A MISSIONS MANDATE
#098 A MISSIONS MANDATE
Scripture Psalm 96:1-13 NIV Orig. 12-3-61
Rewr. 11-28-79
Passage: 1 Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a] holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness
Purpose: To call my people to the high goal of response to the nobility of the task found in missions, and doing all that we can to further His cause.
Keywords: Missions God’s Word Jesus the King
Timeline/Series: Lottie Moon
Introduction
A pastor friend here in the city share a counseling burden through which he had recently gone. It had to do with a 22-year-old mother of two children, whose husband had tired of the boredom of relationship and went off looking for his thing. Her inability to cope with this situation, the responsibility, the loneliness, the inequity, brought her finally to her pastor’s study.
Before the hour had passed, He knew that she was facing far more than just this debilitating circumstance. He recognized that this young woman’s life was in jeopardy. Somebody was going to have to do something, and soon. Discovering that there was no one else who would help, my pastor friend went to the Orleans Parish coroner’s office. There he was advised to secure the services of a lawyer who could appeal to the courts for this woman’s admission into a mental health unit. This in turn would enable the Court to order the appropriate agencies to take action on behalf of this young woman.
Before this process could be secured, my friend’s counselee took her own life. I do not know what happened to the young husband, and I must honestly say I do not care. I do not know what happened to the two small children, bereft first of their father, who did not love them, and then of their mother, who most assuredly did. But for them I do care. Our responsibility in missions is facing up to the fact that we are living in a world fraught with the burdens of broken relationships; destitute with the inequities with which some people brutalize other people. We are living in a world where we Christians are the only ones who have the answer. Our responsibility is to heed “A Missions Mandate” for the world’s sake. The world, like this desperate young woman, cannot long cope with what is happening to it. We American Christians are spending our time trying to find a negotiated answer, which will permit someone else to do the dirty work, when the only answer is in the giving of ourselves.
I. A Missions Mandate Declares the Purpose of Missions. V3 Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people. The principal purpose is to reveal God’s love. This aspect of God’s character has taken a beating. Only its truth has enabled this love to break through the barriers of human pretense.
I surely do not need to do more than remind you of the injustices carried out in the name of Jesus. The Arab, Khomeini, is not the first of his kind to preach his gospel of hate, and murder, in the name of God. God will deal with him and his kind appropriately, but we best be ready to stand by our guns. This present crisis may yet involve us all. Perhaps it is an appropriate time to remind you that Muslim faith was under the gun of its founder, Mohammed, who conceived it as a mixture of Jewish, Christian, Greek, and Roman influences. Of all of the great prophets, he passed himself off as the greatest, even the Holy Spirit promised by Christ.
How many people do you know about whose lives would be very, very different if there were just one person to show them love? In that purpose inspired by love is the offer of salvation. It is an offer made unconditionally. It is an offer made irrevocably. My insurance company sold me a policy to protect my car. They didn’t tell me at the time, but part of that policy was conditional and revocable. The coverage on breakage becomes deductible after I file a couple of claims.
It is an offer made through Jesus because only in Him is God’s love fully measured.
Involved with that purpose is the understanding that we who follow Him must declare His glory before all people. Nothing else portrays His love as Jesus does. The Jews had failed as a people to respond to this love. Amos 3:2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
II. A Missions Mandate Proclaims the Message of Missions. V10 Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved. Our principal message is to tell the world that the Lord reigns. No greater service can you render your king than to let him reign in your heart. No greater gift can be given from the human heart than to announce yourself subject unto your Lord.
Years ago, an English king went to hear a little-known minister. As the scripture was being read, the King whispered something to his consort. The minister turned from the scripture and declared: When the lion roars, the other beasts are silent; when the kings of the earth speak, then all others become quiet; but when the King of Glory speaks, even the kings of the earth shall keep silent and listen.
To say that our Lord reigns is to acknowledge that He has the temper of human history under His hand. In 1812, Adoniram Judson went to Burma, paid for, by the way, by the offerings of other people. He labored there for six years before he had his first convert. He spent untold numbers of hours translating the Bible into the Burmese tongue. In all of his ministry there, part of which was spent in jail, he witnessed only a few hundred conversions. How many of us, knowing such rigors, would have advised him that it wasn’t worth it to spend his life that way. Yet, because they have the message, because one man’s life stood under the Lordship of Christ, there are hundreds of thousands of believers in that place today. Can you think of one place where, because you lived there, there is one person who has become a believer?
Can you think of one place where, because you lived there, one person became a believer who otherwise would not? We are bearers of a seed that will propagate itself. We are to see that it gets to some. They then must see that it is taken to others.
Those through whom you heard and believed were faithful. Will those who wait for you be so fortunate? In the library at the Prague, there is displayed a triad of medallions dated 1572. On the first. Wycliffe, the Bible translator, can be seen striking sparks from a stone. On the second, the great martyr Hus is seen kindling a flame from the sparks. The last contains the image of Martin Luther holding high a flaming torch. They were an Englishman, a Bohemian, and a German, united in faithfulness.
III. A Missions Mandate Elicits a Picture of Our Victory Through Missions. V12f Let the field be joyful and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord: for He cometh, He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.
Make no mistake about it, God’s offer of salvation is offered to all mankind. Are you inclined to doubt your ability and capability? So am I! It was for this very reason that the disciples heard their Lord, and they looked at the multitudes around them, and observed the handful of loaves and fishes. John 6:9 “What are these among so many?”
The same One who strengthened the faith of those first disciples offers us His strength today. There is that most-quoted of verses Philippians 2:10f That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, . . . And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It is unquestionably the destiny of the people of God. Habakkuk viewed this destiny when he declared, “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah proclaimed it when he wrote “The wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together; and the little child shall lead them.” Micah believed it. “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not rise up against nation, neither shall they study war anymore.” And John in Revelation gave a final testimonial. “After this I looked, and beheld a great multitude, which no man could number, from every nation and from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb.’”
Isn’t it time for you to give your life to Jesus? Isn’t it time to stop playing religious games when so much is at stake?
THUMPS IN THE NIGHT
#088 THUMPS IN THE NIGHT
Scripture Ezekiel 1:26-2:5 NIV Orig. 6/14/64
Rewr. 8/78, 8/24/87
Passage: 1 26 Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne(A) of lapis lazuli,(B) and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.(C) 27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.(D) 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow(E) in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.(F)
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory(G) of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown,(H) and I heard the voice of one speaking. 2 1 He said to me, “Son of man,[a](I) stand(J) up on your feet and I will speak to you.(K)” 2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me(L) to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
3 He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.(M) 4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn.(N) Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’(O) 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen(P)—for they are a rebellious people(Q)—they will know that a prophet has been among them.(R)
Purpose: Calling attention to the integrity of God’s word to call His people to our higher goals of faith.
Keywords: Compassion Person of God Word of God Sin
Introduction
Have you ever been called upon to chase down some uncertain noise that has gone “thump” in the night? You went to bed after a hard, long day, expecting to get a full night’s sleep. You had even spent some quality time with your family, and so had gone happily to bed and to sleep. In the quietness, and with contentment you had dropped quickly off to that place somewhere between wakefulness and sleep. Then your wife sits bolt upright in bed and asks, “What was that?”
“What was what?” you groggily reply.
“That noise!” she says.
“What noise?” you ask, sensing some urgency.
“That thump!” she insists.
By now, you are ready to suggest that she’s watching too much TV, or that she should not have eaten so much pizza, either of which would not have been a smart thing to say. Before you can blurt it out, one of the children pads into the room in the dark, and you hear a sleepy voice say, “Daddy, I heard a funny noise!”
“Well, if it was funny, why are we not all laughing?” is all that you can think to say.
But now, you, the brave, strong daddy must get up and face the unknown, and you didn’t even hear it go thump. After a few minutes you come back to bed assuring them that all is secure. All you did was get a glass of water, but they don’t know that. You have to reply when they ask what went thump. Daddies just know that there are things that go thump in the night.
But what if the “thump” is a word from God, and we are not tuned in? What if an event, or a spoken word, is a love note from God to you, and you are involved elsewhere?
The boy Samuel heard a thump in the night (I Samuel 3:4) and it was God. “Where are you, Samuel?” Where are we when these experiences come?
I. The First Thump Involves Seemingly Religious People. Ezekiel 2:3 “And He said to me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me.”
A nation having every spiritual advantage becomes indifferent to these very values. Their history records God’s blessing. Their prophets called them again and again to their destiny. The promise to them was of a Saviour/Messiah who would usher in the kingdom age.
We also should feel this sin burden upon the world. There are too many indications of faithlessness. A Babel ethic has appeared on the contemporary scene. The morality of Sodom visits our people. Political chaos is born of expediency. Sexual permissiveness leans upon the icy wings of liberation, freedom, sensualness. Godlessness stalks the streets as a plague.
Too near at hand are the cold stares of people turned from religion who never gave it a chance.
James 1:27 reads “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep themselves unspotted from the world.” I pastored a church once that was in a region of ideal, rustic simplicity and contentment, and its members reached out to several people in the community who were HIV positive, in love and caring.
What if, as some suppose, that this present stage is beyond redemption. Be reminded that God is the Judge; that decision is His. Revelation 6:17 “The great day of His wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand.” Hosea 6:5 “Thy judgments are as light.”
As God has vindicated His faithful people in the past, He will do so again. Ezekiel here comes to a rebellious people. His own Son invaded a world of spiritual procrastination of people saying one thing and doing another.
What is expected of us is a willingness to be his vessels unto righteousness, not as doers of wrong only, but as proclaimers of right.
II. The Second Thump in the Night is Disbelief. V4 “. . . you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ . . . whether they hear or whether they refuse, they will know.’”
God’s concern for His people is seen in every valid experience. On an early earth day when a man looked lustily from a piece of fruit to her who was the true object of his lust, he and she could think only of deliverance from God’s oppressive PRESENCE. Yet it was He who took the step in their behalf. “Adam, where art thou?”
On the hinder end of forty long wilderness years came a limping population. Their struggling so vaingloriously was over a span of forty years, a highway that could have been trod triumphantly over a few short weeks. To these Hebrews, forty years late, bedraggled, beaten, not yet ready to attest that God keeps His promise, God came to explain His choice. Deuteronomy 7:7 “The Lord did not set His love on you and choose you because you are more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of people: But because the Lord loved you.”
It should not be difficult for us to grasp such a concept today. Don’t wait to see ourselves as lovable, see God’s innate affection for His people. My wife and I had gone to retrieve one of our daughters from some summer activity. We were in an art gallery passing time. There before us was a picture of Christ holding a Saturday Night Special. The picture attested to nothing about Christ. It boldly asserted the artist’s view of faith, and of sin.
God’s commitment, as His promise, is to these human needs. Jeremiah 31:3 “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you.” Malachi 1:2 “’I have loved you,’ saith the Lord, yet you say, ‘In what way have you loved us?’” Instead of declaring God’s love as we have experienced it. We raise other questions of validity of His love. “What have You done for us lately?”
III. The Final Thump Is the Reminder That This Is Our Message Also. V1 “And He said unto me Son of man, stand upon thy feet and I will speak to thee.” He continues to desire to speak to the lowly son, or daughter, of man. He spoke to Jesus constantly, because Jesus was constantly available. He speaks to Ezekiel as one presently available. He spoke to Moses with the fear of Egypt upon him and sent him as deliverer. He spoke to Amos, the herdsman, and sent him to Israel with a message of hope.
How many others are there to whom He is yet able to speak? To one eating the dust of some godless employer. To one struggling under the ingrained and irrelevant habits learned in childhood. And to the one whose life is marked as available to God.
He speaks and calls us to the intention to obey. We can’t serve God while thrashing aimlessly in the mire of shame over past sin. In the admission of sin, there is always the offer of forgiveness with acceptance. I Samuel 15:22 “To obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken, than the fat of rams.” To this end came the Spirit to Ezekiel, set him on his feet in a position of obedience, spoke to him of God’s expectation. Recall Luke 11:1-4 “teach us to pray” and the parable in vv. 5-13: “How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
Conclusion
I experienced a thump this week. JH Harris stopped by. It was his third time. The first time, he came seeking help. The second, he just wanted to say thank you. His 12-year-old son was with him. He stopped again last week. He was running from trouble, going back to South Louisiana. He wanted me to know that the boy is dead. He had heart disease, it hadn’t been detected soon enough, and he wanted me to pray with him. It is too easy to overlook the people around us who most need what we have to share. Listen to the thumps in the night. They are all around us.
BE STILL AND KNOW (Psalms series)
#048a(s) BE STILL AND KNOW
Scripture Psalm 46:1-11 NIV Orig. 10-9-83 (Psalms series)
Passage: God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Timeline/Series: Psalms
Introduction
In North Carolina once, we were hiking and became confused about our location. It was noon, with no help from the sun. Planes were flying and making a lot of noise. Not only were we lost. But I became aware that we were walking in a circle.
As we took a rest to try to figure out the best course of action to follow, the planes suddenly flew off to some other place. After a moment, the sound of trucks on the highway some miles off were heard, and we had our bearings.
I. Consider the Pace. V2 “Though the earth be removed.”
What terrible things we do to ourselves when we continue without recourse in the never-ending cataclysm of activity. The Psalmist moves from dismay to disillusion, through despair to discovery. As the Psalmist views his troubled mountain, we need to view our troubled world.
II. Consider the Pause. V10 “Be still and know.” The word “be still” means “to relax.” It is not surrender, giving up. It reminds us of the sabbath rest. Worship is the best place and sphere for this to take place. Vance Havner, preacher from the Blue Ridge Mountains, wrote that “the trouble with the church today is that we have too much ‘supper room’ and not enough ‘upper room.’”
III. Consider the Peace. V11 “The Lord God of Hosts is with us.”
- Mark 4:36, still of storm, “Peach be still. . . . Have ye not yet faith?”
- Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”
- Luke 19:37f Dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees. They wanted Him to rebuke the disciples for believing that peace followed Jesus.
- Paul “I have learned in whatever state I am therein to be content.”
IV. Concluding Thought.
- Verses 1-3 Picture God holding the reigns in a struggle through creation’s cataclysm. Selah
- Verses 4-7 Picture man struggling in social relationship, and vainly, apart from God, living happily. Selah
- Verses 8-11 Picture the perfect peace to come that clearly is the accomplishment of God alone, for His people alone.
Closing
St. Francis of Assisi, “Christ and the City,” p 104.
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in the giving that we receive,
It is in the pardoning that we are pardoned,
It is in the dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Ephesians 6:20, ”[The gospel], for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”
SHUT UP AND SHOUT OUT
#086 SHUT UP AND SHOUT OUT
Scripture Jeremiah 33:1-7 NIV Orig. 1-7-62
Rewr. 9-12-89
Passage: 1 While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: 2 “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: 3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ 4 For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city and the royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege ramps and the sword 5 in the fight with the Babylonians : ‘They will be filled with the dead bodies of the people I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness. 6 ‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. 7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before.’”
Purpose: Continuing a study emphasis from the prophets, here concluding a brief synopsis of some of the teaching of this book.
Keywords: Bible Study Series, Jeremiah
Series, Old Testament Prophets
Timeline: Sequential
Introduction
The Biblical text writers are not strangers to persecution. The path woven through the Old Testament prophets reveals to us again and again the hatred of those who protested against what the prophet had to say. Not only did Jeremiah, as almost the last of the line, know about the others, he experienced it himself under the most adverse of circumstances.
Jeremiah has been accused of capitulation to the enemy (Jeremiah 37:13), and summarily taken away to prison. The immediate event seems to have taken place at about the time Jehoiakim was relieved of the throne and taken to Babylon. According to 37:1, Zedekiah has come to the throne, the third son of Josiah.
The political leaders were among the arch enemies of the prophet and his message from God. Jehoiakim, you remember, after the second Temple sermon had cut the segments from the scroll and burned them.
The message of Jeremiah (36:32) seems, however, to have been written before the time spent in prison. Jeremiah’s emotional warfare had been going on all the time in his own spirit.
Paul, we know, wrote some of his letters from prison. Consider Ephesians 6:12:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
John Bunyan, also, in Pilgrim’s Progress:
“If you will go with us, you must go against wind and tide; you must own religion in his rags as well as in his silver slippers; and stand by him, too, when bound in irons; as well as when he walketh the streets with applause.”
Interestingly, Jeremiah came to write perhaps the single most significant statement of hope to Judah from this prison cell. Chapter 33 is headed, “Prosperity will return to Jerusalem.”
V14f “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up into David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness.”
I. This chapter gives us a glorious view of what the prophet perceived of God. He saw one who was absolute. V2, “maker,” suggests first cause; “formed it” is utilitarian; “to establish it” may mean to keep it on target.
He saw unlimited intercession. V3 “Call unto me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.”
He saw the extent of their blessing. V6-9: v6 Health and cure; v6 peace and truth; v7 restoration.
V8 is about forgiveness—“cleanse,” “pardon;” it means to purify for ritual participation, the nearest Old Testament concept to forgiveness. This last is the same used Jeremiah 31:34, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
V9 is about blessing, the opposite of what they were. Others will know. Jeremiah would be appointed prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5 (“I have appointed you a prophet to the nations”); 10: “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms.”
In vs 10-11 he saw future joy, praise, and mercy. V11 “The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, ‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For his lovingkindness is everlasting.’”
He saw the promised Messiah in v14-16. “I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth.”
***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***
CANCELLED COVENANTS
#084 CANCELLED COVENANTS
Scripture Isaiah 28:14-22, NIV Orig. 6-30-63
Rewr. 10-18-87
Passage: 14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood[a] our hiding place.”
16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand.
When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through.”
The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.
20 The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.
21 The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon—to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task.
22 Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land.
Purpose: To remind my people, not only of the value of their vote, but of their responsibility to seek for that covenant of men that is first of God.
Keywords: Covenants Freedom Politics Providence of God
Introduction
The year was 1650. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was considering making the Westminster Confession the statute book of a state religion, presided over by none other than King Charles II, an infamous man. A major part of the struggle was the artful tenet of “the divine right of kings.”
Oliver Cromwell and his troops were encamped at Musselburgh. He sent the following letter to these men. “I beseech you in the bowels of Christ, think it is possible that you may be mistaken. Precept may be upon precept, line may be upon line. And yet the word of the Lord may be to some a word of Judgment; that they may fall backward and be broken, and be snared, and be taken! There may be a spiritual fullness which the world may call drunkenness, as in the second chapter of Acts. There may be, as well, a carnal confidence upon misunderstood and misapplied precepts, which may be called spiritual drunkenness. There may be a covenant made with Death and Hell! I will not say yours was so. But judge if such things have a politic aim: To avoid the overflowing scourge; or, to accomplish worldly interests? And if therein you have confederated with wicked and carnal men, and have respect for them, or otherwise have drawn them in to associate with us, whether this be a covenant of God and spiritual? Bethink yourselves; we hope you do.
“I pray you read the Twenty-eighth chapter of Isaiah, from the fifth to the fifteenth verse. And do not scorn to know that it is the Spirit that quickens and giveth life.” 220.23B6p163 The Book of Isaiah
Isaiah 62:6-7 “Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence. And give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”
I. They Were a People Who Believed in Political Expediency. V14f “. . .Ye scornful men which rule this people . . . Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge . . .”
It was, of course, the commonest mistake of Biblical times. Isaiah was declaring it so. Jeremiah, a century later, was proclaiming the same message to Judah. Oliver Cromwell’s letter suggests that it has always been a humanist flaw. We see it in our own political evolution today. I wonder if we Louisianans are worst. I fancy not, but it does stand out so clearly to us.
Things change ever so slowly, and we forget how to see them. When Earl Long was running for Governor in 1955, I was newly come to Louisiana. How could anyone vote for him? I told Ann, “There won’t even be a second primary.” He won in the first.
This is relevant whenever and wherever luxury and intemperance abound: Men with eyes too fevered by sin to see beauty in simple purity and piety; Human minds so brimful of knowledge, they are intoxicated with their own cleverness; Circumstances where we have been called upon so often that we conclude a melodramatic incapacity to err.
What do we see when we examine issues? God’s covenant—His word? His law? Man’s compromise? Israel decided that they were in a better position to analyze conditions. It seemed that God’s word did not matter. It’s kind of like going to a Halloween Carnival. Lots of fun things to do: dunking vats, cake walks, fishing booths, and there is always a little boy in a devil’s suit. But he’s just a little boy, pretending. Our problems are not little boys pretending to be devils. Our problems are come from devils pretending to be what they are not, and we are tricked by their pretension.
II. Too Many Seem to Believe that God Has Lost Control of His Creation. V15 “. . . when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us.” Israel’s problem necessitates explanation. Isaiah had been a careful proponent of their hope in God. But it was put to them in a way which singled out their sin, and their need to repent. V17 “Judgment will I lay to the line and righteousness to the plummet.”
In reality, we could blame Isaiah for this problem. Isaiah had a speech impediment. He spoke nothing but the truth. He declared only what God gave him. The Assyrian storm troops were in position right across the border. The only way out was absolute dependence upon God, the sacrifice of their free-wheeling ways. Explicitly, they were going to have to surrender their expediency.
Instead of God, they turned to Egypt. Isaiah 29:14 “Therefore . . . I will proceed to do a . . . work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent shall be hid.”
We still only have two options.
We can trust God. He knows the end from the beginning. V16 “I lay in Zion . . . a sure foundation.” He has provided a sure defense for His people. V17 “Judgment also will I lay to the line.” No pretenders to faith allowed. But then, no genuine articles were overlooked either.
Or, we can trust the devices of men. Make up our minds. Give more than lip-service. But remember where our strength is.
We are going to be voting for five, maybe even Speedy Long. Are we voting deviously? Are we voting sincerely? The one thing we must not do is to let our variant choices become a barrier to our labors for Christ.
My best advice to you:
Vote!
Vote your conscience!
Give every other person that right!
Remember that it is our covenant with God that will stand. These human covenants are worth no more than the integrity of the person.
The following piece was clipped from a magazine, source unknown:
Not serried ranks and flags unfurled, Not armored ships that gird the world,
Not hoarded wealth nor busy mills, Not cattle on a thousand hills,
Not sages wise, nor schools, nor laws, Not boasted deeds in freedom’s cause—
All these may be, and yet the state In the eye of God be far from great.
That land is great which knows the Lord, Whose songs are guided by His word:
Where justice rules ‘twixt man and man, Where love controls in art and plan;
Where, breathing in his native air, Each soul find joy in praise and prayer—
Thus may our country, good and great, Be God’s delight, . . . man’s best estate.”
We have the opportunity to once again turn the self-interest of the alcohol-monger back in upon himself.
Don’t be duped by his “rights.” Only what we give him.
Don’t be led astray by tax advantage. $1 in taxes costs $8.99 in support from trash to pieces of wasted lives.
See it as one more opportunity to stand up for what you believe.
Canceling the covenant of expediency is true freedom. Isaiah 62:6,7 “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace, day or night: Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
THE HEART-CRY FOR REVIVAL
#081 THE HEART-CRY FOR REVIVAL
Scripture II Chronicles 7:11-18 NIV Orig. 9-27-64
Rewr. 3-17-77
Passage: 11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’”
Introduction
Over the past few years there has been a major thrust by some groups to maintain a proper balance of “truth in advertising.” This came about as a result of some advertising methods that were questionable if not downright misleading. Labels now must declare what is in a product, nothing more and nothing less. Advertising techniques must be true to the capabilities of whatever is being advertised. If not, the advertiser can be held liable.
Now, a new problem has arisen. The Madison Avenue boys in blue, or in blue jeans, whatever they are wearing now, have in their brazenness sunk to an all-time low. The admen and their clients are getting on the religious bandwagon. Someone suggested that “God is right up there with O.J. Simpson and Don Rickles.” The most disgusting to me is the ‘Jesus jeans’ ad. It depicted the rear view of a woman clad in a pair of these jeans, and across her rear was written a Bible quotation in Italian. Translated it read, “He who loves me follows me.”
A few months back, metropolitan newspapers in some parts of the country carried an ad introducing a new brand of whiskey called “King James Scotch Whiskey.” Before you get ready to argue their case, saying, “Why defend James when Robert would not offend us? Maybe it was not chosen for that reason,” know that on each side of the bottle appeared the phrase, “The King James version.” “Blue Nun Wine” asks their clientele ‘to try something a little sacrilegious.’
Playboy ran a full page newspaper ad picturing a priest reading their magazine. The lead line in the ad states, “I read Playboy and found God.” Even an old-line company like General Motors has gotten in on the act. An ad in Time magazine shows a group of nuns in traditional dress, with one of them saying, “The steering committee at the convent voted 5 to 0 in favor of tilt wheel. It’s been a blessing.”
For most of us, this is offensive. We ought to be stirred to express our opinions to the offending companies, their ad personnel, and also the newspapers and magazines carrying ads. My point this morning, however, is that the Christian community has just as much responsibility to advertise what it can produce and nothing more. We are advertising ‘revival’ and it is up to us to produce it.
I. The Heart Cry of Revival is Heard Because Of Who We Are. “If my people,” says the Scripture. The pagan world has always found its understanding of divine appeasement in biological reproduction. The happiness of the gods was seen in the success of human sexuality and agricultural abundance. I am presently reading James Michener’s The Source. It is an historical novel describing the level-by-level accumulation of history at a site called Makor. While Michener’s purpose is not spiritual, he has authenticated his facts. His view of the pre-Abramic Canaanites describes, with some taste and decorum, their appeasement of the gods through infant sacrifice, and sexual fertility rites.
Spiritually we owe a great debt to the culture and the evolution of the Hebrew people through whom God revealed Himself. They were the ones who taught us the open-heartedness of God for His creation. Exodus 6:7 “I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God. Deuteronomy 32:9 “The Lord’s portion is His people.” Psalms 125:2 “As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth forever.
The people of ancient Crete honored a statue of Jove which had no ears. They could not believe that any god would concern himself with the idle chatter of people such as they.
Through these Hebrews the discovery came of a faith relationship that was negotiable. I Samuel 15:22 (200-300 years after Moses), “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” Psalms 51:16, “Thou delightest not in burnt offerings.” Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” II Chronicles 7:17, “And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments.” Recall also the experience out of the life of David (II Samuel 12) when Nathan comes to congratulate David at Solomon’s birth, and named Solomon “Jedediah,” beloved of the Lord.
Let it be finally understood that we are the people of God. We are duty bound to proclaim it so. Our responsibility is even greater in a world where faith and belief, and even a concept of God, are treated so shabbily. Four or five years ago a movie titled McCabe and Mrs. Miller hit the cinemas across America. The reviews gave ample evidence of what it contained. Some of you let your children see it. It contained every kind of immoral perversion that its “R” rating would allow. It took place in a little town called Presbyterian Church. The church was no more than incidental in the life and morality of the town. But, when the church caught on fire and was burning, it was those same people who were quickly on the scene saving the church. The message left with the viewer was of the utter irrelevancy of the church.
That is not unlike the cartoon carried on the editorial page of the Times-Picayune this week. It had been picked up from a San Francisco paper. A group of sour looking people were advancing on the porno shop with fire bombs. The next sequence shows the shop in ashes, but behind the shop the public library was also in ashes. You will never convince me that such as that is anything less than satanic intimidation.
Now hear me well brethren, we will never counteract contemporary, flagrant violations of spiritual trust, giving God, whose people we are, an hour of our time on Sunday morning. Let me suggest some ways that help determine whose people we are: Whose people, when on a given Sunday, 75% of adult membership absent themselves from Bible study; whose, when on a Sunday evening 80-90% regularly ignore discipleship opportunity; whose, when on Wednesday night 95% reject an opportunity for intercessory prayer; whose, when maybe no more than 2-3% spend any time taking to others about their Lord, their church?
II. The Heart Cry of Revival is Heard Because Of Where We Are. The One who says, “If my people” says also “will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face.”
What “if my people” means: That God has promised renewal; that Christians have the right and obligation to claim it. There are proper procedures to enhance it—humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, turn away from wickedness.
Consider first the need for humility. The first man after Adam to need revival was his son Cain. Genesis 4 tells the story. He knew to bring an offering to the Lord. Arriving at the altar, however, he, in effect said, “I will offer what offering I please and you can like it or lump it.” That may sound familiar.
Consider also the need for prayer. Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Acts 2:46 “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” Acts 3:1 “Peter and John went up to the temple at the hour of prayer.” 3:6 “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give thee: In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Only after humility and prayer can we seek God’s face. Psalms 24: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.”
***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***
WHEN GOOD THINGS COME OUR WAY
#073 WHEN GOOD THINGS COME OUR WAY
Scripture Psalm 84:11 NIV Orig. November 24. 1963
Rewr. November 17, 1984
Passage:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
Purpose: On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, to remind my people of the great goodness of God to His people.
Keywords: God Goodness Special Days
Timeline/Series: Thanksgiving
Introduction
Have you ever reasoned within yourself to see what it is that you really expect from God? Do we seriously expect God to bless us with wealth when so much of the world’s people go hungry?
I could not help but notice the disparity this week. U.S.A. Today featured an article on hunger in Africa. “Americans who have been to Ethiopia remember the silent children . . . . or women gathering grass for their families’ meals. Or children with bloated bellies tugging at the arms of visitors or lying on the road to stop food trucks.”
The disparity came a day or so later while reading an article in Newsweek. The article was entitled “America’s Nutrition Revolution.” It described a beautifully appointed salad bar. “No,” said the article, “it isn’t Malibu. It’s the Greyhound Bus Station in Chicago, hog butcher for the world.”
It’s great to have a choice. It is greater still to know about nutrition, and to be able to eat accordingly.
Ethiopia and half of Africa is in what some call the worst famine of the 20th Century, and most Americans are more concerned about higher standards of living, better roads, less taxes, bigger amusement parks, and how to best invest our money.
Now what was that question again? Do we seriously expect God to bless us with wealth when so much of the world’s people go hungry?”
I. Good Comes from the Vision of God for His People. The text boldly proclaims “No good thing” asserting that good does not come by accident. Psalms 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Romans 12:9 “Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good.” I Thessalonians 5:21 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
It is God’s nature to abhor evil, cleave to good, so it is expected of you and me. Thus, in those good things that we receive, we are to perceive them as His gifts of love to us. We are to be very careful that we not perceive only that which is materially advantageous as good.
One Sunday morning in New Orleans, the paper told a large story between the lines. Tulane won when Vandy failed to score from the one yard line in the last minutes of the game. The winning coach was quoted as saying “Just the grace of God.”
There is one all-encompassing guideline by which God determines the “good thing” which He will not withhold. Philippians 4:19 “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ.” What we receive is from the supply of his divine economy. Since He has other children, we are “joint heirs” to His riches in glory.” His promise is to “supply all your need.” Anything that you have that you do not need, you decide where it came from.
II. Good Comes from the Involvement of God with His People. “No good thing will the Lord withhold from them . . . .” In our pseudo-sophistication, either out of church or in church, many people have discounted God. What Paul wrote to the Romans in 1:22, what some will miss in tonight’s message: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”
To discount God is to discount Him to our doom and to our perversion. Ethiopia is a case in point. They have been in the eastern bloc. Russia could supply them with arms; not with grain. Russia can’t feed her own. At the same time, America, with stored grain to stabilize prices, is more concerned about its economy than the starving people of Africa, or the poor around us.
God is the one constant in life. Bread and water are changing commodities. Heat (or cooling) and light seem to grow increasingly expensive. Even love and hate are cyclical, as seen in Ireland. But God never changes.
Moses defined for the people the meaning of their obedience. Exodus 23:25 “So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and your water.”
So what is important??? The Bread and Water, or God’s Blessing? Jesus reached the same conclusion in The Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:3). “Give us this day our daily bread.” Again, what is important? The bread! The water! Or the One from whom it comes.
III. Good Comes with the Invitation of God to His People. “No good thing will the Lord withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Some people seem to think that the answer is in sitting back and waiting for God to act. It is clearly in God’s vision. God foresaw for Israel a great blessing through David as King.
We are also dependent upon God’s Involvement. God accepted David as a shepherd lad, saw him through many character flaws to help him become. But make no mistake, the Invitation calls us to commitment of self. God calls us, invites us, to consider good on His terms, to acquaint ourselves with the world as it is. What prayer is said at your table? “I thank thee, Lord, that I am not as others are”? What if instead we might pray, “Help me to be worthy of the bounty of Thy love.”
Read again that beautiful 100th Psalm. “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands, Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God, it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.”
God invites us to live in His world as His children. Accept His invitation to the upright walk. That’s not sinlessness. It’s putting Him first. Receive from Him the assurance of every “good thing” for our spiritual well-being.
Closing
Bro. Emory Wallace told this story of a father from Mobile, AL. His daughter was in jail in DeRidder. He called Bro. Wallace asking if he knew how she was doing. Her cynicism was uncontained until he told her about her father’s call, and of his love.
GOD SAVES HIS PEOPLE
#067 GOD SAVES HIS PEOPLE
Scripture Psalm 3 NIV Orig. 11/29/61
Rewr. 2/4/85 (6-77)
Passage:
1 Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”[b]
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
4 I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
7 Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Purpose: To show the intent of God to translate all trials not only into understanding, but a sense of His purpose and love.
Keywords: Compassion Love of God Salvation Confession
Timeline/Series: Psalms
Introduction
The word “save” has many different meanings. Last week’s news told of a little two-year old boy who was saved from freezing to death though he already had ice in his veins.
When the Queen of England makes an official appearance we will hear the expression, “God save the Queen.” Its meaning obviously has the force of a prayer seeking God’s merciful benediction upon the reigning sovereign.
It even penetrates the temporal world of sport. A hockey goalie performs a “save” when he keeps the opposition’s puck shot from reaching the goal. In another form, the baseball player runs for his life to be safe on base.
The economist understands it in a totally different context. To save is to do the opposite of “to spend.” National fiscal policies center around getting people to hold onto their money, or to be free with it. I suspect that for most people “saving” in this sense has more to do with whether to drive to an out-of-town wholesale outlet, or to buy from a local retailer who has to charge more to survive.
The meaning here is quite different. “God saves His people” speaks of the act of God in behalf of those who have a special relationship to Him. The saving act is a delivering act. It may be temporary and immediate. It may also be permanent and _(illegible)_.
I. To Save is To Shield. V3 “But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head.” It acknowledges both trouble and temperance, grief and grace. I am persuaded no one is out of the reach of God’s grace who does not become so by stubborn refusals. The President spoke (2-85), hopeful of America’s spiritual values. Barbara Walters interviewed the Carters, incredulously asking “Do you really believe in God? Do you pray?”
For the Christian there is always evidence of God’s care. Paul reminds the Ephesians (6:14) “Put on the belt of truth, . . . integrity, let the shoes on your feet be the gospel of peace, to you firm footing; take the great shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all of the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
One of the consistent memories of childhood tells of parental concern for safety and gradual assumption of care.
It goes a bold step further to declare peace of mind and heart, even when trouble refuses to depart. V5 “I lay down and slept, I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.” It is the first of fourteen historically entitled. It is a Psalm of David, written when he fled from Absalom his son. How willing are we to live our lives in His will as He reveals it? Deuteronomy 6:6 “And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.”
How often do we examine our own personality quirks and work to change them? Matthew 5:43 reads “If you bring your gift to the altar and remember that your brother ought against you, leave your gift and be reconciled. . . .”
Do we take the irresolvable burdens to the Lord and leave them with Him? Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature . . . shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Psalm 5:12 “For it is Thou who dost bless the righteous man, O Lord, Thou dost surround him with favor as a shield.”
II. To Save is to Shelter, to Have a Safe-Guard. II Samuel 17:1 “Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose 12,000 men that I may arise and pursue David tonight.” V6 “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” To be so totally outclassed, yet confident is to know of secreted powers, and to know by what means we have access to those powers.
V4 “I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me from His holy hill.” For David that hill was Jerusalem, Mt. Moriah. For us there ought also to be a place. There ought also to be a means. V4 “I cried unto the Lord with my voice.”
Much of modern psychiatric medicine is undergirded by confession. A present course is “life review.” As David confessed his sin, he was able to progress to other needs. Dr. Carl Rogers said that confession is “catharsis.” Dr. Rogers says this frees the individual from conscious fears, guilt; it brings to light subconscious feelings. I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”
With God there is no more important hindrance than that of our sin. God’s attitude toward our sin is consistent with His holiness. He wills to forgive. (In 2 Samuel 18 David entreated his aides to “deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom,” even though his commanders wanted to take off Absalom’s head.) There must be contrition on our part, and confession. Without constant vigilance we tend to lower our goals for living.
III. To Save is to Shepherd. Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” V8 “Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon your people.” The problem was a deep boding of failure. Not just a son who didn’t measure up, but a son who has set himself to oppose. More and more were saying “God can’t help you,” “God won’t help such a man.” There are not enemies enough to counter the burden of a son who has turned against one.
Yet, in such an intolerable posture, David sees himself as able to sleep, and to awaken with a sense of well-being. “I awoke” is cheerily to awake. Our grandson Ryan called out “Anna, get up! The sun is up!”
God’s promise to His people is always His shepherding love. Trouble may be all around. But to call upon the Lord is to expect a saving response. Psalm 23:4 “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
I dare not turn away without reminding us all that God saves through His Son. David looked to the promise of God in the coming Messiah. But we look back on what God has done in history. How can we dare to assert a faith in God that does not express itself in David’s vision?
Conclusion
God is shield to me, shelter to my life, shepherd to my soul.
One of Aesop’s fables takes the form of an oak tree that had stood for more than a hundred years. Finally it was blown over in a storm. It was swept off down the flooding river. Coming to rest finally near some reeds that had withstood both storm and flood, the oak asked, “How did you weather a storm too powerful for me?” The reeds answered, “You have resisted in all your pride and strength. And now the end has come.”
We must yield to wind and water. We must humble ourselves.
THE SINNER'S PREDICAMENT
#057 THE SINNER’S PREDICAMENT
Scripture Psalm 51 NIV Orig. 10-7-61 (3-77)
Rewr. 2-10-88
Passage:
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Purpose: To share with my people in an effort for all of us to deal with the gulf that exists between our sin and the holiness of God.
Keywords: Confession Greater Text Revival Conversion God’s Holiness Sin
Introduction
We do not lack illustrations of sin run amuck in human lives. The papers testify regularly in actual example what we know in foreboding moments of ourselves and people about us. What might our lives really be like if the Spirit of Christ were not a modifying influence?
Lately, we have read of the man in Arkansas who killed his wife, children, and grandchildren, apparently because the wife was threatening to leave him. A man in another state with a history of mental problems, killed his sister and her children during a visit because the grandparents were showing affection for them. In Utah recently, a woman and her family barricaded themselves in their homestead for several days to deny legal access; a law officer was killed when the confrontation finally came. The newspapers daily carry articles about child abuse, and many other scenes of social conflict.
Shades of Henry Lee Lucas! Do you remember him? The papers daily carried his story. The number of women dead by his hand (he claimed) reached an unbelievable 150. While some of these were later determined to be some sadistic exaggeration, he was linked to many of these cases. The first murder was his own mother, in 1960. He was imprisoned for that killing.
His judgment is not yet settled, a least as far as man is concerned. God’s justice, however, will not fail. His condemnation is not of a murderer of defenseless women. That for which Lucas stands guilty before God is that he refused to live under a standard of law outside of himself.
Davis describes for us in Psalm 51 the great discovery that he has made. That God is just. That His justice cannot be manipulated, intimidated, or confused. Whatever the sin, if it is unrequited, it faces the bar of God’s judgment.
- Sin’s Burden Is the Cause of the Sinner’s Predicament. V2 “Wash me from my iniquity. . . Cleanse me from my sin.” V3 “I acknowledge my guilt, and my sins confront me all the day long.” Any honest person will admit the problem with sin. The old spiritual “Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.” David, being an honest man, had to come to terms with himself. V3 “I acknowledge my guilt.”
It is the good favor of God that we can see this from the New Testament perspective. Galatians 1:10f “Those who depend on obeying the law live under a curse. For the Scripture says ‘Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the law is under God’s curse.’ Now, it is clear that no man is put right with God by means of the law, because the Scripture says “He who is put right with God by faith shall live.’”
A few years ago, Patti Hearst went from the millionaire’s mansion to a cell block. She has been forgiven by society, by the system, and seems to be living a productive life. During her trial, however, her court-appointed psychiatrist laid out in sequence the sordid exposé of her life. Whether or not her sins came under the jurisdiction of God’s forgiveness remains to be seen. And He knows some things about Patti Hearst that were not made public at her trial. He likewise knows all about us.
Honest people should also admit that the real burden of our sin is against God. V4 “Against thee, thee only have I sinned.” Back up a moment, and look at the record. David caused a faithful woman to betray her husband on a kingly whim. To cover that indiscretion, he ordered this soldier husband to be put in mortal danger. The child conceived by this illicit union would die. David’s sons begin at this moment to learn the lesson of their father’s moral compromise. The nation Israel begins a date with destiny that will find the nation torn with division.
Get a good look at the deception. Uriah, the husband, was ordered home. He would not go in to his wife while troops of the king were in danger. He, himself, carried the order for his death. His own captain is used as an unwilling henchman.
David’s sin was also a betrayal of trust. There is no higher ethic than Hebrew law. Someone once said, “We have 35 million laws and no improvement on the Ten Commandments.” The basest malediction of the law is the failure to respect it as God’s law.
- We Must Also View Sin from the Perspective of God’s Nature. V3 “My sin confronts me all the day long.” It is the universal malady of the human race. Psalm 6:6 “All the night make I my bed to swim. I water my couch with tears.” Thus is the human dilemma, to be drawn down by the constancy of this struggle with sin. I Kings 15:5: “David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and had not turned aside from any thing that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.” Ezra 9:6 “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.”
Or we treat it lightly, inconsequentially: Proverbs 14:9 “Fools make a mock at sin.” Micah 7:3 “. . . they may do evil with both hands earnestly.”
It is, first of all, the nature of God to perceive sin as it is. It is the energy toward which all of God’s energy is cast. It is the enigma compelling mortals to their doom. James 1:15 “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
It is the nature of God to will all men delivered from this treachery. Forgiveness through Christ is the means. Desire for forgiveness is as strong as the will to sin. Psalm 126:6 “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Luke 6:21 “Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh.” It is remembrance of sin that brings the sweet rapture of divine forgiveness. It is this remembrance of sin that brings the sweet rapture of divine forgiveness. It is this remembrance of sin that here keeps David watchful and prayerful. Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.”
III. There Is, Finally, the Need to Share What He has Learned. V13 “Then I will teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. . . . My tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.”
What he has learned about himself:
- That sin is a problem of constancy.
- That there is a relief. I saw a church sign recently asking the question, “How do you spell relief?” The answer given was “P-R-A-Y-E-R.”
- That the best thing he can do for others is to live his faith openly. We are not responsible for “converting” people to God, to faith. We are duty bound, having walked through the jagged defile of sin’s anguish, to share winsomely what we have learned, experienced.
What he has learned about God:
- We must first note that it is a worshipful experience. “My mouth shall show forth thy praise.”
- It is a worship experience that is of the heart. We are told what it is not: V16 It is not sacrifice, burnt offering. We are told what it is: It is a restorative experience; “salvation”—deliverance from sin—deliverance from its consequences, as far as that is possible, and “joy”—it is to possess a special gift, and to possess it with understanding.
- What we can best communicate to others about God is His “salvation,” and to show it by the “joy” that issues forth in the believer’s life.
Conclusion
The name of David Livingston is known and associated with the cause of Christian missions. He served God faithfully in the continent of Africa. He was asked about how he stood up so well under the strictures brought on by the treachery and villainy he experienced at the hands of others. His response, “I have faults myself.”
We will do a better job relating to the sin of others, remembering that we have sins ourselves, and only the intercession of God can bring “salvation” and “joy” that issues forth from it.
Summary
David’s plea is a plea for cleansing. He found out long before that ritual doesn’t change anything, only relationship will set him free. The essence of true religion, then, is not ritual, but relationship. For cleansing to afford him the peace that he seeks, he must take the source of his separation from God before the bar of God’s justice. I Kings 15:5: “David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and had not turned aside from any thing that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.”
James Carter wrote the hundred year history of the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home. He included a note about the move to Louisiana College in 1903. Kate Hawkins was matron. An outbuilding was used as a tool shed during construction, and an offer came to install bath fixtures in the outbuilding. We are told that Mrs. Hawkins refused this offer commenting that the children were not used to taking baths. Fortunately, for us, and for David, he was a man of unusual cleanness of spirit, and it is in that spirit that he addresses his God for forgiveness, and for renewed relationship.
MISSIONS: THE TUNE OF OBEDIENCE
#050 MISSIONS: THE TUNE OF OBEDIENCE
Scripture Isaiah 54:1-5; John 4:31-41 NIV Orig. 11-26-61
Rewr. 11-28-84
Passage:
“Sing, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.
4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
5 For your Maker is your husband—
the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
Purpose: To call attention to the clear teaching of Scripture as it gives us our mandate to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Keywords: Christ Redeemer Missions Church Obedience
Introduction
It was an Easter meeting of the Northampton Association in England. The year was 1791. The urgency of missions was a new and controversial theme for English Baptists. For as long as any of them could remember their belief had centered around Calvinism. They were known as Particular Baptists because they believed that God was a “Particular” God, and that only certain “elected” people would be saved.
At that meeting, men like Andrew Fuller and John Sutcliffe spoke to these assembled believers. But on this occasion, they spoke on the challenge of missions.
It was just one month later when many of these same pastors and church leaders assembled again. They were to induct a young man into the role of pastor of one of these churches. As a part of the program, this young man was to preach. He chose a subject which was a part of a study in which he was engaged. The title of his sermon was “The Inquiry into the Obligation of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen.”
The young man who was assuming his first pastoral role was William Carey, the man who today is called “The Father of modern missions.” That day he referred to statistics. There were 731 million people in the world: 2 of 10 were Muslim, 5 of 10 were pagan, only 3 of 10 were Christian. Something must be done to point these lost multitudes to Christ.
John Ryland, the pastor who baptized [Carey], was present. He spoke up, “Sit down, young man: When the Lord gets ready to convert the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine.”
A year later, on May 30, 1792, [Carey] preached again to the Association. “Expect great things from God . . . Attempt great things for God.” Within a year, Carey and a Baptist surgeon named [John] Thomas would be on their way to India.
I. Foreign Missions Fulfills the Tune of World Diplomacy. V3 “Your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.” V35 “Look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest.” The world desperately needs to have an option to be Christian. It is Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist. It is Communist. How [many have] any chance to be Christian? A group of Christians emerged from a Jewish tour bus at the Dome of the Rock. The Muslim overseers had closed it for the day. The guide remarked to her driver, “I could do just as well without any religions.” Unfortunately, there are many Christians who act as if they agree.
Do you think Muslims will hesitate? Would see the world in Communism? Then we must support a mission program that reaches out in love.
Yes, missionaries are still making an impact with the Gospel. There are those who deny it. They say this person from another culture is not a messenger from God, but a harbinger of Western values. Baptist missionaries in most of the world are supporting national leaders. The good work for Ethiopian people is being done by the religiously oriented.
Here is the One Way that WE can creatively take a world stand. John Denver said in USA Today: “If one man is hungry, then I am hungry. If a child is starving, then my child is starving.” Missions is the one remaining best hope of the world.
II. It Not Only Fulfills World Diplomacy, but Church Deputation as Well. V35 “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields.” Matthew 28:19, 20 “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
There can be no doubt that we are to evangelize. A young clergyman asked the Duke of Wellington if it wasn’t useless to preach to Hindus. “Look to your marching orders, ‘Go, preach the Gospel to every creature.’” S3p252.
The message of Christ has not found fulfillment until we share it with another. Each one of use came to believe through the witness of another. Our faith witness ought to include family, neighbors, others. Family and neighbors we can reach; missions helps us to extend our hands around the world.
It is no little job. World population is presently approaching 5 billion. By the year 2000 it is expected to be close to 6 billion.
WORLD AREA POPULATION % CHRISTIAN [1984]
Western Europe 516 million 30%
Eastern Europe 425 million 5%
[South] America 384 million 3%
Africa 700 million 2%
Asia 2.9 billion 0.1%
North America 280 million 40%
To walk with Christ is to identify with His message. Matthew 24:14 “This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.” Revelation 14:6 “I saw another angel . . . , having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Southern Baptist men gave 100,000 Bibles in Russia, and then they gave 100,000 Bibles again!
In preparing for Jonah last week, I read again why Jonah hated the Assyrians so. Do we want a Gaddafi or Khomeini or Khrushchev clone in control? God left the Jews because they became nation-centered.
90% of Protestant preaching is to English-speaking people. 90% or more of Christian wealth is in the hand of English-speaking people. English speakers make up 9% of the world’s population.
III. Missions Also is Necessary to Fulfill the Credibility of the Saviour. V34 “Jesus saith unto them, ‘My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” I John 4:14 “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” He continues to seek that accomplishment through men and women of faith and good will.
There are things that we can and must do. Be sensitive to the searchings of faith in the lives of people around us. Acknowledge that the means to winning the world is through the support of evangelically oriented missionaries. Take a prayerful look at what the Lottie Moon Christmas offering means in that purpose.
Remember that the way we live and talk, and the way we support our church and kingdom causes, tells people what we think about the credibility of the Saviour.
Conclusion
Do you know who Albert Einstein was? Perhaps the greatest brain in scientific revolution.
Do you know about Karl Marx? Probably the greatest mind behind 20th Century economics.
Do you recognize Sigmund Freud? The prime mover of psychology.
All were Jews!!!! But the need
***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***