1 Peter 1:10-12

We are looking at this letter that Peter has written to
The Rejected Selected.

These people had literally been chosen by God unto salvation,
And because they had accepted this calling,
They had been scattered throughout Asia.
This letter is to encourage them in the midst of their sufferings.

To continue obeying and to continuing enduring.

He reminded them in verse 2 that they were chosen,
“to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood”

Even though it was difficult, they still needed to be obedient.
Hardship is not a reason to not obey.

He reminded them they needed to endure
Because these various trials were tests to reveal their faith.

1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

If they would continue in obedience, and continue in endurance,
Peter made this promise.

Vs. 9, “obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

In short, Peter was promising that if you endure
You will have hardship now, but it will be worth it later.
There is a salvation available for those who endure.

Part of our salvation is still future.
Our salvation began when Jesus died on the cross,
It became personal when we gave our lives to Him,
It will be complete when He returns.

Peter is asking his readers to persevere,
And hold on until your salvation becomes complete.

His plea is very similar to that of Jesus.
Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
It isn’t that anyone can save themselves by endurance,
But rather endurance is a characteristic of the saved.
Perseverance doesn’t make you a saint,
But true saints will persevere.

Peter wants these suffering saints to look past the trial
And to hold on to the hope of salvation.
But Peter is no dummy.
Sometimes it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Peter is asking them to place their hope in something that they can’t see.

Remember what he said in verse 8?
“and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him,”

These were a people who hadn’t been able to see the hand of God,
And who didn’t even see it now.

Peter is asking them to look past their trials,
And to place their hope in something they can’t see.

You have to understand the downside to Peter’s request.

Vs. 3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,”

He wants them to trust in this “living hope”.
He wants them to trust that they have an “inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”

BUT WHAT IF PETER IS WRONG?
What if they determine to stick it out and Peter turns out to be mistaken?
What if this inheritance doesn’t really exist?
What Peter’s hope is a fool’s hope?

Paul put it like this.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
If you are basing all your actions in this life
On a salvation that does not exist,
Then you “are of all men most to be pitied.”

I mean we know the promises of this salvation.

1 Peter 2:6 “For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

Matthew 10:21-22 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

John 14:1-3 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

BUT WHY SHOULD WE BELIEVE THEM?

That is why Peter pen’s this section in his letter.

This salvation is not just something he dreamed up.
This salvation is not just a smokescreen trying to get them to continue uselessly.

He wants them to see that this salvation is the plan of God.
That is why he begins verse 10 with the statement, “As to this salvation”

The sole purpose of these three verses
Is to solidify in your mind where this salvation came from.
If you are going to put your life on the line,
Hoping for something better after you die,
Then you need to know where this hope originates.

And there are 3 aspects of this salvation that Peter wants you to see,
To help you see that this salvation is truly from God.
#1 IT WAS INDICATED TO THE PROPHETS
1 Peter 1:10-11

The first thing I want you to understand is this.

The Spirit of Christ revealed to the prophets
That the Christ would suffer and then be glorified.
We know this salvation is true
Based upon the many prophecies of the Old Testament

TURN TO:
Psalm 2
(Verses 1-3) – Cross
(Verses 4-6) – Graveside
(Verses 7-8) – Second Coming

Psalm 22
(Verses 11-18) – Suffering
(Verses 25-31) – Glory

Psalm 118
(Verses 5-7) – Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36)
(Verses 8-9) – Gabbatha (John 19:13)
(Verses 10-14) – Golgotha (John 19:17)
(Verses 15-18) – Graveside
(Verses 19-20) – Glory

Isaiah 42
(Verses 1-4) – Victory

Isaiah 50
(Verses 4-7) – Suffering

Isaiah 52
(Verses 13-15) – Suffering

Isaiah 53
(Verses 1-3) – Rejection
(Verses 4-6) – Retribution
(Verses 7-9) – Redemption
(Verses 10-12) – Reward

Isaiah 61
(Verses 1-3) – Glory

There is no doubt that the Spirit
Was “predicting the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.”

And you can see as these prophets were writing these things down,
They must have been curious.

Peter says the prophets “made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know the person or time…”

The point is, the prophets believed is was true.
That is why they dug so hard to try to find out when it would happen.

Luke 2:25-26 “And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

Isaiah 6:11 “Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,”

Matthew 13:16-17 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

John 8:56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

This salvation you hope for puts you in good company.
You aren’t the first to lay down your life in hope for it.

This salvation was indicated by the Spirit
This salvation was investigated by the prophets

This salvation is not some new concept.

#2 IT WAS INTERPRETED TO THE APOSTLES
1 Peter 1:12a

Now Peter says here that the prophets figured out
That they weren’t writing those prophecies for their own sake.
They learned that they were writing those prophecies for your sake.

What use was Isaiah 53 to them?

The purpose of their writing those predictive prophecies was for you.
So when it came to pass, you would know it was God’s plan.

But even at that, God didn’t just leave it for you to figure out.
He sent His Spirit once again to interpret it to men
Who would point out these truths to you.
These men were called apostles.

Luke 24:45 “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,”

John 20:21-23 “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”
These were the men who had the authority of the Holy Spirit
To declare Scripture to you.

And they did this in two main ways.

One way they did this was to look at the life of Jesus and then show you how He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies.

For example:
Matthew 8:14-17 “When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.” (Isaiah 53)

Matthew 12:14-21 “But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM IHAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES. “HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. “A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.” (Isaiah 42)

Matthew 21:1-5 “When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, ‘BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.'” (Zechariah 9:9)

After their minds were opened to understand the Scriptures,
They looked at Jesus and saw that He was the One
The Old Testament prophets had searched for.

The other way they revealed truth to us,
Was by taking the Old Testament Scriptures and preaching them to show us that they referred to Jesus.

TURN TO:
Acts 2:22-36 (Psalm 16)
Acts 8:26-35 (Isaiah 53)

Of course the that is all the writer of Hebrews does.
Preaching Jesus from 28 O.T. passages and 12 different books.
The point here to be made is simple.
God was again pointing out His truth.

If His Spirit hadn’t opened the mind of the apostles,
If He hadn’t revealed these truths to them,
They might never have seen them.

This is not some salvation hope
Based upon something Peter had dreamed up.
God has been proclaiming this hope for centuries.

Indicated by the Spirit
Investigated by the Prophets
Interpreted by the Spirit
Identified by the Apostles
#3 IT IS ENJOYED THE ANGELS
1 Peter 1:12b

As Jerry Vines put it.
The Prophets set the stage
The Apostles script the story
The Angels see the show

The point is this.
Aside from the Spirit of God revealing to all,
They are your link from past to present.

They plaid a part in the prophets receiving the message,
And they plaid a part in Jesus fulfilling the message.

We see them when many of the prophets received their visions
(Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel)

We also see them throughout the fulfillment of the prophecies.
Announced the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:8-14)
Ministered after the temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:11)
Ministered to Jesus in the garden (Luke 22:42-43)
Their eyes were fixed upon the cross (Matthew 26:51-53)
They were at the tomb of Jesus (Matthew 28:1-7)
They were at the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:8-11)

And not only that,
But the angels will play an active role in the glorification of Jesus
As they help reign out judgment upon the earth.

The angels love to watch the story of salvation unfold.

Revelation 5:8-14 “When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.”

The point is, the continued presence of these servants of God
Reveal that God’s hand is all over this salvation

The point to Peter’s text is simple.
The Christian life is hard,
The only reason you have for continued obedience and endurance
Is the hope that you have an inheritance awaiting you.

He wants you to know without a doubt this salvation is legitimate.
It is legitimate because it was revealed long ago to the prophets.
It is legitimate because it was fulfilled in Jesus.
It is legitimate because the servants of God are devoted to it.

So if you are one of the Rejected Selected.
DON’T STOP

This salvation is the real deal.
And it has always been the real deal.

And I don’t care how bad the Christian life gets.
I don’t care how much obedience costs you.
I don’t care how long you have to suffer for Jesus.
IT WILL BE WORTH IT ALL!

2 Timothy 1:8-12 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”

 

1 Peter 1:3-9

This morning we heard Peter introduce the recipients of this letter.
The Scattered
The Selected
The Submissive
The Strengthened

They were a people who,
Because Jesus had chosen them, had been made outcasts.
They were fugitives on the run,
Yet they were expected to lean on the strength God provides
And be obedient to their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

These people were living in a difficult world.

Tonight, Peter begins his letter to the suffering saints.
He is writing them a letter of encouragement
Commanding obedience and endurance.

We see three things that Peter asks of the rejected selected.
Again, if you are in a difficult area, then Peter’s words are for you.

#1 PRAISE FOR A LIVING HOPE
1 Peter 1:3-5

Now Peter starts off his letter in a most peculiar fashion.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

DID PETER REALLY BEGIN THIS LETTER WITH A CALL TO PRAISE?
He sure did.

But these people didn’t just experience success in evangelism…
These people didn’t just see their enemies bow at their feet…
THEY ARE SUFFERING!

WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD PETER BEGIN THIS LETTER TO THE SUFFERING WITH A CALL TO PRAISE?

BECAUSE:
If you ever find yourself in a tailspin.
If you ever find yourself in depression.
If you ever find yourself with a strong case of the woe-is-me’s,
There is one way and one way only to pull yourself out of it PRAISE.
We live in the most drugged nation on the face of the planet.
America thinks that the way to overcome depression is to take a pill.
THAT IS NOT HOW YOU OVERCOME DEPRESSION!

The Bible teaches the only way to overcome depression is praise!
Remember Psalm 46?
Remember God’s Presence
Remember God’s Promise
Remember God’s Power

If you are living with a severe case of the woe-is-me’s
Then you have forgotten those things.

TURN TO PSALM 77
The Psalmist doesn’t get pulled out of his tale spin until he remembers the Lord.

Now look, I know I am treading on thin ice here.
But I want to tell you here how the American mindset is not Biblical.

Depression is real.
But depression is not a mental problem.
It is not an emotional problem.
DEPRESSION IS A SPIRITUAL PROBLEM.

If you get down, and you go to a psychologist, even a Christian one,
9 times out of 10 do you know what they have you do?
They start taking you on a journey to find out what hurt you
And caused you to be depressed.
And they tell you to deal with that.

Then, they most likely will give you some sort of brain numbing drug
To help you feel better about life so you can function.

THAT IS NOT BIBLICAL

I want you to see two promises from the mouth of Jesus.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Jesus didn’t come to cause a life of depression,
He came to save you from a life of depression.

He promises life abundant.
DO YOU KNOW WHY PEOPLE MISS LIFE ABUNDANT AND LIVE IN DEPRESSION?
They have missed the verse right before it.
John 10:9-10 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

The reason people fail to get this life abundant
Is because they haven’t fully trusted Jesus.

You can’t find pasture because you haven’t ever entered the gate.
The life abundant is promised to those who do.

Now look at a second promise Jesus made.
John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

Notice that Jesus promised not just joy, but fullness of joy.
That doesn’t sound like depression to me.

BUT DO YOU KNOW WHY MANY CHRISTIANS FAIL TO EXPERIENCE THIS FULLNESS OF JOY?
It is because they didn’t read the verse before it.

John 15:10-11 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”
According to this verse
Joy comes when we walk in obedience and live in love with Jesus.
That means if you aren’t experiencing joy,
It is because you aren’t abiding in Jesus love.

So let’s recap those two promises.
Life abundant, but you won’t have it if you haven’t come to Jesus.
Fullness of joy, but you won’t have it if you aren’t plugged into the vine.

So you want me to tell you the cause of depression.
Getting out of right relationship with Jesus.

I think that explains why there is so much depression in America.
Our nation is one that is not in right relationship with Jesus.
No wonder the makers of Prosac are rich.

NOW IF THE CAUSE OF DEPRESSION IS BEING OUT OF RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, THEN WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE THE CURE FOR DEPRESSION IS?

Getting back into right relationship with Jesus.
In other words you have forgotten the order of things,
And you need to be reminded.

He is God and He is worthy of worship.
He is Lord and He is worthy of obedience.
He is Savior and He is worthy of praise.

When we stop focusing on God and start focusing on self,
All we see is how bad we have it and it throws us into depression.

But when we stop focusing on self and start focusing on God,
All we see is how good we have it and it fills us with joy.

The cure for depression is worship.
That is why Peter very rightly starts this letter to the scattered with a call to praise.

NOW LETS GET A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC
Why does he call them to praise?

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope”

He says praise God because you have a “living hope”
Think about that.

Not a dead hope (Muhammad)
But a living one!
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know, He holds the future, and life is worth the living, just because He lives.”

2 Corinthians 4:7-11 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

We suffer, but not hopelessly.
We have hope, and that’s reason to worship no matter how bad it is.

I don’t care how bad your situation,
God deserves worship because He has not left you hopeless.

And let’s look at a few characteristics of hope here.

1) THE REASON
“who according to His great mercy”

DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU HAVE HOPE?
It isn’t because you deserve it.
It is because God is merciful, and He offered you hope.

Psalms 103:9-10 “He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”

2) THE ROUTE
“through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”

This is the means by which hope became a possibility to you.

Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

Hope is the result of His death and resurrection.

3) THE RESULT
“to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,”

The result of God’s mercy. The result of Jesus resurrection.
You have an inheritance, and a really good one.

Revelation 22:1-5 “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.”

4) THE REALITY
“who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW SECURE YOUR HOPE IS?

It is perfectly secure.
Not because you are able to protect it, but because God is.
Ephesians 1:13-14 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Here’s another hymn for you.
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

Can you see why there is never a reason for you not to praise God.
I don’t care how bad you have it.

DO YOU HAVE IT WORSE THAN JOB?
He worshiped.

And listen to a little of the motivation to why Job worshiped
Job 19:25-27 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!”

Worship God where you are.
Praise Him in the midst of your struggle,
Because He could have left you hopeless, but He didn’t.

That is why Peter says what he does in verse 6
“in this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary you have been distressed by various trials,”

DO YOU WANT TO REJOICE IN THE MIDST OF TRIALS?
Then focus on God and praise Him for all the good He has done for you.

So first Peter wants us to praise for a living hope.
#2 PERSEVERE THROUGH A LITTLE HEAT
1 Peter 1:6-7

Peter says, “look, I know it is hard, but I want you to persevere, and here is why.”

1) TRIALS ARE IMPORTANT
“in this you greatly rejoice, even though for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,”

DID YOU CATCH THAT WORD NECESSARY?

Trials are an important tool used to shape the church.

James 1:1-4 “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

James 1:12 “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

1 Peter 4:12 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;”

It is trials that strengthen the church
By causing them to forsake the world and lean on God.

It is trials that purifies the church
By causing those who aren’t real to leave.

DID YOU CATCH THE WORD VARIOUS?
We don’t face the same trial over and over.
If you do, it is because you haven’t passed that test yet.

Trials are important.
2) FAITH IS INDESPENSIBLE
“so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire,”

Trials are important because they cause faith to rise to the top.
You need something to separate the wheat from the tares.

And the reason faith is so important
Is because it is all that God accepts.

When you get to heaven, God won’t accept American Express.
“it’s not everywhere you want to be.”

God only accepts faith. It is more valuable even than the purest gold.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

3) THE RESULTS ARE INEVITABLE
“so that the proof of your faith…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Some day God will reveal what you really are.
Luke 8:17 “For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”

IF YOU ARE A SCATTERED STRUGGLING CHRISTIAN
FIRST – Pull yourself out of the pit by praising God.
SECOND – Begin to look at trials as opportunities to grow your faith

Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

So praise for a living hope & persevere through a little heat
#3 PROCEED WITH A LOYAL HEART
1 Peter 1:8-9
PETER IS REMINDING THOSE WORDS OF JESUS
Jesus looked a doubter in the face.
Thomas thought the circumstances were too bad to find much hope.
He was hopeless because he couldn’t see.

Jesus confronted this doubt.
John 20:26-29 “After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, ” Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

Notice He didn’t call Thomas blessed. Doubt is not a blessing.
Jesus called those who don’t doubt in difficult circumstances blessed.

And he gives us three ways he wants us to proceed.
1) KEEP RESPECTING
“and though you have not seen Him, you love Him”

Of course love is more than fondness, or affection, it is the idea of sacrificing for Jesus.
It is the idea of a deep loyalty and respect.

Even though you haven’t seen Jesus show up and defend you.
Even though you haven’t seen Jesus make everything better, continue to love Him.

2) KEEP RELYING
“and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him”

You haven’t seen Him work, and indeed, you don’t see Him working now.
Would you keep trusting Him?

3) KEEP REJOICING
“you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory”

And don’t stop praising Him. He deserves it and you need it.

You may be in a difficult situation.
You may feel like one of “The Rejected Selected”
But make sure you respond properly to God.

Keep respecting Him
Keep relying on Him
Keep rejoicing in Him

Love, trust, and praise in the midst of suffering
Is what it means to pass the test.
That is what God is looking for.

Verse 9, “obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

You see, God is testing you.
Do hang tough.

Praise for a living hope
Persevere through a little heat
Proceed with a loyal heart

Hebrews 10:36-39 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

 

Healing a Murderous Heart – part 1
James 4:1-12 (1-6)
January 11, 2015

I realize it has been quite some time
Since we have been in the book of James.
The holidays have a way of murdering the continuity of a book study.

But now with the holidays behind us
We have the opportunity to get back into our flow of this great book.

It shouldn’t be too difficult to pull your mind back to the point of this book
To sum it up for you again, James’ main point is “BE REAL”

You really get the feeling that he has a mind’s eye view of Jesus
And as He focuses on Christ and then looks at the church
James sees some alarming inconsistencies.

• He sees a church that is bitter in the midst of trials
• He sees a church that lacks wisdom and is double-minded
• He sees a church that is mixed up about the purpose of earthly wealth
• He sees a church succumbing to temptation
• He sees a church that isn’t listening to God’s word
• He sees a church that has missed the point of religion
• He sees a church that shows personal favoritism
• He sees a church is lacking genuine works to validate her faith
• He sees a church that can’t control her tongue
• He sees a church with bitter jealousy and selfish ambition

And of course all of those things are just the opposite of Christ.

James then writes the letter to sort of “right the ship”.
In some instances he strong rebuking the church.
In other areas he seems to be questioning whether salvation is even present.
And that certainly does not stop tonight.

If I can draw you back to what we talked about the last time we were in James while studying the end of chapter 3.
We talked about “Examining Our Wisdom”

James 3:13-15 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.”

James saw an obvious problem in the church which was the presence of “bitter jealous and selfish ambition”

This was not Godliness
This was in fact more like Satan than God

And this concern spills over into the 4th chapter of the book of James.

It is that same jealous and ambitious attitude James is addressing here.
• We see in verse 1 that they are engaged in conflicts
• We see in verse 2 that they lust and commit murder
• We see that they quarrel and fight about what they can’t obtain

And after James addresses the issue and sort of straightens them out
He comes full circle down in verse 11 and says:

(11) “Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.”
And so it is obvious that James is still dealing with
This concept of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition
And the slander and fighting that it is producing.

And so take a moment and back up and look at the church
And see if you see any validity to what James is saying.

• We’ve all seen church that were filled with quarreling and fighting.

And we know that James’ evaluation of the church is all too often true.
Many times throughout her history the church has been prone to fighting.

Listen to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 1:10-11 “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.”

Later he wrote:
1 Corinthians 11:17-19 “But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.”

Paul actually had to warn the Galatians:
Galatians 5:13-15 “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”

When Paul wrote to the Philippians he said:
Philippians 4:1-2 “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.”

We have all seen quarrels and conflicts occur even in the church.
Incidentally, Jesus Himself talked about the gravity of such sins.
Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

Jesus left little doubt there didn’t He?

Slandering and condemning your brother is the equivalent of murder,
And Jesus promises that those who do such things
Will not escape the sentence of hell.

That makes things like church fighting a very serious issue.

James thought it was too.

And so in our text here in chapter 4 we are going to talk about:
“HEALING A MURDEROUS HEART”

We are going to discuss the truth about people
With selfish ambition which leads to slander and quarreling.

We are going to talk about what such sins say about that person
And how that person can change.

There are 4 main points.
#1 THE PAINFUL REVELATION
James 4:1-5

Now obviously James has already seen that there are in fact
“quarrels and conflicts” in the church.

He does not ask if they are there.
He knows they are there.

He asks, “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?”

He knows they are there; he has seen them.
He wants to help people see why they are there.

And here is the answer.
“Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel.”

If you want the simple answer from James, it is this:
YOU FIGHT BECAUSE YOU ARE SELFISH

And that selfishness is confirmed in several ways.

First your selfishness is seen in your CONSTANT QUARRELS

James says that you have “pleasures that wage war in your members”
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

When James talks about “your members” he isn’t talking about your church members, he is talking about your body.

And inside your body you have “pleasures that wage war”
It is that sinful, fleshly, selfish nature.
It wants what it wants, when it wants it.

It is the selfish flesh.
And that is what is causing the problem.

(2) “You lust”
• You seek what is not yours
• At times you even seek what is sinful

And the reason you fight is because your lusts are not satisfied.
“You lust and do not have, so you commit murder.”

James is referring to that same type of heart murder Jesus referred to.

You slander, You condemn, You are angry with your brother.
You murder him in your heart all because you don’t get what you want.

It is pictured by that disgruntled teenager who doesn’t get their way from their parent and they lash out, “I hate you, I wish you weren’t my parent, I wish you were dead!”
It is heart murder
And it is not limited to disgruntled teens.
The same type of slander occurs inside the church
And the source is the same.

Selfish people don’t get their way so they engage in a verbal assault.

And James says it is born out of envy and a lack of contentment.

(2b) “You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel.”

That is a person who wishes they had what someone else has.
• Maybe a certain position
• Maybe a certain possession
• Maybe a certain type of reputation or esteem

They want what someone else has, but they can’t get it
So they begin to tear down that other person.
James says, that’s really the source of your quarreling and fighting
It is present because you are selfish.

You have this inward fire in you that are seeking to satisfy with worldly things,
And it is your lack of satisfaction that has driven you to heart murder.

SO YOUR FIGHTING PROVES YOU ARE SELFISH
But that is not the only thing that proves you are selfish.

Secondly, your selfishness is seen in YOUR INEFFECTIVE PRAYER

(2c-3) “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

Now that is a selfish person.

First we see that “You do not have because you do not ask.”

James is referring to a person too impatient to let prayer work.
It is a person who is too self-sufficient to wait on God.

They don’t ask because they don’t want to trust God to do what is right.
They don’t ask because they don’t want to wait on God to move.

They want what they want and they want it now
And they take matters into their own hands to achieve it,
Which is why they fight.

(Can I remind you of Jacob?)
Saw him fight, never heard him pray

And there are people like that.
They don’t want to submit to ask someone else, they would rather pursue it by their own abilities.

Now that doesn’t mean that if you do ask God then aren’t selfish,
For James addresses that person too.

(3) “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

There is a person who prays, but they do so out of selfish motives.
They only want to “spend it on [their] pleasures.”

They aren’t interested in God’s will
They see God as a Jeanie in a bottle who is a means to give them what they want.

All they seem to pray for is that God will continue to make them healthy and prosperous and happy and comfortable and safe.
• Where is the prayer for personal holiness?
• Where is the prayer of repentance?
• Where is the prayer for the lost?
• Where is the prayer for the poor?
• Where is the prayer for revival?

Their prayers are dripping with one selfish request after another.

Make me wealthy so I can buy all the things I want
Make me healthy so I can enjoy all the things I’ve bought
Make me safe so no one will take what I enjoy
And do that for everyone else too so I won’t have to give what I’ve got to them.

Do you get the point?
Can you see the selfishness that James is referring too?

People “ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

But their prayer is ineffective for they “ask and do not receive”

But you can see that James is talking about selfish people?
They are people who are driven by the lusts of their flesh.

Sure they are religious
Some of them even pray
But it doesn’t change the carnal desires of their heart

And so when James looks at the church and their quarrels
He says the reason it is happening is because you are selfish.

Paul told the squabbling Corinthians the same thing:
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?”

Your life is filled with quarrels and contentions because you are a selfish person.

But that isn’t the only painful revelation
James has for these quarreling people.

On one hand they are selfish, but James is going to take one step further.

You are certainly selfish, and there is a good chance that YOU ARE LOST

(4) “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
James is still talking about that person who “lusts”
He is talking about that person who is “envious”
He is talking about that person who has “pleasures…in their members”
He is talking about that person who has “wrong motives”
He is talking about that person who wants to satisfy their inward “pleasures”

In short he is talking about a person
Who loves the sinful luxuries of the world.

The world loves to gratify the flesh
And this person loves the world because of that.

And that love for the world not only proves they are selfish,
But it also proves they are lost.

John said it very clearly
1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

John said the world is filled with “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life”

And none of those things are of God.
And anyone then who loves those things obviously doesn’t love God.

Jesus said it like this:
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

And of course you are familiar with the fact that
Jesus wasn’t just referring to money, but “mammon”
Which encapsulates all the treasures of the world.

Jesus said, you can’t love those and love God.

So the selfish heart that craves the world
Has a very difficult time defending that their faith is genuine.

“You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?”

Forget the fact that if you love the world then you can’t love God.
James takes it a step further and says that
If you love the world then you are even hostile toward God.

In fact, “Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself and enemy of God.”
If you are craving the things the world craves,
Not only will it lead to quarrels and ineffective prayer,
But it will also make you an enemy of God.

(5) “Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us?”

Now the translation of this verse is difficult.
First of all, if James is quoting an actual verse, no one knows what it is.
It seems more likely that James is referring to a Scriptural theme,
Not necessarily a specific verse.

It would be like if I say, “You know the Bible says that lost people love sin”

That is not a specific verse,
But it is definite theme which can be supported.

Second of all the first “He” is not in the Greek and since there are no capitalizations in Greek, it’s hard to confirm that when James is talking about “the Spirit” that he is actually referring to the Holy Spirit.

The literal translation would be:
“The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy”

SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

James is talking about how a man can be an enemy of God.

People are God’s enemy when they follow their own sinful nature (their inward spirit), because it only wants sin all the time.

Remember this?
Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Later, after the flood
Genesis 8:21 “The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.”

The spirit that naturally dwells in man
Is a spirit that is only focused on evil all the time.

God said, “the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth”

And that is the reality that James is talking about.
“The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy”

The spirit that naturally dwells in us is only on evil all the time.

SO:
If you are a person who is seeking to gratify that spirit,
(as evidenced by your quarrelling and your ineffective prayer)
Then you are obviously not a person who is living to please God.

AND YOU HAVE MADE YOURSELF GOD’S ENEMY

So there is your PAINFUL REVELATION

If your life is such that is characterized by “quarrels and conflicts”
I can tell you why.

• It is because you are selfish person who is seeking to gratify the
wrong thing.
That is why you fight
That is why your prayers don’t work

• And worse than that it reveals that you are probably a lost person
who is an enemy of God, because you love things that God hates.

Is that a hard pill to swallow?
Yes it is.

But isn’t that what James just taught us also back in chapter 3.

James 3:13-16 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”

James was talking there about that same selfish attitude,
And if you have it, it is not from God.

The wisdom that comes from God is completely different.
James 3:17-18 “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

Can you see the difference?
• Can you see that the unselfish man who seeks God’s heart is a reasonable and gently and merciful and peaceable man who makes peace with others?

• Can you see that the selfish man is a lusting and greedy and pleasure seeking man that fights and quarrels and is an enemy of God?

So examine your life.
Are you selfish or not?
Is your life characterized by quarrels and conflicts?
Is your prayer life effective?
Are you seeking to gratify your natural spirit or God’s Holy Spirit?
James just has a real problem with those who claim to be the church
Obviously living such selfish lives.

After all, need I remind you that you cannot love self and follow Jesus?

Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

And James here looks at a selfish church and wonders
How they can genuinely consider themselves to be Christians.

• They fight
• They love the world
• They lust
• They are envious
• They are filled with selfish ambition
• Their prayers are only for their own personal gratification

So, there is the painful revelation,
And it requires that we get honest with ourselves.

WHY?
Because if you don’t get honest about the condition of your heart,
You’ll never go to the one who can fix it.

And that is the good news that James refers to next.

The Painful Revelation
#2 THE POWERFUL EXPLANATION
James 4:6

You have to love the first phrase here
“But He gives a greater grace.”

You are a selfish, quarreling, lustful, envious, worldly, adulterating, enemy of God…BUT
God has grace big enough to fix that.

Isn’t that what we sing about?
“Grace, grace, God’s grace. Grace that will pardon and cleans within. Grace, grace, God’s grace. Grace that is greater than all our sin.”

Paul said:
Romans 5:20-21 “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

And we are thankful for that point.

Quite frankly it couldn’t get any worse than the first 5 verses.
That person in the first 5 verses is in about as bad a shape as a person can be in.
It’s hard to be worse than a murdering, adulterating, enemy of God.

That person would most certainly be lost and cast into hell forever:
“But He gives a greater grace.”

That is to say that God can even save that person.
“Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

And there James even tells you how to be a recipient of such grace.

HOW?
Be “humble”

WHAT DO YOU MEAN HUMBLE?

Well don’t be “proud”
• Don’t refuse to fess up to what you are.
• Don’t argue with God’s estimation of what you are.

• Don’t be too proud to confess that you are sinful…
• Don’t be too proud to let it be known that you are that person…

That is one of the reasons lost people stay lost
They are too proud

They don’t want to admit that they are sinful,
Not to God and not to anyone else.
And when God tells them they are lost
They don’t want to admit that either.

This is especially difficult for people who have spent time in church
Telling everyone that they are saved.

Many false believers would rather stay lost with everyone thinking they are saved than to be saved by admitting that they were lost.

That is pride, and God doesn’t give saving grace to the proud.

In fact James reminds that “God is opposed to the proud”

“But God gives grace to the humble.”
• God forgives the sin of the humble man.
• God wipes away the sin of the man who confesses it.
• God overcomes the sin of the man who owns up to it.

Jesus preached it like this:
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The person who is humble and broken
Is the person who will receive the kingdom of heaven.
In fact they are the only ones who will.

Only the poor in spirit get in
You don’t get into heaven by concealing your sin and ignoring your guilt.

You get into heaven when you come in honest humility
To the God of grace and receive His forgiveness.

And I don’t think James could have explained it any simpler.

Take that Painful revelation and examine yourself by it
And listen to what God says about you.

And then humble yourself before God.
Grace is available.

• Is your heart selfish?
• Do you lust and then murder when you don’t get it?
• Are you envious and then fight when you are not satisfied?
• Do you lack prayer because you don’t want God’s answer?
• Do you pray but only for selfish things?
• Do you love the world and that is all you want?

I won’t sugarcoat it, those things are bad indicators

“But He gives a greater grace”

He will still forgive and save if you will humble yourself before Him.

 

 
And we’ll finish up this text next time.
Pray

Praying For Missions
Matthew 9:36-38
January 11, 2015

As you know we are now in our mission’s month.
We like to take the month of January
And sort of focus in on the high calling of missions.

As we said last week, this is the purpose of the church.
We are to take the light of Jesus Christ and shine Him into a dark and hopeless world.

• We are not primarily philanthropists
• We are not primarily social workers
• We are not primarily medics
• We are not primarily construction workers

We may in fact use all of those avenues to gain the opportunity
To fulfill our purpose, but those are not what we are.

We are preachers of the gospel
We are missionaries
We are here to publish the work of Christ to the nations.
We are left here for missions.

And as we talked about that last week,
I gave you three ways in which you can be involved in that purpose.

They weren’t new – in fact you’ve heard them over and over.
PRAY – GIVE – GO

What I want to do this morning is begin to dive into those a little bit more.
And this morning I want to talk a little bit about praying for missions.

And I don’t mind telling you that this is a way bigger topic
Than we have time to handle in one sermon.

Because mission work is spiritual work,
It is absolutely essential that every aspect of it be prayed about,
For we cannot accomplish this task on our own.

We must pray for open doors
We must pray for open hearts

But this morning we are going to take the prayer concept
In a bit of a different direction.

We actually touched on it last week,
As we read the text we are focusing on this morning.

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

As we said last week we have here a verse with two tragedies.

1) We have “distressed and dispirited sheep without a shepherd”

That is another way of saying we have lost sheep.
They are not saved and their lives are in shambles because of it.

2) We have a field that workers have not entered.

There is a plentiful harvest
And yet no one seems to be at work to bring that harvest in.

And so the response of Jesus is that His disciples should pray.

“Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

• He didn’t ask for prayer that God would bring the harvest in by Himself
• He didn’t ask for prayer that the harvest would come in on its own
• He asked for prayer that God would send workers to get it.
In fact Jesus said to “beseech the Lord”

There is a hint of urgency there
There is a hint of intensity there

Beg God to do this
Implore God to do this
Plead with God to send out workers

I pondered that statement this week, and it brought a question to my mind

WHY WOULD A FARMER WITH A RIPE HARVEST NOT BE SENDING WORKERS INTO IT?

You’d assume that with a ripe field you wouldn’t have to ask God to send out workers…you’d assume He’d already be doing that.

This is a field that God obviously planted
This is a field that God watered
This is a field that God made to grow
So we know God is well invested in this field.

Why would you have to ask Him to send out workers?
Certainly isn’t because God doesn’t want to.
He cares about this harvest.
But the question is:
WHY IS NO ONE BEING SENT?

And I think it is beneficial to take that question and internalize it.
If you aren’t being sent, maybe you should ask why.
If I’m not being sent, maybe I should ask why.

Why is God not sending workers?
(Especially when you know that He desires to)

Well this morning we are going to examine a multitude of passages
To answer that question.

You already know that I’m not a real fan of topical preaching,
But that is what you are going to get this morning.

I want to give you 5 reasons why God isn’t sending workers,
And hopefully that will also answer the question of
Exactly how to pray so that God will send them.

So put yourself in the seat of a farmer.
• You’ve got a field that is ripe for harvest.
• You’ve plowed, you’ve planted, you’ve irrigated, you’ve fertilized and now the crop is ready.

Why now are you sluggish in sending out workers?

5 reasons (may be more, but this is my list)
#1 THE WORKERS ARE DANGEROUS
Turn To: Matthew 23:15

You are familiar with the passage.
Jesus is condemning the Pharisees for their hypocritical religion.

Now certainly Jesus nails them in a number of areas,
But one of those areas is in their mission involvement.

And you recognize from this verse that
Jesus is not upset with the Pharisees for not doing missions.
He is upset with them because they do.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

They travel around the globe and they are making proselytes.

The problem is that their converts
Are “twice as much a son of hell” as they are.
They are getting people to believe a message that doesn’t save.

It is similar to the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day.

Jeremiah 23:21 “I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied.”

And then later
Jeremiah 23:32 “Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the LORD.”

That passage clearly answers the question as to at least one reason
Why God isn’t sending these people into the harvest.

They are dangerous.
They do not “furnish this people the slightest benefit”

It is obvious that the Lord of the harvest realizes that
If He sends these people into the field,
He will not get the harvest into the barn.

These people will ruin the harvest

These are false brethren with a false gospel who make false converts.

Matthew 15:12-14 “Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
These are the blind men.
And if you send a blind man to guide a blind man, both of them are in trouble.

In short
You don’t send lost people on mission to reach other lost people.

And that is one of the problems even in the church.
The church has a lot of lost people in it.
• They may be religious
• They may have Bible knowledge
• But they are not saved and they cannot help in the harvest

God doesn’t send them because they are dangerous.

WHAT WOULD THE PRAYER THEN BE?
Well obviously that they be saved and that they receive God’s Holy Spirit, and they finally believe the true gospel so that they are ready to go in God’s strength and preach God’s gospel.

So you understand the prayer request.
When you beseech the Lord of the harvest,
Pray that the lost in His church would be saved so that He can send them.

The Workers are Dangerous
#2 THE WORKERS ARE DEFICIENT
Turn To: 2 Peter 1:5-9

What I mean by deficient is that they are NOT USABLE.
They are lacking something that makes them usable in the field.

Let me go ahead and remind you that everyone starts there.

Romans 3:12 “ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

When we talk about being useless,
Then we must understand that we were all there.
The goal is obviously to move from being useless to being useful.

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?
Well obviously salvation must occur, but also spiritual growth.

Look at what Peter says in his passage.
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”

Peter is talking about being useful to God.
And Peter is very clear that those who lack “love”, “brotherly kindness”, “godliness”, “perseverance”, “self-control”, “knowledge”, and “moral excellence” are NOT useful to God.

If you lack those qualities you are “blind or short-sighted” and you have “forgotten [your] purification from [your] former sins.”

And it helps us understand why the farmer isn’t sending some people.
They may be saved
They may have faith
But they have never grown.

They have never added the things that Peter says they need to add.
They are still spiritual babies.

They are like the people the writer of Hebrews wrote to:
Hebrews 5:11-14 “Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

And there are people like this in the church.
At this point in their Christian walk
They ought to already be teaching others.

(That is part of the Great Commission –
“and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you”)

They ought to be teachers, but they still need to be taught.
They are not mature, they can’t discern good and evil.
And so they are not useful.

Now it’s one thing when that person is a 10 year old kid
Who has only be saved a year or two,
But it is quite embarrassing when we’re talking about
An adult who has been a Christian for years.

And yet that is one of the reasons that the Lord of the harvest
Is not sending people into the harvest.

The workers are deficient
They are not yet useful
They have still not grown and learned to teach the gospel to others

2 Timothy 2:20-21 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”

So, when Jesus tells you to pray to the Lord to send workers,
I think we understand a little better how to pray.

Pray for those who are immature and not yet useable to grow up and put away childish things and make themselves useable to God.

So why is the Lord of the harvest not sending workers?
The Workers are Dangerous The Workers are Deficient
#3 THE WORKERS ARE DISQUALIFIED
Turn To: Acts 15:36-38

Paul and Barnabas had already been on one missionary journey.
But while they were there Mark deserted them.

For whatever reason he did not see the mission through.
And in Paul’s mind this disqualified him.

“After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.”

Mark had quit the first trip and this disqualified him for the second.

And this sort of thing happens.
People in the church disqualify themselves for service
Because of unrepentant sin in their lives.

Now, don’t get me wrong, we are all sinners.
If God isn’t willing to use sinners then, He’ll never send anyone.

None of us are worthy to be called a missionary.

You aren’t disqualified because of what you used to be,
Or what you used to do.
In fact, many times God uses your past failures as a testimony to reach others.

What we are talking about is present sin
What we are talking about is unrepentant sin
What we are talking about is habitual sin

A farmer isn’t going to send a worker into the field
• That will destroy the crop
• Who doesn’t know how to harvest the crop
• Who isn’t interested in doing what the farmer says.

It is an issue of an obedient heart.
And if the worker won’t obey the farmer in other areas,
He’s not going to trust that he will in this one.

So a worker living in sin is disqualified and God won’t send him.

Let me give you another example.
Matthew 7:1-5 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Certainly that passage at its heart is about self-righteousness.
But there is a very strong missional statement there as well.

How do you plan on helping someone get a speck out of their eye when you haven’t been able to get the log out of yours?

We already read what happens when one blind man tries to lead another.

If you won’t turn from sin in your own life,
How do you expect to get someone else to do it?

And incidentally choosing sin over service is NOT acceptable before God.

And there again is another specific as to how to pray.
Pray that the workers will turn from sin and qualify themselves for service.
That they will make themselves usable by means of repentance.

And it is only fair to note that Mark did this.

In the last letter Paul ever wrote, Paul said:
2 Timothy 4:11 “Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.”

Mark had been disqualified, but he didn’t stay that way.
He obviously repented, he obviously became committed to the mission
And he became useful and was thrust into duty.

But it helps us understand why workers aren’t being sent.
It may help you understand why you aren’t being sent.

Some workers are dangerous – destroying the crops
Some workers are deficient – they don’t know how to harvest
Some workers are disqualified – they aren’t walking in obedience to the farmer
#4 THE WORKERS ARE DISINCLINED
Turn To: Ezekiel 22:23-31

Now please notice the grim state of the culture of that day.
READ 23-29

Now there is a place that needed a good missionary
There was a dark land that needed light

And God certainly wanted to send a worker into that harvest.
But there was a problem.

(30) “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”

Notice what God said:
“I searched for a man who” what?

“who WOULD”

• It wasn’t that God didn’t want workers.
• It wasn’t that God wouldn’t send workers.
• But no one “would” do it.

There were no Isaiah’s in that day.
Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

These were people who knew there was a need
They knew their culture was in shambles
They knew the gospel needed to be preached
They knew the standard of God needed to be raised

They just weren’t willing to do it.

AND THIS IS ABSOLUTELY SHAMEFUL!
How can it be that people who have been graciously chosen and mercifully forgiven just totally disregard that gift and then refuse to do what God asks?

I mean this farmer has fed you time and time again from his harvest
And now when He wants you to help Him bring another harvest in,
You tell Him “No”.

How can this be?

Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

That was certainly Paul’s mentality.
Acts 21:12-13 “When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

In Paul’s mind Jesus had certainly done more than enough
To warrant his obedience.

And this should be the mindset of every saved person,
And yet sadly it isn’t.

There are many who are just disinclined to go be a part.
They would rather sit in their own houses
And leave the harvest in the field.

They just don’t want to do it.

And that again helps us understand why workers aren’t being sent.
• Some are dangerous
• Some are deficient (not ready)
• Some are disqualified (by means of sin)
• Some are disinclined (they just don’t want to)

And again that helps us know then how to pray that workers will be sent.
We are to pray that those who are redeemed and able
Would be willing to step out and answer the call.

That they would stand with Isaiah and say, “Here am I, send me!”

Some are dangerous, some are deficient, some are disqualified, some are disinclined
#5 THE WORKERS ARE DISTRACTED
Turn To: John 4:31-38

Now there is a story you will remember.
The chapter begins with Jesus choosing to travel through Samaria and at noon as He sits by a well He sends the disciples into town to buy food.

Well here we read what happens when they get back.
READ 31-34

That is classic Jesus, and the disciples are obviously a little confused.
Why wouldn’t He want to eat?

And then notice Jesus’ answer.
(35) “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.”

When they looked up, if you’ve read the chapter, you’ll know what they saw.

The woman at the well had returned to that same town
Where the disciples just bought food.

The only difference is while they only bought food,
She told people about Jesus.

And the crowd was coming out to Jesus.

And Jesus told His disciples to look at that harvest that was coming.

(36-38) “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. “For in this case the saying is true, ‘ One sows and another reaps.’ “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
Now please pay close attention here.

Verse 38 reveals the problem.
“I sent you to reap”

• He doesn’t say “it’s time to reap”
• He doesn’t say “I’m going to send you to reap”
• He says, “I sent you to reap”

What is He talking about?
He’s talking about when He sent them into that town.

He sent them “to reap”, what did they do?
They bought food

The problem?
• They were distracted
• They were not focused on spiritual things.

Remember our text that we started with this morning?
Matthew 9:36-38 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Did you catch that first statement?
“Seeing the people”

That is what the disciples never did.
They walked all over that city, but they never saw it like Jesus did.

They weren’t sinful, they were just distracted.
Missions wasn’t that important to them.

But let me assure you that missions is important to God.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

1 Timothy 2:1-4 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Luke 15:3-7 “So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

The Good Shepherd finds sheep because He is looking for sheep.
The disciples found food because they were looking for food.

The call is to open your eyes.
If you are serious about witnessing, there is ample opportunity.

But the church is easily distracted.

And that is why workers are not being sent.
The farmer sends workers into the field to harvest the crop,
But instead they end up painting the tractor.

And you know this is a problem.
We are in a world that is lost and going to hell and churches are more concerned about building gymnasiums and worship centers than reaching the lost.

So the prayer?
That the church would open her eyes and quit being so distracted.

There is a reason why the Lord of the harvest is not sending workers.

Some of them are dangerous and will destroy the crop.
We must pray that they are saved and will preach the true gospel.

Some of them are deficient and don’t know what to do.
We must pray that they grow up in the faith and become useful.

Some of them are disqualified because they won’t obey the farmer.
We must pray that they will turn from their sin and qualify themselves for service.

Some of them are disinclined and just don’t want to harvest the crops.
We must pray that they will repent of their disobedience
And love Jesus enough to join His missionary effort.

Some of them are distracted and just aren’t paying attention.
We must pray that the church opens her eyes to the need of missions
And gets involved.

“Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

So if you want to be involved in missions, that is one way to do it.
Pray

Pray that the workers will be sent