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A Song
Psalms 65
February 23, 2020

So the title of our study of Psalms 65 tonight is a simple one.
I just called it “A Song”

I did that because that’s the way David titled it.
“For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song”

It is certainly a simple and a vague title, not really giving us any insight into the content other than the fact that
• David intended for “the choir director” to sing it.
• David intended for the congregation to learn it.
• David intended for the world to hear it.
• David intended for God to receive it.

“A Song” is really a minimalist title.
It seems less than sufficient.

And I must say that after studying it,
I’m even more convinced THE TITLE IS INSUFFICIENT.

But…
It seems to me that to title this song: “A Song about how awesome God is to hear our prayers, draw us in, forgive our sin, and reveal Himself to us all while putting His awesome power on display for the entire world to see, while simultaneously never failing to sustain and care for all things in creation so that every created thing shouts for joy at the realization of who He is and what He has done”
Seemed to be a title too long.

And so we stick with “A Song”

But what a song it is!
• I know I have read Psalms 65 many times over.
• I had already even given it an outline in the margins of my Bible,
• And yet, this week felt as though I was reading it for the first time.

It is a marvelous truth and in my opinion
One of the greatest songs that David ever penned.
It most certainly should be sung.

The purpose of singing in church;
Both to glorify God and to edify the saints.

That is why it is so important to sing theologically informed music.
Music that enlightens the mind by carrying one deeper into the depths
Of who God is and what He has done.

For it is only when our minds are carried to the depth of understanding
Can our spirit rise into the height of exaltation.
Shallow theology results in shallow praise.
• The tune may be catchy…
• The lyrics may be trendy…
• The rhythm may be fun…

But if there is no weight of doctrine it will produce nothing more
Than a fun little smile or happy little dance.

But if you want your spirit to ascend into the heavenlies
To exalt God with the full force of your conviction
And the full weight of your gratitude
Then sing songs of doctrinal weight that lay open who God is.

That is the type of song David has written for us here.

There are 3 VERSES which David would have us sing
And thus 3 REALITIES that David would have us grasp.

#1 THE GRACIOUS SATISFACTION OF GOD’S PRESENCE
Psalms 65:1-4

It is not hard to see that this is where David is heading in this stanza.

In fact the final two lines of verse 4 read, “We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.”

David is obviously pointing us to a reality here
That will lead to the ultimate and utter satisfaction of our souls.

That is no insignificant promise.
That is in fact a lofty goal.

That David would tell the church that the singing of this song
And the contemplation of these truths
Will ultimately lead us to full satisfaction of soul.

That’s a pretty lofty promise for a song.

But David also tells us WHAT IT IS THAT WILL SATISFY us as we sing.
“We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house”

David is obviously referring with how wonderful it is
To dwell and worship in the presence of God.

Psalms 84:1-4 “How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. The bird also has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God. How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah.”

In that Psalm David would even go on to say:
Psalms 84:10 “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

Obviously David is talking about the sheer soul satisfaction
That is found dwelling in the presence of God.

But that opens for us another question.
WHY?

Why is David so sure that dwelling in God’s house
Or standing in God’s temple will be so altogether satisfying to us?

And there is one overarching reason.
BECAUSE IT IS ONLY BY GRACE THAT YOU GET TO DO IT.

When you realize the grace involved
To allow you to approach God’s presence
Then you’ll understand how satisfying it is to be there.

THAT IS WHAT THESE FIRST 4 VERSES ARE ABOUT.

Now back up to verse 1 and follow David
As he begins to lay out THE REALITIES OF APPROACHING GOD.

As David first contemplates approaching God THE FIRST ATTRIBUTE OR EMOTION that emerges is REVERENCE.

That is what verse 1 is about.
(1) “There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God, And to You the vow will be performed.”

As David contemplates approaching God, he is quite certain that 3 things will occur.
• Silence
• Praise
• Obedience

“There will be silence before You”

What does that mean?

Let me give you some other passages to sort of fill in your CONTEXT.
Romans 3:19 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;”

That is to say that God has shattered every argument
And closed the mouth of ever defender.

Consider when Job stood in the presence of God.
Job 38:1-3 “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? “Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!”

• There was about to be an interrogation.
• There was about to be a judgment.
• The God of the universe had summoned Job and Job was going to answer.

Twice after that Job would speak.
Job 40:1-5 “Then the LORD said to Job, “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.” Then Job answered the LORD and said, “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”

When standing in the presence of God,
Job had no defense, Job had no complaint.
Job only wished he could rip his tongue out of his mouth.

Then God starts in again, and after another round of judgment:
Job 42:1-6 “Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”

That is the type of scene that David is envisioning.
• Am I really going to go and appear before the LORD?
• Am I really going to go and approach Him?

One thing I know I won’t do is go and run off at the mouth.

And when I do speak, it will only be in praise.
“There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion”
• I am not about to stand before God and boast about all that I have done, it will
only be about what He has done.

I’m also not going to lie to Him. I’m going to do what I say.
“And to You the vow will be performed.”
• You don’t stand in God’s presence and lie to Him.
• (Just ask Ananias and Sapphira)

So you can see that there is a definite reverence in David’s mind
As he contemplates standing before God.

And yet, David also reveals that despite the terror of the thought,
ALL MEN WILL BE SUMMONED TO DO JUST THAT.

(2) “O You who hear prayer, to You all men come.”
• It may indeed be a terrifying thing to stand before God, but all men will in fact do it.

Revelation 20 tells us that everyone, the great and the small
Will position themselves before God’s presence to give an account.

It will be a terrifying moment where men will be too afraid to speak
As God summons them in His power.

And this is the way this Psalm is beginning.
David is contemplating standing before God
For he knows that all men will stand before God.

• Could you imagine entering behind that second veil?
• Could you imagine having nothing but a curtain separating you from the
holiness of God?

And let me tell you why David is afraid.
(3) “Iniquities prevail against me;”

• David already knows that he is sinful.
• David already knows that he is without excuse.
• He doesn’t need the books opened…
• He doesn’t need the record to be read…
• He doesn’t need the evidence to be presented…

He is already well aware of his sin before God.
And he knows the reality of who can stand before God.

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.”

That might as well be THE SIGN
That is posted outside of the tent of meeting,
And it would discourage every human from daring to enter.

But to know that despite my failure to meet the requirements,
I am summoned anyway,
It would be a sobering and terrifying thing.

But here is where the good news comes in.
(3b) “As for our transgressions, You forgive them.”

David learned that he did not approach God as A SINLESS MAN,
But as A FORGIVEN MAN.
• David did not enter as a deserving man, but as a pardoned one.
• God had graciously granted Him to come in spite of what he was.

And do you want to see sovereign election in the Old Testament?
Did you wonder if David was a Calvinist or rather if Calvin was a Davidist?

“How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts.”

Why did David come?
• It wasn’t because he was worthy.
• It wasn’t because he deserved it.

He came because God chose for him to come.
He came because God brought him near.

We have talked about this so many times.

ON ONE HAND: Even if sinners could come to God, they WOULDN’T.

Romans 3:11 “THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;”

Ephesians 2:3 “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

Even if given the opportunity (and all men are given the opportunity)
Lost men will not come to God on their own accord.
God doesn’t represent anything that they want.
They won’t come.

BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT DAVID IS TALKING ABOUT HERE.
David is talking about the other reality which is THEY CAN’T COME.
That is, they are not permitted to come.

Psalms 140:13 “Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name; The upright will dwell in Your presence.”

Well who are those upright there?
It’s certainly not us.
(We know it’s only Jesus)

What we are reminded of here is that the ability to come to God
And approach the goodness of His presence
Is nothing short of the absolute grace of God.

That is why Jesus said:
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

He didn’t say “no one WILL come” (which would also be true)
But He said, “no one CAN come”

And again:
John 6:65 “And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”

• The presence of God is FOR the righteous alone.
• The presence of God is NOT FOR sinners.
• The presence of God is NOT FOR those who have rebelled against Him.

Even regarding heaven 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.”

Sinners don’t get to go to heaven; only righteous people.

But that is why that last statement is so important;
“but only those who names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

That is only those who have been made alive by the Lamb.
Only those who are clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ.

We don’t come before God by merit, we come by grace.

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

It is only the sacrifice of Jesus that forgives us and atones for us
And justifies us that allows us to boldly enter the presence of God.

Where there should be fear, there is now anticipation!
Where there should be dread, there is now excitement!

The writer of Hebrews especially loved this thought:
Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;”

Jesus went for us.
That is, He went instead of us.

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.”

Hebrews 7:19 “(for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.”

Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Hebrews 10:1 “For the Law, since it has only shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.”

Hebrews 10:22 “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

• Us? Draw near to God?
• Us? Boldly go behind the veil?
• Us? Walk right up to the throne?

Yes! Because we go in Christ.
We go as David did, not deserving to be there,
But we go in forgiveness, we go in grace.

And when we get there we find the one thing that can satisfy our soul.
THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD.

We find the One we were created for.
There is no satisfaction like that anywhere else.

This is the privilege of the church
And David wants you to understand that in this song.

• Do you understand that you are freely allowed to enter the presence of God because of His sovereign choice to pardon you and draw you near?

• Do you understand that apart from God’s choosing and drawing you that you would not have come and indeed you could not have come?

• Do you understand that the only thing that can truly satisfy your soul is only available to you because of the grace of God?

That certainly makes this song worth singing doesn’t!
WHEN WE UNDERSTAND the sovereign grace of God
And what He has done on our behalf that we might approach Him,
IT CAUSES OUR SOULS TO SOAR IN SATISFIED WORSHIP!

• We sing, “Hallelujah! All I have is Christ!”
• We sing, “Take this world, but give me Jesus…Take this world, my God’s enough!”
• We sing, “I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today!”

And when David says that we are “satisfied”,
He means that WE ARE SO GRATEFUL to be here.

We Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for drawing me near.
Gratitude is the ultimate expression of satisfaction.

Men don’t thank God because
They have not pondered what He has done.

David wants you to ponder what He has done
So that you will be so grateful to be here.
A good song will do that for you.

So we ponder the gracious satisfaction of God’s presence and we sing.
#2 THE GENUINE WONDER OF GOD’S POWER
Psalms 65:5-8

Here again we see THE END that David is taking us to.
(8) “They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;”

IN THE FIRST VERSE David just wanted us to be overwhelmed with gratitude that we have been granted the privilege of drawing near to God.

BUT IN THE SECOND VERSE David wants to see the congregation
Standing in dumbfounded awe of who God is.

So to do that David pens a verse to help the church
Contemplate the reality of God’s awesome power.

Back in verse 2 David marveled that God hears prayer.
But here in verse 5 David marvels that God answers it.

(5) “By awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation.”

And David acknowledges that when God answered.
1) It was Awesome
2) It was righteous

That is to say that God always does the right thing
And He always does it perfectly.
Even to a miraculous degree.

(5b) “You who are the trust of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea;”

In order to show you that God always answers perfectly and powerfully
David reminds you that all of creation trusts God.
The whole of creation leans upon Him.

This morning in Luke we talked about how God rules His kingdom.
And David says that because He rules it perfectly
ALL OF CREATION TRUSTS HIM.

Have you ever noticed the faith of creation?
Job 38:25-27 “Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt, To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it, To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?”

Job 38:39-41 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, When they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair? “Who prepares for the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?”

Psalms 96:11-13 “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before the LORD, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.”

Romans 8:19-22 “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”

Even creation recognizes and trusts God for His sovereign care.
• The pastures don’t depend on man to water them, they depend on God.
• The wild animals don’t depend on man to feed them, they depend on God.

• Jesus said ravens don’t plow or plant, they just trust that God will feed them.
• Jesus said flowers don’t toil nor spin, they just trust that God will clothe them.

God cares for it all.

And to further illustrate God’s amazing power
David picks 3 illustrations of God’s amazing and perfect power.

1) HIS POWER TO SET THAT WHICH CANNOT BE MOVED
(6) “Who establishes the mountains by His strength, Being girded with might;”

David looks at the mountains and the permanence that they demonstrate.
• No one moves mountains.
• They are resolute, they are steadfast.

Our family likes to ski, and often times we follow ski resorts and watch snow reports on the internet.

You’ll hear them talk about snow and needing snow and see them rejoicing when they get more snow, but you never hear them say,
“We just hope our mountain is still here next year.”

And they are steadfast because God made them that way.
They are a tremendous testimony to God’s perfect power.

God’s power is demonstrated in that He sets that which cannot now be moved.
2) HIS POWER TO STILL THAT WHICH CANNOT BE STOPPED
(7) “Who stills the roaring of the seas, The roaring of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples.”

The sea represents uncontrollable power.
• Even in our day of technology and infrastructure we’ve seen the devastating effects of floods or Tsunamis.

When the ocean wants to move, it moves.
You may ride the wave, but you can’t stop it.

But God can.
Job 38:8-11 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’?”

Jesus did it with 3 words.
• “Peace be still”

And that was all it took
It is God’s absolute power on display to be able to still that which cannot be stopped.
3) HIS POWER TO SUSTAIN THAT WHICH CANNOT BE FATHOMED
(8) “They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs; You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.”

Here David speaks of the wonder of a sunrise.

God also asked Job:
Job 38:12-13 “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place, That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?”

I know scientists have answered all sorts of questions
• As to how the earth rotates and how the solar system moves
• And why we see the sun rise in the east and set in the west.

Science has answered all sorts of questions about that,
But they can’t answer one apart from God and that is: “HOW?”

How does it keep spinning?
Why does it do it?

The best answer science could give was that
There was an apparent explosion and then it just happened.

David points to the power of God.

And when the church stops and contemplates the awesome power of God
To set that which cannot be moved and To still which cannot be stopped
And to sustain that which cannot be explained.

Then we respond “the ends of earth stand in awe of Your signs”

We sing
“O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Contemplating God’s glorious power
Produces awestruck wonder in us regarding who God is.

He has power to do whatever He wants.

And here is the even better truth.
In verse 5 David called Him, “O God of our salvation”

This God who has the power to SET that which cannot be moved
And STILL that which cannot be stopped and SUSTAIN that which cannot be fathomed is the God who is at work to save us!

Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

• We know that our salvation is secure because God has awesome power.
• We know that our salvation will last because God has perfect power.

He does whatever He wishes
And we rejoice that He has decided to save us!

That is reason for the church to sing!
That is lofty worship!

The gracious satisfaction of His presence
The genuine wonder of His power
#3 THE GRANDIOSE JOY OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE
Psalms 65:9-13

Here again we see where David is taking us.
“They shout for joy, yes, they sing.”

David is talking about loud, boisterous, uncontainable, joy!

What produces this joy?
Understanding that God’s providence generously cares for all things.

Look here as David speaks about THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.
(9) “You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; You greatly enrich it; The stream of God is full of water;”

Notice there, that not only does God provide or the earth,
But He is extremely LIBERAL IN THAT PROVISION.

Words like “overflow” “greatly” and “full” jump at us.

It is one of the great realities of God’s providence.
Throughout Scripture He tells us to BE CONTENT.
• He tells us not to covet.
• He tells us if we have food and covering that that is enough.

But it’s not like He is stingy.
• While we are commanded to be content, God often shows Himself generous.

Isaiah 25:6-8 “The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.”

Ephesians 1:7-8a “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.”

James says:
James 1:16-17 “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

There is no want to God’s providence.

And then we consider all the areas of God’s providence.
(9b-13) “You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth. You water its furrows abundantly, You settle its ridges, You soften it with showers, You bless its growth. You have crowned the year with Your bounty, And Your paths drip with fatness. The pastures of the wilderness drip, And the hills gird themselves with rejoicing. The meadows are clothed with flocks And the valleys are covered with grain; They shout for joy, yes, they sing.”

Here David speaks of God’s work as a farmer.
Do you see all that He does?
• Preparing the grain
• Softening the earth for plowing
• Wetting the plowed fields
• Blessing the growth of the seed.

And that’s not just for the farmer’s field, but for the vacant pastures.
• Who plows the pastures?
• Who plants the pastures?
• Who cares for them?

God does. His providence knows no end.

And the result is that everyone and everything
Who benefits from His providence and who contemplates it
Will “shout for joy, yes, they sing.”

David sees the blessing of:
• Full Rivers
• Abundant Crops
• Thriving Pastures
• Healthy Flocks

And David must stop and praise God for His abundant provision!

And we join in this song!
• Has God provided for you?
• Does God meet your needs?
• Has He been generous in the care of your body and soul?
• Has He not even provided righteousness and salvation?

Then sing!
Then shout for joy!

So why do we sing this song?
• Because God has been gracious to us and we sing in gratitude for being allowed in His presence though we are undeserving.

• Because God is powerful and we sing in awestruck wonder longing to give Him the glory He deserves.

• Because God is generous and we sing for joy that God has abundantly supplied all that we need.

That is a song we sing.
And it is a song that certainly should be sung!

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Where Is The Kingdom?
Luke 17:20-21
February 23, 2019

The kingdom of God is a huge theme in Scripture.

You hear the phrase over and over and over throughout the gospels,
And even through the preaching of the apostles.

We even know Jesus by the title, “King of the Jews”

• The angel Gabriel announced Jesus as a King before His birth.
• Wise men and shepherds worshiped as a King at and after His birth.
• John the Baptist heralded Him as a King
• Jesus Himself affirmed it as He proclaimed His own kingdom.

So where is it?
Answer: It’s right here, but only its members can see it.

This is the conversation that Jesus is about to have with the Pharisees.
And though it is a brief conversation
It is one that is incredibly important to our understanding of salvation.

So let’s work through our text this morning.
#1 THE QUESTION
Luke 17:20a

“Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming…”

You see here the setting of the sermon.
It was all brought on by this question from the Pharisees.

I actually find this to be a little MORE OF A DARE than really an inquiry.
The Pharisees have been out to disprove Jesus from the beginning
And I really think that is what you have going on here as well.

But to fully understand the conversation
YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHY THEY ASKED THE QUESTION.

It’s important that you have a basic understanding
Of the realities of the Kingdom of God.

When we are talking about the Kingdom,
People can get a little confused because
The Kingdom presently shows up in two distinct realities.

On one hand we have THE PHYSICAL KINGDOM

And this very simply is THE WHOLE OF CREATION.

You have God, who created this world,
And as its Creator and only sovereign,
God sits in total universal authority over all of creation.

Nothing acts outside of His sovereign control.

As John MacArthur put it:
“This is the universal, external sovereignty of God over everything He has made; everything animate and inanimate, everything material, everything spiritual in the universe is under Christ’s rule. Every molecule, every atom, every component of an atom belongs in this kingdom.”
(Sermon: The Invisible Kingdom of God, Part 1; Luke 17:20-21; Code: 42-221)

Psalms 29:10-11 “The LORD sat as King at the flood; Yes, the LORD sits as King forever. The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.”

1 Chronicles 29:10-13 “So David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever. “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. “Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. “Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.”

Matthew 5:34-35 “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.”

God is sovereign over all.
He does whatever He wishes.

And by this sovereignty, God has already put Christ as King over all.

We saw that in Psalms 2
Psalms 2:6-9 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'”

And because of that David says:
Psalms 2:10-12 “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

Jesus is already King of the world.
Everything has to do exactly as He commands it.

Everything has to respond to His sovereign prerogative every single time.

And Jesus very clearly put this authority on display during His earthly ministry.
• If He told storms to stop, they had to stop.
• If He told water to become wine, it had to become wine.
• If He told legs to grow or eyes to work, they had to obey.
• If He told demons to leave, or bread to multiply, there was no resistance.

In the physical realm His kingship and authority are unquestioned.
He is in charge, and He does whatever He wants.

That is God’s sovereign prerogative over the kingdom that He created.

Isaiah 43:13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

He is the unquestioned sovereign and authority.

Now, we also know that this physical world rebelled against His authority.
They didn’t overthrow Him or strip Him of His power, but they did rebel.

We saw it FIRST IN THE GARDEN, but we continue to see it even today.

Romans 1:21 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

Man rebelled against God.
AND AS A RESULT GOD CURSED HIS OWN KINGDOM.
God cursed creation.

It is a form of punishment upon rebellious humanity
Who have rebelled against His authority.

That’s why it’s so laughable when the world wants to blame God or accuse God of not being good when bad things happen like floods or famines or earthquakes.

Some even suppose that such events give evidence that God is not in control.

On the contrary, God is certainly in control and God is certainly good,
But this curse was His design as punishment
On a world that has rebelled against Him.

And that also is proof of God’s sovereign reign over creation.

And incidentally, ACCORDING TO ACTS 3 HE WON’T LIFT THIS CURSE
Until Israel repents and trusts in Christ as their King.

Acts 3:17-21 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”

Now, before say, “That’s too severe, and God’s too mean in doing that.”

Let me remind you again of that great Q&A with R.C. Sproul.

Sproul was asked the question: “Since God is slow to anger and patient then why, when man first sinned was His wrath and punishment so severe and long lasting?”

His answer: “Timeout! Didn’t we just have that question a second ago? God’s punishment for Adam was so severe? This creature from the dirt defied the everlasting holy God. After that God had said “the day that you shall eat of it, you shall surely die” and instead of dying (thanatos) that day, he lived another day and was clothed in his nakedness, by pure grace, and had the consequences of the curse applied for quite some time, but the worse curse would come upon the one who seduced him, whose head would be crushed by the seed of the woman. And the punishment was too severe? What’s wrong with you people? I’m serious! I mean, this is what’s wrong with the Christian church today. We don’t know who God is, and we don’t know who we are.
The question is, why wasn’t it infinitely more severe? If we have any understanding of our sin and any understanding of who God is, that’s the question. Isn’t it?”

What to do when you are angry at God?

The curse that God inflicted upon this world
WAS FAR LESS SEVERE THAN WHAT GOD COULD HAVE DONE.
He could have just balled the whole thing up
And thrown it all into hell right then.
BUT HE DIDN’T.

And so now we are living in a world
• That is absolutely and totally under the sovereign kingship of God.
• It is cursed, and it groans and suffers, but He still sovereign rules it all.

I might also add that He rules it all according to His own good pleasure.
That is to say, He does what He will.

Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

• He doesn’t need a counselor…
• He doesn’t need an advisor…
• His thoughts are higher than our thoughts
• He has total autonomy to do whatever He wants whenever He wants.

That is the physical kingdom of God
Which He rules by reason of the fact that He created it.

If you don’t want to live under His rule…
If you want to call the shots…
THEN CREATE YOUR OWN UNIVERSE.

BUT GOD REIGNS OVER THIS ONE.
That is the Physical Kingdom that God and Christ reign over.
Always has, always will.

But there is a second kingdom that we also speak of.
There is A SPIRITUAL KINGDOM

This is the kingdom that God rules by means of His re-creation.

Think of passages like:
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Ephesians 4:24 “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

God rules everything created.
• That is true of the physical Kingdom which He created.
• And that is true of the spiritual kingdom, which is filled with all those who are saved or who are born again or who are a new creation.

This is the invisible kingdom that we’re going to talk about.
These are those who have yielded their lives to the lordship of Christ.
These are those who have sanctified Christ as Lord in their hearts.

These are those who have submitted their lives to Him and obey Him.
• They have repented of the rebellion that was once theirs…
• They have placed their faith in Christ…
• They have denied themselves and submitted to Him…
• They have been born again…
• They are a new creation…

And they are the subjects and members of His spiritual kingdom.
You can’t see, but it’s real

Now, there is coming a day when
These two kingdoms will merge and both will become evident.

THERE IS COMING A DAY WHEN JESUS WILL RETURN,
He will crush His enemies,
He will reveal all those who are His and He will reign upon the earth.

Every knee will bow…
Every tongue will confess…
Everyone will worship Him…

On that day the invisible spiritual kingdom will be revealed.

Romans 8:19
“For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.”

1 John 3:2
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

Colossians 3:1-4
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

On that day Christ will reign visibly on the throne over this world
And all those true subjects in His kingdom will dwell with Him.
You will see both the physical kingdom and the spiritual kingdom.

That day is coming. That day is not here yet.
Currently this spiritual kingdom of Christ is still invisible.

BUT HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND
About the Pharisees theology, and all Israel for that matter.

THEY HAD NO CONCEPT OF THIS INVISIBLE KINGDOM.

• They had studied the Old Testament texts and they knew God was king.
• They also knew that God had given this world to His anointed Messiah.
• And they believed, based on O.T. prophecies, that when the Messiah came He
would usher in cataclysmic signs and physically rule upon this earth.

In short, they saw the events surrounding the second coming,
But they didn’t grasp the events surrounding the first.

Let me explain.

They would read, for example the prophet Joel
Joel 2:28-32
“It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. “The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”

And did not see two comings, but one.
• They missed the part about “I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind”
• And they were waiting for those massive signs like “wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood.”

They were only looking for those cataclysmic signs.

Or things like:
Isaiah 11:6-9
“And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.”

• They were NOT LOOKING for someone coming to preach repentance.
• They were NOT LOOKING for someone coming to offer salvation.

They didn’t think they needed salvation.
They thought they needed someone to come
And restore Israel to the preeminent kingdom of the world.

They were looking for a King to come in powerful signs
Who would deliver the people and restore the glory of Israel.

THAT WAS THEIR EXPECTATION.

AND THEN YOU FACTOR IN THIS JESUS.
Who first publicly arrives on the scene with this wilderness prophet telling everyone to repent because the King is on His way.

And then Jesus echoes that declaration.

Luke 4:43 “But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”

Luke 8:1 “Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him,”

Luke 9:11 “But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.”

And not only that, but He would send out His followers to preach the same thing.
Luke 9:1-2 “And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.”

Luke 10:8-11 “Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘ The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ “But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’”

Beyond that Jesus has preached
• That they should pray “Your kingdom come…”
• He has told men to “Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven…”
• He told the little flock not to worry because God had “chosen gladly to give you the kingdom…”

With Jesus it was kingdom, kingdom, kingdom, kingdom.
He claimed to be the king and He was offering men the kingdom.

The problem was that Jesus didn’t match the Jewish expectation.
Remember Isaiah 53?

Isaiah 53:1-3 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 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.”

So you have this preacher declaring Himself to be the King,
But He doesn’t meet the expectation.

And so the common question was:
WHERE’S YOUR SIGNS?
• Where is the moon turning to blood?
• Where are the massive signs in the heavens?

Now, He did put His power and authority on display,
But even that didn’t match their expectation.

Remember this story?
Luke 11:14-20 “And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Others, to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven. But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls. “If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. “And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. “But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

He was telling them the kingdom was there,
But because He didn’t fit the bill or work the signs they wanted,
They didn’t believe Him.

Well maybe that explains the question here.
“Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming…”

They were sort of calling Him out.
• It’s time to put Your money where Your mouth is.
• If You claim to be the King, then it’s about time You show us the kingdom.

And it’s not just the Pharisees, the disciples are just as confused.

Even at the end of this sermon, in verse 37 the disciples are going to ask,
“Where Lord?” (Where will the kingdom be?)

Even after His death:
Acts 1:6 “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

There was just a confusion.
• They knew about a physical kingdom and that’s what they expected.
• They didn’t understand the spiritual kingdom.

So now you understand their question.

#2 THE CORRECTION
Luke 17:20b-21a

“He answered them and said, “The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is! or, ‘There it is!’”

The Pharisees wanted to see the Kingdom.
Jesus said, “You’ve got it all wrong.”

You don’t understand the Kingdom.
• You’re looking for physical signs and wonders and powerful displays, but that is not how the Kingdom is coming.
• It will not be an obvious display. (Not the spiritual one)

It won’t be a place on the map you can travel to and say, “Here it is!”
IT’S A MYSTERY.

You are already more familiar with these mysteries than you may realize.
Matthew devoted an entire chapter to the mysteries of the kingdom.

Remember Matthew 13?
8 parables revealing the mysteries of the Kingdom.

Soils – not everyone who is invited into the kingdom actually enters it. Some are too hard hearted, some are too shallow, some are too idolatrous.

Wheat and Tares – the spiritual kingdom will grow up right beside the wicked kingdom of this world. They will grow together until the end when the Lord comes and destroys the wicked and saves the righteous.

Mustard Seed – the kingdom starts small but gets bigger than any other.

Leaven – the kingdom spreads slowly but surely until it grows and coves the earth.

2 parables on the value of the kingdom, but then

Dragnet – everyone is in the net, and the net is being drug in, but the separation hasn’t occurred yet.

And a follow up parable about being a steward of the kingdom.

All of those mysteries were NOT what the Jews expected.
They weren’t looking for a spiritual kingdom…
They weren’t looking for an invisible kingdom…

But that’s the Kingdom Jesus has been preaching about.

The first time He came was NOT to declare physical war
He DID NOT come at first to kill all nonbelievers
And set up an earthly throne with powerful signs in the heavens.

The first time He came was to conquer men’s hearts
And break men’s wills and subdue men’s lives by faith.

• He came to offer forgiveness and mercy and acceptance through Him into God’s kingdom.
• He came to offer pardon to rebels and renegades who had offended God.
• He came to offer them citizenship in the kingdom before God came and destroyed His enemies.

Do you understand that?

If there had been no first coming, and only a second
Then everyone would have been killed as God’s enemy.

• All had rebelled…
• None righteous, not even one…

Christ came as it were to first offer God’s enemies a chance at surrender
And forgiveness and redemption and reconciliation.

HE OFFERED THEM ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM
(That they falsely assumed they were already a part of.)

That was the invisible spiritual kingdom He came to offer.

So Jesus corrects them here.
You are looking for the wrong thing.

The Question, The Correction
#3 THE REVELATION
Luke 17:21b

“For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

This spiritual kingdom is here.

Now, let’s do a little word clarifying here because there’s a lot of confusion about this phrase and translators go back and forth over it.

• “in your midst” translates ENTOS
Which means “inside”

• He DID NOT USE the word ENMESO which means “in your midst”

Jesus literally said here “the kingdom of God is inside”

Translators have struggled with that because they note
That Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees
And so they think that Jesus could not possibly have been saying
That the Pharisees had the kingdom inside them.

Obviously that is not what He is saying.
There are more people here than just Pharisees who are listening.

But what Jesus is saying is that the kingdom is internal,
Not external; not yet.

The kingdom was actually here.
• But it was an internal kingdom, not an external one.
• It is a spiritual reality that is not physically evident.

Jesus said to Pilate:
John 18:36 “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

Paul said:
Romans 14:17 “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

It’s a spiritual reality.

So you see how Jesus spoke of two kingdoms, or two realms.
• There is a physical kingdom in which He certainly rules all.
• But there is also a spiritual kingdom which is for those who submit to Him.

One day He will return and the two kingdoms
Will unite and become evident.

The first time He came was not to establish His earthly kingdom.
It was to convert enemies of the kingdom into sons of the kingdom
That they might not be destroyed
When He does establish that earthly kingdom.

But He came this time to offer entrance into this spiritual kingdom.

And the only way you enter it
Is by being born again, or re-created.

JUST AS you must be born into the physical kingdom,
SO you must be born into the spiritual kingdom.

John 3:3-5 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Those who remain in their rebellious and wicked state
Are NOT GRANTED ACCESS into the kingdom.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Ephesians 5:5 “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

Men who lives in their sinful rebellious state
Are not granted access into God’s kingdom.
They are certainly in His physical kingdom, but not His spiritual one.

The only way to enter that kingdom is through the offer of Christ.
(He is the way)
• He offers to re-create a person.
• He will atone for their sin on the cross.
• He will impute His righteousness to them, thus granting them access to God’s kingdom.

And THE REQUIREMENT for this gracious transaction is what?
You must trust Him and declare Him King.

Right?
Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”

You must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.

Is that hard?
Yes, very hard.
• It may require you to hate your father & mother, brother & sister, wife & children.
• It may require you to leave your inheritance behind
• It may require you to say good-bye to those at home without looking back

Luke 9:59-62 “And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

It is hard and costly to enter the kingdom.

Acts 14:21-22 “After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

It is costly to enter the kingdom.

But it is also worth it to enter the kingdom.
That is why Jesus gave that “parable of treasure in the field” or “the parable of the pearl of great value.”

It is worth everything you have to enter this spiritual kingdom.
Jesus is the most valuable One you’ll ever encounter.

You most certainly should FOLLOW THE ADVICE of the Psalmist.
Psalms 2:10-12 “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

His physical kingdom is coming.
• And it will mean destruction of His enemies.

But Jesus came first to offer refuge to any and all who would repent of their sin and trust in Him.
• Those would be granted access into His spiritual kingdom.
• They would be re-created and born again and would no longer be enemies of the kingdom, but sons of it.

The Kingdom Jesus preached
Was the most glorious offer the world has ever received.

But the Pharisees and Jews didn’t understand it.
• They didn’t see that they were enemies of God.
• They didn’t see how they had offended God through their rebellion.
• And so they didn’t see how badly they needed Jesus to reconcile them.

If they had seen that…
• If they had become poor in spirit like Jesus said:

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

If they had seen their spiritual poverty and their need for forgiveness
Then they would have run to this gracious King
Who was offering forgiveness and they would have entered His kingdom.

But as it was, they were not interested in His offer.
They thought they only wanted that physical kingdom.

But really, the question is what about you?

I’m here to tell you this morning
• There is a kingdom.
• And it is here.
• But you can’t see it on the outside.
• It is an internal kingdom and it is growing every day.

And one day THE KING OF THAT KINGDOM WILL RETURN
And reveal it to the world.

And on that day, all those who are in that kingdom will be revealed,
And all those who are not will be destroyed.

Obviously then the wise man
• Responds to Christ’s offer and repents of His rebellion against God,
• And runs to the merciful offer of Christ,
• And begs to be made new, to be re-created, to be born again into His spiritual kingdom.

That is what I would tell you today.

You don’t want to be found outside the kingdom of the day Christ returns.
You do not want to be found a tare among the wheat.

• Submit to the King.
• Call on the King.
• Ask Him for forgiveness.
• He will grant you access into His glorious kingdom.

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Overcoming Evil
Psalms 64
February 16, 2020

It was a few weeks ago when we studied those 3 “Destroy Not” Psalms
Where David specifically knew he was not to take his own revenge,
But to leave room for God to do it.

Though this Psalm does not have that same sub-heading
There is a similar theme here.
David is still caught having to deal with those who are wicked.

In that passage by Paul where we are told not to take our own revenge, Paul closes with this powerful statement.

Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

We are talking then about overcoming.

That phrase takes on so many different connotations for people.
The word “overcome” is NIKAO in the Greek.
It where we get our word for NIKE like the shoe brand.

And in a simple sense it means “to prevail” or “to conquer” or “to get the victory”
And you understand why the shoe company chose the word.

But for the Christian, prevailing, conquering or getting the victory
Looks totally different than what the world expects.

Often times when a Christian overcomes
It may actually look like defeat to the world.

Because the Christian isn’t trying to overcome unbelievers.
• The Christian is overcoming the temptation to do evil.
• The Christian is overcoming the temptation to sin.

You are likely familiar with those 7 churches in the book of the Revelation.
As Christ confronts those churches,
He reminds each one of them of the necessity to overcome.

• Ephesus had to overcome hypocrisy as they had left their first love.
• Smyrna had to overcome fear as they were greatly persecuted.
• Pergamum had to overcome compromise as they had begun to look the
other way at sin.
• Thyatira had to overcome worldliness as Jezebel had led them into sin.
• Sardis had to overcome pride as they were content to rest on past
accomplishments.
• Philadelphia had to overcome fatigue and continue running the race faithfully.
• Laodicea had to overcome self as they were far too self-sufficient.

Over and over and over Christ told them to overcome.

This has remained the call of the church.
• That we overcome worldly influence…
• That we overcome selfish inclination…
• That we overcome the lusts of the flesh…
• That we overcome the temptation of the enemy…

We are constantly called to overcome.

BUT WHAT MAKES THIS EVEN MORE DIFFICULT
Is the fact that often times the deck seems stacked against us

Because Christians not only face the inward struggle of the flesh,
But often times the outward pressure of persecution.

TURN TO: 1 Peter 2:11-12

What Peter says there is a hard command to obey
Even if there is no other difficulty in our life.

• He tells us to “abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul”.
• He tells us to do “good deeds” so that we have a glorious testimony.

And even in an easy day, that can be difficult.

But Peter commanded it during a time of great persecution,
And he even got specific about the circumstances.

Like, overcome the flesh when you under a corrupt government
(2:13-17)

Like overcome the flesh when you are under a unreasonable master.
(2:18-20)

Peter said that God is pleased
When we overcome even amidst persecution.

Of course Peter then gives Christ as the ultimate example to follow:
(2:21:25)

And then Peter gets back to more difficult situations.
Like, overcome when your husband is disobedient to the word and you don’t want to submit to him.
(3:1-6)

Like overcome when your wife is unreasonable and you want to dominate her.
(3:7)

And then comes Peter’s summary.
(3:8-17)

You see it there don’t you?
Overcome the temptation of the flesh.

It is exactly what Paul said:
Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

It is what Jesus taught:
Matthew 5:38-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

And it is what David is facing here.

He is attacked, he is slandered, he is blasphemed,
And yet he knows that he is not allowed to stoop to their level.

If he starts playing the game the way they play the game
Then he may win this particular battle,
But he will lose the war because
He will have become the very thing God told him not to be.

So here we are with David facing external pressure,
And here is the song he writes regarding the call to overcome evil.

Just two points tonight.
#1 DAVID’S COMPLAINT
Psalms 64:1-6

What a way to start the Psalm.
“Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;”

We don’t often think of complaining as something permissible,
But that is because often times we do it incorrectly.

James 5:9 “Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.”

• We understand the dangers in being disgruntled, dissatisfied, grumbling people.

And because this is true, David is not allowed to open up Facebook
And vent about his injustice to all Israel.

It is a testimony killer when God’s children do that.

But that is why David addresses his complaint to God.
(There is a difference between complaining to God and complaining against Him)

That is really the only place where we may take our complaints.
We most certainly cannot mimic the world
By stooping to his level and fighting him as he fights.

• We don’t return insult for insult…
• We don’t return evil for evil…

Instead we endure, and when enduring injustice
We take our case privately to our Judge.

That is what David does.
• He is facing a loud and boisterous enemy,
• But publicly he must not fall into that petty trap of bickering.
• If David is to complain, it is to be done privately in prayer.
• And David asks God to hear his.

And not only to hear his complaint, but at the same time (1b) “Preserve my life from dread of the enemy.”

This is why David must appeal to God.
HE IS AFRAID.
The enemy has made some bold claims against him
And David doesn’t know what to do with them.

But it is clear that their claims have filled David with “dread”

Dread can be just as destructive as an attack.
It can also be very influential.

• Dread steals peace and motivates compromise.
• Dread is the chief influence of the cowardly as they fear the reproach of men
and thus never obey.
• Dread causes men to forsake the commands of God and give into the
pressures of the world.

It is a dangerous thing to have, and that which must be overcome.

And so David takes his dread to God.
He asks God to “preserve my life from dread of the enemy”

• Don’t let me be given over to dread.
• Don’t let the enemy’s threats cause me to fear and run the wrong direction.

This is the basis for David’s complaint.
He is in a situation that he cannot handle
And he needs God to handle it for him.

He continues
(2) “Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers, form the tumult of those who do iniquity.”

And now we see even more.
• David is confronted by “evildoers”; by those “who do iniquity”
• And David has become the focus of their “secret counsel”
• David has become the focus of their “tumult”

The wicked are scheming against David.
The wicked are seeking to attack him.

The reality has caused David to be overcome with great fear and that is why he has come to God.
• If he cannot fight back…
• If he must turn the other cheek…
• If he must endure their hostilities HE NEEDS GOD’S HELP.

And so David asks for God to “Hide me”

“If evil doers hide in their scheming then let me be hid during their attack!
Make me an undetected target and one they cannot hit.”

God do not just leave me out in the open as an easy target for evil men.
Come to my aid and hide me.

And David describes these wicked men
And why he needs God’s help so badly.

(3) “Who have sharpened their tongue like a sword. They aimed bitter speech as their arrow.”

In short, slander is their weapon.
• They shoot and they stab.
• They are filled with Satan’s fiery darts and seek to use their wicked words and accusations to bring down their target.

Their mouths run loose in slanderous accusations and bitter blasphemies.
They fill the airways with their violent attacks.

And of course this is something the Christian is specifically told not to do.
• We are not to return insult with insult.
• We are not to return threat with threat.

And so when it occurs we take our case to God.

(4) “To shoot from concealment at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear.”

Their target is the blameless.
Certainly those who are blameless are constant conviction.
• Sinners hate those who do not rush into iniquity.
• The wicked hate those who resist their sinful ways.

Their goal is to knock them off the pedestal
And here they are doing it to David with blasphemy.

They are like Satan who asked God, “Does Job fear God for nothing..?”

They are the Pharisees who accuse Jesus of blasphemy or of being insane or of being demon-possessed or of seeking to start an insurrection.

Here they are attacking David because he is blameless.
It is their goal to ruin his reputation and destroy his credibility.

They attack him without fear
Because they figure their attack to be untraceable.

They “shoot from concealment”
• They think no one will know who fired the arrow.

So “Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear.”

They are simply wicked blasphemous and slandering men.

(5) “They hold fast to themselves an evil purpose; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, ‘Who can see them?’”

They began their attack by accusing David of that which he did not do.
• They simply threw baseless accusations at him.

But for the wicked, that is not enough.
They also eagerly seek to give weight to their slanders
So they also set traps.

When their accusations were found false,
They might have just walked away as shamed men
Who saw the error of their ways, but not these men.

“They hold fast to themselves an evil purpose”
They are not about to quit.

So they huddle together and “they talk of laying snares secretly;”

• They ask around and figure ways to set traps to cause David to fall into sin that they might expose him and show the world.
• They go to Darius and ask for a command that no one may pray and then they stand outside Daniel’s window just waiting for him to bow his head.
• They approach Jesus and ask Him about paying taxes to Caesar.
• They bring to Him a woman caught in adultery.

They set traps; concealed and crafty traps,
“They say, ‘Who can see them?’”

When it becomes evident that their slanders are false,
They ought to be shamed and stop slandering,
Instead they try to make David guilty of what they accused him of.

And this is why David goes to God with his complaint.

(6) “They devise injustices, saying, ‘We are ready with a well-conceived plot”

Not only are they wicked and conniving, but they are eager to be.

As they “devise injustices” to inflict upon David
They quickly say “We are ready”.

They think their plot to be fool-proof.
They have covered every angle.
They will surely catch him in evil and then hang him for it.

This is such the work of our enemy,
Who first tempts us to sin and then accuses us before God.

These men have a plan and they feel they cannot lose.

And they do this because there is NO LIMIT to the depth of their depravity.
(6b) “For the inward thought of the heart of a man are deep.”

• These men have no restraint…
• These men have no check in their conscience…

They delight only in their wicked plan.

SO DO YOU SEE WHY DAVID MUST PRAY?

• To beat them on this earth, he must become like them.
• To beat them on this earth, he must stoop to their level and play the game as they do.

But he has been forbidden against this.
He cannot beat them at their own game.

He is not allowed to slander and set traps and blaspheme
And secretly make them fall into sin.
David’s only hope is for God to deliver as he continues to walk uprightly.

David must not let evil overcome him.
He must overcome evil with good.

There is so much truth to the Christian life found there.
• We are constantly called to take the high road and not live like the world lives.
• We cannot fight as they fight.
• We cannot war as they war.

TURN TO: EPHESIANS 4:17

Listen as Paul here just reminds us that as believers we cannot live like the Gentiles around us.
• We must be better.
• We must walk uprightly.
• We cannot do what they do.

(Read 4:17-5:16)

Do you see the reality?
• They may slander, but we can’t…
• They may falsely accuse, but we can’t…
• They may set traps, but we can’t…

WE HAVE TO WALK ABOVE.

We have to follow the advice of Peter.
1 Peter 3:13-16 “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”

We have to follow the example of Jesus:
1 Peter 2:21-23 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 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;”

THIS IS WHERE DAVID IS.
And so he does not take his complaint to the local market or to social media.
HE TAKES HIS COMPLAINT TO GOD.

That is David’s complaint.
#2 DAVID’S CONFIDENCE
Psalms 64:7-10

HOW QUICKLY THE SCENE CHANGES
When David enters the presence of God and sits in His counsel.

All of a sudden that barking Goliath doesn’t seem so big.

(7) “But God will shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they will be wounded.”

David’s defense is not a feeble one.
• He has no impotent ally.
• David serves the God who sees all
• David serves the God from whom no man can hide.

David is confident that God can and will demand justice.

Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”

These men hide and shoot at the upright,
But David is confident that God will shoot at them.

Psalms 7:12-13 “If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.”

God will do the fighting for David.

(8) “So they will make him stumble; Their own tongue is against them; all who see them will shake the head.”

I prefer the King James translation here.
“They make their tongue a stumbling for themselves.”

That is to say that God will expose them
And their own tongues will bring them down.

SUCH IS THE FATE OF ALL LIARS.
• Their lies have an expiration date.
• They only last for so long.

• As we were taught as kids: “O what a tangled web we weave, when first we
practice to deceive.”
• Or we have also been taught: “Liars have to have good memories”

So it is here.
They are filled with confidence in their slanderous lies right now,
But it will all come out and they will be exposed.

And everyone who heard their deceptive reports “will shake the head.”
They will see them for what they are.

(9) “Then all men will fear, And they will declare the work of God, And will consider what He has done.”

Here David confidently looks to the last day.

On that last day God will put an end to all such foes.
• Men will look upon them slain and consider all that God did.
• And men will fear God and confess that He alone is God.

The point being that their victory and success is temporary and fleeting.
It will not last.
It will not endure.

They stood at the cross and mocked Him as a blasphemer
And scorned Him as a common criminal.
But what a different scene it will be
When He comes the second time.

On that day their lies won’t have any merit.

(10) “The righteous man will be glad in the LORD and will take refuge in Him; And all the upright in heart will glory.”

All those who trusted Christ and who walked in His ways
Will rejoice in His victory and in His deliverance.

The faith of the upright will be rewarded and strengthened ever more
And his worship will be even louder on that day.

AND TO THAT WE SEE HOW DAVID OVERCAME.
He overcome the slanderous temptation of the wicked
To join in their pitiful battle
By trusting in God and seeing victory through eyes of faith.

When you truly believe that God will come
And will judge and will reward the upright
Then it is so much easier to be upright.

This song is clearly a song
Of encouragement to the persecuted.
• For those who are reviled and yet commanded to bless.
• For those who are slapped and yet commanded to turn the other cheek.
• For those going that extra mile.

This song is for those who are discouraged by the tactics of the enemy
And have considered stooping to his level
Or out of fear shrinking from their convictions.

It is a song to reset the perspective of the faithful.
• It is to encourage them to see that while there are those hiding in the bushes in order to shoot at them, that there is actually One who is hiding behind them.

It is a song encouraging us to look to the end and stay true
Regardless of the slander and regardless of the intimidation.

And this is actually quite easy to see.

TURN TO: REVELATION 13:16

(Read 16-17)

• How hard it must be in that day to continue to trust God when such threats and policies are enacted against you.
• How tempted the righteous must be to take that mark.
• But how foolish to take it.

And there are many who won’t.
Revelation 12:10-11 “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”

There will be many overcomers who will walk with eyes of faith.

In fact Revelation 14 gives a great picture of those who overcome.
(READ 14:1-5)
• These are men who despite the pressure walked uprightly.
• This is what we are called to do.
• Overcome.

And more show up in chapter 15.
(READ 15:1-4)

Those also are overcomers.

The point is that
• It can be very difficult to live uprightly in a world that hates uprightness.
• It can be very frustrating to walk in truth and still be slanderously attacked as though you don’t.
• It can be very hard to not stoop to the level of the enemy and fight him on his terms.

But we don’t.
• We don’t take our complaint to the world, we take it to God.
• We trust God to help us overcome our dread.
• We trust God to vindicate us and bring forth justice.
• We trust God to expose the wicked and satisfy the faithful.

So much of what we are called to be as Christians can be found here.
But the command is simple.
Overcome.

Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

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Was No One Found Who Returned To Give Glory To God?
Luke 17:11-19
February 16, 2020

This morning we approach a pretty familiar story in Luke’s gospel.
It is the story of the day when Jesus healed 10 lepers
And 1 of them returned in gratitude.

I’m sure you’ve probably heard the story before.
Most of the time I hear it preached around THANKSGIVING as this has seemed to be a story used most of the time to illustrate gratitude.
• After all, of the 10 who are healed only 1 returns to say “Thank You” to Jesus.
• And so the story is typically used as a story about being thankful.
• And that certainly isn’t totally wrong.
• This Samaritan did demonstrate gratitude.

But, the story is not primarily about gratitude.
It is about the difference between superficial faith and saving faith.
Between faith that is shallow and faith that saves.

This is a topic that I find to be of the utmost importance.

Jesus adamantly warned us of false prophets
• And how they would ultimately usher men through a wide gate and down a broad way.
• How they would come and tickle ears who would be willing to declare anyone saved for any profession at all.

And our society certainly proves those warnings to be valid.

But one of the things we definitely learn from the ministry of Jesus
Is that NOT ALL who encountered Jesus actually had saving faith.

IN FACT
NOT EVEN ALL those who claimed to believe had true saving faith.

John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

People there claimed to believe, but obviously Jesus expected more.
• He actually laid down a litmus test saying “If you continue in My word, then
you are truly disciples of Mine”

It’s as R.C. Sproul liked to say.
“We are not saved by a profession of faith, but by the possession of it.”

These claimed to believe, Jesus said, “We’ll see…”

John 12:42-43 “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”

There again we see men who had some sense of belief,
But whatever that belief was it did not result in confession of Him as Lord.

And Jesus was clear about that:
Matthew 10:32-33 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

Paul was also clear that it is those who “confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord” who will be saved.

So whatever faith these men had, it wasn’t saving faith.
They loved the approval of men more than the approval of God,
And despite their belief, they would not confess.

And probably the most telling of all:
John 2:23-25 “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

As we have pointed out before.
The word “believed” and the word “entrusting” there
Are the same word in the Greek. (PISTEUO)

John said that many believed in Jesus, but Jesus didn’t believe in them.

It brings to our mind
• The “many” who will appear before the Lord at the judgment saying “Lord,
Lord” and in response He will say, “I do not know you”

And there are more examples we could bring here, but you get the point.
NOT ALL FAITH IS SAVING FAITH.
There are many who profess but it is an empty profession.

This is also why the Bible tells us to EXAMINE OURSELVES
Regarding the genuineness of our salvation.

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”

2 Peter 1:10-11 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

Even the Lord’s Supper, which we will take at the conclusion of this service
Is done with a calling to examine ourselves.

1 Corinthians 11:27-32 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”

Examining the legitimacy of our faith is a very important reality.
Even included as one of the purposes of partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

Now let me tell you A COMMON MISTAKE
In how people seek to validate the legitimacy of their faith.

Commonly people in our culture measure the legitimacy of their faith
BY THE RESULTS they think it achieves.

That is to say, if God responds as expected
Then they discern that their faith must have been legitimate.
(My faith must be genuine because God responded to it)

The prosperity gospel sort of uses the reverse logic as if to say, “If God does not respond as you wanted then your faith is not real.”

That is a sort of litmus test that I see most people giving themselves.
And in that thread we hear statements like:
• “God has saved my life countless times…”
• “I know God is always with me because of those moments when…”
• “God definitely carried me through such and such situation”

But measuring the legitimacy of your faith in that way
Overlooks the reality of what we call “COMMON GRACE”

Common grace is simply that grace which is common on all men.
Matthew 5:44-45 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

In short, everyone is a beneficiary of God’s goodness.

That fact that God did something good for you
Is not an accurate indicator that your faith is legitimate.
All that proves is that God is gracious.

OUR FAITH IS PROVED LEGITIMATE BY OUR ACTIONS.

And that is what makes this story such a great illustration
Of more than just gratitude, but actually of genuine saving faith.

It is such a great illustration that even if it weren’t true
It would have made a great parable.

SO THIS MORNING let’s work through this story
And examine the difference between superficial faith and saving faith.

There are 4 divisions in this story that we can look at
#1 THE HEALING OF THE TEN
Luke 17:11-14

The story begins by revealing that Jesus “was on the way to Jerusalem”

He has actually been on His way here since Luke 9
Luke 9:51 “When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem;”

If you factor in other gospel accounts the picture gets clearer:

• In John 7&8 (Roughly about September) Jesus attended the Feast of Booths
in Jerusalem and at the end they tried to stone Him.

• In John 9&10 He attended the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) and they
again tried to stone Him.

• In John 11 He went near Jerusalem one more time in order to raise Lazarus
from the dead, even though His disciples warned Him that the Jews were
seeking to kill Him.

John 11:54 “Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.”

We are during that brief time period.
Sometime around February or March
Jesus is making His final trip to Jerusalem
Where He will be crucified for our sins.

I point that out because I want you to realize what is on the Savior’s mind.
• Certainly He is readying Himself for what is about to occur.
• But you can also understand the urgency of His ministry.
• His earthly ministry is almost over.

Well He’s traveling south out of “Galilee” and into “Samaria”
As He continues to migrate toward Jerusalem.

(12-13) “As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

We’ve talked about the issue of leprosy before.
• Known today as Hanson’s disease it was a condition by which the infected individual was declared unclean and sent outside of the camp.

There are really 2 reasons why leprosy is so often mentioned in Scripture
And why Jesus seems to have taken such special notice of it.

1) Leprosy was a fitting analogy for sin.
• Contrary to popular believe leprosy did not cause your extremities to rot off.
• Instead if caused nerve damage and loss of feeling in your extremities and ultimately caused people to “rub off” their extremities or even their noses.
• This became a fitting analogy of sin as that which is a self-inflicted and self-destructing disease due to lack of sensitivity to God’s truth.

2) Leprosy was seen as the curse of God on sinful people
• People in Bible times with leprosy were considered, more so than any other humans to have been under God’s judgment and wrath. They were cursed and they were outcast.

• One rabbi is mentioned to have refused to eat an egg that was purchased on a street where a leper walked.
• Other rabbi’s encouraged throwing rocks at lepers to keep them at a distance.

Jesus routinely healed lepers because it demonstrated
His power over sin and ability to satisfy God’s wrath on sinners.

But here you have 10 leprous men.
An entire hospital wing of lepers
Outcast, suffering, lonely, and pathetic.

But no doubt they had heard of Jesus.
They had heard of His miraculous ability.
• It may have even been that the entourage falling Jesus gave ample testimony of Jesus’ ability to heal.

However it occurred, these lepers knew what Jesus was capable of and so “they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

Not presuming to come close to Jesus,
Though He had healed lepers with a touch,
These men desperately cry out to Him.

They identify His power by calling Him “Master”
EPISTATES (ep-i-stah-tace)

Which refers to one who possesses notable power and authority.

And they ask Him to “have mercy on us!”
Which is a common way to ask for help or in this case healing.

SO BASICALLY you have men here who see in Jesus an opportunity to be healed of their disease and jump at the opportunity.

And Jesus does not disappoint.
(14) “When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed.”

• In Luke 5 Jesus actually touched the leper to cleanse him, but here Jesus merely spoke the word.

He told the men to “Go and show yourselves to the priests”

• Jewish Law indicated that the priests were the sort of leprosy inspectors.
• When a man wanted to be declared clean he must present himself to the priest who would examine him and if the leprosy was gone,
• Then he would put him through a cleansing ritual and after the ritual the man could return to his village and family.

So Jesus was clearly here affirming the Law.

Jesus was also forcing the priests to affirm His miraculous ability since they would have to certify that these lepers had in fact been healed.

So Jesus told them to go.
“And as they were going, they were cleansed.”

It is yet another tremendous display of Jesus’ compassion and power.
• Despite all that must have been on His mind He still took the time to show
mercy to these outcast men.
• He also demonstrated the ability to heal them with simply a word.

It was a dramatic demonstration of Jesus divinity and supernatural power.
In effect here, He cleared out the entire hospital.

NOW, IF THE STORY ENDED HERE,
There is no doubt what most everyone would talk about.

The story would not only be about the power and compassion of Jesus,
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE WE’D BE TALKING ABOUT.

We’d be talking about the faith of the lepers wouldn’t we?

Namely because
• Not only did they cry out to Jesus…
• Not only did they call Him Master…
• Not only did they plead for mercy…
• But they obeyed Him to go to the priest before the healing occurred…

If this is all we had of the story,
We’d no doubt be using these 10 lepers as examples of great faith,
Who saw Jesus and trusted Jesus and reaped the benefit of their faith.

But that only proves my point, that perhaps we are willing
To say someone has great faith when Jesus does not.

Because, (as Luke is so fond of doing), next we get the rest of the story.

And it is THE REST OF THE STORY that will help us see that
Perhaps these lepers didn’t have as much faith as you might think.

The Healing of the Ten
#2 THE RETURN OF THE ONE
Luke 17:15-16

Here is where the story gets important.
Because one man does what the other nine do not.

And we need to break this down a little further
To make sure we get a good look at what set him apart.

1) HIS SPIRITUAL CONCERN (15a)

“Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back…”

So all ten are headed to the priest,
And suddenly they are all miraculously healed.

It must have been quite a dramatic scene.
• Missing fingers reappeared, wrinkled skin tightened up, it must have been quite amazing!
• And no doubt the entire group must have been ecstatic.

But one man in the group saw more than the others.
While all 10 were certainly happy to have been healed,
1 saw an opportunity for something greater.

All 10 saw a man capable of healing their body,
1 saw a man capable of healing his soul.

AND THIS MAN RETURNS.
• This man needs more than just healing.
• Leprosy was not his only problem.
• Leprosy was not even his biggest problem.

He had a sin problem, he had a righteousness problem,
And he was now convinced that Jesus could deal with that.

So this man “turned back”.

The fact that the other 9 did not turn back
Indicates that their concern was only for the external benefits of being healed.

But one was also concerned about spiritual things.

2) HIS RESOUNDING PRAISE (15b)

“glorifying God with a loud voice,”

This man was returning with a purpose.
He was returning that he might give glory to God.

• Certainly that is part of why Jesus sent them all to the priest,
• And this man may certainly go there in a moment,
• But he recognized what the others did not.

If giving glory to God was the goal,
Then this man recognized that God was right here.

• No need to enter an empty temple where God’s glory had not dwelled since the time of Jeremiah.
• If a man truly wanted to glorify God, then approaching Jesus was the order of the day.

This man saw that.

3) HIS HUMBLE SUBMISSION (16a)

“and he fell on his face at His feet”

Certainly that is humility, but it is also submission.
• He is acknowledging Jesus as God and submitting to whatever He desires.

The other 9 are excited to go show themselves to the priest
So that they might be declared clean
And they can get on with life the way they want to live it.

This man sees his life restored and turns right around
And offers that life to Jesus for His glory.

You are already seeing the difference aren’t you?

4) HIS GENUINE GRATITUDE (16b)

“giving thanks to Him.”

Others may claim to be grateful, but
• Only 1 expressed that gratitude.
• Only 1 delayed his plans to give thanks.
• Only 1 made sure Jesus knew of his gratitude.

I hope you are seeing the difference.
• 10 were healed – 1 was grateful
• 10 were excited – 1 was submissive
• 10 received – 1 gave

SAVING FAITH IS NOT DISTINGUISHED BY WHAT IT RECEIVES,
BUT RATHER BY WHAT IT GIVES.

And to add an even stronger point we read “And he was a Samaritan.”

It was again that shocking reality of Jews
Who had benefited from Jesus’ miracles who still missed the point,
But of foreigners who trusted with far less proof.

But you simply see that even though 10 were healed, only 1 returned.
Now, we still in our story, might not yet be aware of the biggest problem.
But Jesus is about to shed some light on it.

#3 THE DISMAY OF THE HEALER
Luke 17:17-18

Here we have 3 questions by Jesus
And they all reveal the dismay, almost shock, of Jesus.

• “Were there not ten cleansed?”
• “But the nine – where are they?”
• “Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”

Can you hear His dismay?
Can you hear His frustration?

Quite honestly it is the same type of thing
Jesus has grown all-too accustomed to in Israel.

He has seen it over and over and over.
• Jews who desperately wanted to be healed but who had no interest in being saved.
• Jews who desperately wanted to be wowed with miracles but who had no interest in repentance or submission.

We saw it in His hometown.
He gave them perhaps the greatest revelation that anyone received.

Remember He read from Isaiah and said:
Luke 4:21 “And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

But ultimately that wasn’t what they wanted.
They didn’t want a Savior, they wanted a miracle worker.

Jesus would go on to say:
Luke 4:23 “And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'”

• They just wanted Him to do the same miracles there that He’d done
everywhere else. They just wanted healing.
• And when He wouldn’t give it they tried to throw Him off a cliff.

Jesus lamented over the towns where He worked most of His miracles.
Luke 10:13-15 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. “But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!”

These towns had seen miracle after miracle and still they wouldn’t believe.
Jesus announced the severity of their coming judgment.

Or Luke 11 we see people who actually demanded a sign (11:16).

But to them He responded:
Luke 11:29-32 “As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. “For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. “The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”

Or in just a few days when He will actually reach the city of Jerusalem.
Luke 19:41-44 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

It was just testimony after testimony of people who didn’t get it.
They saw miracle after miracle and never got the point.

What was the point of all the miracles?
It was to lead men to salvation.

John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

John 10:37-38 “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

John 20:30-31 “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

The point of every miracle was so that
When people saw the man capable of healing disease
That they might then also see the man capable of saving their soul.

The problem however was that time after time
People only wanted the healing with no concern whatsoever for their soul.

And this story, like all those others illustrates that.
And you can hear the frustration of Jesus.
“Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”

And that leads to one final point.
#4 THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SAVIOR
Luke 17:19

Here is this newly cleansed man, now presenting himself at Jesus’ feet.
And Jesus says, “Stand up and go”

That is to say, “Go ahead now and go to the priest and show yourself to him”

And then Jesus says this, “your faith has made you well.”
• Speaking of the 10 as a group in verse 14 we read, “they were cleansed”
• When Jesus spoke of them in verse 17 He said, “Were there not ten
cleansed?”

“cleansed” translates KATHARIZO
And it means cleansed or washed or cleaned or cured

All ten men received that miracle.

But this 1 man received something else.
Jesus told him “your faith has made you well.”

“well” translates SOZO
And that word means “saved”.

In fact, it is the Bible’s preferred word when speaking of salvation.

NOW, FOLLOW ALONG HERE.

All 9 men were healed, but only 1 was saved.
And do you know why?

ONLY 1 GAVE JESUS FAITH.
Do you see Jesus referencing the faith of the other 9?
No, He doesn’t.

And this is so profound as it comes to examining our own life.

What may have appeared to be faith in the other 9 wasn’t.
It was nothing more than desperate, self-serving, optimism
That paid off only because Jesus was compassionate.

Do you see that?

As I told you, if this story had ended in verse 14,
I’m convinced that the dialogue forever would have been about what great faith those lepers had because their faith earned a healing.

And yet, when you read the whole story
YOU FIND OUT THAT WHAT THEY HAD WASN’T REALLY FAITH AT ALL.

They were just desperate men with nothing to lose.

And their true heart became evident
When it became obvious that Jesus was God.

Because when Jesus demonstrated His power, and His power to save, THEY WEREN’T INTERESTED.

Whatever they had, it wasn’t saving faith.
They cried out to Jesus that He might fix their problem,
But once it was fixed they no longer had need of Him.

And I’m going to tell you folks, nothing grieves my heart or frustrates my soul on a regular basis more than this.

I SEE IT ALL THE TIME.
• People who come for prayer because they have some glaring need, but after
the need is filled they never return…
• People who come for benevolent help because they are low on funds, but
once the need is met they never return…
• We even see people who have some fear of hell and judgment and so they
run to Jesus to get saved, and they get baptized, and never return…

Are we to assume that those are expressions of saving faith?
Certainly not!

• If your faith does not produce an awareness that Jesus is God…
• If your faith does not produce a return and a love for Him…
• If your faith does not produce a submission to His will…
• If your faith does not produce gratitude and desire for Him to be
glorified…

Then I don’t know how you can ever assume that it is saving faith.

• Saving faith sees in Jesus the One who is God.
• Saving faith sees in Jesus the One who alone can save.
• Saving faith returns to Jesus in submission yielding up their life to Him.
• Saving faith is concerned with His glory more than their own plans or comfort.

All of these men were partakers of the common grace of Jesus,
But only one was a partaker of His saving grace,
Because only one presented true saving faith to Jesus.

Now, as we APPROACH THIS TIME OF LORD’S SUPPER
And the time to examine ourselves as Paul said.

We have to ask:
WHAT DO YOU SEEK?

Are you just wanting the benefits of Jesus or Jesus Himself?
Are you just seeking for Jesus to help you or for Jesus to be glorified?

We see so many who come running to Jesus for something they need and then once they receive it they no longer need Him.
• We see no love
• We see no gratitude
• We see no worship

And all that means is that there has never been salvation.

Luke is here highlighting a very important point.
The redeemed are spotted
Not by the benefits they receive but by the glory they give.

Isn’t that what Jesus asked:
“Was no one found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

So friend, where is the glory?
Where is the faithfulness?
Where is the gratitude?
Where is the submission?
Where is the worship?

Is it your objective to make sure Christ is glorified
Or are you just trying to milk His benefits for all their worth?

That is the difference between superficial faith and saving faith
And it is clearly put on display with these 10 lepers.

This morning we now turn to the table of the Lord.

Here we partake of the bread and the juice
As they symbolize the death and atoning sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.

• It was Jesus alone who came and lived a sinless life, thus earning a righteous status before God.
• It was Jesus alone who proved Himself as God through signs and wonders and various miracles.
• It was Jesus alone who bore our sin on the cross that He might suffer wrath that we deserve.
• It was Jesus alone who rose from the dead, proving Himself righteous and His sacrifice effective.
• It is Jesus alone who can impute His righteousness to us and thus save us eternally.

And we partake of this Lord’s Supper to say that,
Of all the things I may need from Jesus,
Nothing compares to the atonement I need from Him.

• We partake in faith that what Jesus did, He did for me.
• We partake in submission, yielding ourselves to Him for His glory.
• We partake in proclamation that we might proclaim to the world that His death was enough.

And as we partake we are commanded to examine ourselves.

And so that is what I ask you to do.

During this time of preparation,
• Examine your motives, and ask yourself if your life exists for His glory or just His benefits.
• This ordinance is only for those who have come humbly to Him for salvation.
• Others who eat it without seeking His glory only eat judgment to themselves.

SO EXAMINE YOURSELF

But also, submit yourself.
This morning may be the first time you ever do that, and you sit here and say,
“I have been those other 9, but this morning I want to be the 1.
This morning, Jesus I’m coming to you for forgiveness and atonement.”

Then partake this morning in an act of faith that Jesus did this for you.
• Return to Him
• Bow to Him
• Praise Him
• Give Glory to Him

THIS IS THE BEHAVIOR OF SAVING FAITH.

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The Wilderness Song
Psalms 63
February 9, 2020

Tonight we come to the 63rd Psalm and it is a Psalm with a distinction.
“A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.”

We certainly grant that this is not very specific since it could appear that David spent several time periods in the wilderness.
• He spent a great deal of time there when running from Saul.
• He spent a great deal of time there when warring with the Philistines.
• He spent time there when fleeing from Absalom.

But because verse 11 refers to David as “the king”, we are inclined to believe that it referred to one of his trips later in life, likely when he fled from Absalom.

And yet it is not the exact time that is important,
But rather the purpose that we seize upon.

Some of you may remember,
But several years ago when studying through the book of 1 Kings we read the story of Elijah and how he had expected revival in Israel, but instead was met with a death threat from Jezebel.

Elijah was so disillusioned at this
That you will remember he ran from the northern tip of Israel to the southern tip of Judah, and then ran another day’s journey into the wilderness where he sat down by a juniper tree and prayed to die.

When we studied that story, I referred to it as “Wilderness University”.
It is a title I stole from my mom.

Neither of my parents got a college degree,
• Though my dad did get a degree from Cebo’s horseshoeing school.
• Neither of them were compelled to go to college.
• But my mom was adamant that they had both received a degree in faith from “Wilderness University”.

I believe it was in 1985, I was in 3rd grade,
• When my parents picked my sister and I up from school and took us to Dairy Queen
• To inform us that my dad had been laid off from his job as a machinist.
• The plan was for my dad to be a horse trader full time.
• Anything of financial security was gone.

My mom would describe those next years as “Wilderness University”
It was there that my dad took classes like:
• “I Wish I Was A Cow” – where he actually envied how a cow could be at rest with no worries of life.
• “Throwing Rocks At God” – where he would chunk dirt clods in the air while exclaiming that he was tired of living by faith.
• “Don’t save the Manna and don’t save the horses” – where God was teaching him not to store, but to trust.

My mom would take classes as well, like:
• “How to hunt for milk money in the couch cushions”

Those years were difficult times in the lives of my parents
Where God was teaching them who He was.

As I told you back in our study of Kings,
God puts His people through classes at “Wilderness University”
But the only degree that is ever earned there is a FAITH degree.

You learn to trust God or you stay in the wilderness.

And even for those who have graduated,
• We often learn that God is in favor of continuing education
• Because it is not at all uncommon for His people to get to attend more than once in their life.

You may not have called it “Wilderness University”,
But I’m betting you have a time like that in your life.

A time when God sent you into the wilderness;
The great unknown and begin to box you in
So that He might reveal more of Himself to you.

And you are probably also aware that this was common practice for God.
• No sooner did God call Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans and into Canaan then did God send a famine on that land to push Abraham.
• No sooner did God stop Esau from stealing Jacob’s blessing then did God send Jacob into the wilderness and to a man named Laban.
• No sooner did God deliver the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt than did God send them into the wilderness that He might solidify their faith.

We see it over and over.
Even our Lord began His ministry with a 40 day stent in the wilderness.
It is a common destination for the people of God.

Well, David wrote this song while in that type of wilderness.

Whether you are there now, or you find yourself there tomorrow,
This song is there to remind you of the purpose of your education
And the expected response that you might earn your faith degree.

And certainly as we contemplate these times in our lives
We must also come to the realization that

Though the wilderness may not always be a pleasant time,
It is most certainly a valuable time.

Hebrews 12:5-6 “and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”

Hebrews 12:11 “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

We understand the value
Of these times of discipline and wilderness training.

Charles Spurgeon said, “When the bed is the softest we are most tempted to rise at lazy hours; but when comfort is gone, and the couch is hard, if we rise the earlier to seek the Lord, we have much for which to thank the wilderness.”
(Spurgeon, C.H. [The Treasury of David – Volume 2; Psalms 58-110; Hendrickson Publishers; Peadbody, MA] pg. 65)

Or another quote I read from Spurgeon, “I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me up against the Rock of Ages.”

We are talking about the infinite value of
What we gain from times spent in the wilderness of God.

David here sings a song that shows us how to approach it.
• He in effect gives us the answers on the test.
• He tells us what God is teaching us and what we should learn.

And we can divide it up into 3 main truths to learn in the wilderness.
#1 CRAVE GOD
Psalms 63:1-5

Much time could justifiably be spent just on the first phrase of this Psalm.

“O God, You are my God;”

There are depths of mystery and grace in that statement.

That not only is He “God”,
• The One who created the universe by the word of His power,

But also in that great power that He would be willing to be “my God”

David sang of this gracious mystery in Psalms 95
Psalms 95:1-7 “O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.”

It is grace indeed that the God of the universe
Would be willing to associate Himself with us.

And it is the privilege of our lives that we could call
The One true God “my God” as David does here.

It is the opening of the great song
And perhaps the single most important truth
To learn in the wilderness.

God sends us there, if for no other reason than
That we might learn that He alone is God and we are not.

David leaks this answer out at the very beginning.
• In the wilderness there is but one prize.
• In the wilderness there is but one objective.
• In the wilderness there is but one final aim and goal.

It is not relief, it is not prosperity, it is not even enlightenment
It is that we might know our great God.

A few weeks ago when studying John 11 with our youth we read that peculiar statement at the beginning of the chapter:
John 11:3-6 “So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.”

• Martha and Mary and Lazarus were in a wilderness of sorts,
• They had sent for Jesus because they knew Him able to heal the sick.
• But Jesus, because He loved them, purposely waited two more days, and
ultimately for Lazarus to die.

Why?

We reminded the youth that it was because
The greatest thing God can give you
Is a greater revelation of Himself.

There is nothing greater to give.
It’s worth more than anything this world can offer.

Those sisters knew Jesus was “The Great Physician”,
They had no idea He was also “The Resurrection and the Life”.

They were in their wilderness that they might learn this truth.

That is why David is here; that he might know God.

And David knows that.
“I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh years for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

He wasn’t seeking water.
He wasn’t seeking relief.
He was seeking God.

Psalms 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?”

Psalms 84:1-4 “How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. The bird also has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God. How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah.”

David’s desire is to seek God, not comfort.

And this desire is based upon
The reality of what he has learned in the past.

His experience has been that when he sought God, he found Him,
And when he found Him, it was worth it.

(2) “Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.”

David is aware of the payoff for seeking and ultimately finding God.
When you find Him, there is no comparison.

What God has to offer is infinitely better.
(3-4) “Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.”

David here refers to that loyal favor of God.
• And David says it is “better than life”

Psalms 84:10 “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

David takes all that he could obtain in this world
And then puts it on the scales with God on the other side
And makes his judgment that there is no comparison.
Obtaining the favor of the LORD is of more value than all the things of life.

“I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold; I’d rather be His than have riches untold; I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands; I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand. I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause; I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause; I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame; I’d rather be true to His holy name. He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom; He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb; He’s all that my hungering spirit needs; I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead. Than to be the king of a vast domain Or be held in sin’s dread sway; I’d rather have Jesus than anything This world affords today.”

• David saw the great treasure in the field.
• David saw the pearl of great value.

It is what Paul spoke of when he said:
Philippians 3:7-8 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,”

A man who loves the world, when he finds himself in the wilderness, only seeks back the things of the world.
But a man who loves God, when he finds himself in the wilderness, seeks that he might obtain the things of God.

This is where David was.
• He was seeking God.
• He was craving God.

Because he was aware that only in God is true satisfaction found.
(5) “My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.”

Think on that for a moment.
“My soul is satisfied…”

That is a satisfaction that this world cannot offer.
• Our world seeks to satisfy the flesh, and for short periods of time is even able
to accomplish that.
• But when has the world ever been able to satisfy the soul?
• When has the world ever been able to produce true abiding and lasting
contentment?

When has the world ever allowed us to say with Paul:
Philippians 4:11-12 “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.”

The world doesn’t.
David understood that this wilderness time
Was in part to rip from him his dependence on the world
And to allow him to find all that he needed and all that he wanted in God.

And David was taking advantage of the opportunity.

Now just by way of reinforcement,
Consider Israel when they were in the wilderness.

They did not learn this lesson.

Numbers 11:4-6 “The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? “We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.”

If you will remember God taught us that
He purposely let them get hungry and then provided manna
Because He wanted to teach them that man does not live by bread alone.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.”

But Israel craved the wrong things in the wilderness.
They craved meat, and the Bible says God gave it to them.

Numbers 11:31-33 “Now there went forth a wind from the LORD and it brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp and about two cubits deep on the surface of the ground. The people spent all day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers) and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very severe plague.”

This is why Paul told us about their example and wrote:
1 Corinthians 10:6 “Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.”

They were a bad example.

Do you want a good example?
Matthew 4:1-4 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'”

When our Lord was in the wilderness.
• He had gone for 40 days seeking only God with no bread at all, and even when tempted to gratify the flesh, He resisted.
• He understood the purpose of the wilderness was to crave God not the things of the world.

David seems to know that too
And is here taking advantage of the opportunity.
David is craving God.

In the wilderness we learn to crave God.
#2 CLING TO GOD
Psalms 63:6-8

There may be many of us who actually score well
On the first portion of the test.

• We find ourselves in affliction and quickly realize that the purpose is that we might seek God.
• We quickly recognize how worldliness and idolatry had crept into our hearts and so we repent and make a pledge that now we will seek God.
• The Bible comes out, the prayer times become intense,
• And we surmise that now that we have learned our lesson that surely our time of darkness is quick to come to an end.
• And then we endure night after night after night after night.

But as time goes on WE WONDER WHY God has not already pulled us out of the wilderness, after all, we learned our lesson.

We learned one lesson, but there is more to learn.
God is not only teaching us TO CRAVE Him, but also TO CLING to Him.
God is teaching us endurance. God is teaching us to trust.

God is making sure we are not merely using Him
To regain the things and comforts of this world,
But rather that we now want Him more than those things.

To put it another way,
“God is making sure that we see Him as the end, not as the means.”

AND HERE WE FIND DAVID.
• In the deprivation of the desert David learned to crave God.
• Now David is in the darkness of night, where he is learning to cling to God.

The night paints a picture of
• Slow moving minutes and hours that creep by.
• A day may fly by, but to lie awake at night causes the moments to slowly walk.
• The night is long…

The night also depicts darkness and that of confusion.
• A man often knows where he is headed during the day and feels confident and
capable to chart his own course.
• A man who walks through the dark is dependent upon the hand in front of him
to guide him through.

This is also part of the wilderness.
Not only that God may gain our attention,
But that God may keep our attention.

God doesn’t just want to be the Source Of Our Seeking,
But also the Subject Of Our Meditation.

And here God has David’s attention.
(6-8) “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.”

As David lays upon his bed enduring a night in which he cannot sleep,
He turns his thoughts to the great works of God.

“For You have been my help”
• All that God has done for me…
• All the benefits of having God on my side…

And all the joys of walking with God.
“in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy”

Every time we read of dwelling “in the shadow of [God’s] wings”
IT IS BECAUSE DANGER ABOUNDS.

David always went there to escape from the enemy.
David always went there because he was in danger.

It was like going to the cellar during a tornado.

And yet, as David recounts it,
He never spent a night in that cellar
That wasn’t the best night of his life.

Every time he was pressured to run to God and take refuge under His wings, it ended up being the most joyful night of his life.

And David realizes that.
And he says, “My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.”

There is the lesson to be learned in the wilderness.

Certainly we must see that only in God is our soul satisfied,
But we must also learn that only to God must our soul cling.

In the wilderness David learned TO CRAVE GOD
And David learned TO CLING TO GOD.

And again, Israel failed here also.
Psalms 95:7b-11 “Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

That was the place where Israel chose to put God to the test
To force Him to prove that He was God.

Instead of simply clinging to God they sought to force God
To prove Himself worthy of their affection.

The Bible says that God loathed them for that
And refused to let them ever leave the wilderness.

The writer of Hebrews picked up on that and warned the church:
Hebrews 3:12-14 “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,”

The writer of Hebrews said, don’t do what they did; cling to Christ!

And of course Jesus was a great example for us here as well.
Matthew 4:5-7 “Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'”

• Satan wanted Jesus to force God’s hand.
• Satan wanted Jesus to force God to prove His favor.

BUT JESUS UNDERSTOOD
The wilderness was not a place for testing the heart of God,
The wilderness was a place for testing His own resolve.

Jesus determined to cling to God in the wilderness.

It appears that David did too.
• In the wilderness we learn to crave God.
• In the wilderness we learn to cling to God.

In the wilderness we learn to:
#3 CONFESS GOD
Psalms 63:9-11

Here David gives us some DESCRIPTION OF HIS WILDERNESS.

• For my parents the wilderness was a time of financial uncertainty.
• For some it is an illness or a battle with a disease.
• For some it is a period of workplace struggle or hardship.

For David it was physical persecution.
People wanted to kill David.

This hostility led David into the wilderness, and as we said
While he was there HE CRAVED God and HE CLUNG to God.

But that is not all David learned in the wilderness.
DAVID ALSO LEARNED TO CONFESS GOD.

That is, to renew his commitment to the Lord.
David learned to rise up again in faith and confess his allegiance to Christ.

We learn this also in the wilderness.

As we said a few weeks ago, when God prunes the branch or injures the branch, the purpose is to drive branch further into the vine for more of that healing sap.

The wilderness works the same.
It is to clarify our resolve and renew our commitments.

During periods of comfort
• Our commitments can become blurred and even our very confession can
become cloudy.
• It can be difficult to see just who we are following and seeking.

And yet during a time in the wilderness all of the dross is removed
And God brings our focus back to rest upon Him.

DAVID IS THERE.

Look at his confidence and confession.
(9-10) “But those who seek my life to destroy it, will go into the depths of the earth. They will be delivered over to the power of the sword; they will be pray for foxes.”

Now this is NOT what David sees currently happening.
This is what David sees through eyes of faith.

He has drawn near to God and rested in God
And now his faith is confirmed and he is confident
That God will act on his behalf.

This confidence David now has is part of that satisfaction of soul that David spoke of back in verse 5.
• He has drawn near to God.
• He has beheld God’s power and glory.
• He has tasted again of God’s lovingkindness.
• He has remembered God in the night.
• He has taken refuge in the shadow of His wings.

• And the result is a satisfied soul that now sings for joy to God even in the midst of the wilderness.

Do you see how confirmed David’s faith is?

(11) “But the king will rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him will glory, for the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.”

That is a great statement.
“everyone who swears by Him will glory”

That is to say,
• “everyone who confesses Him”
• “everyone who declares His name as their God”.

Or as the New Testament put it:
Romans 10:11 “For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

David has returned there.
In this wilderness he has once again found his great confession.

And it is the confession David began the song with.
“O God, You are my God”

That is exactly where the wilderness is designed to take us.
• Only, the wilderness is not satisfied when that is the profession of our lips.
• The wilderness doesn’t stop until that is the confession of our heart.

That is what the wilderness does.

And again, this was something Israel refused to learn.
• No sooner did they enter the wilderness than did they build for themselves a golden calf.

And even that wasn’t the end of their idolatry.
Numbers 21:4-6 “Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.”

There Israel actually spoke against God.
That is a far cry from confessing Him.

The pain of the wilderness exposed the condition of their heart.
• God wanted them to crave Him and cling to Him and confess Him.
• Instead they craved bread, tested Him, and spoke against Him.

And even that is not all.
Numbers 25:1-3 “While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel.”

Israel would join themselves to other gods.

They did not understand the wilderness or the purpose of it.

But again, Jesus did.
Matthew 4:8-11 “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'” Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.”

• Satan offered Jesus a way out of the wilderness.
• Satan offered Jesus the glory of the world without the pain of the cross.

But Jesus knew where His allegiance rested.
Jesus confessed God.

He understood the purpose of the wilderness.
He craved God, He clung to God, He confessed God

DAVID UNDERSTOOD IT AS WELL.

And you know that both David and Jesus, having earned a degree in faith, would exit the wilderness.

The children of Israel who refused to learn never did.
• They were all laid low in the wilderness.
• They never graduated.

And if you follow the story, those who did enter the land would over the years fall into the same sins and God would send them to the wilderness again.
• God would send them to Babylon.
• And when He did, He would again tell them the purpose.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”

Do you see how God would send them there
So that they might learn to crave and cling to and confess God again?

And yet even in this Israel’s education would be short lived.
• Time after time they would continue to rebel and never seemed to be what God intended.
• They never seemed to learn their lesson.

And that is why it is so remarkable to us
That Jesus also entered the wilderness
And accomplished what they nor us ever did.

Jesus aced the wilderness.
• And that is why when we look back and see our failures and follies and times of refusal to seek and trust God, we rejoice at the gospel and the fact that we can be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

God does in fact still bring us to the wilderness to teach us to crave Him and cling to Him and confess Him,

But even in our failures He does not loathe us as He did the rebellious Israelites because we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ who delighted the very heart of God.

Well that is your song for the wilderness.
• When you go, now you see what God is teaching you.
• Now you see the degree you are studying for.
• But you also see the necessity of the One who already aced the class.

And so in your wilderness,
Crave Jesus, Cling to Jesus, and Confess Jesus.
That is the degree you are receiving.