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Responding To Jesus’ Instruction On Sin
Luke 17:5-10
February 9, 2020

The last couple of weeks we have listened
As Jesus gave His disciples some very pointed and practical instruction
Regarding how to view and deal with sin.

HIS COMMANDS WERE CLEAR AND CONCISE.
1. Don’t Ever Cause It
2. Guard Yourself From It
3. Rebuke Your Brother For It
4. Forgive The Humble Of It

That was Jesus’ instruction regarding sin.
It seems so clear and so simple, but let’s be honest.
THERE IS NOTHING EASY ABOUT WHAT JESUS SAID.

• It is hard to not be a stumbling block to others.
• It is hard to not fall into sin ourselves.
• It is hard to rebuke a brother for sin.
• It is hard to forgive a brother for sinning against us.

It is one thing to read what Jesus said, but doing it is quite another thing.

And while most of the crowd may have simply given Jesus
“A token head nod” or a shouted “a token amen”,
IT IS CLEAR THAT SOME TOOK WHAT JESUS SAID TO HEART.

There were some in the crowd who didn’t just hear the sermon,
They listened to it. They internalized it. They applied it to their lives.

And when they did that,
They saw the extreme difficulty of seeking to obey such commands.

It is there response that we see here.

There are 3 points in our text this morning, as we work our way through it and learn a very valuable truth about how to obey what Jesus just taught.

#1 THE ASSESSMENT
Luke 17:5

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

• There is no reason to separate this statement away from the previous statements made by the Lord.
• And because there is no reason to separate it, it is best to see their statement as a response to what Jesus said.

One thing we do notice first, however, is WHO is making the statement.

Luke records that, “The apostles said to the Lord”

This is a clear and obvious distinction from what we read in verse 1.
Where Luke said, “He said to His disciples…”

Clearly the “disciples” there was the large group of followers who were accompanying Jesus.
• They were those who had at least outwardly affirmed Him to be the Messiah.
• They were those who were no doubt intrigued by His power.
• They were those who wanted to see Him usher in His kingdom.
• And to some extent they had claimed to believe.

Jesus had preached that message on sin to that entire group.

But implied here is that the entire group
Sort of let it go “in one ear and out the other”.

We are aware (because we know what it is coming)
• That most of those disciples were only following Jesus for the earthly benefits
He could supply.
• Most of those who were presently following had no interest in hearing sermons
about sin.
• They were mostly just humoring Him by listening, no doubt hoping He would
soon get on to the next miraculous work.

But “the apostles” where different.

This is the group of men you know of as the 12.
• They have been missing in Luke’s gospel since Luke 9 when Jesus sent them out to proclaim the kingdom.
• No doubt they have been there, it’s just that Luke hasn’t really singled them out for us.

But here they immerge.

And the beautiful part is that they, unlike the rest of the followers, have clearly internalized this message.
• They have heard what Jesus said about sin.
• They heard Him say not to be a stumbling block.
• They heard Him say not to fall into sin.
• They heard Him say to rebuke your brother for sin.
• They heard Him say to forgive your brother.

And instead of just dismissing it, they internalized it;
They applied it to their lives.

And they, more so than anyone else in the crowd, realized how difficult a command this was.
• They could see the problem…
• They could feel the weight…
• They knew what Jesus was asking was extremely difficult.

Perhaps some of you did too over the last couple of weeks.
• Perhaps as we spoke of watching out for stumbling blocks, or rebuking your brother, or forgiveness…
• Perhaps you too, had someone pop into your mind that you needed to confront or that you needed to forgive.

• And when you sensed the Lord pushing you to do one of those things you also felt that inward struggle and knew that what He was asking you to do is very difficult.

That is where the apostles are.
And so they come to Jesus asking for help.

What is interesting, and so important for us to see,
Is what the disciples specifically asked for.

When they felt the struggle of obedience, notice what they requested.
“Increase our faith!”

• They don’t ask for better circumstances…
• They don’t ask for better brothers to deal with…
• They don’t argue with Jesus because He just doesn’t know…

They ask for faith.
And there is a reason for this.

They have already been with Jesus nearly 3 years
And they have learned that all of their failures and short-comings
Are the result of a lack of faith.

They had been rebuked for this many times already.

Remember when Jesus instigated that storm while crossing the sea?
Luke 8:24-25 “They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

Remember when Jesus had taken the disciples out but they had forgotten bread?
Matthew 16:5-8 “And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?”

Remember when Jesus was transfigured, but 9 of the disciples were down below trying to cast out a demon and couldn’t?
Matthew 17:19-20 “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

The point is that regardless of the mistake that the disciples made,
Jesus always seemed to bring it back to the same root problem.

Whether it was fear or lack of power or even failure to understand,
Jesus always seemed to identify the same problem.

It was the littleness of faith.

Certainly the apostles have figured that much out.
• So, when their hearts are struggling with commands like rebuke and forgive your brother they now realize what it is that they need.

THEN NEED MORE FAITH.

“Lord, “Increase our faith!”

Understand this now.
The disciples understand their struggle with obedience
To be a faith problem.

• Jesus told them not to cause sin.
• Jesus told them not to stumble in sin.
• Jesus told them to rebuke a brother in sin.
• Jesus told them to forgive a humble brother.

And the apostles understand that the reason those commands are difficult for them is because their faith is too small.

Do you see that?

SO OFTEN, IN OUR DAY,
A lack of faith is sort of the phrase tossed out there
• For people who don’t receive miraculous healings
• Or who don’t experience supernatural signs and wonders.

BUT THE REALITY IS THAT
The most obvious indicator of a lack of faith is a lack of obedience.

A lack of miracles or a lack of healing does not indicate a lack of faith,
But a lack of obedience does.

And consider all that Jesus just commanded.

What else could we say about a person..?
• Who leads others into sin,
• Or who dabbles in sin themselves,
• Or who won’t rebuke a brother for sin,
• Or who doesn’t forgive people?

What else could we say about such a person except that they clearly don’t believe what God has said about the judgment of sin?

• If they really believe that sin brings about the judgment of God…
• If they really believe that the judgment of God is horrible…
Then certainly they would view sin differently.

But as it is, their failure to obey these types of commands
Indicates that they don’t really believe what God has said about it.

LET ME JUST PUT IT TO YOU LIKE THIS.
THE BIGGEST BLUNDER YOU OR I COMMIT ON A DAILY BASIS
IS A FAILURE TO BELIEVE GOD.

NOW I DIDN’T SAY that our biggest blunder is a failure to believe in God.
Those are two different things.

Our biggest blunder is a failure to believe God.
WHEN WE FAIL TO BELIEVE GOD SIN IS ALWAYS THE RESULT.

This is the root of all disobedience…a failure to believe God.

The apostles where absolutely right to assess this situation in this way.
Their struggle here with obeying these commands
Was because their faith was too small.

If they were to obey these commands they needed more faith.
That is absolutely true.

AND YET THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE REMARKABLE HERE.

They understood that faith was a supernatural gift.
• They didn’t say, “Help us use our faith more”
• They didn’t say, “Help us show more faith”

They said, “Increase our faith!”

The understood their problem to be a lack of faith,
And they understood that Christ was the one who must increase it.

That is important on a number of levels.
We certainly believe in God’s sovereignty over salvation.
• We see that in order for a man to believe, that God must supernaturally grant him the faith to believe.
• We have never claimed that faith originates with man, we have always said that faith originates with God.

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”

2 Peter 1:1 “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:”

That is why salvation is first “by grace”,
Because even the faith God requires is first a gift from Him.

That is certainly true in regard to salvation,
But that is also true in regard to SANCTIFICATION.

While we are certainly commanded to be sanctified,
Or to obey His commands,
We also understand that the power to obey those commands
Comes from Him.

He must always be at work in us to help us obey.

1 Corinthians 6:11 “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

• We see there that not only does God justify us, but God also sanctifies us.
• He is active in equipping us to live the Christian life as He commands.

Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

• There again, God is at work in us to conform us to the image of Jesus.
• That is His work in us.

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

• Again, God working to accomplish His perfecting and sanctifying work in us.

Philippians 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

• There we see both sides of the coin.
• We are certainly commanded to walk in righteousness,
• But we also see that the power comes from God who is at work in us.

That is the same thing the disciples are expressing.
• They understand the commands of Jesus not to lead others into sin, not to sin, to rebuke their brother, and to forgive others.
• They understand that these are things that they must do.
• But they also understand where the strength to do those things must come from.

And so, they come to Jesus and ask Him to increase their faith.

They have accurately assessed the situation.
• Christ is requiring obedience from them,
• Unless they have more faith they cannot obey it.
• And if they are to get more faith, He must increase it.

Now, I am also aware that some may balk at this.

If you studied walked through our reformation study with us you will remember that this was the very basis for the disagreement between Augustine and Pelagius.

Augustine had that famous prayer:
“Grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou dost desire.”
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/pelagian-controversy/

And Pelagius saw that is incorrect.
• He thought all the burden for obedience fell upon man.
• God could certainly grant whatever He wanted, but the sole responsibility for obedience fell upon man.

And there are many who actually believe that still today
Even though the church condemned Pelagius as a heretic.

There are many see faith and obedience
As solely the responsibility of man
With no expectation that God should provide anything.

Clearly the disciples would disagree with that.
• Clearly the disciples saw faith as their biggest need and they recognized that Christ must grant that faith.

But what you should also notice is that Christ agreed with them.

The Assessment
#2 THE AFFIRMATION
Luke 17:6

“And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.”

Now, if you’re paying attention here, then you notice that
The Lord DOES NOT directly answer their response here.

They asked for more faith,
But Jesus didn’t say anything here about how to get it.

Instead, He merely affirms that their assessment is correct.
• They are correct that they need more faith.
• They are correct in coming to Him for it.

The apostles assessed that the solution to their lack of obedience was more faith and Jesus affirms that by saying, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.”

So Jesus simply affirms their assessment.
“That’s true, faith is what you need, because with faith anything is possible.”

The “mustard seed” was
• The smallest garden seed that they were regularly accustomed to,
• And yet it could grow into a plant around 15’ tall.

Jesus liked using it as analogy that small things can produce big results.
FAITH FITS THAT ANALOGY.

And here Jesus speaks metaphorically by suggesting that
Even faith as small as a mustard seed
Could command a mulberry tree to uproot and go plant in the sea.

Everything about that analogy is impossible, and borderline absurd.
• Mulberry trees have an extensive root system…
• Uprooting them is difficult…
• They certainly cannot uproot themselves…
• And no tree is ever planted on the sea…

The entire point is that for a mulberry tree to do that
Is for all intents and purposes IMPOSSIBLE.

It’s no different than the analogy Jesus gave after casting out a demon that the apostles could not.
Matthew 17:20 “And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

He is just making the point that faith can accomplish much.

The book of Zechariah contains a similar reference.
In regard to Zerubbabel rebuilding the temple, which seemed impossible at the time, we read:
Zechariah 4:7 “What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”‘”

• The “great mountain” was Zerubbabel’s project of rebuilding the temple,
• Zechariah revealed that by the grace of God this impossible project would get
done.

That’s the same sort of language Jesus is using here.

And the point is this:
A man can accomplish anything when he believes God.

SO
• The apostles assessed that they needed more faith to be able to obey Christ’s
commands,
• And Jesus said, “True, that’s exactly what you need.”

It’s just a simple truth affirmed again.
The biggest blunder we make on a daily basis is a failure to believe God.

When a man believes God and believes what God says
There is no limit to what he can accomplish
Because there is no limit to what God can accomplish.

Perhaps you remember the man who brought his demon-possessed boy to Jesus:
Mark 9:21-23 “And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. “It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”

Outside the tomb of Lazarus Jesus reminded Martha:
John 11:39-40 “Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

As the Rich Young Ruler walked away and Jesus recounted how difficult it is for a rich man to be saved, Jesus went on to say:
Matthew 19:25-26 “When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

In the upper room on the night before Christ died, He told the apostles:
John 14:12-14 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

And this all hinges on the reality that Paul spoke of:
Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,”

AND DON’T MISUNDERSTAND.
• THIS IS NOT the popular “Name it and Claim it” theology we see today.
• That is not at all what we are talking about.

This would be better characterized as
“Read it and Believe it” theology or “Hear it and Do it” theology.

James 1:22 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

JESUS WAS NOT advocating that you can just wish up whatever you want
Or speak anything you desire into existence
As the charismatics so often want to suggest.

But Jesus was clearly reminding us that
There is no limit to what a man can do when he obeys what God says.

There is no limit to what God can accomplish through a man
Who believes Him and obeys His word.

That man can move mountains. That man can transplant mulberry trees.

Because there is no limit to what God can accomplish through us
When we believe Him and subsequently obey Him.

For that you only have to look to the faith chapter which is filled with example after example of men and women who simply believed God.

They didn’t just believe in God, they believed God.

And not only where they justified before God because of their faith,
But through these men and women,
God also accomplished impossible things.

Hebrews 11:32-35 “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;”

God did all those things through people who simply believed Him.

And following that line of thinking and the context of this passage,
We can say that
• God keeps these little ones from stumbling into sin,
• God keeps us from stumbling into sin,
• God brings sinning brothers out of sin,
• God reconciles offended brothers together
When people believe Him and do what He says.

Those are big mountains to move, and they may appear impossible.
• Have you ever grieved over a brother in sin and wished he would leave it?
• Have you ever wondered if reconciliation could ever occur between two
feuding brothers?

Sometimes it would appear even miraculous for such things to occur,
BUT GOD CAN ACCOMPLISH THEM.

HOW?
When you believe God and rebuke your brother…
When you believe God and forgive your brother…

Do you see why faith is so necessary?
When you believe God and obey Him, there is no limit to what He can accomplish.

So when these apostles hear the commands of Jesus regarding sin and assess that they need more faith, Jesus agrees.

But that still leaves us with the question.
HOW IS FAITH INCREASED?

The Assessment, The Affirmation
#3 THE ANSWER
Luke 17:7-10

After affirming their assessment Jesus is now answers their question,
And he does it in a sort of parable form.

But His point is great and so important to our understanding
Of how to receive the faith we need to obey Christ.

(7-9) “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? “But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? “He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?”

This is just A COMMON OBSERVATION from life that exists all around the apostles.
• You see it everywhere.
• The master/slave relationship.

You’d understand it better
In the terms of an employer and their employee.
(for slavery here was not like our mindset of pre-civil war slavery,
In many cases slaves in Bible times were better off than hired men)

Here we have a man who has a job to do, an “eight hour a day” type job.

Let’s say you have a job, and you work from 9am until 5pm.
• And that morning your boss sends you out to work on a project,
• And at 3pm you finish that job, so you come back to the office.
• Now, at that point the boss doesn’t send you home,
• Instead he finds you something else to do for the last two hours of the day.

And here is the point.
When you come in at 3 and do another job until 5,
The boss doesn’t pay you overtime or give you special recognition
Just because you worked those last 2 hours does he?

No, that is simply what you were expected to do.

And that is Jesus’ point.
Slaves (or employees) fulfill their obligations
Expecting no extra glory or compensation all the time.

Your boss doesn’t give you a trophy just for working a full day.
Right?

(10) “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

Clearly Jesus is referring to the necessity of humility.
• When you do what you’ve been told you should not expect extra glory for it.
• You shouldn’t expect a trophy just for doing the job you’ve been paid to do.

That we understand.
Jesus is calling for humility.
He is calling for the disciples to not seek glory.

In fact in verse 10 the word for “unworthy” is ACHREIOS
Which actually means “useless” or “good for nothing”

In Matthew 25:30 it is translated “worthless”:
Matthew 25:30 “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Now Jesus DOESN’T SAY here that a slave who does his job is worthless or unworthy, only that he should consider himself to be that.

It is the picture of one who is not looking for extra credit
Just because they did what they were supposed to do.

HE IS TALKING ABOUT HUMILITY.
We all see that.

But the question is:
WHAT DOES HUMILITY HAVE TO DO WITH THE DISCIPLES REQUEST FOR MORE FAITH?

And the answer is actually: EVERYTHING

Faith is a byproduct of humility.
Just as unbelief is a byproduct of arrogance.

All throughout Luke’s gospel, Luke has been making this point that it is the humble who believe God.
• It is those who do not trust in their own understanding…
• It is those who put no value in their own abilities or achievements…
• These are the ones who inevitably trust and believe God.

The thing that keeps men from believing God or from trusting God
Is that men would rather accomplish things by their own efforts.
You know this as legalism.

• Why would men rather do it on their own?
• Why would men rather work for it themselves than trust God for it?
• Why would men rather do it their own way instead of doing what God says?

The answer: GLORY
If I do it myself and I work for it then I get the credit.

That pride is the great enemy of faith.
Faith requires humility.
• It requires me to admit that my plans and my ways are not as good as God’s
plans and God’s ways.

And if I do it God’s way and it works,
Then God and not me will get all the credit.

I recently saw a quote circulating on Facebook so I know it is true.
It is attributed to Ronald Reagan and it says, “There is no limit to what people can accomplish when they don’t care who gets the credit.”

That’s sort of what we are saying here.
Except we see the point through eyes of faith.

“There is no limit to what a person can accomplish
When they don’t care if God gets the credit.”

The thing keeping the disciples
From having the faith they needed to obey Christ was pride.

So when they asked for an increase of faith,
After affirming this assessment,
Jesus then told them to humble themselves.

He told them to consider themselves as “unworthy slaves”.
This would be necessary for them to receive more faith.

Now, let me give you a few other examples
Of how great faith and genuine humility walk hand in hand.

TURN TO: LUKE 7:1-10
• Do you see there the great humility of the Centurion? “for I am not worthy”
• And do you see that Jesus marveled at his great faith?

TURN TO: MATTHEW 15:21-28
• Do you see the great humility of the woman? “even the dogs feed on the crumbs”
• And do you see that Jesus spoke of here great faith?

TURN TO: MATTHEW 17:19-21
• There Jesus references the little faith of the disciples.
• But you also see their lack of humility.

Jesus says the only way to accomplish this task is through prayer and fasting,
Which implies that the disciples were doing neither.

Perhaps they were waiving their hands, perhaps they were making bold claims, they were engaging in behavior meant to make them look good and get glory.

Their lack of faith was evidenced by their lack of humility.

Do you see how the two work hand in hand?
Pride is the enemy of faith.

So now we understand the situation.
Jesus gave a list of 4 difficult commands to obey.
• But you cannot obey them without faith.
• And you cannot have faith without humility.

So do you want to be able to obey the commands of Jesus regarding sin?
• Do you want to refrain from being a stumbling block?
• Do you want to guard yourself from sin?
• Do you want to be able to rebuke your sinning brother?
• Do you want to be able to forgive your repentant brother?

Then humble yourself, quit worrying about how it makes you look.
Quit worrying about what people will think of you.
Quit worrying about your reputation and your glory.

Instead, have faith, believe God, and do what He says.
And through you God will accomplish great and unspeakable things for His glory.

THAT’S REALLY THE KEY.
• Quit worrying about how it will make you look.
• Believe God and do what He says.

Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

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Addressing Ambition
Psalms 62
February 2, 2020

Tonight we come to the 62nd Psalm and I think just in a casual reading,
The heart of the Psalm becomes clear to us.

This song has a distinct chorus,
We easily spot it because David repeats it.

Verses 1&2 and verses 5&6 are nearly identical.

(1-2) “My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

(5-6) “My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.”

Of course the second time through the chorus, David extends the chorus

In verses 7-8 we read, “On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

These verses portray to us a clear point.

THERE IS COMMAND to trust God alone.
“My soul waits in silence for God only”

THERE IS BASIS FOR THE COMMAND that God alone saves
“From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold”

THERE IS THE EFFECT OF OBEDIENCE that God saves perfectly
“I shall not be greatly shaken”

And so the heart of the Psalm really emerges quite clearly.

David is calling for his people to trust in God alone,
Who alone can save,
So that they will actually be saved and not just think they are.

How foolish would it be to spend your life pursuing or trusting something that cannot save you in the end?

Far better to understand and pursue that
Which can save and save you forever.

So the song clearly has the potent point that
David wants men to set their heart on God as their only hope and desire.

Now, first we’d just that that’s good advice in general.
You really don’t have to know the circumstances to say “Amen” to that truth.

Man should always set their heart on God as their only hope and chief desire.
If David said nothing else, this would still be a very important and relevant Psalm.

But in Psalms 62, there is a reason David sings that chorus and repeats it.
• David has spotted a folly in his people.
• And by David’s estimation it has effected everyone.

Notice verse 3, “How long will you assail a man, That you may murder him, all of you…”

There is a growing sentiment throughout his nation
That he sees in all his people.

WHAT DID DAVID SPOT?
AMBITION

He sees in his people a desire to obtain worldly wealth and power.
(10) “Do not trust in oppression and do not vainly hope in robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.”

David spotted a desire for worldly power and wealth,
And he spotted people engaged in ruthless means to obtain it.

HE SAW AMBITION.
And so David pens a song regarding this human ambition.

And this is a very relevant song for the church today.
It is one of those areas in which the Bible needs to reprogram our thinking.

Ambition today is seen as a good thing.
• We might even look at a young man starting out in life and criticize him by saying, “He just lacks ambition” or “He’s just not ambitious enough”

• And the implication is that he has no direction and that he is lazy and that he needs to get a plan, set a goal, and pursue it.

Our world sees this type of ambition as a good thing
Because it leads to earthly success and prosperity.

• Schools employ counselors with the main goal of helping a student set that ambition and direction.
• So that they can pick a school, choose a degree, and know what needs to be done to obtain it so that they can succeed in life.

But those goals and dreams can be so misleading.
And they can even greatly undercut the Biblical mindset.

Now, don’t get me wrong, we certainly are not praising sloth or laziness or idleness for the Bible certainly calls those things SIN.

We know that hard work is good.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.”

Ephesians 4:28 “He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.”

We know that obtaining wisdom is good.
Proverbs 4:1-9 “Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, And give attention that you may gain understanding, For I give you sound teaching; Do not abandon my instruction. When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, Then he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; Keep my commandments and live; Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. “Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you. “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding. “Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her. “She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

We know that accomplishment is good.
Ecclesiastes 5:18 “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.”

We know that satisfaction in achievement is good.
Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.”

So we’re NOT advocating for a lazy or misguided life of no direction.

But ambition, particularly human ambition can be a very bad thing.

TURN TO THE BOOK OF JAMES
(James 3:13-16)

James had a lot to say about ambition.
Namely because James grew up with Jesus and in Jesus he not only saw a righteous man, but a man who sought after completely different things.

• Jesus didn’t set out to gain the world, Jesus set out to live righteous.
• Jesus’ goal wasn’t the world’s approval, Jesus’ goal was His father’s approval.
(No doubt Jesus was a very convicting example to James growing up)

And now that James is redeemed, he sets out
To direct the mindset of the church to be more like Jesus.

And one of the topics James addresses the most is the topic of ambition.

Now perhaps the most direct and harshest statement comes in chapter 3 and verses 13-16

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

That is such a telling statement.
• That when you see selfish ambition what you are seeing is at best an “earthly” man and at worse a “demonic” influence.
• James goes on to say that where you have “selfish ambition” you have “every evil thing”

When there is selfish ambition in your life
You’ve got the root system for every form of evil imaginable.

And James even fleshes that out for you.

Selfish ambition can affect RELATIONSHIPS
(Turn over to 2:1-4)
“My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?”

See there you actually dishonor the poor man
Because he doesn’t serve your selfish purpose like the rich man does.

Selfish ambition can affect your TONGUE
(turn over to 3:8-9)
“But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;”

(turn over to 4:11)
“Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.”

There is a person who tears other people down
For their own personal gain.

Selfish ambition can affect MURDER
(turn over to 4:1-2)
“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.”

There a person will kill to get what they want.
Why else would they do it?

Selfish ambition can cause BOASTFUL PLANNING
(turn over to 4:13-16)
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”

All of that boasting and all of that arrogance
Comes from the root of selfish ambition.

Selfish ambition causes THEFT AND OPPRESSION
(turn over 5:4)
“Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.”

The desire for more caused the rich man not to pay his laborers.

But you see James’ point.
1. Selfish ambition has in it the roots of every evil thing.
2. It is very dangerous.

Men go to great sinful extremes to acquire their ambitions.
They lie, steal, cheat, murder, slander, play favorites,
And disregard God’s will all to get ahead.

And those things are not acceptable.

OPPOSITE of this ambition would be faith and contentment.
Philippians 4:10-12 “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. 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.”

You see the difference so clearly there.

Well David understood this.
And this song addresses the problems with ambition.

• The verses we looked at earlier comprises the chorus.
• Now let’s look at the verses.

There 3 points tonight.
#1 THE NATURE OF HUMAN AMBITION
Psalms 62:3-4

In these two verses we pick up on DAVID’S FRUSTRATION
For the relentless ambition of man.

“How long will you assail a man..?”
• David wonders if their attacks will ever cease.

“that you may murder him, all of you”
• Their goal is to attack and attack and attack until their target is brought down.

“Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence”
• They just constantly pressure him and lean on him with a desire to crush him.

David sees here an unrelenting ambition of man to attack and pressure
With a desire to bring down their target.

(4) “They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position”
• That is to say, they have no real grounds, they have no real evidence, it’s only their goal to attack and remove.

“They delight in falsehood;”
• They don’t even care if their accusations and attacks are true, they just relentlessly launch them.

And honestly, it’s near impossible not to see the current onslaught against the president that is occurring in our nation today.

BUT MORE THAN THAT, you should look higher
To the continual onslaught of the world against Christ.

Psalms 2:1-3 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”

There was certainly an ambition against Christ,
Not only to bring Him down, but also to steal His glory.

Perhaps you remember the parable of the vineyard.
• About the man who had a vineyard and rented it out to vine growers,
• But when he sent servants to collect the produce,
• The servants were mistreated and some were killed.
• And ultimately the vineyard owner decided to send his son.

Matthew 21:37-38 “But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ “But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’”

They greatly covet what is not theirs
And they fight and claw and murder to obtain it.

They also deceive and flatter.
“They bless with their mouth, But inwardly they curse. Selah”

That again reminds of the attacks on Christ.
Matthew 22:15-17 “Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. “Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”

They would even use flattery to try and trap Him and bring Him down.

What we are seeing here is the basic nature of human ambition.
Sinful man will stop at nothing to obtain that which he desires.

James said it:
James 4:1-2 “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.”

Paul spoke of it:
Romans 3:13-17 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.”

It is just a band of sinful men, like Joseph’s brothers
Who have such jealousy and ambition in their hearts
That they are capable of any atrocity to obtain their goals.
They will lie, they will murder, they will deceive.

This is the ugly truth about ambition.
James 3:14-16 “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”

Certainly you see that here
As David describes the very nature of human ambition.

And you just need to know the truth about human ambition.
OUR WORLD PRAISES AMBITION.

Our world praises
That “cut throat”, “winner take all”, “do what it takes”,
“take no prisoners”, “go and take it mentality”,
But the Bible does not.

The Bible explains that as the very worst of humanity
And the very basic nature of the demons.
IT IS EVIL

The nature of human ambition
#2 THE FOOLISHNESS OF HUMAN AMBITION
Psalms 62:9-10

We skip over the chorus again momentarily
To get to David’s second verse and that is that
Those who are seduced by the draw of ambition are very much foolish.

• Here David exposes the truth about ambition.
• David here pulls back the curtain and shows you the very heart of ambition.
• We see what it accomplishes and what it is worth and what it obtains in the end.

You have here David speaking of two types of individuals.
“Men of low degree” and “men of rank”

They are bookends of the human condition.
But according to David, both have ambition
And neither actually obtain what they think.

“Men of low degree are only vanity”
That is to say that men of low degree are only legends in their own mind.
• They have accomplished nothing in life,
• But their ambition continually tells them that they are capable of more.
• They highly esteem themselves and boast of their great plans and dreams and speak of all that they will accomplish.

But they are nothing but “vanity” or futility.
They are nothing more than an empty wish and boastful thought.

“Men of rank are a lie”
These are men who have accomplished dreams and goals in life
• And they assume that they are now great men because of it.
• They imagine that their ambitions have paid off and they now sit and congratulate themselves on their great accomplishments.

But their success is not what it seems. It is “a lie”.

“In the balances they go up; They are lighter than breath”

It’s the old balance scale where you put objects on each side, and the object with the most mass went down while the object with less mass went up.

David says you can put all their dreams and all their accomplishments,
All their boasts and all their accolades together on one side of the scale,
And even with nothing on the other side, they will still “go up”

The breath of air on the other side weighs more than what they have done
There is no weight to it. There is no merit.

And have we not seen this continually even in our study of Luke’s gospel on Sunday mornings.

Luke 12:17-21 “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘ “But God said to him, ‘ You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Or the rich man in hades
Luke 16:25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”

James
• Actually told the rich to weep and howl over the miseries that were coming.
• He reminded the boastful man who was making plans that his life was but a vapor having no weight at all.

Psalms 49:16-20 “Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased; For when he dies he will carry nothing away; His glory will not descend after him. Though while he lives he congratulates himself — And though men praise you when you do well for yourself — He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They will never see the light. Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.”

That is the foolishness of ambition.
If you make all your plans and achieve all your goals
What have you still obtained?

What exactly does it
“profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

Back when we studied that 49th Psalm I shared with you the letter that Bruce Lee wrote to himself.

My Definite Chief Aim

I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.

Bruce Lee
Jan. 1969

Four years later, he was dead.
https://qz.com/932799/bruce-lee-achieved-all-his-life-goals-by-32-by-committing-to-one-personality-trait/

There is just no weight to all their boasts
And all their accomplishments.
They don’t mean anything.

To which David says:
(10) “Do not trust in oppression And do not vainly hope in robbery; If riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.”

He directly addresses the ambition
If they think that
• “oppression” (taking what you want) is the key to power
• Or “robbery” is the key to riches then they are so mistaken.

Even if you manage to accumulate the wealth and power that you seek,
What do you actually have that will last beyond the grave? -NOTHING

It is a stern command not to be ambitious, it is folly.

That is why Paul taught:
1 Timothy 6:17 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”

Our world says ambition is a good thing, but the Bible does not.
The Bible asks where you will be once you accomplish your goals.

And I see this all the time.
Many of you know I ENJOY BASEBALL and recently I finished watching Ken Burns documentary on baseball.

And it is filled with sad stories of futile ambition.
Ty Cobb would cheat and fight to obtain his goals, and he did. He still holds the record for the highest career batting average of all time, batting .366
• And yet, only 1 former player attended his funeral and even at the end Cobb lamented, “If I had it all to do over again, next time I’d have more friends”

What did his ambition accomplish?

Ted Williams wanted to be known as the greatest hitter of all time. He is the only man to ever bat .400 for an entire season.
• He is interviewed in the documentary and you can hear his frustration in the reality that the glory he sought was not enough.
• He would say, “My goal is that when I walk down the street people will say, ‘There goes the greatest hitter to ever play the game.’ And if they don’t say that it’s because they don’t know what they are talking about.”

You can feel his bitterness over the reality that the glory was not enough.

Even to the modern day era when Barry Bonds used steroids to break Mark McGuire’s singe season home run record and Hank Aaron’s total homerun record.
• And yet because of his corruption in his ambition, most people fail to recognize him as a legitimate champ and the following year, no team would even sign him.
• You can see the press conference where he is repeatedly telling reporters in regard to his record, “It’s not tainted, it’s not tainted”

It’s just futility when you strive with ambition.
The writer of Ecclesiastes called “chasing after wind”

It’s no wonder Jeremiah would say:
Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.”

And Paul would say:
1 Corinthians 9:25 “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.”

What a sad reality to be so ambitious (and ruthlessly so)
Just to obtain some “perishable wreath”.

THAT TYPE OF AMBITION IS NOT ONLY EVIL, IT IS FOOLISH.

The nature of human ambition, the foolishness of human ambition
#3 THE END OF HUMAN AMBITION
Psalms 62:11-12

Here David reminds of a very important truth.
“power belongs to God”

And so does loyalty
“And lovingkindness is Yours, O Lord”

What does that mean?
• There is only One who can truly exalt a person.
• There is only One who can truly bless a person.

There is only One who can give glory and reward to such an extent
That it will not be futile.

Only One can give that “imperishable” wreath that Paul spoke of.
AND THAT IS GOD.

And God gives it to those who please Him.
“For You recompense a man according to his work.”

And this is the point.
• If you truly aspire to greatness…
• If you truly aspire to reward…
• If you truly aspire to honor and glory…

Then DO NOT lie and cheat and murder and deceive and slander to obtain it.
• That path does not lead to glory.
• That glory is futile and empty.

If you truly desire glory, then live your life in a manner that pleases God, for He alone can give you those things.

Only God can exalt a man, and God can certainly bring him low.
Isaiah 40:21-24 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.”

Since all power and loyalty and sovereignty belong to God
You should know that you will never obtain any goal
If you pursue it in a way that offends Him.

Was that not the very essence of what James wrote?
James 4:13-16 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”

It is just foolish to ignore God and seek this world.

That is why Paul wrote:
2 Corinthians 5:9-10 “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Our only goal is not to obtain the world, but rather to please God,
Who alone can give us the world.

Jesus said it like this:
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Human ambition; worldly ambition; selfish ambition…
They are all evil.
But an ambition to seek and please God,
That is where our hearts must land.

And now we better understand the chorus that David twice repeats.

(1-2) “My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

(5-8) “My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

That is David’s good advice!
• Do not be wickedly ambitious for the things of this world.
• Be ambitious for God.

Human ambition is both evil and futile,
But Godly Ambition certainly pays off.

WE’LL CLOSE TONIGHT with Paul’s admonition to Timothy regarding this very thing.

TURN TO: 1 TIMOTHY 6:6

(Read 6-16)
• You hear Paul there warning Timothy about the futility of seeking the things of this world.
• Rather, be content and seek the things of God.
• And at the proper time your reward will come

Paul then gives a warning to those who have already obtained the world
(Read 17-19)

And that is great advice too.
It’s not too late to shift your ambition.

Don’t seek after the things of this world,
Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

Make your ambition to be pleasing to God
Because every other ambition
Is either horribly human or actually demonic.

Only seeking the things of God brings about true satisfaction.
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

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Jesus Instruction Regarding Sin – Part 2
Luke 17:1-4 (3b-4)
February 2, 2020

About 2600 years ago, in 588BC
• King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem.
• He basically enacted the “Slow Death” protocol by cutting off supply of food into the city.
• 2 years later, in 586BC the city had had enough.

2 Kings 25:3-11 “On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon. Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile.”

It was the darkest day for Israel in the entire Old Testament.

These were God’s chosen people…
• People whom God had led out of Egypt with mighty signs and wonders…
• People whom God had supernaturally sustained in the wilderness…

And this was God’s Promised Land.
• Land that God Himself chose for them…
• Land that God cleared of its enemies that Israel might live there…

And this was God’s City.
• The city of the great King…
• The city where God’s name would dwell…

And this was God’s Temple.
• Where God’s glory would abide…
• Where sacrifice had been made…
• Where atonement and forgiveness were sought…

And it was all destroyed.
• People starved…
• Men killed…
• Women raped…
• Babies bashed to death on the rocks…
• Important men hung and humiliated…
• And everyone who survived forced into exile and slavery…

Why did it happen?

An entire book of the Bible was written to weep over what occurred there.
It is called Lamentations.

And in that book JEREMIAH GIVES THE EXPLANATION for the horrific judgments that occurred there.

Lamentations 5:1-18 “Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; Look, and see our reproach! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, Our houses to aliens. We have become orphans without a father, Our mothers are like widows. We have to pay for our drinking water, Our wood comes to us at a price. Our pursuers are at our necks; We are worn out, there is no rest for us. We have submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. Our fathers sinned, and are no more; It is we who have borne their iniquities. Slaves rule over us; There is no one to deliver us from their hand. We get our bread at the risk of our lives Because of the sword in the wilderness. Our skin has become as hot as an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine. They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah. Princes were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected. Young men worked at the grinding mill, And youths stumbled under loads of wood. Elders are gone from the gate, Young men from their music. The joy of our hearts has ceased; Our dancing has been turned into mourning. The crown has fallen from our head; Woe to us, for we have sinned! Because of this our heart is faint, Because of these things our eyes are dim; Because of Mount Zion which lies desolate, Foxes prowl in it.”

What occurred in Jerusalem occurred because of their sin.
They disobeyed the righteous ordinances of God
And they were judged because of it.

It is just one of many graphic examples of the horrible effects of sin.

SIN DESTROYS EVERYTHING.
• Adam and Eve transgressed the command of God and brought death into the world, and it wouldn’t be long before they buried their son Abel.
• Abraham had a son with his handmade and suffered the pain grieving his wife and even having to send that son away.
• Moses acted in pride by striking the rock and never entered the Promised Land
• Samson fell for Delilah and it cost him his eyes
• Saul broke God’s commands and lost the kingly line
• David had an affair and lost a child
• Solomon had many wives and they led his heart into idolatry
• And on and on and on

Sin destroys everything.

But without a doubt the absolute worst consequence of sin
Is that sin brings about the eternal wrath of God in hell.

Isaiah 13:9-11 “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.”

Jude 14-15 “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

I just can’t stress enough how terrible sin is.

And yet, despite the horrors of sin, OUR WORLD has a propensity to take a sort of NONCHALANT VIEW of it.

• Netflix boasts a TV series called “The Sinner”
• Or you can go to a website that sells “Sinner Apparel”
• Even churches have begun to trivialize the term seeking to lessen its blow by stating, “It’s ok, we’re all sinners; we all fall short”

The fact is that
• Sin isn’t a novelty…
• Sin isn’t trendy…
• Sin isn’t insignificant…
• SIN IS HORRIBLE

Sin offends Holy God and brings about His eternal wrath in hell.

Having a distorted view of sin is a very dangerous thing.

This is why Jesus addresses the issue of sin with His followers.
It is important that all men know the truth about sin, and how to deal with.

In the first 4 verses of Luke 17 Jesus actually gives
Very direct instruction regarding how His followers should deal with sin.

We saw the first two last time.
#1 DON’T EVER CAUSE IT
Luke 17:1-2

Jesus reminded us that this world is filled with “stumbling blocks”
SKANDALON in the Greek, referring to the “bait stick in a trap”.

These traps are everywhere.
• We can thank Satan, the god of this world.
• We can thank evil men who love to see others sin.
• We can even thank our fallen flesh that still loves it.

Traps are everywhere, they are inevitable.
But just because they’re inevitable doesn’t mean they’re condoned

Jesus actually said, “but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the fire, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

It is a horrible thing to lead someone into sin.
It is to push someone under the very wrath and judgment of God.

Last Tuesday Tommy came down with the flu.
• By Friday Peggy started getting sick.
• On Monday night she texted me that she was coming to work.
• Carrie actually prayed that she not be carrying anything that would infect me at
work.

Think about it, if someone has the flu and then gives it to you,
Do you consider that an act of love?

But worse than that is spreading sin.
Carrie should have prayed
That Peggy wouldn’t lead me into sin while drinking coffee!

DON’T EVER CAUSE IT!
It is the worst and cruelest thing you can do to another person.
And God promises to cruelly punish anyone who causes it.

We also saw Jesus’ second point regarding sin.
#2 GUARD YOURSELF FROM IT
Luke 17:3a

“Be on your guard!”

We already know that traps are set,
And so we must be careful not to step in them ourselves.

• Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
• We must “be on the alert.”
• Paul even said to “put on the full armor of God.”

We must make every effort to guard ourselves from sin.
Colossians 3:5-6 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,”

Ephesians 5:5-6 “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. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

We have got to see sin as the biggest threat we face
On a daily basis and be on guard against it.

Now certainly we are those whose SIN HAS BEEN ATONED FOR
By the death of Christ, and so it’s not that we now fear eternal hell.

But that DOES NOT MEAN that
We are now free to sin without consequence.
Sin still ruins lives, even believers lives.
• Sin kills our witness and makes us useless in the gospel ministry.
• Sin spreads like leaven to those around us.
• Sin brings temporal consequences and temporal peril.

Sin must be avoided.

And so this is what Jesus taught His followers.
• Don’t ever cause anyone to sin.
• Be on guard yourself against sin.

This morning we move on.
#3 REBUKE YOUR BROTHER FOR IT
Luke 17:3b

“If your brother sins, rebuke him;”

You will see in a minute that
Jesus had much more to say on this subject than just this sentence,

BUT THERE IS SOMETHING VERY ENLIGHTENING ABOUT
How direct and to the point Luke was in his gospel account.

With no fluff and no explanation…
Without easing into it or beating around the bush…
As direct and straightforward as one can be…
Jesus says, “If your brother sin, rebuke him;”

“rebuke” translates EPITIMAO
It literally means “to fix a value on”

It carries the idea of giving what is deserved for something.
It is somewhat of a NEUTRAL WORD in that
It can be used of honor or it can be used of rebuke.

It is a call from Jesus to give your brother what He has earned.
If he has done well, that would be praise or honor.
If he has sinned, that would be a rebuke.

TO TALK STRAIGHT TO HIM
Regarding what he has done and how it is unacceptable.

Yes, Jesus commanded this.
• Most people thought He only said, “Judge not”
• Clearly not.

And one must certainly see the love in this
If we are to understand it best.

It carries the idea of necessary intervention out of love.

• It is the rebuke given to a man who is letting drugs ruin his life.
• It is the rebuke given to the one who is harming his life with bad choices.
• It is not given out of a desire to destroy, but rather out of a desire to save.

Our world says that such a rebuke is not loving,
But the reality is to withhold such a rebuke is actually the absence of love.

James 5:19-20 “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

That is what we are talking about.
• Saving people’s souls from death.
• Coving a multitude of sins.

It is perhaps the greatest form of love that we can offer.

The New Testament is extremely clear about the necessity of this.

1 Thessalonians 5:14 “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Christian love requires that those who are “unruly” get admonished.

2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”

The call is for a very clear and very painful rebuke and punishment of a sinning brother, and yet it is clearly done out of love for the brother.

Even the grossly immoral brother of 1 Corinthians 5.
• Remember the man who was sleeping with his mother-in-law.
• Paul called for that man to be removed from the church.
• One of the reasons was for his own good.

1 Corinthians 5:3-5 “For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

It may have appeared that through their tolerance
The Corinthians were showing love to this brother.

THAT THEY WERE NOT.

Paul passed judgment on the man “so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

• Paul cared about the man’s soul.
• Paul cared about the man’s eternity.
• It is clear that the Corinthians did not.

That is such an important understanding
In our cowardly self-absorbed world today.

People are terrified to confront sin.
People are terrified to call their sinning brothers to an account.

And they use the most pitiful excuses imaginable.
• “God didn’t call me to judge” – YES HE DID!
• “I choose love” – NO, YOU CHOOSE HELL
• “I just want to encourage people” – TO DO WHAT, BE JUDGED?

What is actually happening today is we have people who love themselves
And they aren’t willing to jeopardize their relationship with someone else.

They won’t confront their brother for fear
That it might make their brother quit liking them.

What a selfish mentality.

I READ YOU EARLIER about the judgment that fell on Jerusalem.
• People starving…
• Men having their eyes gouged out…
• People being hung by their hands…
• Little children dashed against the rocks…
• Women being raped…

Can I back you up a little and show you a few months before that?

Ezekiel 22:23-31 “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ “There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her. “Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. “Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. “Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken. “The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice. “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. “Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.”

That entire city was living in sin, and no one would confront it.
• Not the prophets, not the priests, not the princes, not the people.
• They just all ran around telling everyone how great they were.
• They all ran around crying, “Judge not! I’m just going to walk in love”

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

• No one was willing to call out sinners.
• No one was willing to rebuke their brother.
AND THE RESULT WAS THE FURY AND WRATH OF GOD.

Jesus was clear: “If your brother sins, rebuke him;”
It really couldn’t be any clearer.

Well, you also know that Jesus said quite a bit more than just that.

Matthew 18:15-20 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

Here the term “rebuke” takes an a whole new meaning.

For here we see THE ENTIRE PROCESS as it unfolds.

When “your brother sins” you “rebuke” him, but that first rebuke is done in “private”.
• Obviously the goal is let him save face.
• Obviously the goal is to keep it private.

If he refuses to listen you take the next step of taking someone else with you.
• This confirms the consensus that his behavior is wrong.
• This confirms that it is not just a personal vendetta.
• And this still allows the brother to save face.

Then you take it to the whole church, which is still a level of safety and protection from the world, and ultimately, if there is no repentance, he is removed.
• He is shamed.
• He is shunned.
• He is ostracized.

The point is to so severely discipline him
That he will feel shame and reproach and embarrassment
And ultimately come back to the church in humility in repentance.

Now in our world that seems so cruel and drastic to people.

I REMEMBER A CONVERSATION with another Christian man many years ago about that passage and he said, “I just don’t think I could ever conceive of a situation so bad that would warrant a church doing that.”

HIS REASONING WAS DISTORTED.
He had fallen prey to the common deception that discipline is unloving,
And since we are to be loving, then there is no room for discipline.

Jesus here sets our minds straight.
• No one ever loved greater than Jesus.
• No one ever demonstrated true God-like love like He did.
• No one ever commanded love more adamantly than Jesus either.

And this Jesus, who commanded love,
Also commanded us to rebuke our sinning brother.

WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THAT?
The presence of a rebuke is not the absence of love,
It is an expression of it.

It is not those who rebuke their sinning brother who are being unloving
It is those who do not.

Regarding that sinning brother in 1 Corinthians, remember what Paul said?
1 Corinthians 5:1-2 “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.”

• Paul didn’t call their lack of discipline loving, he called it arrogant.
• To Paul it was selfish and prideful and irresponsible.

Even later in the chapter he wrote
1 Corinthians 5:6 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?”

• Think of yeast, and how it spreads.
• And this was also a danger.

In short, by not rebuking their brother,
They were setting his soul up for destruction
And were giving a horrible example to the next generation.

THAT IS NOT LOVING!
• If sin is really as dangerous as the Bible says it is,
• Then we must not allow our brothers to just run into it without reproach.

THIS IS HOW JESUS SAID TO DEAL WITH SIN.
Don’t Ever Cause It – Guard Yourself From It – Rebuke Your Brother For It
#4 FORGIVE THE HUMBLE OF IT
Luke 17:3c-4

“and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

This was another area in which THE DISCIPLES UNDERSTANDING of how to deal with sin was NEGATIVELY INFLUENCED BY THE PHARISEES.

Pharisees knew nothing of forgiveness.
As we see this with the parable of the prodigal or with the woman caught in adultery, or with any other tax collector or sinner who longed for mercy.

The Pharisees did not believe in it.
• In their mind a sinner must wear their reproach for the rest of their life and experience no deliverance from it.

But Jesus gives another command.
It is the command of forgiving repentant brothers.

“if he repents, forgive him”

“repents” translates METANOEO
It means “to change one’s mind” or “to think differently”

In other words, “If your brother comes to see his sin as no longer that which is desirable, but rather that which is deplorable.”

• If your brother hates what he did, and wants freedom from it.
• And if he approaches you in that humility then by all means “forgive him”

“forgive” translates APHIEMI
It means “to let go” or “to keep no longer”
Or “to give up” as in the debt they owe you.

We might say today, “Let it go”.

If your brother has a mind change regarding his sin,
Which no doubt changes the desire, then let it go.

The great parable on this subject comes also in Matthew’s gospel.

Matthew 18:21-35 “Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

We’ve done the math here before.
The first man’s debt would have been the equivalent of somewhere around 3.5 billion dollars (insurmountable)
• But he was forgiven.
• His master let it go.

However the second man’s debt was more like the equivalent of around $10,000.
• Big, but certainly not insurmountable.
• And his master would not let it go.

The point of the parable, and the basis for the command is this.
No one has ever wronged or offended you even close to the degree
To which you have wronged or offended God.

If God is willing to forgive you your insurmountable debt,
Then you certainly should forgive your brother of his puny debt.

FORGIVE HIM; LET IT GO.

Even if you have to forgive him of MULTIPLE DEBTS.

(4) “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent’, forgive him.”

I think sometimes the MISUNDERSTANDING of this verse
Comes when people assume that the person is
Committing the same sin over and over 7 times in one day.

• He kicks your dog and says, “I repent” so you forgive him.
• Then he kicks your dog again and say, “I repent” so you forgive him.
• And over and over 7 times.

Obviously in such a case, there has been no repentance,
Only half-hearted and even hypocritical remorse.

THAT BROTHER STILL NEEDS A REBUKE.

We must remember that TRUE REPENTANCE IS REQUIRED.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Part of repentance is a mind change that results in a behavior change;
A turning from wickedness.

We read of Esau:
Hebrews 12:15-17 “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”

Obviously then repentance is much more
Than remorse over negative consequences.
Esau had remorse, even tears, but he had no repentance.

Clearly then, based on the prerequisite of repentance,
We are not talking here about a man who uses this passage
As some sort of loophole to stay in sin.

Rather, Jesus is referring to a brother who has sinned against you in many ways.
• He kicked your dog…
• He scratched your car…
• He stole your lawnmower…
• He talked bad about you on Facebook…
• He lied to you about doing it all…
• He never paid back the money you loaned him…
• And he didn’t let your kid play enough when he coached him in Little League…

And this brother has come one by one during the day
Confessing and repenting of all of those sins.

HE MUST BE FORGIVEN.
Even such great debts do not compare to the debt you have brought up before God.

AND THIS WAS REVOLUTIONARY TO THE DISCIPLES
Because many Rabbi’s taught that
God wouldn’t forgive a person more than 3 times.

Here Jesus gives us just the opposite teaching.
FORGIVENESS IS LIMITLESS.

THIS IS HOW JESUS COMMANDED US TO DEAL WITH SIN

BECAUSE WE SEE THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF SIN…
BECAUSE WE LOVE OUR BROTHER AND WANT BETTER FOR HIM…
BECAUSE WE LOVE GOD AND DON’T WANT TO OFFEND HIM…
• We never cause it…
• We guard ourselves from it…
• When it happens we rebuke it…
• When repentance occurs, we let it go…

We don’t want anyone Tempted to sin, Stumbling in sin,
Remaining in sin, or Unable to escape sin.
Our entire objective is to see men live lives free from sin and judgment.

This is the very heart of Christ.
He came as a Savior, and as a Savior from sin.

We cannot be His church or His followers
If we do not adopt His theology on sin.
AND HERE IS THE REALLY GOOD NEWS
Thanks to Jesus, sin can be dealt with.
• Apart from Jesus, I can never escape my sin.
• Apart from Jesus, my sin can never be atoned for.
• Apart from Jesus, I can never be forgiven.

But the very heart of the gospel is that now, thanks to Jesus,
Sinners can be saved from their sin.

That is what Paul said:
1 Timothy 1:15 “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”

Paul also taught us:
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

And when Jesus came, He set us free from sin.
Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The expectation then for us is that we live in that freedom.
Romans 6:8-14 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

Sin is the enemy, and we must never take a negligent view of it.
• Never Cause It
• Guard Yourself from It
• Rebuke Your Brother for It
• Forgiven the Humble of It

This was Jesus instruction regarding sin,
And so much of our church work would be so much more effective
If simply obeyed these 4 little verses.

Download Here

When My Heart Is Faint
Psalms 61
January 26, 2020

Tonight we come to the 61st Psalm.
It is recorded to be “For the choir director; on a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David.”

This is a distinction seen 4 other times thus far.
We saw it in the 4th, the 6th, the 54th, and the 55th Psalm.

What all of those Psalms have in common is that
They find David during a time of duress
In which he is crying out to God for deliverance.

And it seems that this 61st Psalm also falls under that distinction.

There is NOT A SPECIFIC SETTING given to the Psalm,
But we are able to discern the mood from the things David writes.

The most insightful phrase comes in verse 2.
“From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;”

• Some have considered that this Psalm may have been written by David as he had to flee from Absalom.
• (It cannot be during the reign of Saul because David announces himself as king in verse 6)
• And so some have wandered if it was during Absalom’s rebellion since David announces that this Psalm is coming “From the end of the earth”

Perhaps that is true, or it could just be David’s way of saying
That regardless of where he is, is cry always comes to God.

What is clear however is David’s mood.
This song was song “when my heart is faint;”

“faint” translates ATAPH in the Hebrew
5 times it is translated as “overwhelmed”

The root of the word literally means
“to shroud” or “to cover from darkness” or “to hide”

It carries the picture of one whose heart is afraid, and burdened,
And who just wants to crawl into a corner
And hide from his burdens.

Jeremiah used the word 3 times in the second chapter of Lamentations to describe the miserable condition in Jerusalem after it fell.

Lamentations 2:11-12, 19 “My eyes fail because of tears, My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is poured out on the earth Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, When little ones and infants faint In the streets of the city. They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” As they faint like a wounded man In the streets of the city, As their life is poured out On their mothers’ bosom…”Arise, cry aloud in the night At the beginning of the night watches; Pour out your heart like water Before the presence of the Lord; Lift up your hands to Him For the life of your little ones Who are faint because of hunger At the head of every street.”

He used the word as he described little ones fainting from hunger.

Jonah used the word to describe his condition as he sank to the bottom of the sea.
Jonah 2:6-7 “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. “While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple.”

David here uses that word to describe the condition of his heart.
• He is overwhelmed…
• He just wants to hide…
• His heart could faint away…

It is quite a picture of desperation and despair.
Life has overwhelmed him
And he would just like to escape from the hardship.

Thankfully we don’t live here all the time,
But most everyone in here can probably think of times like this in life.

When the circumstances of life and the hardships of reality
Have defeated your heart and you wish you could just hide from it all.

You wish you could just escape it.
You are overwhelmed and your heart seems to want to quit.

THAT IS THE MOOD OF DAVID HERE.

What is also clear in this Psalm is that DAVID KNOWS WHAT HE NEEDS.
• He needs the nearness of God.

In verses 2-4 David uses 5 different word analogies to describe what it is that he longs for from God.
• (2) “Lead me to the rock”
• (3) “You have been a refuge”
• (3) “A tower of strength”
• (4) “Let me dwell in Your tent”
• (4) “refuge in the shelter of Your wings”

In David’s despair and in his desire to hide from it all,
David calls upon his hiding place.

• David calls upon the One who has never failed to be a refuge for him.
• David calls upon his shelter
• David calls upon his strong tower

That is really the main theme of this song.
The overwhelmed man crying out to the One who can shelter him.

And as I read this Psalm this week, it brought to my mind
A very important reality that I don’t think we have discussed much.

And that is the BENEFIT AND NECESSITY OF ABIDING IN CHRIST.

We have often times spoken of Christ as our refuge in the salvation sense.
• We have discussed many times recently the necessity of being “in Him”

• We understand the doctrines of justification and imputation.
• Namely that by faith, I can be found in Christ.
• That is I can be clothed in His righteous works before God.

And we understand this necessity
Especially as it relates to the coming judgment.
That I not stand before God robed in my filthy rags, but in His righteous works.

And so we might say that we understand the necessity of
Taking refuge in Christ when it comes time that we die.
BUT TONIGHT we need to discuss the necessity of
Taking refuge in Christ while we are alive.

Being in Christ certainly comes with more benefit
Than just escaping the coming judgment.
In reality we take refuge in Him daily.

In the New Testament we don’t run across this word “refuge” or “strong tower” very often.

The New Testament favors a different word.
There we see the word “abide”

So before we work through this 61st Psalm
I want to take you to a passage in the New Testament
That will perhaps help you better understand what David is singing about.

TURN TO: JOHN 15

• Even as you turn, many of you are already aware of the analogy that is coming.
• It is the passage where Jesus reminds us that He is the vine and we are the branches and we must abide in Him.

Hopefully you already understand what Jesus means when He reveals Himself as the “the true vine”.
• It is a reference to the failure of Israel, who never was the vine God intended them to be.
• The basis is found in Isaiah 5 where Israel is compared to a vine that refused to give God the fruit He desired; namely justice and righteousness.
• Here Jesus announces that He is “the true vine” which is to say He is everything God ever intended Israel to be. Where they failed, He succeeded.

He fulfilled the righteousness and justice that God desired from Israel.

And as such salvation itself occurs when we abide in Christ.

That is another way of saying, “when we take refuge in Him”
Or “when we are found in Him”

Just to sort of connect more dots in your mind.
John 6:56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

Eating His flesh and drinking His blood was the equivalent of trusting in His sacrifice.
• When the Jews partook of the sacrifice on the altar, it was an act of faith that
the sacrifice removed the wrath of God from them.
• They took ownership of the sacrifice.
• They identified with the sacrifice.
• They trusted in it.

That is what Jesus said.
• When you trust in My sacrifice.
• When you take ownership of it, that it was for you.
• When you identify with it, that is the equivalent of you abiding in Me.

It’s simply the message of the gospel
That we by faith are identified with Christ and found in Him
So that as He was clothed in our sin and suffered for it,
We are clothed in His righteousness and rewarded for it.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

That is what it means to abide in Jesus.
It is to receive and trust all that God has for us in Christ.
He is the true vine that God accepts

BUT THAT IS NOT ALL JESUS TALKS ABOUT.

Jesus also makes those important statements
About the necessity of abiding.

(15:4-5) “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

There Jesus adds a secondary application to this concept of abiding,
And that is the necessity NOT OF JUST COMING TO HIM ONCE,
BUT OF REMAINING IN HIM.

Why?
Because from Him we are continually finding what we need.

We could refer to it as THE SAP
What is it that is flowing from Christ to us?

You see in this text a reference to 3 things.
Jesus speaks of His words, His love, and His joy
• (7) “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you”
• (9) “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My
love”
• (11) “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you”

So when we abide in Christ, you are already seeing that
We receive more than just justification on the Day of Judgment.

• We are also receiving His words (truth)
• We are also receiving His love
• We are also receiving His joy

These are things that flow to us through Him,
They don’t come from any other source.

Other phrases in the Bible that refer to this same reality would be phrases like:
“be filled with the Spirit”
Or
“let the word of Christ richly dwell within you”

Indeed if you think about it, the “fruit of the spirit”
Speak of these same realities.

So when we abide in Christ,
We now have our access to truth, love, and joy.

ON THE FLIP SIDE, if you don’t abide in Him you don’t receive these things and it is impossible then to bear fruit.
(5) “apart from My you can do nothing”

• Nothing of value is possible without abiding in Jesus.
• Nothing of value is possible without taking refuge in Jesus.

And that is why FRUIT is even seen as the TRUEST EVIDENCE that you do abide in Christ.

• If you produce fruit, it is evident that you are abiding in Him since you couldn’t
produce fruit otherwise.
• If you don’t produce fruit it is evident that you are not abiding in Christ,
regardless of whether or not you claim to be.

WE ALSO SEE in this analogy from Jesus that those who do abide in Jesus are also PRUNED.

(2) “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

That is to say that God cuts the vine, He injures the vine, He brings pain to the vine and the chief purpose is to make it more fruitful.

We might see that as the trials and sufferings God allows
To cause us to drop what is insignificant
And focus solely on Christ who is our source.

Because when you are most focused on Christ, you are the most fruitful and that is when you bring God the most glory.

(8) “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

Now I show you that passage because I simply want you to be aware
The reality that abiding in Christ
Is not just something we do to prepare for judgment.

Abiding in Christ is what must be done daily in life
If we are to be fruitful and bring glory to God.

And in order to make sure we do this,
God will prune us or injure us in order to drive us to Him.

And when the plant is injured, it takes in more of that healing sap, that sap which is truth, and love, and joy, and then that branch produces even more fruit.

Now, go back to Psalms 61
Where we find David in a state where he HAS BEEN PRUNED.
We find David in a state where he has been injured.

He is overwhelmed, he is faint.

BUT DAVID KNOWS WHAT TO DO.
• He needs to abide in the vine.
• He needs to be found in Him.
• He needs to take refuge in Christ.

So now, perhaps you have a better framework
For what this specific song is about.

In order to study it we just break it down into 2 points.
#1 DAVID’S DESPERATION
Psalms 61:1-4

The Psalm begins with David approaching God.
“Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer.”

It speaks to David’s direction.
• In his affliction…
• In his pain…
• In his sorrow…

He isn’t running from God, he is RUNNING TO GOD.
He knows where to go.

And it doesn’t matter where he is, the response is the same.
(2) “From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;”

• Deities and religions in that day were very geographical.
• False gods where thought to dwell in regions and so often times when people
were in various places they would cry out to the deities of those regions.

But not David.
It didn’t matter where he was, he knew where to go.

• When his heart was faint.
• When he was overwhelmed.
• When he wanted to hide,
• No false deity would do; there was no substitute, he needed God.

And then we see our first great analogy of Christ.
“Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

It is a picture of having come to the end of himself.
This poor branch had done all it could do.
He was empty and he was dry.

• He needed a source.
• He needed a fountain.
• He needed a higher rock.
• He needed a vine full of sap.

And it is a great reminder of the sufficiency that we find only in Christ.
Only Christ has what the believer needs for life.

Now that is not to say there aren’t other physical necessities in life.

We understand that our bodies need water or food or air.
We understand that at times we need medicine.

And those things are found from the earth around us.

But when we are talking about things of the soul.
• When we are talking about spiritual things.
• When we are talking about things of the heart.

There is only one place a Christian goes for these things.
They come from our vine.

They come from our high rock,
And if you don’t run to Him
You will soon find yourself to be an empty well and a dry spring.

I still remember many years ago before I was a preacher, I was building furniture in my shop in Stephenville and I had hired one of the youth from our church to work with me.

One day he came in and his attitude was terrible.
Everything was wrong, life was cheating him, it was just negative, negative, negative.

So I asked him, “When is the last time you read your Bible?”
And he said, “I don’t know, it’s been a while.”
I told him, “I can tell, because your whole life is selfish and sour.”

That is true.
Only from Christ comes the truth and love and joy we need.

David knows this.
He is beaten down and overwhelmed,
He needs to ascend the hill to the mountain that is Christ.

And why does David know this?
EXPERIENCE has taught him that God has all that he needs.

(3) “For You have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy.”

• David recalls that God has always had the solution.
• David recalls that God has always been a faithful refuge.
• Abiding in Him has never been a bad idea in the past, and so it is certainly the necessary decision now.

And that brings us to David’s request.
(4) “Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah”

What a request!
• Can I just be near You?
• Can I just abide in You?
• Can I just rest in You?
• Can I feed off of You?

That is the prayer of the overwhelmed man.
That is the request of the faint-hearted man.

Life has defeated me, I feel like I just need to hide, I am totally overwhelmed, can I please rest in You? Will You lead me back to You? Will You be for me a refuge again?

I don’t have to tell you Christian of the necessity of this in our life.
This is the solution.

When life is overwhelming, it is to Christ that you must run.
• Open His word…
• Let it dwell within You…
• Gaze into His face…
• Cast your burdens on Him…

Want some passages that speak to this?
Philippians 4:6-9 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Do you see that all of those verses are saying the same thing?
• Abide in Me
• Be Filled with the Spirit
• Lead me to the rock that is higher than I
• Let the word of Christ dwell within you richly

Those are all saying the same thing.
• When life has overwhelmed you what you need is more of Jesus.
• You need to go rest in Him.
• God has pruned you and injured you that He might drive you nearer to Him.
• Because only then are you fruitful to His glory.

That is where David is.
He knows this.
He is desperate and He longs to rest in Jesus.

Our youth sing a song frequently that I love
It is a bit of an adaptation of an old hymn.

“Lord I come, I confess, bowing here I find my rest. Without You, I fall apart, You’re the One who guides my heart.
Lord I need you, O I need You, every hour I need You. You’re my one defense, my righteousness, O God how I need you.
Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more, where grace is found, is where You are. Where You are, Lord I am free. Holiness is Christ in me.
Lord I need you, O I need you, every hour I need You. You’re my one defense, my righteousness, O God how I need you.”

Well that is what David is saying.
“You’re my one defense, my righteousness, O God how I need you.”

Or the old hymn we sing.
“I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord, No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
I need thee, oh, I need thee, every hour I need Thee. O Bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee
I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby. Temptations lose their power When Thou art nigh
I need thee, oh, I need thee, every hour I need Thee. O Bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee
I need Thee every hour in joy or pain. Come quickly and abide or life is in vain
I need thee, oh, I need thee, every hour I need Thee. O Bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee.”

But you understand the answer when life overwhelms.
It is an INDICATOR that you need to abide in Jesus.
YOU NEED MORE SAP! Not just for judgment, but for today!

David’s Desperation
#2 DAVID’S CONFIDENCE
Psalms 61:5-8

Here we find WHY DAVID IS SO CERTAIN that running to God is the right answer when he is overwhelmed.

• Here is why David doesn’t run to another god…
• Here is why David doesn’t run to philosophy…
• Here is why David doesn’t run to psychology…
• Here is why David doesn’t run to social media…

David is confident in God and in what God provides.

GOD PROVIDES GRACE
(5) “For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name.”

David is here recalling his salvation.
• It is all the beauties of justifying faith and imputed righteousness.

David remembers the vows he made to God.
• Like when we confess Jesus as Lord and pledge our life to Him.
• And upon that faith we also understand imputed righteousness and justification.

David remembers the inheritance God gave him.
• We also receive an inheritance that we did not earn.
• We receive the inheritance of the righteous One; we receive Christ’s inheritance.

There can be no other word for this than grace.
That God would be willing to accept the fickle vow of a sinful man
And in exchange grant him a glorious inheritance.
ONLY GRACE WOULD DO THAT.

And because God did that for David,
David is confident that God is all he needs.

And to that we would ask along with Paul:
Romans 8:31-32 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”

So why would I run to another
When life is empty and dry and overwhelming?

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

Only Jesus has measureless life!

To the woman at the well
John 4:10 “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

To the crowd at Jerusalem
John 7:37-38 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'”

It is the reality that this Savior who gives us freely His inheritance
Will also freely give us abundant life.

David knows that and so he is confident to draw near to Him.

GOD PROVIDES HOPE
(6-7) “You will prolong the king’s life; His years will be as many generations. He will abide before God forever; Appoint lovingkindness and truth that they may preserve him.”

• You see there a prolonged life. (“prolong the king’s life)
• You see there a permanent dwelling (“before God forever”)
• You see there preserved faithfulness (“truth that they may preserve him”)

David knows that when he draws near to God he gains all that he needs.
THIS IS HIS HOPE.

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

It is our sinful flesh that at times seeks to handle things on our own,
And even when life gets hard,
It is our sinful flesh that MAY HESITATE to run to Christ.

BUT THIS WE ALSO KNOW.
No one ever ran to Christ and was disappointed with what they received.
• His Word
• His Love
• His Joy
• (That sap we talked about)

Is always sufficient and always enough and always delightful.
David knows that.
He is confident of that.

GOD PROVIDES JOY
(8a) “So I will sing praise to Your name forever,”

• The song today is a sad song.
• The song today is a song of desperation.
• The song today is a song from one who is overwhelmed.

BUT HE ALSO KNOWS, if he can just get to his refuge or to the rock that is higher than him, that song will quickly turn to a song of praise.

This is why we read those evidences of one who is filled with the Spirit
Or of one who lets the word of Christ dwell in them richly.

We read:
Ephesians 5:18-20 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;”

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

When you are filled with the Spirit…
When Christ’s word is abiding in You…
When you are drawing near to the vine…
When Christ is your refuge…

The song of praise is your native tongue.
It is not a command, it is a privilege.

The point is that those who draw near to Christ receive Christ’s joy.

John 15:10-11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

David is confident that when he draws near to Christ,
His heart will no longer be overwhelmed,
But rather filled with joy and praise.

GOD PROVIDES ENDURANCE
(8b) “That I may pay my vows day by day.”

• Today he is overwhelmed…
• Today he wants to hide…
• Today he doesn’t know where to find the strength to go on…
• Today it is hard…

But once he enters his refuge
The strength to pay his vows and honor his commitment will return to him

It is the very epitome of what Jesus said:
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

David knows that once he enters his refuge, his strength will return.

This is the song of David and it is a great song to the church
To remind us that we don’t just take refuge in Christ at judgment,
We take refuge in Christ during daily life.

• IN HIM ALONE is truth and love and joy and strength.
• BY HIS SPIRIT ALONE do we find “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”
• THROUGH HIM ALONE is “life and life abundant”

SO THE POINT TONIGHT IS that when you think of being “in Him”
Don’t just think about the judgment,
Think about tonight and tomorrow and every day after.

That is the message for those who are faint of heart.
“I need You, O I need You, every hour I need You. My one defense, my righteousness, O God how I need You.”

Download Here

Jesus Instruction Regarding Sin – Part 1
Luke 17:1-4 (1-3a)
January 26, 2020

This past Wednesday we were studying John 11 with our youth
And we came across that infamous “I Am” statement from Jesus.

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

That statement can almost read like a riddle or even a contradiction.
• How can a man “live even if he dies”?
• How can a man “never die”?

What we discussed and came to understand is that
Jesus is not referring to physical death, He is referring to spiritual death.

• We learned that there is a first death, which all men experience.
• And we learned that there is a second death which is for all who are lost.

Revelation 20:14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”

This certainly is a vivid truth in our minds
Even as last week when we studied about the rich man
Who experienced the first death, and then went to Hades for the second one.

CLEARLY THE SECOND DEATH IS THE ONE TO AVOID.

And yet we marveled that, the message of this world has next to nothing to say about avoiding the second death.

The message of this world is all about avoiding the first one.
• “Eat right, exercise daily”
• “Buckle your seatbelt”
• “Don’t run with scissors”
• “Lay off the bacon”
• “Get a mammogram”

The world is consumed with delaying the first death,
And so we are preached to relentlessly about
How to temporarily delay that first death from coming.

But the Bible sees the first death as necessary.
Paul said:
1 Corinthians 15:50-53 “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

We see there that this body cannot inherit heaven.
And either through death or a miraculous transformation at Christ’s coming,
We have to step out of this fleshly body.

And so while we don’t seek out death, or hasten it, or anything like that,
We do understand that apart from being alive when the Lord returns;
The first death is natural, even necessary.

BUT IT IS THE SECOND DEATH THAT SHOULD BE AVOIDED.
It is the second death that we should focus on and desire to skip.

• The second death is not universal.
• The second death is for those who sin and whose sin is not atoned for.
• It is sinners who are judged.
• It is sinners who are thrown into the Lake of Fire, which is the second death.

Revelation 21:7-8 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Revelation 22:14-15 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”

This second death is the due penalty for sin.
Romans 6:23a “For the wages of sin is death…”

1 Corinthians 6:9 “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,”

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.”

And as we read it becomes clear, that
The second death is the bad one and it is sin that causes it.

• It is sin that brings about the judgment of God.
• It is sin that causes a man to receive the second death.
• It is sin that sends a man into the lake of fire.

Sin is the culprit.

• It was sin that wrecked God’s glorious creation and caused the Fall of Man.
• It was sin that brought about the flood where God wiped out all but 8 people of humanity.
• It was sin that brought the fire which fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
• It was sin that caused an entire generation of Israelites to die in the wilderness.
• It was sin that brought affliction after affliction from Israel’s enemies in the times of the Judges.
• It was sin that toppled Kings and ultimately brought the Exile and Israel being removed from the Promised Land.

Behind every tragedy that ever occurred in human history,
You will always find the root problem, which is sin.

There is no greater threat.
There is no greater danger.

WHAT IS SIN?
The Westminster Shorter Catechism says this:
Q: What is Sin?
A: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
https://www.shortercatechism.com/resources/wsc/wsc_014.html

That is to say, anyone who does what God says not to do,
Or doesn’t do what God says to do sins.

1 John 3:4 “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”

James 4:17 “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

And it is this sin; this failure to conform to God’s righteous standard;
That brings with it the wrath and judgment of God.

As Westminster Confession states in chapter 6.6

VI. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto,(n) doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner;(o) whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God,(p) and curse of the law,(q) and so made subject to death,(r) with all miseries spiritual,(s) temporal,(t) and eternal.(u)
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/westminster-confession-faith/

The point we are making is that there is no worse condition
Than to dwell eternally under the wrath of God in hell,
And it is sin that puts you there.

• Sin then is most of all the thing to be avoided.
• Sin kills
• Sin destroys

And because it is such a serious issue,
JESUS BEGINS TO ADDRESS IT WITH HIS DISCIPLES.

And this is so necessary because
The disciples had been given such a distorted model regarding sin.

Their examples, their spiritual models in Israel, had been the Pharisees.
And Pharisees where horrible examples regarding sin and righteousness.

Jesus exposed them as:
Matthew 23:25-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Jesus called them hypocrites (the Greek word for “actors”)
• They were phonies.
• They were sinful men who pretended to be righteous.

• They didn’t model repentance, they modeled self-righteousness.
• They didn’t model self-examination, they concealed their sin behind religion

And if by chance someone’s sin was exposed or found out,
They certainly didn’t uphold a model of
Repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

They walked in self-righteous judgment and condemnation.
Other people sinning was seen as an opportunity
To flaunt your own holiness and religious superiority.

Sinners weren’t forgiven, they were stoned.

Their model was totally superficial and wrong.

And so Jesus not only confronted them,
But it was also important to instill in His disciples
A true understanding of how to deal with sin.

Jesus had to reset their thinking on the issue.

AND I THINK HE MUST DO THIS WITH US AS WELL.

ON ONE HAND,
Many of us have seen or even participated in Pharisaical churches
Where people came to church on Sunday and pretended to be holy,
All while hiding their sin in their heart.

Like the song Casting Crowns sang. “Happy plastic people under shiny plastic steeple, with walls around our weakness and smiles to hide our pain.”

Many of us have been a part of phony and hypocritical religion
Where we walked in self-righteousness
And substituted religious involvement for true holiness.
ON THE OTHER HAND
But we have also seen the pendulum swing
that complete other direction in our current culture.

While pockets of hypocrisy still exist, by far the mood of the day now is relativism.
• Now all judgment is thrown off as bad.
• Now we aren’t to call anything a sin.
• Now we are just to accept and tolerate everything.
• The cutting edge churches are the churches that no longer pursue holiness,
but who instead pursue “transparency” & “vulnerability” and “tolerance”

It’s not wrong to be a sinner in today’s culture
So long as you are true to yourself and honest about it.

AND THIS TOO IS FAR OFF THE BIBLICAL MODEL.

SO WHERE ARE WE TO LAND ON THE ISSUE OF SIN?
We certainly don’t want to be people who conceal our sin and lie about it,
But we also don’t want to be people who flaunt it and accept it.

Jesus here trades that swinging pendulum for the righteous plum line.
Here in Luke 17 we read: “Jesus Instruction Regarding Sin”

Sin is our most dangerous threat,
And in Luke 17 Jesus tells His disciples how to view it.

In these first 4 verses Jesus gives us 4 very important truths regarding how we should view and deal with sin. (Two this morning)
#1 DON’T EVER CAUSE IT
Luke 17:1-2

“He said to His disciples”

This again is not primarily a message for the world
(though they should listen to everything He said)
THIS IS A MESSAGE FOR THOSE WHO ARE FOLLOWING HIM.

And first Jesus mentions a sad but true reality.

“It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come”

“stumbling blocks” is SKANDALON in the Greek.
It literally refers to “the bait stick in a trap”

Picture the little lever where you put the cheese on a mouse trap,
Or picture the trip peddle in one of those varmint live traps.

We are referring to temptations that arise
Which serve only to lead people into sin and ultimately destruction.

We are referring to the traps that lead men to commit sin against God.

And the sad reality is that in this world they are INEVITABLE.
• You will not get through this life without temptations.
• You will not get through this life without stumbling blocks.
• They are “inevitable”

WHY?

Well for one reason, because Satan is the god of this world.
Jesus said that Satan is a liar and the very father of lies.

Peter said
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Satan’s objective in this life is simple.
He prowls around seeking someone to devour.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”

That is Satan.
A thief, a liar, a murderer, a destroyer, a devourer, a tempter.

Rest assured that he spends ample time every day setting traps.
WE CALL IT TEMPTATION.

There are stumbling blocks everywhere because of him.

But he’s not the only reason.
We also have fallen humanity who loves sin and who loves to drag others into sin with them.

You may remember how Peter addressed lost people who may have even been our friends before we were saved.
1 Peter 4:1-4 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;”

Peter knew that if you try to leave sin behind or walk a righteous path
Then you can rest assured that an attack is coming.

2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

The world also loves to set out stumbling blocks or traps.
• All you have to do is read the gospel accounts to see not only did Satan
specifically tempt Jesus,
• But also the religious leaders were continually setting traps for him.

But those aren’t even the only reason that stumbling blocks are inevitable.
They also occur because our flesh still loves sin.

Even as redeemed men, we fight a spiritual war daily.
• We are still those who live in the flesh.
• Granted we do now also have the indwelling Holy Spirit who wars against our
flesh, but it is an ongoing battle.

And unfortunately, sometimes the flesh wins.
James 1:13-15 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

• There it certainly ISN’T GOD who is the tempter.
• But it’s also NOT THE DEVIL or other humans who are the tempter either.
• There James says the tempter is our “own lust” our own flesh

AND WHEN YOU TAKE ALL OF THOSE TOGETHER.
• The god of the world…
• The sinful people of this world…
• Our sinful flesh…

You understand that this life is filled with “bait sticks”
Or SKANDALONs or “stumbling blocks”

They are everywhere, and unfortunately they are inevitable.

But just because they are inevitable DOES NOT MEAN they are condoned.

For we notice what Jesus says next:
“but woe to him through whom they come!”

Stumbling blocks may be inevitable,
But you sure don’t want to be one.

Jesus uses that strong Greek guttural there, OUI – “woe”.

You don’t want to be that guy.

It brings to our memory what our Lord said about Judas betraying Him.

• Of course we know that the death of Jesus was inevitable.
• We know that the death of Jesus was necessary,
• It was even the predetermined plan of God.

And in order for Jesus to be arrested and crucified,
Someone had to betray Him.

And yet, we read:
Matthew 26:24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

It has to happen, but you sure don’t want it to be you that does it.
It would have been better if Judas had never even been born.

It’s the same point Jesus is making here.
(2) “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

A “millstone” was the large grinding wheel that they used to grind their grain into flour.
• They could be anywhere from 3 to 6 feet in diameter
• They could weigh hundreds of pounds.

And Jesus says here, IF FACED WITH A CHOICE
Of either leading someone into sin or having one of those millstones tied around your neck and having you thrown into the sea,
YOU’D BE BETTER OFF TO CHOOSE THE MILLSTONE.

That may seem strange to you,
But it goes back to the concept we learned last week about “the end”.

People think sin is no big deal right now,
Largely because it is inevitable.
“We’re all sinners”

But if people understood the wrath that is associated with even one sin
They’d think differently about it.

JESUS’ POINT is that leading someone into sin
Brings with it horrible consequences before God.

You may not see them now, but I can tell you this,
“It’s worse than being drowned in the depth of the sea.”

You don’t ever want to cause someone to sin.

AND SCRIPTURE HAS QUITE A BIT TO SAY ABOUT IT.

It was for this reason that Paul publicly confronted Peter.
Galatians 2:11-13 “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.”

Peter didn’t just sin, he led away his brothers into sin as well,
And Paul called him on it publicly.

This is to be a major concern of the Christian life.
We are called to see sin as so dangerous and so terrible
That we would never consider doing anything
To lead another into it.

Romans 14:13-21 “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this — not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.”

There Paul spoke of things as simple as personal freedoms.
• Jesus declared all foods clean.
• Christians are free to eat all foods.
• But not everyone knows that.

And Paul says, if you insist upon exercising your freedoms,
And it ends up wrecking the faith of your brother who sees you doing what he thinks is immoral then you are sinning against your brother.

Today this probably most easily rests in the arenas of alcohol.
• You won’t find the Bible condemning all alcohol; it just doesn’t.
• (The Bible does condemn drunkenness)
• But the issue here is not even if you drink without getting drunk.
• The issue here is what your drinking does to your brother’s faith.

If your freedom wrecks his faith then you are sinning against your brother.
You will cause him to stumble.

Or we read:
1 Corinthians 8:4-13 “Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.”

You see the same thing there.
• Paul knows all idols are false.
• He knows they aren’t really gods.
• And he knows that eating meat that was sacrificed to an idol has no spiritual ramification whatsoever.

But not everyone knows that.
• Some are still mystified by their former way of life, and if they see you (a mature believer) eating that meat, you will wreck their faith.

Paul said that you will cause them to stumble.
In fact he says, “For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.”

When you lead him into sin
You are actually working against the saving work of Jesus.

How horrible is that?
• To know that Jesus came and died to save men
• And you are actually working against that by leading them into sin.

And so the point is clear.
DON’T EVER CAUSE SOMEONE TO SIN.

• Sin kills people
• Sin destroys people
• Sin ruins people’s lives
• But worse than anything, sin invites the wrath of God.

Is there anything worse we can do to a person than that?
• Can we harm a person in any greater way than to lead them into something that brings the wrath of God upon their head?

1 Corinthians 13:6 “[Love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;”

DON’T EVER CAUSE SOMEONE TO SIN.

And in reality, this was A DIFFERENT EXAMPLE
Than what the disciples had received from the Pharisees.

Jesus said:
Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

• In fact Jesus called them “blind guides” that lead men into a pit.

Or we remember
Matthew 15:4-6 “For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”

Beyond that, when men desired to trust in Jesus and to follow Him, it was the Pharisees who tried to stop them.

• Mocking people for following…
• Threatening to kick people out of the synagogue for confessing Jesus…
• Even attacking Jesus to the point that they caused His disciples to scatter…

That was the example the disciples were accustomed to
AND JESUS HERE CORRECTS IT.

• Don’t be like them.
• Don’t ever lead anyone into sin.
• The punishment for such a crime is severe before God.

Don’t Ever Cause It
#2 GUARD YOURSELF FROM IT
Luke 17:3a

Here we simply read: “Be on you guard!”

In other words, your brother
Is not the only one you need to protect from sin.

Certainly you don’t want to set a trap for him,
But at the same time you must realize that
There are traps everywhere so you too must be alert.

Remember Peter?
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

You must understand that you are being hunted.

We’ve often used the deer feeder analogy.
• How fortunate a deer must feel to stumble upon a contraption that will sling corn out on the ground free of charge?
• What a wonderful blessing they have incurred in life.
• What the deer doesn’t know about is the blind a few yards away where the hunter lies in wait to kill the deer.

If you see the bait, just know there is a hunter.
“Be on your guard!”

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

You’ve got to watch out!

In Matthew’s gospel, Matthew recorded this same sermon,
But gave us more insight into what Jesus said here.

Matthew 18:8-9 “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.”

Jesus wasn’t just talking about
Stumbling blocks that you set for others,
But also to watch out for stumbling blocks in your own life.

And another severe analogy is used.

Whereas you’d be better to be drown in the sea than to cause someone else to sin,
Here Jesus uses another drastic analogy.

He says you’d be better off to cut off your hand or gouge out your eye than to sin.

Now obviously, Jesus isn’t teaching self-mutilation as a means to holiness.
For one reason, sin originates in the heart, not the hand or the eyes.

A blind man can still lust after a woman and a thief can covet even without hands.

Rather, Jesus was illustrating how dangerous sin actually is.
• You’d be better off to cut off a hand than sin.
• You’d be better off to gouge out an eye than to sin.

Go back to that rich man in hades last week.
• If Abraham would have told him, “If you’ll simply cut off your hand you can leave that place of torment and come over here to this place of comfort.”
• Do you think he would have done it?

Absolutely! A man who is in such agony in the fire
Would hardly resist such a price.

AND THAT IS JESUS’ POINT.
Not only do you not want to lead your brother into sin,
But you had better guard yourself from it as well.

• If you only knew the wrath of God…
• If you only knew the severity of judgment…
• You’d do whatever it takes not to sin.

ANYTHING IS TO BE CHOSEN ABOVE SIN.
Nothing brings with it a worse consequence.

You must “be on your guard” so that you don’t sin.

Even when you are involved in ministry,
• Like that of dealing with your brother’s sin (which we will see next week) we read:
• And you have to sort of jump down into the pit with them.
Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.”

Jude 22-23 “And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.”

• When you live in this world you just have to know that sin is out there.
• Even in ministry work sin is crouching at the door.
• Always be on your guard.

And if you need an analogy of just how badly God hates sin,
And just how horrible His judgment of it is.

We simply look at the cross, where Jesus was beaten and crucified.

But also where darkness fell over the land
• And He bore the full fury of the wrath of God,
• Even crying out “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Think of the grief Jesus bore on that day
• When you hear Him say, “Trust me you don’t ever want to be a stumbling
block”
Think of the pain Jesus suffered on that day
• When you hear Him say, “Trust me you don’t want to fall into sin yourself”

Jesus knew better than anyone the devastating consequences of sin
When He warned His disciples not to do it.

And this is His instruction regarding sin.
• Don’t Ever Cause it
• Guard Yourself From it

We’ll see the rest of His instruction next time.