes that we may see the great Truths Your Word has for us today. Amen

The background for Psalm 51 is David’s sin with Bathsheba, murdering of Uriah, confrontation by Nathan, and repentance by David. We all now the story, maybe it has become too familiar and we have forgotten the gist. Just in case this is so, allow me the time to explain what happened with David. He was king of Israel. A man who could have whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. As God’s king, he knew he had to be obedient to his God first and foremost. The Scriptures call David a man after God’s own heart. He was no spiritual sissy. It came about one day that he was not doing what he was supposed to do–he was supposed to be in battle but he was at home. One thing led to another, and he should’ve known better (and did), but he glanced at Bathsheba in a bath and committed adultery with her. That is as tantamount to when we look squarely at the Cross and say, “I know all that You did for me, but I want to indulge my desires at this moment, just this once; no one else will know; I want to.” We do, he did. He got Bathsheba pregnant and then killed his most trusted general, her husband, to hide his shame.

Nathan comes in and calls him on the spiritual carpet. David was confronted with his sin. He recognized it, repented of it and begged for mercy to the very One whom he betrayed. This is the result of that case. Our text for today is Psalm 51.1-2:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my <transgressions>. Wash me thoroughly from my <iniquity>. And cleanse me from my <sin>.

1. Three Steps Backward

One note: these three descriptions for sin are not necessarily a catalogue of what David did, rather they are the acknowledgment of how deeply moved David was over his sin. To him, his sin was so heinous in order to show its completeness he used these three descriptions. It also shows, as we shall see, that David knew only God could renew such a one.

1. Transgressions

A deliberate step over the line challenging God’s right to be God. It is being a rebel and revolting against God. “Even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God.” (Romans 1.21)

1. A Wilful Sin (Psalm 19.13)

Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great <transgression>.

1. It was a wilful sin that Satan took as he tried to usurp God’s throne.

2. It was a wilful sin that Adam and Eve took as they tried to usurp God’s throne.

2. Spiritual Death (Ephesians 2.1-5)

As for you, you were dead in your <transgressions> and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in <transgressions>–it is by grace you have been saved.

1. When Adam and Eve transgressed the Word of God, the Bible tells us, sin entered the world and with sin came death

2. that’s why Paul tells us that Jesus came to break the power of death which was sin.

2. Iniquities

Being warped or twisted. “Iniquity is the warped, pulsating, driving hunger of desire that makes us go blind to what is right as we go grasping for what we want. [It is the exact opposite of what Jesus did and Paul calls us to imitate in Philippians 2.] Wrong seems not only right, but desirable. Real iniquity is when the rationalizations are delivered with a practiced agility. It’s when a man can gaze on the wife of another, lust for her, sleep with her, and then murder her husband in an attempt to conceal an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Knowing what’s wrong doesn’t always stop us. In fact, sometimes it only makes our mouth water. That’s moral twistedness–iniquity. (18) This is not slipping into sin, but deliberately going in for a long slide.

1. Evil Conceit (Psalm 73.7)

From their callous hearts comes <iniquity>; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

2. Separation from God (Isaiah 59.2)

But your <iniquities> have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

* as leprosy would do

3. Blinds us to our Sin (Hosea 12.8)

Ephraim boasts, “I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any <iniquity> or sin.”

* Revelation 3.15-18

3. Sins

To fall short of God’s standard. To stumble from and fall short of God’s standard

1. Tend to justify ourselves.

1. David, from the eyes of man, never fell. Compared to all the men of Israel he was head and shoulders above them. If he desired to justify himself he easily could.

2. Comparing ourselves with others is easy (especially when we don’t look at those who are better than us).

3. This tears at the biblical norm of uplifting for in comparing to justify ourself we will naturally tear down that person.

4. There is no justification of sins in the sight of God apart from Jesus.

1. at the retreat we had one play that showed this. A person forsook God for arcade games. When he died God asked him why he should be allowed in Heaven. The guy answered: “I scored really high on Mortal Combat II.” Needless to say, God was not impressed.

2. all our justifications outside of Jesus sound as ludicrous as the one from the retreat.

2. Takes glory away from God (Romans 3.23)

TRANSITION: We need to come to the reality that most mental patients come to. I have watched many movies on the subject, did some reading on it, and come to this conclusion: Many of the mental patients in places like Camarillo are some of the sanest people on earth. They have come to grips and said: “I can’t run anymore.” This is where David is in Psalm 51 and where we need to be. We need to realize that we can’t run anymore. We can’t run from the stain of sin.

David’s mouth is shut. This psalm is sung through clenched teeth and pursed lips. Some of us know well this kind of humble silence, while others need to make its acquaintance. Sin, iniquity, and transgression are not some other guy’s problem, nor are they something we left behind after we became Christians. Regardless of appearances, we eventually come to know the bitter, convicting, ego-shattering truth in our hearts. (20)

2. Two Steps Forward

1. Repentance

1. blot out his transgressions

1. a book whose words were only accusations, wrongs,

* like the blackboard in Heaven joke I told at the Winter retreat

1. Nehemiah 13.13

2. Daniel 7.10

2. he couldn’t change his past, what was done was done

1. he was stained

2. he was like the barn with the nail holes in it (illustration)

3. he asked God to blot it out

1. He would because of His covenant with Israel (hesed)

2. Psalm 32.1

Blessed is he whose <transgressions> are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

3. Psalm 103.12

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our <transgressions> from us.

4. Isaiah 43.25

“I, even I, am he who blots out your <transgressions>, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

5. Just in case we forgot Paul reminds us in Romans 4.7:

“Blessed are they whose <transgressions> are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

2. wash me from iniquity

1. an article of clothes that needed to be washed. So bad was its defiling that it needed to be “trampled under foot” to be thoroughly cleaned.

2. he knew that a mild detergent (human effort) couldn’t cleanse his iniquity

1. Jeremiah 2.22

2. Isaiah 59.12

For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our <iniquities>:

3. he knew only God could cleanse him and make him spotless, we know it is something greater that takes care of iniquity–the death and life of Jesus!

1. Psalm 51.9

Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my <iniquity>.

2. Psalm 90.8

You have set our <iniquities> before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

3. Isaiah 53.5-6

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our <iniquities>; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the <iniquity> of us all.

4. Micah 7.19

You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our <iniquities> into the depths of the sea.

3. cleanse me from my sin

1. like leprosy that defiled a man on the outside, his sin defiled him on the inside

2. he knew that his sin had separated him from God much as the leper is considered unclean to man

3. he knew that only God could heal him

2. Acceptance

1. erased

2. cleansed

3. healed

Conclusion:

Like the wicked queen in Snow White, we’ve grown to love the narcissistic mirrors in our hearts that tell us, “You’re the fairest of them all.” But truth is an iconoclast that delights in smashing those mirrors. [Just as the mirror eventually told the truth to the queen that there was another fairer, so go will send a Nathan to tell us that we fall short.] It is a persistent nag that refuses to go away just because its revealing message may be socially unpopular and morally inconvenient.

From David’s lips, the truth finds us defiantly rebellious, morally and spiritually twisted, falling short of both God’s standards and our own. That’s us–you and me. But there’s hope. The first step in the healing of a problem is admitting our need. A man or woman who confesses no curse certainly feels no need of a cure. A remedy, one older than time itself with its genesis in the mind of the Creator of the Universe, is ready at hand. But first we must sing a bitter song along with David. We must soberly admit that, left to ourselves, our souls are terminally ill.

We must not deceive ourselves. There aren’t a vast number of gods to choose from. Our options are narrowed down to one: a holy God who confronts our evasive patterns at every turn. We must face Him! There is nowhere to hide, nowhere to run away. For He pursues us, He finds us everywhere. But He chases us in order to save, not to judge; to help, not to destroy. The deep inner healing we all need can come from no other source. It must come form Him alone. (21-22)

Today we have seen that we are truly poor people without God. We are ravaged with sin. If it were not for the grace and mercy of God none of us would go to heaven. Take this time to ask God to show you where you are falling short of His glory. Repent of it and then come forward and stand with me as we show to the congregation that we accept the truth of His cleansing.

2 Peter, New Testament, Old Testament, Psalms, Sermons

Remember

Gallery November 27, 1993 David

Remember
November 27, 1993	Sermon by DRW	Passage 2 Peter 1.12-18 and Psalm 77

OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION

EXPLAIN THE MOUNT EBAL AND GERIZIM STORY IN DEUTERONOMY.

DEU 11:26-29

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a <curse>–the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the <curse> if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the <curses>.

Remember:

KEY TO CURSES/REMEMBERING

DEU 27:26 “<Cursed> is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

DEU 28:15 However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these <curses> will come upon you and overtake you: use you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.

DEU 28:45 All these <curses> will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.

To receive blessings remember.

THE KEY TO RIGHTEOUS LIVING IS REMEMBERING

MIC 6:5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

ISA 64:5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?

To receive curses forget.

RESULT OF NOT REMEMBERING

JDG 8:33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and JDG 8:34 did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.

WE SIN WHEN WE DON’T REMEMBER

PSA 106:6 We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. PSA 106:7 When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. PSA 106:8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.

ISA 46:8 “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. ISA 46:9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.

Remember things like:

2CO 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

EXO 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

EPHESIANS 2

EPH 2:11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)– EPH 2:12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

DEU 5:15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

DEU 15:15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.

DEU 16:12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees.

DEU 24:18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

DEU 24:22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

THE NAMES OF GOD AND WHY REMEMBERING THEM

PSA 119:55 In the night I remember your name, O Lord, and I will keep your law.

1. Forgetting

a. CURSES (GENERAL)

DAN 9:11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. “Therefore the <curses> and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.

i. FALLING

PSA 119:21 You rebuke the arrogant (PRIDE), who are <cursed> and who stray from your commands.

(1) SIN–transgressed your law

(2) PRODIGAL–and turned away

(3) PRIDE–refusing to obey

ii. RESTORING

REV 2:5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

REV 3:3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

(1) SIN TO CONFESS–the transgression

MAT 26:75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

(2) PRODIGAL TO RETURN–to His way

(3) PROUD TO BE HUMBLE–to do His Word

b. FALSE PROPHETS

i. 1 TIMOTHY

ii. 2 TIMOTHY

iii. ACTS

c. LIBERTY AND OBEDIENCE

They knew it all, of course: the twin themes of faith and works, grace and effort, were not new to them or to any of the early Christians. But they needed to be put in remembrance of these things, particularly in their present situation when the grace of God was being used as a cloak for license (ii.19; cf. Rom. vi.1) and the knowledge of God as a substitute for obedience (cf. 1 Jn. ii.4).

i. 2 PETER 2.19 AND ROMANS 6.1

ii. 1 JOHN 2.4

2. Remember

CONCLUSION TO NEGATIVES

REV 22:3 No longer will there be any <curse>. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.

PURPOSE OF REMEMBERING

NUM 15:39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. NUM 15:40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God.

a. PRESENCE

i. CONFIDENCE

EXO 32:13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I <promised> them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'”

ILLUSTRATION

Judy Chang and her court case Wednesday.

If God is in control and you know what He has promised, then you can rest in Him with confidence.

PSA 78:35 They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

ii. BOLDNESS

DEU 11:25 No man will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he <promised> you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.

DEU 31:23 The Lord gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I <promised> them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

ILLUSTRATION

Paul the Apostle and his preaching.

1 Timothy 1.7

b. PROMISE

Annie Johnson Flint’s “What God Hath Promised”

JOS 21:45 Not one of all the Lord’s good <promises> to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

KEY TO PROMISES AND OUR RESPONSE TO THEM

2CO 1:20 For no matter how many <promises> God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

2CO 7:1 Since we have these <promises>, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

1 JOHN 3.1-3

2PE 1:4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious <promises>, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

2PE 2:19 They <promise> them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity–for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

2PE 3:4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he <promised>? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

2PE 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his <promise>, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2PE 3:13 But in keeping with his <promise> we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

1JO 2:25 And this is what he <promised> us–even eternal life.

i. IN DARKNESS

That state where we are seeking after God but there seems to be no direction, no confirmable direction He wants us to go. Which school does He want you to attend? What major? Who should you marry? Where should I go to work? When we seek after the will of God for our lives, in these areas, He seems to turn of the lights and asks us to trust in Him and His promises. To remember what He did for us in the light and allow that to guide us through the dark.

(1) Sarah

GEN 21:1-2 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had <promised>. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had <promised> him.

HEB 11:11 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age–and Sarah herself was barren–was enabled to become a father because he* considered him faithful who had made the <promise>.

(2) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

GEN 50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he <promised> on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

HEB 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things <promised>; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

EXO 33:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I <promised> on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’

DEU 34:4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I <promised> on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

ROM 4:20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the <promise> of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ROM 4:21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had <promised>.

ii. IN LIGHT

(1) Paul the Apostle (his ministry–Philippians 1.20-21)

(2) Peter the Apostle (his death–John 21 and 2 Peter 1.12-15)

ACT 3:21 He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he <promised> long ago through his holy prophets.

ROM 1:2 the gospel he <promised> beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures

c. PASSION

i. EMMAUS DISCIPLES

1TH 1:3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

2TI 1:5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 2TI 1:6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

PSA 106:12 Then they believed his <promises> and sang his praise.

PSA 119:50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your <promise> preserves my life.

PSA 119:76 May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your <promise> to your servant.

PSA 119:140 Your <promises> have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.

PSA 119:148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your <promises>.

PSA 119:162 I rejoice in your <promise> like one who finds great spoil.

PSA 145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his <promises> and loving toward all he has made.

SCRIPTURE READING

PSA 77 I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. Selah You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired: “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Selah Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.

2 Peter, Galatians, New Testament, Sermons

Grand Canyon

Gallery October 11, 1992 David

Grand Canyon
Fruit of the Spirit
October 11, 1992	Sermon by DRW	Passage Galatians 5.22-23 and 2 Peter 1.3-15

As I was attempting to explain everything we have seen concerning the Fruit of the Spirit, I became overwhelmed with the material we had covered. We have spent several weeks in the chasms of God’s work within us. We have seen the carvings that He is making and has made on our lives and in our hearts. We have seen where the river of God’s power has flowed within us to create canyons of beauty. An etching of love, faith, patience, self-control, kindness, goodness, peace, joy, and gentleness. We have seen the Master at work on His billboard called our life. Taking a look back at what God has done is amazing.

We began by standing at the edge of a broad canyon when we looked into Psalm 1 and the man and woman of God. From there we began to walk down into the canyon to look at the bright and beautiful aspects that create the man and woman of God. Some, even as we were walking, were touched by the hand of God as He added an extra touch of beauty to their life in Christ. Some realized the need for repentance from pride, the desire for rest in Christ, and even the patience that God requires. God was making His announcement to the world evident in the work of these peoples lives.

But now it is time to come to the top of that canyon. We could spend the rest of our lives in the canyon looking at the make-up of that canyon and never see the entirety of it. It is a grand canyon, carved by the hand of God. When God makes something, He demands glory and praise from that which He created.

That is what we want to look at as we leave the floor of the canyon and return to the edge–once more, we look down at the whole and praise God.

LET’S PRAY:

God, creator God. Re-creator God. GOD! We praise You. We thank You. We thank You for Your Spirit You have given that we might become more like You. We praise You for bringing to us Your goodness and glory that we might be more like You. Be with us this afternoon as we hear Your word–be glorified.

Today we want to look at 2 Peter 1.3-15. The outline is on the back of your bulletin.

I. A REMINDER OF THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT (3-7)

A. OUR APPOINTMENT

1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

1:4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

As believers, we are called into a life of godliness, a life that is from God, the divine nature, and is not tainted by the world.

To look at it another way, we have been called by the manifestation of God’s glory and goodness to live a life characterized by purity and not by the corruption in the world. It is the time that the believer is renewed by Christ as the Holy Spirit begins to restore the image of God within him.

Stop to consider the impact of these verses.

3 He has given us everything we can ever need, not necessarily what we want, but what we need. The purpose for his giving what we need: to produce Himself in us–life and like Godness. It is key to know how this divine power is given, or how we become like Christ. Can you see it? It is through our knowledge of Him. I looked at “knowledge” in this passage (verses 2 and 3) and noticed something interesting: It is knowledge that produces godliness, which receives the promises which produces the divine nature. The knowledge goes beyond mere knowing of something. It must mean the joining together intimately with the thing learned. In this case, knowledge of Christ is to become intimately acquainted with Him. As we begin to know Him, we begin to live our life as if He were always with us (He is, you know). It is a knowledge of the heart: knowing what hurts Him, what causes Him to rejoice, what He is sensitive to.

4. We must become in practice what we already are in God’s sight. This is the promise, we can become in reality–someday–as God sees us now: participants of His divine nature.

God has called us to this. He has chosen to stop and turn and call us to Him. There is another side to the coin. It is true that salvation is free, we cannot work our way into heaven. We can only listen for His call and come. Because of His call and His great and precious promises and His divine power, we cannot sit back and be content with our faith. This is where the responsibility comes in (verses 5-7):

B. OUR ACCOUNTABILITY

1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;

1:6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

1:7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

Sounds sort of like the Fruit of the Spirit. Now can you see why we could have stayed in the canyon forever looking at the intricacies of the Christian life. Instead of dwelling on these, allow me to briefly mention them, then we will press on to our second point.

Faith: this is believing in something that has worth, it is staying faithful to that no matter the cost. This is the greatest need of our age–belief in God. Here is an example: everytime we are lonely or feeling blue we are denying God. We are telling Him that we don’t believe His Word. We don’t believe Him when He tells us He will never leave us nor would He forsake us.

Goodness:Moral excellence. This is the willingness to stand out from the crowd, to stick your neck out (to be Shedrach, Meschach and Abedneggo). Not being pleased with mediocrity, only with the best. It is not striving to be like Paul, nor like Joe but it is striving to be like Christ. True moral excellence is Christlikeness. Never settle for second best when God offers the best.

Knowledge: We discussed that above. It also means to live life wisely. In a sea of decisions, we wisely choose the best one. It is what Heb 5.14 calls the ability to distinguish bad from good; it is also the ability to distinguish the good from the best. It is in essence the practicing of the presence of God.

Self-control: Remember last week, this is the ability to allow the Spirit to control you. It knows that our Christian life is a holy war between flesh and spirit and the spirit is winning.

Perseverance:Patience–living in God’s time. Allowing God to work in you to remove anxiety and hopelessness. It calls us to look forward to the future when God’s patience will be spent and the world will be judged. It is looking to the future, and the hope that it brings. It is the ability to hang in there because we know what the payoff is, it is not merely surviving another day until He returns.

Godliness: This is an awareness of God in every aspect of my life.

Brotherly Kindness: This means that we guard one another’s dignity and fight against gossip, slander, jealousy, prejudice for the sake of unity. It is stopping and telling that person sitting next to you, “I love you because you are my brother or sister.”

Love: This is turning to the person next to you and saying, “I love you because God loves me.” Do you see the difference. Brotherly kindness is based upon the person receiving the love; love is based upon the person giving the love.

In short, another aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit. But with this comes responsibility. The outworking of God in our lives is the assurance of our belief and salvation.

II. A REASSURANCE OF THE FAITH (8-11)

A. OUR FRUITFULNESS

1:8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We need to be productive, fruitful in our Christian walk. We need to earnestly seek the better way. We need to possess these qualities in increasing measure. We cannot be content with where we were yesterday in our Christian life, nor where we are today, not even where we think we should be tomorrow. We need to, as Paul said, press on toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Here is the principle then: Grow or die. Climb or fall. If we don’t keep growing in the fruit we will become ineffective ministers for Christ on the earth.

Let’s negate that last sentence: If we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will cause us to be effective and productive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. A sign of a true believer is growth.

How does this growth come. We saw it earlier, it is through our knowledge of Him. It is knowledge that produces godliness, which receives the promises which produces the divine nature. The knowledge goes beyond mere knowing of something. It must mean the joining together intimately with the thing learned. In this case, knowledge of Christ is to become intimately acquainted with Him. As we begin to know Him, we begin to live our life as if He were always with us (He is, you know). It is a knowledge of the heart: knowing what hurts Him, what causes Him to rejoice, what He is sensitive to.

Knowing who we are in Christ and knowing who Christ is will never be enough to glorify God. We must be productive and effective.

B. OUR FRUITLESSNESS

1:9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Peter here is warning the believer of what will happen if he tends to forget Christ, one who is not increasing in the fruit. He is blinded by Satan (2 Co 4.4) and is also causing himself to be blinded. He tends to blink at the opportunities for growth. He will tend to close his eyes to God’s opportunities, have no eternal values, just see today having no hope for tomorrow. Worst of all, he will have forgotten his forgiveness, his repentance, his cleansing.

Let us take a look at the positive side of this. If you are increasing in the fruit, if you are productive you will be able to understand the schemes of the devil and not fall for them. You will see the opportunities God places before you. Most of all you will keep falling in love with Him day after day. Your knowledge of Him will increase. You will not think anything of waking up and saying “hello” to God. This is what John said about remembering our cleansing–he called it remembering our first love. Jesus called our salvation, knowledge and increasing intimacy with Him (John 17.3).

Have you ever climbed a mountain? Either by hiking or rapelling? If you have then you know what Peter is talking about. We need to keep climbing. Sometimes it seems as if we will never make it to the top, it seems as if the mountain keeps growing. Or if you are like Ben and run cross country, you begin to think they keep moving the finish line. But the reward comes only when we reach the top or the finish line.

We know that we strive toward the finish line, that we are truly Christians when we can see the work of God in our lives–in His fruit.

C. OUR FAITHFULNESS

1:10a Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.

This is what Peter means. He doesn’t mean we can lose our salvation. He means that we must remain faithful to Him because of our salvation. He means, if we are saved then others will see it and we can have assurance of salvation by the fruit that God produces in us. John put it another way when he said that we who have the Son have life, those who don’t, don’t. They are both saying, if we are intimately acquainting ourselves with God we can know we have eternal life.

D. HIS FAITHFULNESS

1:10b For if you do these things, you will never fall,

1:11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What is the outcome of our seeking to know Christ and have Him grow Himself in us? Look at these verses: never falling and a grand reception into heaven.

Never fall! Is it to good to be true? We are going to stumble (James 3.2) in this life but, when we follow Him, we will never fall.

He also talks of entering the eternal kingdom. Better he tells us we shall be welcomed into the eternal kingdom. Even better, he says we shall receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom. The ticker-tape parades pale in comparison. Peter is using a description of the olympians who return home after victory in the games. When they came home, they were not welcomed through the normal gate that everybody else uses. No for these they tore open a brand new gate in the wall and welcomed them richly. Jesus did they same when He died for us. When He calls us to His home He wants us to come home victoriously. He wants us all to strive for His calling in our life. He has even tore open a new gate for us. Do you remembering the curtain that tore wide open as He died. He broke open a new gate, the only gate into His presence–the gate of grace.

III. A REMINDER TO THE FAITHFUL (12-15)

A. REMEMBER

1:12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.

B. REFRESHED

1:13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,

1:14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

1:15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

Galatians, New Testament, Sermons

Faithfulness

Gallery September 20, 1992 David

Faithfulness
Fruit of the Spirit
September 20, 1992	Sermon by DRW	Passage Galatians 5.22-23

Introduction:

The prisoner sat in a poorly lit cell.
they tried starvation, torture and mental anguish to get the prisoner to bow before the ruler.
they came to take the prisoner to a room with a high ceiling.
they lifted the prisoner high on a rope, “BOW!”
“Forsake your God. BOW!”
Sounds like a story out of Paul’s life, or a first century Christian.
She would not bow.
She stood for God, no matter the cost.
They figured if they could get here to bend forward and take a picture, and publicize it they’d ruin her testimony.
They raised her three stories in the air.
They let the rope go and she plummeted toward the floor.

Why would she go through all this? She knew her Saviour. She may not have known why she was put through this but she knew her Saviour: He is faithful and she realized she needed to be faithful, after all she was a disciple of her Lord.

I. This poses an interesting question, “Is God faithful?”, if so, how does He show it?

A. God keeps His promises

1. Deuteronomy 7.9

2. 1 Corinthians 10.13

3. People often ask me how I know the Bible is true and not just partial truth. Every time I answer, “Look at me!” . . .

B. God does no wrong, He is just.

1. Deuteronomy 32.4

2. Isaiah 42.3

C. Faithfulness is part of His glory, who He is

1. Psalm 89.8

2. 2 Timothy 2.13

3. There are times when we feel we have no faith, no purpose to carry on for, no God to lean on. But He remains faithful. The One who said, “Lo, I am with you always” will still be there, even when we are without faith for it is His character.

I can only imagine this is what my friend’s aunt knew as they raised her high and threatened her to bow before Mao. Flashing through her mind was Proverbs 2.8–God is faithful in His promises, in His justice, and true to His character. She bellowed, “I will not bow! For I am faithful.” She exemplified Revelation 2.10.

II. God has called us to be imitators of Him. How can we do this? By being faithful.

* Kim and Eric story that Kathy told me.

A. Faithful in Word, God keeps His promises

1. Psalm 89.1

2. Isaiah 29.1

3. Prayer has got to be the greatest acts of faithfulness in word that a believer has. In prayer we praise God, worship Him, make requests of Him, communicate with God. Prayer always precedes doing.

B. Faithful in Deed, God does no wrong

1. Joshua 24.14

2. Romans 12.12

3. When the world says forsake God and bow, do you? When the world causes others to deny Christ, do you? *Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego* When there is a choice between self and God, who do you choose? When the devil tempts do you fall for the temptation and ultimately into sin. Are you faithful in deed?

C. Faithful as our way of life, faithful is God’s character

1. 1 Timothy 1.12

2. 1 Peter 4.10

3. Revelation 13.10

Daily, we are asked to stand for Jesus in some way: rejecting false teaching from godless professors (whether in school, on T.V., billboards, etc); refusing to take heed to our friends who deny Christ or blaspheme the holy God we worship; telling someone about Christ; praying. Daily we are called to stand. When we don’t we bow to the world, the flesh, or the devil.

I know there are times when we wonder if its all worth it, those times we are raised to the ceiling, the moment we plummet toward the earth, not certain. In those moments of we need to remember His faithfulness (1 Corinthians 10.13; 1 Samuel 12.24) and cling faithfully to Him

What happened to my friends aunt? We left her hanging a while back. As I said, they let the rope go with the intention of taking a snapshot of here when she hit the ground. When she hit, they thought, as they placed a large photo of Mao before the spot she would land on, in full range of the camera shutter, she would fall forward in a “reverential” bow to Mao for all the Christians of China to see.

But, and this is a big but, they did not know that she was a faithful follower of a faithful God and He was about to show this to her and to the officials of the communist Chinese government in the 1960’s. As she was falling to the ground she praised her God, re-counting His faithfulness to her. When she hit the ground, she landed standing! What a picture of God’s faithfulness Premier Mao now had. Too bad the camera did not have a spiritual eye. If it did, can you picture what would be in the picture? I can only imagine it would have contained what Elisha saw in 2 Kings 6. It would have shown an elderly woman standing defiantly before a picture of Mao DeZhong, being upheld by the mighty angels of God! The only explanation, God gave His angels charge over her lest she dash her foot. AMEN!

The world, the flesh, the devil (all that Mao embodied) can get you by the throat and damage your testimony. Stand firm! Be faithful! God will be well pleased with you and be glorified because of you. Then the Proverb will be answered, “I am that faithful person.”

Remember,

1. God is faithful to His Word–you be faithful to your words.

2. God is faithful in not doing evil–you be faithful in your deeds.

3. God is characterized by faithfulness–you live a life that is characterized by faithfulness.

In so doing, we imitate God and are the greatest billboard for Him, and we bear His Spirit.

Ecclesiastes, Old Testament, Sermons

NOTHING EVER CHANGES . . . UNLESS YOU LOVE THE LORD

Gallery April 30, 1991 David 1 Comment

NOTHING EVER CHANGES . . . UNLESS YOU LOVE THE LORD
April 30, 1991	Sermon by DRW	Passage Ecclesiastes

NEED: WITHIN EVERY CHRISTIAN’S LIFE THERE COMES A TIME OF DOUBT (WHETHER GOD IS FOR REAL, ETC.).

AIM: THE AIM OF THIS SERMON IS TO INFORM THE CONGREGATION THAT QUESTIONING WHAT WE BELIEVE IS NOT WRONG AND HELPS TO ANSWER A LOT OF DOUBT.

BIBLICAL TEXT: ECCLESIASTES

TITLE: NOTHING EVER CHANGES . . . UNLESS YOU LOVE THE LORD

THEME: THOUGH ALL APPEARS TO BE BARREN AND FUTILE GOD HAS A PLAN FOR OUR LIVES.

INTRODUCTION: Let’s travel back in time, not too far, to August 1971. I have just accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour. This was indeed the greatest day of my life. My family was in Germany at the time for my father was in the Air Force. A few months later we are shipped to El Segundo, California in the heart of Los Angeles. My father sends us: my mom, older sister and two younger brothers, and me; ahead of him. It is now May 1972. My father gets in the family car–the 1967 Mustang, not the 1969 Towne and Country Station Wagon–and drives away. After two months we realize that he is not coming back. He files for divorce. My mother, who hasn’t worked since 1960, has to get a job. We barely survive. It is 1976 and after 4 years of this lifestyle I begin to doubt God. After all, I am a Christian and things are not supposed to happen this way. When I became a Christian the pastor said that things will be wonderful because I had entered into the family of God. How come he didn’t tell me this: my father would leave, my mother will almost die from working so hard to support her family, my sister and youngest brother would get hooked on drugs, and life would become difficult. It’s not supposed to happen this way. Is God in a coma? In the Summer of 1976 I became perplexed over life and asked the ever earnest question “Why?” to God above. Why do these things happen? Aren’t You in control? The conclusion I had come to is that following this god is not what I want to do, that this god was not good–I threw the Bible away.

I did come to that conclusion and I confess it to you: Life is difficult and it is hard to understand. I imagine this is how Solomon felt. After all David, his father, had recently died and all that his father told him seemed to be untrue. So, let’s go back a couple thousand years to 980 BC. Solomon has seen his older brothers try to take away his father’s kingdom. He saw Adonijah’s rebellion (1 Kings 1.5) and Absalom’s as-well (2 Sam 15).

Solomon’s father soon died (~970BC) and the reign of all Israel was given into his hands. We read that he was the wisest of all men

And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt (1 Kings 4.30).

How he obtained this wisdom is of importance as we seek to understand the book of Ecclesiastes [please turn there as we continue]:

5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as [it is] this day.

7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I [am but] a little child: I know not [how] to go out or come in.

8 And thy servant [is] in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

(1 Kings 3)

God had given this wisdom to Solomon. What did Solomon do with this wisdom? From the world’s perspective he greatly enhanced the political and social life for the Israelites and the people’s around him. From a religious position he built the Temple of the Living God and greatly enhanced the religious life for the Israelites. In the eyes of Solomon, however, he greatly enhanced the life of futility.

PROPOSITION: TODAY WE SHALL LOOK AT THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES AND DEAL WITH LIFE FROM TWO PERSPECTIVES: THE WORLD’S AND GOD’S.

OUTLINE:

I. THE WORLD

How have we done Socially?

To some extent Solomon reminds me of our generation, as we saw in the introduction. He reminds me of me. He reminds me of you. He reminds me of us. Solomon sought after things, money, pleasure, and accomplishment. Most of us have pursued the same products. We have done as Solomon. He sought after materialism.

A. Materialism

1. 2.12-23 (especially v 19)

2. I have a friend who has amassed a great many gadgets and doohickeys. His desire is to have the best of the best, as did Solomon, as do we at times. His whole life was manifest around that which he could get and keep. He has the finest car, the most up-to-date sound and video systems. Yet he lives a morally bankrupt life for his trust and desire is found in these things. For him the last word is given by what he owns: “I want the very best.” If any other force than God has the last word, then that force is a god. We do the same as my friend and as did Solomon. There are times when the last word comes not from God but from what we want. EX: poor folks and clothes. Anything that controls life (even a dream) is materialism for it is a possession that possess.

QUESTION: Anthony Campolo’s question: Would Jesus drive a BMW? Would He earn 100,000 a year?

Solomon sought after wealth as-well.

B. Wealth

He pursued these things for he became disappointed in who or what he had as a god.

1. 2.1-11

2. 5.8-17

3. In order to maintain the very best Solomon and my friend had to earn monies and amass wealth.

I am constantly reminded what a delicate balance there is between accepting and engaging in the good gifts of life, and valuing those gifts more highly than the One who gives them.

The question is one of value. Matt 6.19-21.

We own things at the risk of them distracting us from other values and loyalties (Ecclesiastes 5.10).

Our values are like eyes (Matt 6.22-23). They affect our perceptions and direction. If you own a house, the grass owns you to a certain extent.

Consider Matt 6.24. “Keeping one eye on God and one eye on your wallet will not work.” Both eyes must be on God, He’ll take care of the wallet.

Solomon also sought after pleasure.

C. Pleasures like sexual pursuits and comfortable living. He didn’t see, until the end, that the only truly fulfilled life is doing God’s will as He calls you, not another.

*. 2.1-11

Solomon had all that money could buy and build. His pleasure was in the works of his hands. His works benefitted mankind greatly and this was pleasurable in the eyes of man.

D. Work

Americans tend to work only for money–to feed basic human selfishness. They live from one coffee break to another. The Christian view of work should be different. The Bible supports work with at least four basic truths:

1) Work is God-ordained (Gen 1.28).

2) As a result of fundamental human rebellion against God, work no longer brings the fulfillment God intended (Ecclesiastes 2.4-11).

3) For Christians, work is done as a service to Christ (Col 3.22-24).

4) Work not only brings glory to God, it has moral benefits as well (Eph 2.48).

Work is part of the nature of God, without work we are not completely fulfilled.

Solomon’s pleasure was in his work and according to the text and history his works were magnificent.

1. 4.4-12

2. Obsession with one’s work is not a healthy attitude. The symptoms of such obsession might include:

1) no leisure time or activities,

2) compulsive perfectionism,

3) fatigue, tenseness, poor sleep, physical ailments such as headaches, stomachaches, back pains, ulcers,

4) a lack of friends or social life, and deteriorating relationships,

5) single mindedness, (to amass wealth through work thinking that this will alleviate problems)

Rather than succumb to workaholism, try to work more effectively by prioritizing tasks, dropping or delegating those you can, allotting time for play and quiet, and time with loved ones.

DAILY DECISIONS DETERMINE DESTINIES

Christians should focus on the bigger picture when evaluating the importance or impact of their daily work.

1) We have God-given resources including life, time, talent, energy, strength, and others.

2) We have constant influence on the next generation.

3) We are uniquely equipped, but each important and interdependent.

It helps to set goals and priorities to guide your daily activity.

[TRANSITION:] To the eyes of the world Solomon was a great social worker. He helped with building needed areas (the Temple and gardens, etc.). He set a good work ethic. According to the world’s standards he was indeed a success for he amassed fortunes. How did he deal in the realm of power? Was he successful in this as-well?

II. How have we done realm of power?

A. Influence

1. Solomon had the Queen of Sheba visit him and pronounce that Solomon was even greater than his reputation had stated (1 Kings 10.1-10).

2. Power corrupts if it is not controlled by God.

B. Oppression

1. 4.1-3

2. Part of the political success of Solomon was due to his hatred of oppression.

[TRANSITION] The world has proclaimed Solomon as the successful business man, the successful man of influence. The question that comes to mind now, after we have seen that Solomon is proclaimed as the success of the ancient world, what did Solomon think about all this?

IV. How have we done Personally?

A. Futility [here’s where we throw the Bible down]

1. For Solomon life was futile. Life amounted to nothing. The introduction to this book announces his view on his life (and all life): “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity! What advantage does man have in all his work which he has done under the sun?” As a matter of fact the term vanity occurs over 30 times in this book. His opinion of life was pretty bleak. When he thought of the areas where others viewed his life as successful he had this to say:

PLEASURE

I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also [is] vanity. (Ecclesiastes 2.1)

WORK

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there was] no profit under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2.11)

WISDOM

Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also [is] vanity. (Ecclesiastes 2.15)

MONEY

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this [is] also vanity. (Ecclesiastes 5.10) NT Lillies?

MATERIALISM

A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this [is] vanity, and it [is] an evil disease. (Ecclesiastes 6.1-2)

RIGHTEOUS LIVING

All [things] have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just [man] that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked [man] that prolongeth [his life] in his wickedness. (Ecclesiastes 7.15)

LONG LIFE

But if a man live many years, [and] rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh [is] vanity. (Ecclesiastes 11.8)

2. Solomon, although successful at these endeavors, saw that they did not amount to much when all was said and done in life. If Solomon drove on our road system today and read the license plate frame: “He who dies with the most toys wins,” would probably make one of his own that says: “He who dies with the most toys…dies!” or “Dead men take no toys!”

B. Striving after wind

Another of Solomon’s favourite terms is “striving after wind.” This phrase occurs about ten times in the book and relates to futility as-well. Evidently Solomon took no stock in what the peoples of the world said of his “successes.”

C. Under the Sun

A third and popular phrase of Solomon when he viewed his life is “under the sun.” This also occurs around 30 times in the book. At times I see this as a commentary by Solomon on the futility of life for it is under the sun and the only answer to life must lie above the sun.

D. Conclusion on life [in this section look over at the Bible]

1. 2.24-26

24 [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.

25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten [hereunto], more than I?

26 For [God] giveth to a man that [is] good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to [him that is] good before God. This also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit. (Ecclesiastes 2)

2. 3.22

Wherefore I perceive that [there is] nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that [is] his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? (Ecclesiastes 3.22)

3. 5.18-20

18 Behold [that] which I have seen: [it is] good and comely [for one] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it [is] his portion.

19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this [is] the gift of God.

20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth [him] in the joy of his heart. (Ecclesiastes 5)

E. Advice in view of all that has been said and done

1. Man is wicked (7)

2. God is (8-9)

3. Life is uncertain (10)

Today’s youth have not changed all that much; the world around them has changed dramatically. There are six trends affecting young people:

1) Choices are increasing dramatically.

2) The family foundation is crumbling.

3) Young people are investing in a fast-food society–instant gratification is the rule of the day.

4) The media influence is growing–educators and ministers are worried about a shrinking attention span and disabled imagination.

5) The world view is narrowing, focusing more on self. Young people are not only ignorant about the global community but often don’t care. In the 60’s it was the Peace Corps, today we couldn’t point out Bangladesh.

6) They are searching for meaning and a community that will nurture them.

They are pleading for a faith that has meaning and relevance for their lives.

4. Life is certain (11.1-12.8) . . . for those who love the Lord

CONCLUSION: 12.13-14 [go over to Bible and pick it up]

1. Fear God.

2. God will judge all our deeds after this life.

3. God must be kept in the center of life for it is too easy to go astray (Isaiah 53).

4. Do not overdo any interest to the exclusion of everything or everyone else.

5. Enjoy life as a gift from God

6. Do not hold to the world’s applause, hold to the Word of God and receive Heaven’s applause.

7. When this happens we will have meaning in our life and we will help establish community for the one who comes to you and asks why, who says he doubts his faith and his God. Then you can honestly say: “That’s Okay . . . I did too” and you can show him the true meaning of life.

Scriptural Truths for Today's World