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Pray Boldly
Psalms 70
May 3, 2020

Tonight we come to an interesting Psalm.
Namely because it is one of repetition.
You have seen it before.

I would invite you to begin by turning back to: PSALMS 40

Psalms 40 is a popular Psalm and one that speaks of salvation.
I don’t want to rehash it in detail tonight,
But I would remind you of the basic outline.

1. DAVID’S DELIVERANCE (1-3) – David was saved
2. DAVID’S DOXOLOGY (4-5) – David now praises God
3. DAVID’S DELIGHT (6-8) – David’s new desire
4. DAVID’S DECLARATION (9-10) – David’s public confession
5. DAVID’S DEPENDANCE (11-17) – His new perspective in life

• Dependent on God to PRESERVE him (11)
• Dependent on God to FORGIVE him (12)
• Dependent on God to DELIVER him (13-15)
• Dependent on God to SAVE him (16-17)

We are particularly interested in those final 5 verses in Psalms 40
Because they are nearly identical to Psalms 70.

It is clear to us that David has now returned
To his former belief and confession
And is reiterating that portion of his faith before God.

• Think of it as reciting a favorite stanza of a favorite hymn to God.
• Or think of it as reciting a favorite chorus of a favorite song to God.

Certainly you love the entire song, but at this very moment
It is this verse that speaks volumes to you and which greatly fits your life.

That is where David is.
He is drawing strength from God’s hymn book and a song from his past.

Now IT IS HELPFUL TO NOTE that there are a few differences
In the final 5 verses of Psalms 40 and with Psalms 70.

These differences help us feel the difference in David’s attitude.

In Psalms 40:13 we read, “Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me”
But here in verse 1 we read, “O God, hasten to deliver me”

There is a difference in urgency.

In Psalms 40:15 we read, “Let those be appalled because of their shame”
But here in verse 3 we read, “Let those be turned back because of their shame”

Clearly now David wants them stopped.

In Psalms 40:17 we read, “Let the Lord be mindful of me”
But here in verse 5 we read, “Hasten to me, O God!”

You can feel that Psalms 70 is written
With much more passion and desperation.

It may very well be that
Psalms 40 was sung as a theological declaration before the storm,
But Psalms 70 is sung from the middle of it.

The disciples entered the boat to cross over the sea of Galilee,
• And they may very well have prayed for a safe passage and said, “Lord save us” as we cross.
• But in the midst of the storm their cry “Lord save us!” would have taken on an entirely different feel.

SO IT IS HERE.

• You have here David now reaching back to his doctrine.
• You have here David singing again that old song, but this time the stakes are much higher.

I remember in 2005 when for the first time we had gone to Africa, and one night late after showing the Jesus film several of us where crammed in the back of a small pickup driving back to the campsite.

On the way we drove through a group of men, and as we passed they started chasing us (they may have meant no harm, but it didn’t keep us from being scared). The ground was rough and the truck was moving slow and so they were catching us.

I remember someone in the truck just started singing “Jesus loves me” real loud.
I had never sang that song quite like that before.

You get the idea of what is happening here.

• In Psalms 40 David sang in confidence about how God would care for him in a future situation.
• In Psalms 70 David is in that situation and returning to that same old song.

From a Scriptural standpoint consider our lives.

How often have we read:
Romans 8:35-39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And we have often rejoiced in the promises
Which are laid out for us in those verses.

But would you read them differently if you were actually about to be put to death?

Your circumstances can change your attitude can’t they?

Well this is where David is.
And so tonight he returns to a previous song
And now sings it with much urgency.

When we read the Psalm there are
Some realities that seem to really jump out at us.

FIRST: We clearly see David’s URGENCY

(1) “O God, hasten to deliver me; O LORD, hasten to my help!”
(5) “But I am afflicted and needy; Hasten to me, O God!
(5) “O LORD, do not delay.”

David’s urgency is obvious.
Of all the songs he is singing, “In His Time” is NOT one of them.

David wants God to move and he wants God to move NOW!

If anything it brings to our mind the urgency of Martha and Mary.
John 11:1-3 “Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her “sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

We know their urgency because when Jesus didn’t fulfill their desire,
They let Him know about it.

Martha:
John 11:21 “Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Mary:
John 11:32 “Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

All the guests:
John 11:37 “But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”

Their request was one of urgency.
This is a time-sensitive prayer.

When the disciples woke Jesus up in the boat,
It was a time-sensitive request. “We are perishing!”

We see that urgency in David.
SECOND: We clearly see David’s DECISIVENESS

David issues 5 clear requests. They all begin with the word “Let”
(2) “Let those be ashamed and humiliated who seek my life”
(2) “Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt”
(3) “Let those be turned back because of their shame who say, “Aha, aha!”
(4) “Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You”
(4) “let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified.”

Those are straightforward decisive requests.
• There is no ambiguity there from David.
• There is no vacillating there from him.

We don’t get any sense of “Whatever You want to do here God”.
David is spelling it out.
Do this, this, this, and this.

THIRD: We see clearly David’s DESPERATION

(5) “You are my help and my deliverer”

That is to say, MY ONLY help and deliverer.
If You don’t do it, it won’t be done.
There is a desperation in his prayer.

And if we are honest, these are the types of prayers
That routinely emerge when trials arise.

My prayer life is much more laid back when I am in a comfortable place.
But when I am in a little pain.
• When I am in a struggle.
• When I am afraid of what is happening.

How quickly my prayer becomes
More urgent, more decisive, and more desperate.
We understand that.

But the question I sort of wrestled with this week
Was what this teaches us in regard to prayer.

Let me be honest.
David’s prayer comes across PRETTY BRASS and PRETTY BOLD.

We like to lift high (and rightly so) the prayer of Jesus in the garden
• Who in one breath is praying “Let this cup pass from Me”
• And in the next “Yet not My will but Yours be done.”

And we see that as a tremendous picture of submission and faith.

David’s prayer is NOT like that.
• Answer me God and answer me quickly!
• Stop my enemies and stop them now!
• Save those who seek you, especially those who are in trouble like I am!
• And then he even repeats the urgency, “Do not delay”

And the questions I began to ask where
How are we to apply that example to our own prayer life?

Well, on one hand we know that this prayer was NOT SOME ROGUE POEM that accidentally made it in to the book of Psalms.

• This is God’s inspired word.
• It was God who not only gave David the words,
• But who also put David in the circumstances that would cause him to pray it.

God preserved this bold and urgent prayer for us in His perfect word
That the saints might have access to it as an example for all the ages.

Certainly God willed for you to know it.
Obviously God is in agreement with it.
Obviously God is not upset with it.

I mean we could ask: “Can we be so bold in our prayer?”
• “Can we cry for such deliverance from our enemies?”
• “Can we expect such an outcome if we seek God?”
• “Can we make such a demand for urgent deliverance?”

We may be tempted to think David too bold here,
But this is not merely David’s song, this is God’s song.

With that in mind I began to consider other passages on prayer.

I can’t find a passage in the Bible
Where God rebuked His people for praying too boldly.

I can however find an instruction
WHERE GOD WARNED US NOT TO BE DOUBTFUL IN PRAYER.

James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

James even said that if you go to God in prayer doubting,
“that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord”

James certainly didn’t say not to be bold.
He commanded just the opposite.

Or I remember when the disciples saw the withered fig tree:
Mark 11:22-24 “And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”

I know we can get into the whole debate about treating God like a genie in a bottle
And demanding of Him to fulfill our desires.
OBVIOUSLY THAT IS A PERVERSION.

But consider David here.
• Is God not His help and deliverer? (He declares it so in verse 5)
• Is God not His avenger against his enemies?
• Is God not the Savior of those who seek Him?

So David certainly isn’t demanding God do anything
That is not consistent with God’s nature or promises.

He isn’t treating God like a genie in a bottle.
He’s just boldly asking God to be who God has said that He is.

Or we remember this story
Mark 9:20-24 “They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. “It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

Jesus actually rebuked that man for not being bold enough.

And the man knew exactly what Jesus meant
For he immediately cried out “help my unbelief”

His soft-spoken request was not politeness or good manners,
It was pathetic unbelief and Jesus called him on it.

Even recently we studied in Luke 18 THE TAX COLLECTOR who had the audacity to enter the temple and pray to God saying:
Luke 18:13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’”

Could we ever conceive of a bolder prayer than that?

This vile and sinful man had the audacity
Not only to enter the courtyard but to ask God to propitiate his sin.

And yet Jesus didn’t rebuke his brashness,
Jesus announced that he was justified.

So while prayers like this may seem bold,
I don’t find that to be a restriction given to us regarding our prayer life.

Rather I see it as an encouraged example
That God’s people should be so bold before Him.

Recently in our Ephesians devotion
We listened as Paul spoke of one of the benefits that is ours in Christ.
Ephesians 3:12 “in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.”

The writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 4:16 “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Even Paul told Timothy:
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

The point is, it may seem bizarre to be so bold with God in prayer,
But in Scripture, I don’t find that this offends God.

Rather, it is those vacillated or doubted in their requests;
It was the timid who earned the rebuke of God.

I was also curious, could we be so DECISIVE in prayer?
Could we just spell it out for God like David did?

Do this, this, this, and this.

But what if we consider the Lord’s Prayer (the model prayer)
Matthew 6:9-13 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]”

There we find a great balance.
Certainly we pray for God’s will to be done,
But that doesn’t negate decisive requests.

• He told us to say, “give us this day (urgency) our daily bread”
• He told us to say, “forgive us our debts”
• He told us to say, “do not lead us into temptation”
• He told us to say, “deliver us from the evil one”

That’s decisive isn’t it?

We certainly DON’T FIND Jesus teaching us to make no requests to God.
That prayer is simple and clear and to the point.

And this was how Jesus taught us to pray.

Or we consider DESPERATION in prayer.

Are we to pray so desperate?
Well, again I can’t find anyone who was ever rebuked for being too desperate in prayer?

I can however find a man who wasn’t nearly desperate enough.

Luke 18:11-12 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”

Jesus flat out taught us that that man was not justified.
There was no desperation in his prayer.
If God didn’t answer, no big deal, this man had it all under control anyway.

And I simply point all that out to you just to make the simple point that
Perhaps at times we may think we are being pious
• When we beat around the bush,
• Make no bold demands,
• Or defer everything to God’s will.

I think sometimes WE FEEL MORE SPIRITUAL when we pray that way,
But I’m not sure that’s always the model.

In fact, our timidity and lack of boldness and lack of decisiveness
And lack of desperation may not be spirituality at all.
It may be just the opposite. It may be a lack of faith.

It may be that the reason we don’t pray boldly or decisively or desperately
Is because are double-minded and don’t really believe.

THE MODEL here, and the model throughout Scripture is that
God’s people go boldly before God.

• They hold up God’s promises before God’s face and bid Him be faithful to them.
• They remind God of His perfect character and demand He show it again.
• They remind God of His role as our only salvation and expect Him to show
Himself a Savior.

Is that not what David is doing here?
God, you are my help, so help me, and do it quickly!

John MacArthur shares a somewhat shocking example of this.
“In 1540 Luther’s good friend and assistant, Friedrich Myconius, became sick and was expected to die within a short time. From his bed he wrote a tender farewell letter to Luther. When Luther received the message, he immediately sent back a reply: “I command thee in the name of God to live because I still have need of thee in the work of reforming the church…the Lord will never let me hear that thou art dead, but will permit thee to survive me. For this I am praying, this is my will, and may my will be done, because I seek only to glorify the name of God.”
Those words seem harsh and insensitive to modern ears, but God apparently honored the prayer. Although Myconius had already lost the ability to speak when Luther’s reply came, he soon recovered. He lived six more years and died two months after Luther.”
(MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series; Ephesians; Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL, 1986] pg. 103-104)

Indeed these are types of bold prayers that we saw
• From Jacob as he wrestled with God.
• This is Moses declaring that God cannot destroy the Israelites.
• This is Abraham interceding for the righteous at Sodom.

IT IS A BOLDNESS IN PRAYER
And I have a hard time finding God rebuke it in Scripture.
Rather we see Psalms like this one which God has preserved for us.

Now, that being said, tonight we look at this bold prayer of David.
And it won’t take us long to look at it.

As we said, it begins and ends with a bold cry to God
With urgency that God would deliver.

(1) “O God, hasten to deliver me; O LORD, hasten to my help!”

(5) “But I am afflicted and needy; Hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.”

David is boldly coming to God, who is his only hope,
And demanding that God come and deliver and do it quickly.

• He is resting upon who God revealed Himself to be when David was saved
• And now in his moment of need he is calling God to be faithful to His revelation.

He is boldly praying.

Perhaps the easiest way for us to examine the Psalm
Is to look at the 5 requests of David.
As already noted, they are distinguishable because they begin with the word “Let”

#1 LET MURDERERS BE SHAMED
Psalms 70:2a

David prays, “Let those be ashamed and humiliated who seek my life;”

• It is those who practice lethal force.
• It is those who would lift up their hand to strike David down.
They are his persecutors.
They are those who would kill him if they had the chance.

And David prays that God would make them “ashamed and humiliated”

There are any number of ways in which God could accomplish this,
And David doesn’t concern himself with the means.

David’s only concern is the end.
God, however You see fit to do it, just do it.

Humiliate them in their efforts
And make them ashamed of their incompetence.

How many times did the religious leaders set traps for the Lord
And try to arrest Him before His hour had come
And they were left only in shame.

• We see the elders of Nazareth seeking to throw Jesus off a cliff, only to have Him walk right through their midst.
• Their plans failed and they looked incompetent.

This is the prayer of David.
There are those who would kill me, shame them.

It is a bold and clear prayer.
#2 LET MEANNESS BE STOPPED
Psalms 70:2b

“Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt.”

These are not people with the backbone
To actually lift up their hand to David,
But they are those who would certainly rejoice if someone else did.

They are his enemies and his opponents.
• They love to see him attacked…
• They love to see him mocked…
• They don’t have the gumption to directly take on the giant-slayer themselves, but if someone else would do it, they would love it.

They are simply mean-spirited men.
They are schemers who sit in the shadows and hope for your fall.

His bold prayer is that God would stop them.
Let them be “turned back and dishonored”

Let their cowardice and their scheming become known to all
And let them run with their tail between their legs.

It is a bold prayer to be sure, but it is the prayer which David brings to God.

#3 LET MOCKERS BE SILENCED
Psalms 70:3

“Let those be turned back because of their shame who say, “Aha, aha!”

These are simply those who sit silently and wait.
You won’t know they are your enemies until the day you fall.

They may even pretend loyalty and pretend friendship.

But on the day of your folly, and on the day your foot slips,
They are the first to run to the world and announce your blunder.
They hold up a magnifying glass so the world knows that you blew it.

And then they become a voice of mocking.
• They are cowards…
• They are hypocrites…
• But their attack is painful none the less…

And David prays that God would silence them.
They look for the opportunity to say, “Aha, aha!”
But don’t give them that opportunity.

Let them also “be turned back because of their shame”

Turn the tables on them and let them be mocked.

It is certainly a bold set of prayers, but again we must ask.
• Does vengeance not belong to God?
• Has He not said that vengeance was His?
• Is He not the avenger of His children?
• Did Jesus not teach us that He will bring about justice quickly for His elect who
cry to Him day and night?

What reason would David have to NOT be bold?

God has already revealed His role for the protection of His children.
David now runs to God in that confidence.

I’ve told you many stories about my dad,
Mostly about his temper or his creative horse training methods.

But one other thing about my dad was that
HE WAS A FIERCE PROTECTOR OF HIS FAMILY.
We knew that.

I still remember as a young kid, we were at the Brownwood horse sale and we loved that horse sale because of the long cat-walk system there and we could play on it as kids.

• But one day Alaina and I were down in the alley.
• I think we might have been putting horse back in the pen.
• And the old man running the alley ran some horses down the alley right by Alaina. It could have been a bad deal.

I certainly told my dad.
But the point here is that I already knew how he would respond
Before I told him because I knew my dad.
(I knew I was requesting according to His will)
I was bold in my declaration to him because I knew who he was.

DAVID IS THE SAME.
He has no problem boldly telling God to deal with his enemies
for David knows his God.

David also knows his God is a Savior.
#4 LET SEEKERS BE SATISFIED
Psalms 70:4a

“Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;”

While David tells God to silence his enemies,
David also reminds God that those who seek Him are never disappointed.

God’s children in this world are attacked,
But THEIR ONE REPRIEVE is that in calling God into their battle,
Their cry can quickly turn into rejoicing.

We see that again the final request.
#5 LET THE SAVED BE SINGERS
Psalms 70:4b

“And let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified.”

That’s a far cry from “Those who love Your salvation having to sit on a rock trying to explain why God didn’t deliver.”

David boldly tells God to save His children
That they might sing of His great deliverance.

And again, it is a bold prayer, but is God not the savior of His own?
• Has God not promised to satisfy those who seek Him?
• Has God not promised to put a song of praise in the mouth of those who cry to Him for salvation?

Have we not read?
Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

Romans 10:11 “For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

You just see here that David’s boldness is not irreverence.
David’s boldness is faith.

Tonight I would encourage you in your prayer life
To confidently go to God in prayer.

Do not hide in doubt and fear and pass it off as piety or respect.
The great men and women of God in Scripture
Evidenced their faith by their bold prayers.

• The heard who God revealed Himself to be and they held God to that in prayer.
• They boldly approached the throne.
• They wrestled with God.

And they did so because they knew Him.
• They knew His promises.
• They knew His character.

And they knew His desire for them to place all their hope in Him.

That is a good reminder for me, I hope it is for you.

James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

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To Such As These
Luke 18:15-17
May 3, 2020

We have been now on quite a lengthy section here in Luke’s gospel
That primarily concerned itself with the truths about the Kingdom of God.

The Pharisees started it by asking Jesus where this kingdom was.
• Jesus revealed to them the spiritual kingdom which they should repent and enter

Then He spoke to His disciples about the coming physical kingdom upon the world.

We’ve covered that.

As we have also said, the CHAPTER BREAK into chapter 18 is regrettable
Since it gives the appearance that the sermon ended. It did not.

WE NOTED, THE FIRST 8 VERSES
• The story regarding the persistent widow
• Is given to directly instruct disciples as to how they should live in an evil world where they long to see the days of Jesus, but do not yet see them.
• The answer was that we should be persistently pray to our Father and trust that He will certainly give us justice once all of the elect are safely home.

WE NOTED THAT VERSES 9-14
• The story of the Pharisee and the tax collector
• Is given specifically to those who failed to listen to the Lord’s requirement that they must lose their life.
• He gave a story to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.
• And the warning was that only the humble end up being justified before God and therefore will be safe from judgment when the Lord returns.

And now, we move to yet another story that directly links to the sermon.

We know that because of what Jesus says in verse 17, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

Now, I don’t know if this story actually happened
Right at the same time as the giving of the previous parables.

What is clear is that regardless when it occurred
Luke purposely included it here because
It answers another very important question regarding the kingdom.

That is: WHO WILL ENTER THE KINGDOM?

We are aware that there will be those who are judged when the Lord returns, but who will actually enter the kingdom?

This story answers that question about as easily as any could.

Jesus will reveal to us that the only people who will enter the kingdom
Are those who will “receive the kingdom of God like a child”.

And if they do not, Jesus says that they “will not enter it at all.”

And so the point of the story is clear, even as it relates to the kingdom.
“the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Let’s look at the story together.
There are 4 points to be made here.
#1 A PARENT’S DESIRE
Luke 18:15a

“And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them,”

In a cultural sense this is not uncommon.
• Jewish families were actually highly encouraged to take their children to rabbis to have them prayed for.

Every parent in here understands
The responsibility that God outlines for their children.

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

And this is important to God.
In a very real sense, that CHILD DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU.

They may have your eyes or your nose or your temper, but they aren’t yours.

THEY ARE GOD’S, AND HE HAS ENTRUSTED A STEWARDSHIP TO YOU
YOU ARE TO GUIDE THEM TO KNOW HIM.

And this is a very serious responsibility.
Proverbs 22:15 “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.”

Scripture indicates that children are born foolish and naïve and gullible
God entrusts them to us that we will remove that foolishness from them
And guide them in the truth.

The New Testament explicitly entrusts this duty to FATHERS.
Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Fathers are commanded not to discourage their children
But to encourage them to know and trust God.

MOTHERS are also a vital part of this role.
• Commanded in Titus 2:4 to “love their children”
• And in: 1 Timothy 2:15 to embrace the role to raise them.

1 Timothy 2:15 “But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”

Paul actually places the primary role of the mother in the home
To raise children by being an example of
“faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”

IT IS IMPORTANT TO GOD
That the children He entrusts to us are guided in the right path.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

The implication there to BE THOROUGH as you train your children
Deuteronomy 31:12-13 “Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the LORD your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. “Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

It is clear that God has ALWAYS BEEN CONCERNED
About the training up of children.

He loves them, He created them carefully, and He entrusted them as a rich blessing to us that we would train them to know Him.

And so this is not a new practice by any means.
AND THAT SHEDS LIGHT ON WHY THESE PARENTS ARE HERE.

1) These parents understood their responsibility to their kids.

They must have understood that they were responsible
For the direction that their kids went.

Otherwise why bother with taking them to a rabbi at all?

2) They realized they needed help beyond themselves.

They understood that in order for their kids to reach what God had in store for them; then DIVINE HELP was in order.

They needed someone to pray.
They needed someone to guide.
They wanted blessing on their child.

3) They realized the help they needed was SPIRITUAL HELP.

That is why they sought blessing and prayer.

These parents understood that their children were not perfect,
But were in fact sinful beings in need of divine help.

Psalms 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”

And by that David doesn’t mean that his mom was cussing when he was born.
David rather speaks of the depravity of man.
It is that inherited sin nature.

Man is not born righteous and perfect,
Only to be corrupted and then in need of salvation.

Even the sweetest most beautiful baby in the world has a sinful nature.
• They will cry when they don’t get their way,
• They are completely unconcerned about the lack of sleep of their fathers.
• They have no problem making a mess that you have to clean up.

Children are born in sin.

And that means that every child,
Regardless of his atmosphere needs spiritual help.

These parents understood that.

Parents today need to understand that.
Your kids need to be brought to Jesus.
• They are not as good as you think they are.
• They need the spiritual help that only Jesus can provide.

“And it is amazing to me that parents
• Will enroll their kids in every event under the sun,
• And pay any amount required,
• And drive miles and miles and sit for hours
• To involve their kids in the most useless of activities.

And yet be completely apathetic
When it comes to bringing their kids to Jesus.

• We have certainly done our fair share of youth sports.
• AND WE CERTAINLY ENJOY IT

But if we will invest money, and time, and gasoline
Into something like baseball or basketball,
We must recognize that getting them to Jesus is more important.

So I like the desire of these parents.
They were bringing their kids to Jesus, “so that He would touch them”
Matthew’s gospel says so that He “would lay hands on them and pray.”

It is just parents who understood the spiritual need of their children.
There is nothing in the world wrong with that.

But that was NOT the view of the disciples.

A Parent’s Desire
#2 A DISCIPLE’S DISDAIN
Luke 18:15b

“but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.”

Now, I can’t be too hard on the disciples here.
I’d be lying if I said that there weren’t times on a Wednesday night
That I didn’t feel the same way about all the kids running around.

There were times when I wanted to rebuke a few parents
For bringing their child up here to church.

“the disciples…began rebuking them.”
• The word there indicates a continual rebuke.
• The disciples were trying to get control of a situation that they viewed unnecessary.

Jesus was a busy man,
In their minds He didn’t have time to sit down and listen
To all the stories about your kids or to pray for each one of them.

In this culture children were deemed insignificant.
They weren’t front and center.

In the disciples mind there was more important ministry to be done.

In reality it only indicates that the disciples still didn’t get it.

It is worth noting that the disciple’s mindset
Was NOT the mindset of God.

Scripture doesn’t see them as a bother, Scripture sees them as a blessing

Psalms 127:3-5 “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.”

Scriptures says children are a blessing of God,
A valuable treasure delivered from God.

Just ask Sarah, or Rebekah, or Rachel, or Hannah, or Elizabeth
Those women understood the blessedness of children.

Children are a blessing
Because they are a precious gift in the sight of God.

Psalms 139:13-16 “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

David understood that children were not accidents.
David knew that the only way a child enters this world
Is under the creative hand of God.

• He forms them
• He weaves them together
• He makes them with fear and wonder
• And He ordains their days

In short God puts great care, design, and forethought
Into every child He creates and He calls those blessed
Who He entrusts to care for them.

But the disciples didn’t see that.
To the disciples they were a bother and they needed to leave.

A Parent’s Desire A Disciple’s Disdain
#3 A TEACHER’S DIRECTIVE
Luke 18:16a

“But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them,”

Well that is certainly a beautiful picture.
We love that Jesus loves children.
• It is a blessing to us that He delighted in taking these kids onto His lap and listening to their stories and praying for blessing in their lives.

• We are thankful for a Savior who wasn’t so consumed with “important” ministry work that He didn’t have time to stop and listen to the curiosity of a child.

• We are enamored with a Savior who was genuine enough that when He said He loved humanity, it wasn’t just the ones He could immediately use for His service.

• We are humbled by a love so genuine that Jesus knew it was impossible to preach love to a parent while rejecting their child.

We love that Jesus loved children.

For certainly we know that Satan hates them.

WANT PROOF?
Exodus 1:22 “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

Matthew 2:16 “Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.”

Ezekiel 16:21 “You slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire.”

Jeremiah 32:35 “They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”

Throughout Scripture Satan delighted in killing children,
He delighted in the mass execution of kids.

Satan hates them.
AND THAT HATRED CONTINUES TODAY.

Today we have legalized and promoted abortion.
People actually fight in the courts and in the media to protect their right
To invade a mother’s womb and cut a child to pieces.
That is satanic at its core.

Beyond that we have Sexual perversion and pedophilia throughout our culture and those who willingly and purposely prey on our children.

Beyond that look at the clothing industry and see the types of clothes that stores sell to 10 year old girls, the whole idea is to make the physically desirable.

Face it, the days of frilly dresses and pig tails is all but gone.
Society starts young on our daughters.

Other attacks on our children are seen in their education.
• Satan delights in having your children taught evolution
• Satan delights in having your children taught sex education
• Satan delights in having your children taught that cultural perversion is
biological and normal

It is an attempt to deceive children.

And so Jesus is a much welcomed contradiction
To a world which is influenced by Satan.
Whereas the world uses and abuses children, Jesus loves them.

“Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them”

WE ALSO SHOULD DISCUSS THAT THIS VERSE IS REALLY THE FOUNDATIONAL VERSE FOR CHILDHOOD SALVATION.

Now first, let me clarify that there is no record that any child got saved on this day, there is no record of any baptisms occurring.

In fact there is no record of any child being saved anywhere in Scripture.
So using this passage as a defense of childhood salvation is a bit of a stretch.
The fact is that in all likelihood many of the children being brought here
May have even been infants.

This passage isn’t really about whether or not children can be saved.

WELL DO YOU NOT THINK CHILDREN CAN BE SAVED?
Of course I do.

This passage certainly doesn’t say they can’t,
Nor does any other in Scripture.

Obviously children can be saved.
• Now we certainly don’t agree with the manipulative tactics that are so often used today to coerce children into making decisions.
• And we are not quick to take a child’s interest in Jesus and immediately declare them saved until we can discern the Holy Spirit in their lives
• For far too many live under the false assurance of decisions they made as children which have born no fruit in their adult lives.

But we have no problem whatsoever with the truth of this passage.
If a child wants to come to Jesus, “do not hinder them”

If a child wants to come to Jesus, by all means let them.
Does that mean we run after them and assure them that they are saved
And rush them to the baptistery?

No.
Let God prompt that too.

But the simple point is if a child feels the need
To draw near to Jesus, encourage them to do it.

If a child feels the need to commit to Jesus, encourage them to do it.
If a child feels the need to pray to Jesus, encourage them to do it.
You don’t know when it is saving faith occurring.

So we understand what is going on here.
• Parents are fulfilling their role to care for the spiritual needs of their children.
• Disciples are walking in the flesh not realizing what is going on.
• Jesus is being Jesus, welcoming these children to Himself because He loves children.

And that in and of itself is a heart-warming story.
BUT THAT IS NOT WHY LUKE INCLUDED IT.

There is a reason why Luke included this story
And it is because of what Jesus says next.

Parent’s Desire, Disciple’s Disdain, Teacher’s Directive
#4 KING’S DECREE
Luke 18:16b-17

After calling the children back to Himself, Scripture says that Jesus said, “for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

Throughout Scripture there are two things
That God most likes to compare His people to.
1) Sheep 2) Children

We know of the children of Israel, the children of God, the children of the kingdom, etc.

And He compares us to children
For much the same reason that He compares us to sheep.

It is a living analogy of
• Our weakness compared to His strength,
• Our ignorance compared to His wisdom,
• Our depravity compared to His righteousness.

He uses children as an analogy on purpose.

Now, we do see children used as various examples in Scripture.

They are seen as innocent…
• Often referred to in the Old Testament as “the innocent”
They are seen as lowly…
• Matthew 18 uses them as an example of the least. Certainly that was true in their culture.
They are seen as naïve…
• Paul tells us not to be like children in our thinking.
They are seen as trusting…
• We’ve all heard of child-like faith

And here He uses children for a specific reason.
CHILDREN WERE CONSIDERED TO BE TOTALLY DEPENDANT.
(you might say helpless)

Is there a creature on earth that is more dependent than a newborn baby?

We marvel at newborn animals.
• In just a matter of weeks a newborn puppy is ready even to leave its mother.
• Animal babies are very quickly walking on their own, eating on their own, and in some cases even quickly reproducing.

But a human infant is totally dependent.
• It will be a few weeks before it can even lift its head.
• A few more weeks before it can roll over.
• It will take months for it to be able to crawl, and around a year before it can walk.
• It should be able to talk within a second year
• But it won’t be able to be left alone for several years due to a severe lack of discernment.

If a child is to survive,
It will be totally dependent on someone else to care for it.

AND THIS IS THE IMAGE THAT JESUS HAS IN MIND HERE.

Jesus says “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
• God’s kingdom is not inhabited by self-sufficient people, but by dependent people.
• God’s kingdom is not for those who can do it on their own, but for those who can’t.
• God’s kingdom is not for the strong, it is for the weak.

THAT ALONE IS A VERY INFORMATIVE TRUTH.

If you think that you are good enough or smart enough or strong enough
To enter the kingdom on your own without any help from Jesus,
YOU HAVE TERRIBLY MISSED THE POINT.

We certainly remember that it is just the opposite in Scripture who are saved.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

BUT JESUS TAKES IT EVEN A STEP FURTHER
When He issues what amounts to A KINGLY DECREE.

(17) “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

Consider that statement for a moment.

FIRST OF ALL, The kingdom of God is not something to be obtained or to be earned, but rather Jesus says it is to be RECEIVED.

Perhaps you remember Jesus’ teaching from earlier in Luke’s gospel.
Luke 16:16-17 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.”

• The implication there was that people were seeking to force their way into the
kingdom.
• And the means of forcing was to nullify the requirements of the Law.

God laid out His Law as the perfect description of practical human righteousness,
And a man must fulfill that requirement in order to enter God’s kingdom.

But men could not and thus did not fulfill that requirement so they attacked the Law and mutilated the standard that they might force their way into the kingdom.

AND OF COURSE IT DID NOT WORK.
You don’t force your way into the kingdom.
You don’t work your way in either.

If we learned anything from the parable we looked at last week,
We know that religious activity was less than impressive to God.

That Pharisee could fast and tithe all he wanted,
But he could not earn entry into the kingdom.
The only way entrance into the kingdom is granted is if it is received.

And this certainly is a child-like attribute.
• Children don’t earn anything.
• In meritorious sense, children don’t deserve anything.
• Everything they have is only because someone who cares for them has determined to give it to them.

The kingdom must be received.
And thus received “like a child”.

WHEN WE DESIRE TO ENTER THE KINGDOM
• WE DO NOT approach the king with our resume of good works like the Pharisee did. He will not be impressed.
• WE DO NOT seek to overthrow the king and abolish His requirements and force our way in. He will not be overthrown.

THERE IS BUT ONE WAY TO ENTER.
It is when we recognize both our lack of worth and our lack of ability
And we come to Jesus like a helpless infant
Trusting in Him to grant us the kingdom.

A better word for this might be HUMILITY
(Just as we saw last week)

In fact Jesus says, if you don’t approach Him like that
You “will not enter it at all.”

No one will ever enter God’s kingdom based upon his own merit.
No one will ever enter God’s kingdom based upon his own efforts.

EVERYONE WHO ENTERS WILL ENTER:
• Like a hopeless widow who can only plead for someone else to give her justice.
• Like a sinful tax collector who can only hope that mercy is available.
• Like a helpless infant who can only depend on someone else to take care of them.

Those are the examples of the chapter that should be etched in your mind

God is not looking for powerful people,
• He is looking for people with faith like that widow.
God is not looking for good people,
• He is looking for people with humility like that tax collector.
God is not looking for worthy people,
• He is looking for people with dependence like these children.

Matthew 5:3-6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Do you want to enter the kingdom?
Do you want to be one of those who is saved from the wrath to come?

Then humble yourself.
• Let go of any notions of worth or merit.
• Cast yourself at the mercy of the King.
• Trust Him to care for you and to accomplish for you what you cannot accomplish on your own.

That is what it means to be “receive the kingdom of God like a child”

If you have never done that, I invite you to this morning.
• To see that on your own you will never enter, But through the gracious offer of
Jesus it is available.
• I would invite you to let go of your pride, To let go of your accomplishments, To
let go of your ego and humbly throw yourself at the mercy of the King.

And if you will, like the people in these stories.
• You can expect justice DESPITE your weakness…
• You can expect justification DESPITE your sin…
• You can expect entrance into the kingdom DESPITE your lack of having
done anything to earn it…

That is the truth of the gospel, and it is the truth Jesus preached here.

Were It Not for Grace

(Written by: Larnelle Harris)
(Performed by: Peggy Swaringen)

Time measured out my days
Life carried me along
In my soul I yearned to follow God
But knew I’d never be so strong
I looked hard at this world
To learn how heaven could be gained
Just to end where I began
Where human effort is all in vain

Were it not for grace
I can tell you where I’d be
Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running but losing the race
Were it not for grace

So here is all my praise
Expressed with all my heart
Offered to a Friend who took my place
And ran a course I could not start
And when He saw
Just how much His love would cost
He still went the final mile between me and heaven
So I would not be lost

Were it not for grace
I can tell you where I’d be
Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running but losing the race
Were it not for grace

Forever running but losing the race
Were it not for grace

Download Here:

The Suffering Servant – Part 2
Psalms 69
April 26, 2020

Tonight it is our objective to once again look at this 69th Psalm.
We studied through it last week and sympathized with David
And the suffering which he was forced to endure.

But we also noted, as did many of the New Testament writers
That this Psalm carried a heavy prophetic weight.

(4) “Those who hate me without a cause”

John 15:24-25 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. “But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’”

(9a) “For zeal for Your house has consumed me,”

John 2:15-17 “And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”

(9b) “the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.”

Romans 15:2-3 “Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME.”

(21) “They gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”

Matthew 27:33-34 “And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.”

It is clear that this Psalm is about more than the temporary trial of David.
This Psalm is about the real Suffering Servant
Who is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Indeed you are well aware that Jesus bore this title.
• He is often referred to as “The Suffering Servant”.
• Isaiah 53 refers to Him as “a man of sorrows”

In fact, there are 4 passages in the book of Isaiah
That are commonly referred to as “The Suffering Servant Passages”.

Isaiah 42:1-4
Isaiah 49:1-7
Isaiah 50:4-11
Isaiah 52:13-53:12

These are passages that prophesied of the coming Servant
Who would suffer on the behalf of His people.

And Jesus made no bones about it in the New Testament
That He came to fulfill those realities.

Matthew 16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”

Matthew 17:22-23 “And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.”

Matthew 20:17-19 “As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”

Luke 17:25 “But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”

HE CAME TO SUFFER.

Psalms 69 is really about Him.

So while we can study this Psalm from David’s perspective
• And find a great example of how to suffer the right way.

What we really must do is read this Psalm from Christ’s perspective
• And read it not just as an example, but as a means of hope
• Because the suffering which Christ accomplished He did for us.

David suffered at the hands of godless men and gave us an example.
Christ suffered at the hands of godless men
And a Holy God and gives us salvation.

So we are definitely interested in walking through this Psalm again.

Now I gave you the outline last week,
• And assigned you homework to begin to search out the pictures of Jesus in this Psalm.
• And if you did that, then tonight’s sermon will most likely pale in comparison to the wonderful week you have already had gazing into the perfect sacrifice of Your Savior.

Again, there are 7 realities here.
#1 THE SUFFERING SERVANT
Psalms 69:1-4

When we looked at this from the perspective of David
We noted how his trial was severe.

He likened it to be drowning.
(2) “I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.”

This was the description David gave regarding his suffering.

NOW THAT’S NOT THE ONLY PLACE David described his suffering in those terms.
Psalms 40:1-2 “I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”

Lostness itself was described by David in those terms.
He was stuck in the miry clay and the Lord pulled him out.

What we find in this 69th Psalm is that
The Lord rescued him from it by also Himself entering it.

We know this about Christ.
• He doesn’t just call down from heaven with instructions on how to escape our snare.
• He doesn’t just cry out to drowning victims and say, “Kick your feet! Now make a flapping motion with your arms…”

• No, He enters our pain.
• He enters our suffering.
• He enters the water, the miry clay, the deep mire with us.

HE DOES THAT HERE.
Christ, willingly became a partaker of our suffering.

And even the struggles found here can be easily seen in His life.

We read in verse 1 as David cries “Save me, O God”
• And we remember on the cross, what was also spoken in Psalms 22.

Psalms 22:1 “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.”

We read in verse 3 as David laments “my throat is parched”
• And we remember our Lord on the cross what was also revealed in the
22nd Psalm.

Psalms 22:14-15 “I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; And You lay me in the dust of death.”

I remind you that in David’s case, he had no choice; suffering found him.
But in Christ’s case, this suffering was a conscious decision.

HE WILLINGLY ENTERED OUR SUFFERING.

And while David could say they “hate me without a cause”

We understand that in Christ’s case this was absolutely true.
• He never gave a reason to be hated.
• He came only to do the work of God.
• He came only to save that which was lost.
• He came only to redeem that which was enslaved.
• He come only to reconcile that which was separated.
• He came only to restore that which was broken.

There was no cause for Him to be hated, and yet He was.

And probably the most telling line of His suffering comes at the end of verse 4.
“What I did not steal, I then have to restore.”

David laments having to pay a debt he did not cause.
But this is precisely what Christ came to do.

He didn’t suffer because of His own debt, but because of our debt.

All His pain, all His struggle, all His hardship
Was that which He willingly entered and endured
Because of the mistakes that we had made.

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;”

That is a great statement Peter makes when he says that Christ died…
“the just [Christ] for the unjust [us]”

He was the Suffering Servant.
Suffering unjustly for wrongs He did not commit
Simply because He willingly chose to enter our muddy pit.

#2 THE SANCTIFIED SERVANT
Psalms 69:5-12

And again we remember David
• Seemingly vindicating himself by crying out to God
• As if to say, “You know my heart and You know I’m innocent”.

Again, David may have actually believed that,
But at best David could only say that
He was INNOCENT IN THIS PARTICULAR MATTER.

The reality is that even when you and I think we are innocent we are not.
It is just that God hasn’t yet revealed to you
The full measure of your sinfulness.

But Christ, being examined by God really was.

And in this innocence He became the one hope
Of the faithful that they might be saved.

(6) “May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,”

I think here of moments like the temptation in the wilderness.
• Imagine all of heaven, depending upon His redeeming work and therefore also depending on His perfect righteousness watching Him in His battle with Satan.

Satan is doing everything He can to cause Christ to fall from His perfection,
And because He is our only hope we watch eagerly as He fights that battle.

Or we watch at Caesarea Philippi
• As He announces His necessary death and Satan again (this time using Peter) tells Him He doesn’t have to die.

Or we watch in the garden
• As Peter offers to go to battle on His behalf and save Him from the Roman Cohort.

Or we watch on the cross
• As the religious leaders dared Him to come off the cross and save Himself.

If Jesus fails at any one of those moments
Our hope of salvation perishes, but He did not.

He was the truly Sanctified and Holy Servant of God.

Isaiah 42:1-4 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

Don’t you love that statement, “He will not be disheartened or crushed…”?

I’m so glad He didn’t get overwhelmed or discouraged and decide to quit.
He perfectly followed.

And of course that included His HOLY ZEAL
Which was on display when HE CLEARED THE TEMPLE
And bore the hatred that people really had toward God.

We read that “the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.”

Jesus Himself said:
John 8:42 “Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.”

Jesus revealed that the reason they hated Him
Was because actually they hated God.

He bore that reproach because of His holiness.
Verse 8 says, “I have become estranged from my brothers And an alien to my mother’s sons.”

John 7:3-5 “Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. “For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”

And it didn’t matter what He did.
• It didn’t matter if He fasted (10) “it became my reproach”
• It didn’t matter if mourned in sackcloth (11) He “became a byword”
• It didn’t matter what He did, He was talked about.

Remember this sermon?
Matthew 11:16-19 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

It wouldn’t have mattered if He had eaten or not eaten; drank or not drank.
His life represented the holy presence of the Father
And so they were going to hate Him regardless.

David could say he was innocent and undeserving,
BUT CHRIST REALLY WAS.
His only offence was that He was holy
And the sinful world hated Him for it.

Yet for those who were looking to Him for salvation,
This holy suffering is our great hope.

The Suffering Servant, The Sanctified Servant
#3 THE SUBMISSIVE SERVANT
Psalms 69:13-19

Last time we listened to the faith of David here
And we talked about faithful suffering.

David was faithful in suffering because
Regardless of the difficulty, David never turned on God.
• He continued to trust God’s sovereignty
• He continued to trust God’s lovingkindness
• He continued to trust God’s compassion
• He continued to trust God’s omniscience

THAT WAS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF FAITHFUL SUFFERING.

But the faithful suffering of Jesus is even more remarkable
Because He had the power to escape that suffering at any moment
And yet faithfully remained in it.

Do you remember His conversation with Peter?
Matthew 26:52-54 “Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? “How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

If you’ll remember this was the very truth Satan reminded Him of in the wilderness
When he told Him to throw Himself off the temple.

If Jesus had wanted out of the suffering,
He could have gotten out with the snap of a finger.
But He faithfully bore the suffering.

When we read (13) “But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, at an acceptable time.”

It is the equivalent of Jesus in the garden praying:
Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

Certainly in His humanity He dreaded what He was about to face,
And yet He willingly faced it.

We recently studied with the youth:
John 12:27-28 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

Even when granted the possibility of choosing to escape,
He faithfully endured.

He was The Submissive Servant.

Isaiah 50:4-6 “The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord GOD has opened My ear; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back. I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.”

Isaiah 53:7-9 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”

He just faithfully submitted to the call.
He willingly endured.
He was THE SUBMISSIVE SERVANT

But He also endured it with faith as David did.
He knew that even in His suffering God would vindicate Him.

(17-19) “And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in distress; answer me quickly. Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it; Ransom me because of my enemies! You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; All my adversaries are before You.”

Jesus trusted that even in His suffering God would vindicate Him.

Remember His trial?
John 19:10-11 “So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

He wouldn’t run to Pilate for deliverance, He just KEPT TRUSTING GOD.
1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”

He simply believed that God would vindicate Him.
And God most certainly did.

Psalms 16:8-10 “I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”

And this was just another testimony
To His holiness and to His faithfulness.

The Suffering Servant, The Sanctified Servant, The Submissive Servant
#4 THE SLAUGHTERED SERVANT
Psalms 69:20-21

These two verses are easy to spot.

Isaiah 53:3-6 “He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

We talk about His immense suffering on the cross.

And we know about the physical suffering.
• Certainly it was terrible.

But even more than the physical suffering
Was the EMOTIONAL and SPIRITUAL suffering.

And do you remember the scene at the cross?
Matthew 27:33-44 “And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. “HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.'” The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.”

It was a horrible display of rejection by man.
BUT IT’S WORSE EVEN THAN THAT.

David could say that he had no sympathy.
David could say that he had no comforters.
• But the reality is that David may have no earthly sympathy or earthly
comforters.
• But the very presence of the Psalm indicates that David had the sympathy
and comfort of the Father.

But Jesus did not even have that.
HE WAS FORSAKEN OF THE EVEN THE FATHER ON THE CROSS.

When Christ says, “I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none” you understand what He meant.

He was crushed and forsaken even of the Father.

We all remember the, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

• Christ, on the cross was dying as a rejected sinner.
• Christ, on the cross was dying as the worst of humanity.
• He was mocked by the religious elite…
• He was mocked even by the criminals next to Him…
• He was forsaken of God…

He was slaughtered in every possible way on the cross.
No one ever has, nor ever will be able
To suffer to the extent that He suffered.

The Slaughtered Servant
#5 THE SUPREME SERVANT
Psalms 69:22-28

And this, as we said, is the one that shocks people a little.
• Because we distinctly remember Jesus on the cross praying, “Father, forgive them…”

So it seems strange to us initially that we would attribute this Psalm to Christ and yet see such an imprecatory prayer.

But we clearly see Christ referenced here.
(26) “For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten, And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded.”

Jesus was bearing the wrath of God which they deserved
And yet all they sought to do was add insult to injury.

And granted, the request here seems harsh.
• (24) “Pour out Your indignation on them…”
• (24) “may Your burning anger overtake them.”
• (27) “Add iniquity to their iniquity”
• (27) “may they not come into Your righteousness.”
• (28) “may they be blotted out of the book of life”
• (28) “may they not be recorded with the righteous.”

That is serious judgment.

First let me remind you that this is NOT NEW INFORMATION.
Jesus flat out warned them of this, did He not?

John 7:33-34 “Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. “You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

And then later in the conversation
John 8:21-24 “Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

He had been very clear, that if you don’t repent and believe in Me
Then you’re not going to like where you end up.

If you reject Me then you are going to die in your sin
And You won’t be able to come where I am.

He promised them judgment for rejection.
That is the same reality we see here.

Consider Peter as he stands to preach at Pentecost.
• And Peter announces the unjust murder of Christ.
• And Peter announces the resurrection of Christ.
• And Peter announces the glorious ascension of Christ.

And then Peter says:
Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.”

You say, “What was the point?”
Peter was letting them know that they blew it!
They killed God’s Christ.

And the people understood the ramifications.
Acts 2:37-38 “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

You need to do what you previously refused to do.
IF YOU REJECT THIS SERVANT YOU WILL DIE IN YOUR SINS.

This isn’t harsh, it’s true.
• If you reject Christ then all you can expect is judgment.
• This is not a petty spirit on Jesus’ part,
• This is Jesus praying according to the very will of God.

Hebrews 10:26-31 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Jesus is the supreme Servant and you cannot overlook Him.

Listen to this suffering servant passage:
We read Isaiah 50:4-6 earlier about how He willingly gave His back to those who strike Him. LOOK AT THE REST OF THIS PASSAGE.

Isaiah 50:7-11 “For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed. He who vindicates Me is near; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand up to each other; Who has a case against Me? Let him draw near to Me. Behold, the Lord GOD helps Me; Who is he who condemns Me? Behold, they will all wear out like a garment; The moth will eat them. Who is among you that fears the LORD, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with firebrands, Walk in the light of your fire And among the brands you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment.”

Do you understand that this is part of it?
• He is the Suffering Servant, but He is no insignificant One.
• How you respond to His suffering determines your eternity.

Those who reject Him and crucify Him will be judged for all eternity.

But for those who receive Him it is a different story.
#6 THE SATISFYING SERVANT
Psalms 69:29-33

Here we listened as David showed us hope in the midst of his suffering.
That even in his pain he would sing to God
And that would be worth more to God than a sacrificial offering.

But the even greater picture is that
When Christ offered Himself to God
It was definitely worth more than some goat or ox.

We remember the offering which Christ presented.
Hebrews 9:11-12 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”

And that is good because Hebrews 10 reminds us that
“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

But when Jesus came He didn’t offer to God a bull,
He offered to God a righteous life.

Hebrews 10:5-7 “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'”

And we remember that through offering God that righteous life,
God was satisfied.

Hebrews 10:10 “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Hebrews 10:14 “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

And that is what we see here.
(31) “And it will please the LORD better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs.”

Isaiah 53:10-11 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.”

The good pleasure of the Lord was satisfied in the sacrifice of Christ,
And therefore THE MANY WERE JUSTIFIED because of His offering.

And that is what David referenced.
(32) “The humble have seen it and are glad; You who seek the God, let your heart revive.”

What a joyful day when Christ satisfied the Father!
What a glorious day when Christ propitiated His wrath!

THE HUMBLE (who knew they could not save themselves)
Now rejoice in the offering of Christ which satisfied the Father!

Only Christ could have done it and He did!
He is the Satisfying Servant

The Suffering Servant, The Sanctified Servant, The Submissive Servant,
The Slaughtered Servant, The Supreme Servant, The Satisfying Servant
#7 THE SAVING SERVANT
Psalms 69:34-36

David looked with eyes to heaven
To the glorious choir singing of redemption.
“Let heaven and earth praise Him”, David said.

There is now a glorious heaven (36) “And those who love His name will dwell in it.”

And we remember yet another suffering servant passage.
Isaiah 49:4-7 “But I said, “I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD, And My reward with My God.” And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength), He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, “Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

Notice that statement… “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

And when we go to the end of the book, we read about this scene:
Revelation 7:9-10 “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

HE IS THE SAVING SERVANT.

And speaking of this new Zion we read:
Revelation 21:27 “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

This is the work of Christ.
• He willingly came and entered our suffering.
• He came and paid a debt He did not owe.
• He endured through the suffering even though He could have escaped at any moment.
• And He endured that suffering alone, even at the hands of God.

And yet as a result of His suffering
• God vindicated Him through the resurrection
• And will yet vindicate Him by bringing judgment to His enemies.
• But for those who submit to Him, they rejoice in His salvation
• And eagerly anticipate spending eternity in Heaven with Him.

HE IS OUR SUFFERING SERVANT.
Not just one who taught us how to suffer,
But One who suffered for us so that we might be saved.

And when we sing Psalms 69 we sing it in honor of Him!
We sing it in gratitude to Him!

1 Peter 2:22-25 “WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”

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Justification According to Jesus
Luke 18:9-14
April 26, 2020

As you know, Jesus has been preaching in Luke’s gospel
Most recently regarding His coming kingdom.

It all began in 17:20 when Jesus was “questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming”

It was certainly a sarcastic and mocking question,
Not much different than those Peter spoke when people mock and ask
“Where is this Second Coming you speak of?”

But despite their mocking Jesus told them straight that
The Kingdom they should concern themselves with
Was the spiritual kingdom which was already in their midst.

These men simply needed to repent
And submit to the King of this present spiritual kingdom.

Of course you and I know that they were absolutely unwilling to do this.

From there Jesus did address His disciples regarding the future physical kingdom that would one day come and we discussed that.

• A Coming Departure – Christ was leaving and we would long for Him
• A Coming Deception – Evil men would deceive in the world
• A Coming Death – the unexpected necessary atonement
• A Coming Destruction – the judgment of the wicked at His 2nd Coming.

Then last week we jumped into chapter 18, but as we pointed out, the scene has not changed.

THERE WAS A DILEMMA IN WHAT JESUS HAD SAID.

If Jesus was going to leave, and deception and persecution where going to rise, how where His followers supposed to deal with that?

THE ANSWER.
Luke 18:1 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,”

The answer was to pray.
And not just pray in general, but prayer to God for justice.

• And to illustrate that Jesus gave us the story of a widow woman who would not quit crying out to an unrighteous judge for vindication.
• Because she literally was beating him up on the inside, he finally granted her request
• And Jesus said that our good Heavenly Father will do the same.
• He will bring about justice.
The only reason we don’t see it right now
• Is because He is currently exercising patience toward all of His elect and will not judge the world until they are all in.
• But when all the wheat are gathered in the barn you can know for certain that He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.

In short, God will vindicate His own.
So don’t lose heart in your suffering…pray.

In light of Jesus’ promise to return and judge the wicked,
A believer living in a sinful world should not lose heart,
But should continually pray to God for justice.

That is how a believer lives in light of the second coming.

BUT IF YOU’LL REMEMBER,
Believers weren’t the only people who asked about the coming kingdom.

In fact, Jesus was first asked about it by non-believers;
He was asked by the Pharisees.

And Jesus has a parable for them as well.

Now you may also remember that when Jesus was explaining the destruction that would come with His return He gave A VERY SOLEMN WARNING.

Luke 17:31-33 “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. “Remember Lot’s wife. “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”

That was hardly the first time Jesus gave that warning.

Namely that “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”

Matthew 16:24-27 “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. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

What Jesus referred to was the necessity of denying self.

Often times when that concept is spoken about it is spoken of primarily in a PHYSICAL CONTEXT.
• We reference Peter and Andrew leaving their nets.
• We reference James and John leaving their father.
• We reference Matthew leaving his tax booth.
• We reference the R.Y.R. unwilling to leave his wealth.

And so often times the APPLICATION is made
To having to leave the things of this world in order to follow Christ.

And certainly that is true.
You can’t follow Christ and the world.

But even in that WE RECOGNIZE that in a physical context this looks different for almost everyone.

For example:
• Jesus told the R.Y.R. to sell all that he possessed and give it to the poor.
• Later Zaccheus will only volunteer half of his possessions.
• The disciples were called to leave their families and follow Jesus.
• But the Gadarene Demoniac was told to go back to his family.

The point is that while there is certainly a physical cost
There is not one universal standard
Of what “deny self” in that sense looks like.

Even at the end of John’s gospel
As Jesus told Peter that he would be bound and led where he did not want to go and killed, Peter asked Jesus “What about him?” (talking about John)

John 21:22 “Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”

The coming road was going to be different for those two men.

And so you see that in a physical context,
“Deny self” can look different for different people.

HOWEVER:
IN A SPIRITUAL CONTEXT, “deny self” is exactly the same for every single person.

I would also say that when Jesus mentions the necessity of denying self,
It is the spiritual context which has the first application.

What “deny self” means more than any other thing
Is that in order to follow Jesus you must deny yourself
As having any ability of earning your own salvation.

That is to say you must deny
• Self-Help
• Self-Righteousness
• Personal Accomplishments
• Your spiritual resume

Anything and everything you have ever done
By which you think that you have acquired credit and favor toward God
MUST BE DISCARDED.

You must (as Isaiah said) see all your righteous deeds as “filthy rags”.

Everything you have done that you might be tempted to “take pride” in
Or to stand on as that which makes you a good person
MUST BE TOTALLY AND PERMANENTLY DISCARDED.

Want some examples?
TURN TO: Philippians 3:1-11

Paul here actually warns about those whom he calls spiritual “dogs” and “evil workers” and “false circumcision”.

Their main problem?
They put confidence in the flesh.
They trust in what they have done.

And then Paul gives one of his great statements
On the utter worthlessness of our own human achievements
(even the highly religious ones)

Paul said (7) “whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”

• That is, anything that boosted my reputation…
• Anything that made me feel more pleasing to God…
• Anything that made me feel good about myself…

I had to toss it.
Paul said in verse 8 that counted “them but rubbish”.

That is self-denial.

TURN TO: 1 Corinthians 3:18-20

Paul here spoke to the Corinthians who certainly wanted salvation,
But they also wanted a high-standing reputation to go with it.

They wanted to be saved, but they still wanted accolade in the world.
Paul burst their bubble.

Paul taught them that foolishness precedes wisdom.
• What he meant was that in order to acquire the highest wisdom you must first discard that which is esteemed by the world.

In the circle of academia you must commit intellectual suicide.
• You must turn from the pagan philosophies and trust in Christ.
• Things like creation, substitutionary atonement, exclusivity of Christ.

It was what Paul spoke of back in chapter 2 of the same book.
(flip back to 1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

That is self-denial.

TURN TO: John 6:66-69

• We studied John 6 Easter Sunday and remember how Jesus told the crowds that in order to be saved they must eat His flesh and drink His blood.
• Jesus told that crowd that He came from heaven and was headed back there again.
• The crowd departed because it was a hard statement.

But Peter knew he had to stay.
He could get eternal life nowhere else.

Peter in effect said, “I have no other outlet; no other plan; no other means to obtaining eternal life. Apart from You I am hopeless. I’ve got nothing on my own.”

That is self-denial.

And in order for you to be saved, IT MUST HAPPEN

And I’m going to tell you this morning church,
Unfortunately I see it all the time.
Men and women who want to be saved
But still want to maintain their reputation.

Even people who instead of denying self, actually try to use Jesus and His church to glorify themselves.

• I see preachers who desperately want to be considered “scholars”
• I see those who want to be regard as “great men of God”
• I see those desiring the title of “theologian”

AND JESUS SAW IT TOO.
But turn one more place for me:
TURN TO: Matthew 23:1-12

Can you see there this problem?
• These weren’t men who outwardly rejected God.
• These were men who supposedly followed God.
• They taught about God.
• They took on the title of teacher of the things of God.

But the problem was instead of deny themselves to follow God
They were trying to use God
As a means of bolstering their own religious accomplishments.

And what you must know
Is that just because they were participants in organized religion
Did not mean they were acceptable.

They came to religion, but they still didn’t deny self.
They tried to use religion to exalt self.
AND JESUS CALLED THEM OUT.
(12) “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”

They wouldn’t deny themselves.

Well, I know that was a rather lengthy introduction
But you see now where we are headed.

The statement Jesus made in Matthew 23:12
Is the same statement Jesus will make here in Luke 18:14.

He is addressing the same problem.
Men who will not deny themselves.

And as I told you, this parable is a direct illustration
To the statement made in Luke 17:33
Regarding the necessity that in order to gain life, one must lose it.

And the life they had to lose was their life of self-exaltation.

3 points this morning.
#1 THE PREFACE
Luke 18:9

Similar to the last parable, Luke also prefaces this one.
• Only this time he doesn’t tell us the main point of the parable right off the bat.
• This time he tells who it is for.

“And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous”

Well obviously we know who that is in this crowd.
It is those same Pharisees who first approached Him and asked about His kingdom.

He knew them and He knew what made them tick.
They were described as men “who trusted in themselves”

AND THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT.

We are all aware of the unyielding
And unalterable divine requirement of God.
RIGHTEOUSNESS

God demands perfect righteousness and accepts nothing less.

Psalms 15 “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”

Over and over in the Old Testament we read: “You shall be holy, for I am holy”

Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

It is the non-negotiable divine requirement of God.
Only holy and perfect people go to heaven to dwell with God.

At the very least this puts all men on a quest for righteousness.
• Righteousness must be the most valuable commodity to any man anywhere
since it alone is accepted for entrance into heaven.

And this parable is addressed to those people
Who when they look for righteousness they look to themselves.

“He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous”

This parable is for people
Who when given the requirement of righteousness
They figure that they can accomplish it.

It’s the “I’m a good person” crowd.

And by the way, they are fairly easy to spot.
They have a tell-tell sign that accompanies them.

They “view others with contempt:”

“contempt” is a Greek word which means
“of no account” or “to despise utterly”

You can spot a person who thinks
They are achieving righteousness on their own because
They disdain others who haven’t done as well as they have done.

• They have no mercy.
• They have no grace.
• They have no compassion.

IN A PHYSICAL SENSE
We see people today who work hard, who earn a living, and who practice sound money management.

And we see the disdain that they will have for those who don’t work, who expect handouts, and who blow their money on frivolous things.

A hard working man might view them as being
“no count” or a “good for nothing”

Well, these men do that spiritually.
They figure that they worked hard for their high spiritual standing
And so they view with disdain those who have not.

Luke says this parable is for them.

That’s the preface
#2 THE PARABLE
Luke 18:10-13

Jesus begins the story with absolute POLAR OPPOSITES.

(10) “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”

In Jewish culture you could not get two more polar opposites than this.
• One was considered the highest example of piety.
• The other was the lowest example of immorality.

• One was devout
• One was depraved

• One was a patriot in Israel
• One was a traitor to Israel

• One was a blue-collar worker
• One was a white-collar cheat

• One had seemingly turned his back on the world for the sake of God.
• One had turned his back on God for the sake of the world.

You don’t get more natural polar opposites than this.

And what is interesting here is that
If you were to stand a Pharisee beside a tax collector
And ask the crowd which one had denied self,
THERE IS NOT A DOUBT THAT EVERYONE WOULD PICK THE PHARISEE.

If you take Matthew 6 for example.
• We see Pharisees praying on the street corner
• We see Pharisees giving their money
• We see Pharisees in poor condition due to their fasting

• We don’t see tax collectors giving, we see them cheating
• We don’t see tax collectors praying, we see them partying
• We don’t see tax collectors fasting, we see them drinking and in gluttony

The natural pick here for an example of self-denial
Had to clearly be the Pharisee to the crowd.

Well let’s see.
LET’S LOOK AT THE PHARISEE.
1) HIS APPROACH (11a)
“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself:”

Now, certainly praying while standing is not a problem.
The tax collector in a minute is going to be standing too.

The implication here is their proximity.
Whereas the tax collector won’t come near,
It is implied that the Pharisee
Has come as near to the temple veil as was allowed.

He has boldly walked right up in front of everyone.

And he is “praying this to himself”
• It either means he is just praying silently
• Or that he is literally praying to himself.

I don’t think it matters which you choose,
The point is that we now see what is going on in his heart.

Jesus is giving us a glimpse into his soul.
We see here his belief system.

2) HIS ANNOUNCEMENT (11b)
“God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”

Here is the contempt that Luke spoke of in verse 9.

The only confusing part is the Pharisee even included the words
“God, I thank You” because it is clear that God is receiving no credit here.

Perhaps more accurately the Pharisee should have prayed,
“God, You should thank me that I am not like them.”

It is clear that his chest is puffed out
And he’s feeling real good about his accomplishments.

• He took inventory of his life…
• He filled out his application to go to heaven…
• And then he borrowed God’s stamp and stamped his own application, “approved”

If it wasn’t clear to everyone else, it certainly was to him;
He was the cream of the crop.

He was so much better than other people.
• He worked harder…
• He studied harder…
• He prayed harder…
• And he stayed away from all those fleshly vices that had plagued so many other people.

Look at how much better I am than them.

That is his announcement.
• There is no request here.
• There is no repentance here.

He just took time out of his busy schedule
To go and show God how good he was doing.

3) HIS ASSURANCE (12)
“I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.”

If you were to ask him why he was so sure that he was so acceptable.
His abstinence from fleshly sins was only part of the equation.

Certainly he had not done any of those wicked things,
But on top of that, he had done some very good things.

He was a regular faster.
• Jewish Law only required fasting once a year before The Day of Atonement.
• But this man did it “twice a week” (God must surely be impressed)

He was a meticulous giver.
• While tax collectors were busy hoarding money this man was paying “tithes” of everything.

He basically stood before God
As the supreme model of one who had denied self.

Now, before we just swallow everything he is selling
It is important to listen to the preaching of our Lord.

He bragged on not being an adulterer, but perhaps we should listen to Jesus.
Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

He bragged about fasting, but Jesus said:
Matthew 6:16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

He bragged about tithing, but Jesus said:
Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

And I remind you of those passages because
It is important for you to see that
Everything this man based his righteousness on was a faulty hope.

He had assurance, but it was false assurance.
He was best illustrated by Jesus as the man who built his house on the sand.
• He certainly thought it was strong, but there was no way that house could withstand the coming judgment.

All his goodness wasn’t nearly good enough.
Now that was the Pharisee.

Let’s look at THE TAX COLLECTOR

(13) “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’”

1) HIS APPROACH (13a)
“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast,”

There is a stark contrast.
• He’s not running up to the temple doors.
• He’s not getting out in front of everyone.

• He’s far too terrified to try and get close to God.
• He was likely afraid that God would strike him dead for coming too close.

He was as far away as he could get and still cry out to God.
And he wouldn’t even look up to God, he was not that bold.

He just stood there beating his breast.
It was a sign of Jewish horror and even self-loathing.

The only other time we see it occurring in the gospels is:
Luke 23:47-48 “Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts.”

After the crowd saw Christ die there was a recognition among them
That they had condemned and murdered an innocent man.

And in horror, and certain fear of their own judgment,
THEY BEGAN TO BEAT THEIR BREASTS.

That is this tax collector.
Nothing in him sees himself as a good person.

2) HIS ANNOUNCEMENT (13c)
Notice what he calls himself, “the sinner!”

Not simply A sinner, but THE sinner.
That is, I’m the worst sinner in here.

Whereas the Pharisee thanked God that he was the best person,
This tax collector cursed himself for being the worst.

It reminds of Paul’s self-assessment.
1 Timothy 1:15 “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”

• There are no excuses…
• There is no attempt to pass the blame…
• There is no one worse to stand next to in order to look better…

I’m the worst. I’m the lowest.

3) HIS ASSURANCE (13b)
“God, be merciful to me”

• The hope of the Pharisee rested in his own goodness.
• The hope of this tax collector rested only in God’s mercy.

His only hope, his only assurance,
His only confidence for even approaching God at all
Was in the fact that God is a merciful God.

He had no right…
He had no merit…
He had no good deeds…
He could only come pleading for mercy.

“God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”

And by the way, this is the only reference in the Bible that you will find to “The Sinner’s Prayer”

This evangelistic gimmick that has grown so popular where evangelists lead people to “repeat after me” this so-called pre-scripted “sinner’s prayer” has no Biblical basis whatsoever.

But if you’re looking for the real sinner’s prayer, this is it.
“God, be merciful to me the sinner!”

I also like to remind Rebecca that this can also be called
“The Tax Collector’s Prayer”

But the reality is that this every person’s prayer.
At least it should be.
• It is all any sinner can ask for.
• It is all any sinner can hope for.

By the way the word “merciful” here.
Is the Greek word HILASKOMAI
It literally means “propitiate”

Hebrews 2:17 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

What that means is that this tax collector
Is not just asking God to overlook his sin, but to atone for it.

• He is asking for the placation of God’s wrath.
• He is asking for the appeasement of God’s judgment.
• He is asking for his sin debt to be covered and paid for.

HE IS A SINFUL MAN, BUT A SINFUL MAN WHO UNDERSTANDS
That mercy does not come at the expense of God’s righteousness.

God is holy and God will judge.
He has no right to simply ask God not to judge his sin.

That is how the world wants to ask God to forgive.
“God, would You just get over it, and decide to let me off the hook. Would You just forget what I did and let it go and decide not to punish me.”

That is how the world often expects mercy.
Mercy doesn’t come like that.

Mercy comes through appeasement, through propitiation;
Through an atoning sacrifice.
NAMELY THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST

That is what the tax collector asks for.
God would you please pay for my sin.

That’s the parable.
#3 THE POINT
Luke 18:14

And here is a statement that will certainly cause the crowd to gasp.
THEY PICKED WRONG AT THE BEGINNING.

This is God made flesh giving you His Soteriology (doctrine of salvation)

“I tell you, this man when to his house justified rather than the other”

It wasn’t the religious man who was saved it was the sinner.

WHY?
“for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

God isn’t looking for good people, (because there is none good)
He is looking for humble people.

It is the poor in spirit, who mourn over their sin,
And who hunger and thirst for righteousness who are saved.

It is sinners who come to God pleading for mercy
And trusting in God’s propitiatory payment
Who are justified in God’s sight.

This is justification according to Jesus.

Now take that truth back and plug it in to the sermon He just gave.
Luke 17:33 “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”

Now look at those two men.
Which of the two was really trying to keep his life? (the Pharisee)
• He wanted his reputation…
• He wanted the accolade…
• He loved the respect he was getting…

The tax collector let it all go.
He had nothing to offer and he knew it.

And that is the point church.
As we seek to be ready for the return of the Lord
And the judgment that will follow

Might I remind you that if you are trusting in anything you have done for salvation then you have a false assurance.

• If you are proud of your spiritual accomplishments…
• If it is important to you that other people see how devout you are…
• If you easily look down on less spiritual people than yourself…

You had better
• Beat your breast, deny yourself,
• Throw all your righteous deeds in the trash where they belong and run to Jesus begging Him to pay for your sin.
• Fling off your filthy robe so that you can put on His
• Because there will be no justification for those who trust in their own works for salvation.

AND IF YOU KNOW YOU ARE SINFUL
THEN RUN TO CHRIST FOR MERCY AND ATONEMENT.

Let go of your pride and let go of your fear and run to Jesus.
Cry out to Him.
“God, be merciful to me the sinner!”

Jesus says that man is justified.
That man will be the one who is saved when the Lord returns.