Discerning God’s Displeasure
Luke 13:1-9
October 6, 2019

This morning we come to the conclusion of a sermon
That Jesus started back in chapter 12:1.
It is “The Sermon on the Crowd”

And as we saw last week, here at the end He has now
Started giving His invitation for salvation to the crowd.

He has most recently discussed His return and the coming judgment
And is now confronting men for their need to settle
Before they ever stand before the Judge.

Luke 12:58-59 “For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. “I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.”

The idea is that if you are on your way to meet the Judge (we all are)
AND YOU KNOW YOU ARE GUILTY
Then you should do everything within your power to settle out of court.

You should “make an effort to settle” with the magistrate
Before he takes you before the judge.

Because once that judge condemns you,
You will not escape until you pay the full sentence.

But that brings up a new reality to the crowd.
HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE’RE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE JUDGE?

Or more practically asked:
“How can we discern God’s displeasure?”

What we will see here is that the common mindset in Jesus’ day
Was that in order to discern God’s displeasure
They most commonly looked at circumstances.

In a way similar to the modern day prosperity gospel,
People viewed prosperity as a sign of God’s favor
And they viewed suffering as a sign of God’s displeasure.

Take the book of Job for an example.
• You have Job who suffered intently at the hand of God.
• He lost his livestock
• He lost his children
• He lost his health

And when his friends arrived they immediately assumed that
Job was on the wrong side of God’s displeasure.

Eliphaz said:
Job 4:7-9 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed? “According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it. “By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they come to an end.”

Again:
Job 15:20-25 “The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, And numbered are the years stored up for the ruthless. “Sounds of terror are in his ears; While at peace the destroyer comes upon him. “He does not believe that he will return from darkness, And he is destined for the sword. “He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is at hand. “Distress and anguish terrify him, They overpower him like a king ready for the attack, Because he has stretched out his hand against God And conducts himself arrogantly against the Almighty.”

Again:
Job 22:4-5 “Is it because of your reverence that He reproves you, That He enters into judgment against you? “Is not your wickedness great, And your iniquities without end?”

Now there is a lot wrong with their theology,
But the main point to be realized there is that Eliphaz clearly believed
That you discerned God’s displeasure by looking at your circumstances.

If God is giving you prosperity then you are clearly acceptable to Him.
If you God is giving you suffering then you are in danger.

SUCH A MINDSET clearly overlooks the reality of the prosperity of the wicked
Psalms 73:3-9 “For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.”

It also clearly overlooks the reality of the discipline of the Lord used to make the righteous more like Christ.

But it is the common mindset none the less.

There are many in our day who hold to a prosperity gospel that believes along those same lines.
• Namely that we know God’s pleasure or displeasure by looking at our circumstances.

Well, here in our text someone brings this theology to Jesus
And His answer is so important.

There are 2 main points we see in this text:
#1 A COMMON SUPPOSITION
Luke 13:1-5

We first recognize the words “Now on the same occasion”
• Indicating that the chapter break here is somewhat unfortunate.
• We are still at the same setting with the same crowd.

And then we read “there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.”

This is now the 3rd interruption Jesus has received during this sermon.

• First was the man who wanted Jesus to force his brother to share his inheritance.
• Second was Peter who wanted to know who this teaching of being ready for the second coming was primarily for.

And now here.

Jesus had just given the invitation.
• He had just told men to judge what was right.
• He had just told them to recognize the present time.
• And He had told them to settle before the stand before the Judge.

So on people’s mind was clearly the judgment
And how awful it would be to be a guilty person, under God’s displeasure,
All at once taken to stand before Him for judgment.

AND AT THIS POINT SOMEONE INTERJECTS AGAIN.
And they remind Jesus of a group of men who were slaughtered by Pilate.

We don’t really know the history behind the story,
But it does fit the reputation of Pilate.

Pilate was not a wise man, nor was he a friend of the Jews.
• Even upon his appointment as the Roman authority in this region Pilate
entered Jerusalem with a full army bearing standards with idolatrous images
meant to sort of put the Jews in their place and forcing them to accept what
they saw to be graven images.
• The people protested.
• Pilate ordered them upon pain of death to stop the protest.
• The Jews called his bluff and Pilate was forced to back down instead of
massacring an entire group of people.

Also frustrating to the Jews was
• The fact that Pilate took money from the temple treasury to build an aqueduct
in the city.
• When people protested and rioted Pilate ordered his solders to beat and
slaughter several of the protestors.
(MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary; Luke 11-17; Moody Press, Chicago, IL, 2013] pg. 185)

Pilate was no friend of the Jews, nor was he a believer in their God.

And here the story is apparently that
• While some Galilean Jews were in the middle of worship and sacrificing to God
• Pilate slaughtered them and then defiled them and their worship site by intermingling their blood with the blood of their sacrifices.

It was clearly an awful and disturbing scene for any Jew.

Now the purpose of bringing this story to Jesus now seems to be that
THE CROWD IS LOOKING FOR A REFERENCE POINT.

The crowd is looking to find some sort of standard
By which they can measure their own personal danger before God.

Jesus just said that if you are guilty and on the way to see the Judge
That you should try to settle out of court.

The question then is “How do we know if we are guilty?” or “What sort of people need to hear this?”

And someone in the crowd brings up this story.
As if to say: “You’re talking about people like those Galileans that Pilate killed, aren’t You?”

In the mind of the people
• These Galileans clearly must have been people who were unacceptable to
God for why else would God have allowed such a violent and defiling
judgment upon them?

• Clearly (they thought) those men must have been men under God’s
displeasure or He would have never allowed that.

So then Jesus must be talking about really bad people
Who are experiencing terribly suffering in life.

Surely those are the types of people Jesus is referring to,
And if that is you, then you had better make things right with God
Before you stand before Him.

To state their theology more clearly: If God is allowing circumstantial misfortune in your life then that is a clear indicator of God’s displeasure and that means that you need to settle out of court before you stand before Him.

THAT IS THE INTERRUPTION.
It is simply people trying to figure out how to tell
If they are among those who are in danger before God.

And they toss Jesus this theology very similar to that of Job’s friends.

Here Jesus responds.
(2) “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?”

• That is precisely what they supposed.
• They supposed that their circumstances revealed God’s displeasure.

But Jesus is about to crush their theology.
(3) “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Jesus just removed all their faulty standards for judgment.

We like to think that as long as
I can stay ahead of the human curve then I’ll likely be ok.

You know, as long as I can point out that I’m better than most
Then surely at the judgment I’ll be fine.
That is the thinking here.

It was just like Job’s friends.
• Job was a righteous man, who had appeared righteous to all, and then he
suffered terribly.
• The reason Job’s friends arrived, was not to comfort Job, but rather to find out
what Job did wrong so they could not make the same mistakes he made.

But Jesus just revealed that everyone in this crowd
Was in just as much danger before God as those Galileans.

In fact those Galileans WERE NOT “greater sinners” than anyone else.

And to drive the point home Jesus brings up another illustration.
(4) “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?”

Another peculiar incident had apparently occurred at the outskirts of Jerusalem when a tower fell and randomly killed 18 people.

The mindset of the day was that those 18 people
Must have been really sinful for God killed them with a freak judgment.

Do you remember when Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Malta?
Acts 28:3-4 “But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”

Do you see the mindset?
• If he wasn’t a really bad guy then justice would not have allowed this.

For them it was some sort of form of pagan karma.

The Jews were just as superstitious,
They just attributed it to the just judgment of God.

You also see it in John 9
John 9:1-2 “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”

The reason for the question was because
It was a mysterious case for the people to rationalize.

You had a baby who was born blind.
• This blindness was seen as a clear judgment from and God and a clear
indication of God’s displeasure.

But the problem was figuring out who caused it.
• Was it the parent’s sin that caused this? (So why did God make the baby
blind instead of the parents?)
• Or was it the baby’s sin that caused this? (Wondering what a baby could
have done in the womb to so offend God?)

But you see how their common supposition ruled their theology.

And here is the second account of this.
• SURELY these 18 that were killed by the tower were the type of people Jesus was talking about.
• SURELY they were really bad and that is why God killed them with a tower and so we had better not be like them.

But again Jesus overturns their judgments.
“do you suppose…[they] were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?”

(5) “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Jesus answer is clear:
DO NOT SUPPOSE THAT
ONLY THOSE WHO SUFFER IN LIFE ARE IN DANGER.
EVERY MAN IS IN DANGER BEFORE GOD.

It is human nature to try and narrow the scope of God’s judgment,
BUT JESUS CONTINUALLY WIDENS IT.

Every man is need of repentance.
Every man is under the threat of judgment.

How often we have discussed this.
Romans 3:10-18 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” “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.” “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

• No one is good enough.
• No one is acceptable.
• Not one single person can stand before that Judge.
EVERYONE NEEDS TO SETTLE OUT OF COURT

Because if any human stands before God they will “likewise perish”

It is Jesus who gave us instruction on how not to perish.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Only through Christ can we stand before God and “not perish”.
Otherwise, on our own we are all in grave danger.

• DO NOT view your prosperity as a sign of God’s favor.
• DO NOT view other’s suffering as a sign of God’s displeasure.

See the righteous standard revealed in God’s word
And listen to the warning of Jesus.
“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The clear admonition is stop justifying yourself!
• Repent of your sin.
• Repent of your rebellion against God.
• Repent of your pride and arrogance.
• Repent of your hypocritical religion.
• Repent of your self-sufficiency.
• Repent of your worldliness.
• Repent of your vile language and gossip and slander
• Repent or your sexual immorality and bitterness and covetousness and discontentment, and lack of gratitude, and lying and cheating and hatred and anger.

And the list goes on and on and on.
REPENT!
Or “you will all likewise perish.”

So Jesus simply exploded their common supposition.
#2 A CRITICAL SITUATION
Luke 13:6-9

The question of the crowd was such a tragic indicator
Of their lack of discernment regarding their own danger before God.

It is clear that this crowd had totally failed to apply the sermon.
• They heard the Lord’s warning about His imminent return.
• They heard the Lord’s warning about the coming judgment.

And all they did was apply it to someone else.
• Surely the Lord wasn’t talking about them.
• Surely they weren’t in danger before God.
• Surely they didn’t need repentance.
• Surely they didn’t need to settle out of court.

Indeed they did, but they had failed to discern that.
SO NOW JESUS CLOSES HIS SERMON WITH A PARABLE.

And might I remind you again that parables were often used by our Lord to conceal truth from those who wouldn’t listen.

Remember Matthew 13 after the parable of the sower was given?
Matthew 13:10-15 “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING,BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’”

What a tragedy that this stubborn crowd now has driven Jesus
From straightforward preaching into yet another parable.

But here it is. It is the parable of the fig tree.

When it begins we see a vineyard owner and we see:
1) HIS DESIRE (6)
“And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.”

The scene is clear.
• A man had planted a fig tree and he had done it for the reason that anyone would plant a fig tree…he wanted figs.
• And like an eager farmer, he routinely approached the fig tree during fig season hoping to harvest some figs off of his tree.

But he never got any.

2) HIS DISPLEASURE (7a)
“And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any.’”

His displeasure is clear.
• He wanted figs.
• He had returned 3 years in a row looking for figs and had yet to eat one.

Now, let me just make sure that you grasp something at this point.
For 3 years this tree had been enjoying ease of life.
• It had been planted, it enjoyed the safety of the vineyard, it received water, it
was cared for by the vineyard-keeper.

This tree had for 3 years lived in relative ease and prosperity
Totally oblivious of any hardship of any kind.

But this tree had failed to yield any fruit.
And unbeknownst to the tree the vineyard owner was displeased.
The owner of the tree is not happy, but the tree is oblivious.

3) HIS DECISION (7b)
“Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?”

Notice the swift, sudden, and almost unexpected judgment.
• In a moment, in a flash, the frustration of the vineyard owner boiled over and he ordered that tree to be cut down.

Yesterday that tree thought all was fine and good.
Today that tree faces judgment.

4) HIS DEMAND (8-9)
“And he [vineyard-keeper] answered and said to him [vineyard owner], ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

The vineyard-keeper interceded on behalf of the tree
And asked for one more year to groom that tree.

The expectation is that this tree will bear fruit next year,
And if not then it rightly deserves to be destroyed.

Now, let the parable sink in.
• The vineyard owner is obviously God
• The fig tree is obviously Israel
• The vineyard-keeper is Christ
• The expected fruit is righteousness

And now the parable comes to life.
• God has planted Israel in their land with the expectation of righteousness.
• He routinely looked for it and never found it.
• And for 3 years Christ has been working in Israel.
• But Israel has refused to listen or refused to repent and produce righteousness.
• So God determines it is time to Judge.
• And Jesus intercedes for one more chance.
• Let Me warn them again, let Me tell them again. Let Me instruct them of the necessity to produce fruit.
• And next year if there is no fruit, then fine, judge them.

So let me ask you…what happened?

Interestingly enough THE VERDICT IS NOT REVEALED in the parable.
This is what you call a cliff-hanger.

• We are not told what the verdict is.
• We are not told how the vineyard owner responded to the request of the
vineyard-worker.

Jesus purposely left the parable open ended
Because it is meant to produce urgency.

If you were that tree, AND YOU HEARD the argument going on about whether or not you should be chopped down…
WOULDN’T YOU BE TRYING TO POP OUT A FIG ALL OF A SUDDEN?

That’s the point, you are in danger!
“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

• Judgment is imminent!
• You are being dragged before the Judge.

Now, history allows us to finish this parable.
If you want to know how it ends, we know that answer.

Here is the ending to the parable.

“The vineyard owner agreed and went his way. The next day as the vineyard-keeper dug around the plant in order to fertilize, the fig tree grabbed up the vineyard-keeper and killed him and hung his body from a limb displaying him to the world. When the vineyard owner returned he was enraged at the tree and chopped it down and burned it with fire.”

That’s how the parable ends because that’s what actually happened.
• Israel will reject the warnings of Christ,
• Will crucify Him on a tree,
• And God will come and judge those Jews
• By breaking them off and burning their city with fire.

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

Because you were a fruitless tree unwilling to repent.

Do you see the tragedy?
Do you see this tree thinking all was fine until suddenly judgment swept upon it?

• Do you understand now why Jesus warns about the suddenness of His return?
• Do you understand now why Jesus warns about the wicked slave being cut in
pieces?
• Do you understand now why Jesus says you should try and settle out of court?
• Do you understand now why Jesus say, “unless you repent, you will all
likewise perish?”

Because God wants the fruit of righteousness and man isn’t giving it!

Now I want to close with one more illustration from Scripture because I want to clarify even more for you what is expected from you.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 5
• You may be familiar with this story, we’ve seen it before,
• The youth should certainly be familiar as we recently looked at it.

(Read 1-2)
• We have there a vineyard owner who obviously wanted grapes and wine from his vineyard.
• And he did everything necessary for that vine that it should produce good grapes.
• But it did not.

He wasn’t lazy, he wasn’t cheap, he wasn’t negligent.
He was a model farmer, it just didn’t work.

So then comes the question for us:
(Read 3-4)
• The question is posed to us: “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done it?” (nothing)
• “Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?” (must have been a bad vine)

(Read 5-6)
• That makes sense to us because it was a bad vine.
• Why in the world would you keep pouring resources into a vine that refuses to produce?

Or as the vineyard owner in our story asked,
“Why does it even use up the ground?”

And so the vineyard is destroyed.
(You see the same application here)

And then the story is explained.
(Read 7)

There it is spelled out.
Because Israel failed to give God the righteousness He demanded they were judged.

God gave them every opportunity to be righteous.
Romans 9:4-5 “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”

They had every privilege that could be afforded and they refused.
And so God judged them.

If you don’t bring God righteousness then you get judged.
And it doesn’t matter if you’ve been given every benefit or not.

Remember the slave with many benefits received many lashes, the slave with few benefits received few lashes,
BUT THEY ALL WERE FLOGGED; THEY ALL WERE JUDGED.

Every slave is required to produce righteousness.
Every tree is required to produce fruit.

And so you see another story of the same point.
Fruitlessness brings judgment and if you are not righteous before God you will be judged.

THAT IS FACT.

But you need to see one more verse.
TURN TO: JOHN 15

(Read 1-4)

Did you catch that?
“I am the true vine”

That is to say, “I am the fruitful vine. I am the righteous vine. I am the vine that is pleasing. I am the fig tree that produces figs.”

And not only that,
But the explanation is given as to how we can become fruitful.

How do we become fruitful?
When we are grafted in to the true vine.

“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. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “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.”

When we abide in Him.

Here is the good news!
• We are all fruitless trees.
• We are all fruitless vines.
• There is none good, not even one.
• And we are headed for a certain judgment.

Jesus Himself said that we are all going to perish.

Our only hope is to be righteous
And that righteousness comes through Jesus Christ.
We are grafted into Him. We are clothed in His righteousness.

I read you the familiar John 3:16 earlier:
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

Let me show you something interesting.
• We read in verse 16, “believes in Him” The Greek word for “in” is EIS
• We read in verse 17, “God did not send the son into the world” The Greek
word for “into” is also EIS

My point is that EIS can easily be translated “into” not just “in”

Now read John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes into Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

How are we saved?
• We repent of our sin and our sinfulness.
• We see our need for a Savior.
• And we place our faith in Jesus by which we are grafted into Him.
• We are then clothed in His righteousness and we begin to bear fruit for God.

That is the point of the sermon.
WE NEED JESUS!

That fig tree should not have killed Him,
That fig tree should have tapped into Him.

THAT IS THE INVITATION.
• The return of the Lord is imminent
• The judgment of God is certain
• Your guilt is already proven

Our only hope is to run to the only One
Who produced the righteous fruit that God desires
And that is Christ.

• Confess your sin and your sinfulness.
• Repent before God and run to Jesus,
• Place your faith in Him and be clothed in His righteousness.

Because Jesus could not have been more clear, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Theology Behind Repentance
Psalms 51
September 29, 2019

Tonight we come to one of the top 5
Most popular Psalms in the entire book.

It is the famous 51st Psalm and it is of course
The pinnacle chapter in the Bible on repentance.

You notice in the subheading that:
“For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.”

A couple of things there.
• ONE IS obviously the setting, which we will read in a moment.
• BUT THE OTHER is that it is “For the choir director” meaning that David shares this bitter moment publicly.

This is not just a private prayer from David
Regarding his repentance before the Lord,
This is a lesson for the church to sing and learn about repentance.

And that is really the direction I want to take you tonight.
I want you to see the theology behind repentance.

Well, let’s begin by reading the story that inspired this Psalm.
TURN TO: 2 Samuel 11:1 – 12:20

Well there is the story.
• It is the infamous “you the man” sermon by Nathan.
• And it is in response to David’s betrayal of God that David penned this song
and is now commanding it taught to the church.

David’s humility comes shining through in the fact that
He commanded that the subheading be included so that all the world would forever know who the sinner behind the song was.

And just in that we see some obvious aspects of repentance that I want to quickly point out before we get to the structure of the Psalm.

We could just call these sort of some “HOT POINTS”
We can quickly make from this great Psalm.

HERE ARE SOME ASPECTS OF TRUE REPENTANCE
1) IT IS AN APPEAL FOR GRACE NOT JUSTICE (1)

Obviously the prayer of repentance comes to God as a beggar,
Not as a victim.
There are no, “I’m sorry but, You should’ve…” going on here.
David wants no part of justice, he only wants grace.
Such is true repentance.

2) IT IS NOT A CHEAP PLOY TO CONTINUE IN SIN (2)

David isn’t looking for mercy to continue sinning,
David is looking for cleansing from his sin.

3) IT DISCERNS WHO IS TRULY OFFENDED (3-4)

Some might take issue here
Thinking that the truest offended person was Uriah,
But believers know that all sin is first and foremost an offense to God.

• Nathan told David that in his sin he “despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight.” (12:9)
• Nathan also told David that in this sin he “despised” God (12:10)
• Not only that but Nathan also said, “by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme” (12:14)

Every believer should understand who their sin truly hurts.
You only think it hurts you.
You only think it hurts others.
The true victim of our sin is God.

4) IT ADMITS THE DEPTHS OF DEPRAVITY AND TAKES OWNERSHIP (5-6)

This wasn’t a slip up from a man with a good heart.
David knew why he sinned; it’s because he was a sinful man.

David wasn’t a victim of his circumstances.
• David was an adulterer in heart and that’s why he did what he did.
• David was a murderer in heart and that’s why he killed Uriah.
• David was a liar and schemer and a thief in his heart, that’s why he did what he did.

5) IT REQUESTS PURITY WITH MERCY (7-9)

Do you notice all the appeals for purity?
Do you notice the desire to be clean?
This is not a man who wants mercy while being able to remain in his sin.
This man wants the sin gone.

6) IT LONGS FOR PERMANENT VICTORY (10)

He not only wants cleanliness, but he wants steadfastness.
It is his sincere hope to never venture this way again.

7) IT DESIRE RECONCILIATION WITH GOD NOT ELIMINATION OF CONSEQUENCES (11-12)

David ISN’T here requesting to save his reputation
Or for God to remove the consequences.
His only request is that his intimacy with God will be restored.

8) IT DELIGHTS IN A TESTIMONY TO HELP OTHERS (13)

This was a man who led others to blaspheme God by reason of his sin,
And now his desire is to use his forgiveness
To glorify God and restore God’s reputation.

He understood that mercy was something to be proclaimed.

9) IT GLORIFIES GOD (14-15)

True repentance leads to true forgiveness
And that should always result in praise.

Jesus said, “he who is forgiven much loves much”
And that should always be evident.

10) IT IS NOT SUPERFICIAL (16-17)

There is nothing token or routine about this repentance.
• It isn’t a prayer for show or a trip to the altar to impress others.
• True repentance includes a truly broken heart and spirit that longs to be righteous.

11) IT RESULTS IN PURE CORPORATE WORSHIP (18-19)

You see here that the entire congregation
Has learned from David’s mistake, his humility, his confession,
God’s mercy, and David’s restoration.

It drove a holy passion through the entire congregation
So that all are revived and seeking to worship God more sincerely.

Now those are just some rapid fire points to be made about repentance.
That is what it is.
And we could spend a lot more time just on those topics.

But what I really want to look at tonight is the theology behind repentance

When you casually read through Psalms 51
The most obvious attitude you see is David’s humility.
That is the easiest to spot.
You see how humble and broken and contrite he is.

What perhaps you don’t see quite as easily is David’s faith,
And that is what I want us to see tonight.

I want you to understand why faith is necessary for repentance.
I would also go further and say that
The root cause for a lack of repentance in the church
Is because there is a lack of faith.

When you work through this Psalm and you see what David believes
Then you will understand why David repents.

And tonight in this moment of brokenness and confession by David
I simply want you to see his theology.

So let’s look at this Psalm of repentance and see what David believes.
5 beliefs I want us to see tonight.

#1 ABOUT GOD
Psalms 51:1-4

Here we learn what David believes about God.
And that’s a little misleading because you could actually say that
The entire Psalm reveals what David believes about God.

But we’re going to focus on it here in these 4 verses.

Look at verse 1
“Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.”

Now let’s think about this for a moment.
• Because we have here a man whom God graciously honored by putting him on the throne.
• And this after God removed his predecessor for a lack of faithfulness.
• This David then despised God and His word by walking into sexual immorality and murder.
• And David blasphemed God by committing this sin before the world.

And yet, David has the idea here to go and approach this God
And ask for forgiveness.

Clearly we learn there what David believes about God.
• David DOESN’T BELIEVE God to be a ruthless tyrant.
• David DOESN’T BELIEVE God to be a vindictive.

• David obviously believes that God is “gracious”
• David obviously believes in God’s CHECED, His “lovingkindness”
• David obviously believes in God’s “compassion”

If you don’t believe God is those things
Then you don’t approach Him for mercy.
You see how David’s theology drives his repentance.

Look at verses 2-3
(2-3) “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.”

On one hand we have here David more than aware of his sin problem.
He says, “my sin is ever before me.”

That is to say, “I know what a problem I have.”

But you also notice what David doesn’t say.
HE DOESN’T SAY, “God I’m going to change. I’m going to turn over a new leaf. I’m not going to do that anymore.”

COULD IT BE that David understood that sin was a bigger problem
Than he could handle on his own? Certainly!

But notice what he believes about God.
• He asks God to “wash me thoroughly”
• He asks God to “cleanse me from my sin”

He obviously believes that God has the ability
To transform his heart.
He obviously believes that God has the power
To deliver from sinful inclinations.

How many times I have taken comfort in:
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

How many times I have taken comfort in the promises of the New Covenant:
Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, ” I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Or
Ezekiel 36:26-27 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

It is the belief we hold when we go to God in repentance
That not only will He be gracious to FORGIVE our sins,
But He also holds the power to change our lives and FREE us from sin.

It was NOT A RANDOM INSIGNIFICANT PROMISE our Lord made when He said:
John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Clearly David believed that.
We don’t run to Saviors who have no power to save.

David clearly believed that God had the ability to cleanse his heart.

One more important thing David believed about God.
(40) “Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.”

David understood that God was a “justified” and “blameless” judge.

Not only that, but David knew God was A WILLING JUDGE,
Hence the words “when You judge.”

And this is a truly important reality in regard to repentance.
Perhaps it is failure to believe this truth that creates a lack of repentance today.
• David believed that God would judge him for sin.
• David believed that God would not allow iniquity to go unpunished.

And this is the driving force behind repentance.
If you don’t believe that, then you’ll never repent.
But David did.

But you see then David’s theology.
• He believed would judge him for sin.
• He knew he had no power to free himself from sin.
• But he knew God could and if he would humbly come then God would graciously forgive and deliver him.

That is the belief about God that drives our repentance.
YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE THOSE THINGS.
If you don’t, I’d venture to guess that repentance
Is not a very common occurrence in your life.

It starts with our belief about God.
It is the driving force to our repentance.

There is a second set of belief we look at:
About God
#2 ABOUT MAN
Psalms 51:5-9

We already saw that David believes God is
• A gracious Savior.
• An able Deliverer.
• And a serious Judge.

But we also learn in this Psalm what David obviously believed about man.

(5) “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”

We have a modern day term for that belief, it is called: “Total Depravity”.
• It is the belief that in Adam we all fell.
• That we are born spiritually dead in sin.
• And that we are all corrupt from birth.

This is the point of Romans 5:12
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”

This is the point we’ll be driving hard at this year’s Disciple Now.
Namely that we were all condemned “in Adam” and only by being “in Christ” can we be redeemed.

But this is a basic and yet often overlooked truth.
In fact, I tell people this all the time.
(It’s not uncommon for me to get a phone call or an email from someone asking me about the doctrine of election or the doctrine of limited atonement; to debated doctrines today)

But I always tell them, “You’re starting in the wrong place.”
• Don’t enter the debate at the point of election.
• Don’t enter the debate at the point of atonement.

You have to get your doctrine of man right first.
If you’re doctrine of man is wrong all your other doctrines will be too.

And today the popular belief is that of Pelagius (who was actually deemed a heretic by the church in 416 and excommunicated).

Pelagius championed a staunch belief
• That man was not condemned in Adam,
• That man was not born dead in sin,
• That man maintained a freedom of the will to choose salvation,
• And therefore was required to do so.

His main opponent was Augustan who held
• That man was dead in sin,
• That man was not capable of such a choice because of his spiritual death and slavery
• Therefore God must exercise grace.

This is where we discussed the issues of monergism or synergism
In regard to regeneration.
We believe that regeneration is monergistic; (i.e. “the work of One”)
Not synergistic (a cooperative effort).

We believe that man’s will is in bondage
And apart from the regenerating work of God’s Spirit
He cannot choose good.
He is free to choose, but because he is a slave to sin
He will always choose sin.

He is in a prison that he cannot escape on his own,
And it began in the garden with Adam.

And it is extremely clear that David believed that.
“I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”

It is the lament offered by the apostle Paul regarding his battle to try and eliminate sin on his own.
Romans 7:14-24 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

That is Paul saying the same thing.
• I know about God…He is good.
• I know about the Law…it is good.
• I know about sin…it is bad.
• And I choose not to sin, but to obey God’s Law.

What was the problem?
• He couldn’t!
• He was a slave.
• “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

YOU HAVE TO GET THAT FIRST.
• David has it right which is why he is NOT running to a self-help guru for freedom.
• He is running to God who alone has the power to transform the leopard’s spots.

Look at it:
(6-9) “Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.”

David is not promising to do better, he is begging for cleansing.
He is not working harder,
He is throwing himself at the mercy of the Savior.

This is a very important understanding in regard to repentance.
Unless you realize that you have no power to deliver yourself from sin then you will never run to Christ for freedom from it.

Now notice how Paul continued in that lament from Romans 7
Romans 7:24-8:4 “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. 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.”

What he could not do because of his sinfulness,
God did for him through Jesus Christ.

Do you see that in David?
• Are you just going to tell him to quit lusting after women?
• Are you just going to tell him to quit lying about affairs?
• Are you just going to tell him to quit coming up with corrupt solutions to problems?

You can tell him that, but he has no power to change.
God must change him.

That is what David understood and that explains his repentance.
You see what he believed about God
You see what he believed about man
#3 ABOUT FORGIVENESS
Psalms 51:10-13

We already know that David believed that God was forgiving,
But here we learn what David believes about forgiveness itself.

(10) “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

David believed that forgiveness did not just wipe away condemnation, David also believed it restored faithfulness.

You can see in David’s repentance that
He is NOT just asking to have the consequences of his sin removed.

In fact we just read back in verse 8, “Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.”

He wasn’t looking for freedom from punishment,
HE WAS LOOKING FOR FREEDOM FROM SIN
And clearly David believed that if God forgave him
Then he would have that.

He saw forgiveness as a means to also obtaining “a steadfast spirit”

David believed being forgiven would increase his faithfulness.

(11) “Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”

David clearly believed that forgiveness meant TOTAL RESTORATION.
• He clearly believed that forgiveness would cover all his iniquity no matter how
great it was.

What David speaks of in this verse is that God not treat him like God treated Saul.
• God took the anointing from Saul
• God cast Saul out as king.

And David says, “Please don’t do that to me.”
Clearly David believed that if God forgave him
That it cover a multitude of sins.

In short, he believed in the power of forgiveness.
That it was greater than his sin.

If you don’t believe that God will in fact wipe out all your sin when you come to Him then you are quite likely not to come to Him.

David believed He would.

We learn more about what David believed about forgiveness
(12) “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.”

David believed that forgiveness produced joy.
• He saw his sin as the cause for his sorrow.
• He saw his iniquity as the cause for his miserable demeanor.

And yet, if God would forgive him, then joy would be restored.
It’s no wonder then that David sought forgiveness.

We could talk here about the VALUE OF FORGIVENESS.
People don’t seek it because they don’t believe that it will be worth it.

People don’t repent because they don’t believe that
The joy of forgiveness exceeds the pleasures of sin.

But David did.

Another thing he believed about forgiveness
(13) “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.”

David knew that forgiveness is free but it does come with an expectation.
When God forgives us there is an obligation
That we proclaim that forgiveness to the world.

Remember what Paul told Timothy?
1 Timothy 1:15-16 “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. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”

• Paul was the self-proclaimed worst sinner who ever lived.
• But God forgave him and Paul knew why.
• God desired to put Paul on display for other sinners to see.

Paul would spend his life preaching that
“If God will forgive me, then He will forgive anybody!”

David knew that obligation as well.
• I think that has a lot to do with why he penned this song.
• He knew that God forgiving his failures demanded testimony.

But when David repented you see what he believed.
• About God – Gracious, Able, Serious
• About Man – Ensared in sin, needing salvation
• About Forgiveness – it restores, it covers all sin, it produces joy, and it requires a testimony

But we learn more of what David believed here.
#4 ABOUT WORSHIP
Psalms 51:14-17

In short, what you will see here is that David understood that
If he never repented then he’d never be able to worship.

He saw repentance as necessary if he was ever to worship God again.

Look at what David believes about worship
(14) “Deliver me from bloodguiltness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.”

David was not able to go and stand before God in true worship
So long as he bore the weight of having shed innocent blood.

God wasn’t about to accept his worship under those circumstances.

Remember what God revealed through Isaiah:
Isaiah 1:14-15 “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”

Through Jeremiah He asked:
Jeremiah 7:9-11 “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ — that you may do all these abominations? “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares the LORD.”

David knew he could not worship God in his sinful state
And that made repentance necessary.

How many today wrongly assume that they can harbor their sin
And come sing acceptable praises to God.
It is the height of hypocrisy.

Friend, leave your sin before you pick up your hymnal.

That is not all David believed about worship
(15) “O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise.”

• David knew that worship must come from a heart that God accepted.
• David isn’t promising to open his lips, he is asking god to open his lips.

That is to say, he is asking God to forgive him, and cleanse him,
And then grant him worship.

Is it starting to make more sense now why David repented?
It wasn’t about eliminating consequences,
It was about being accepted before God as a worshiper.

(16-17) “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

• David knew that worship could not be superficial.
• David knew that worship could not be ceremonial.
• David knew that worship must be genuine, sincere, and full of humility.

That is why he brought repentance to God.
God might not accept a lamb, but God would accept humility.

David’s theology here is so important.
How many today come thinking God will accept them apart from a humble spirit so long as they bring an offering?

How foolish.
• Clearly David DID NOT BELIEVE that God could be bought.
• David CLEARLY BELIEVED that the only shot of ever being accepted by God in worship again would be if he repented of his sin.

Do you see that?

Many today don’t repent
Because they think God accepts them “just as they are”.

Many today don’t repent
Because they think their offering, or in some cases just their attendance
Makes God pleased with their worship.

David didn’t believe that.
He believed worship required purity and sincerity
And that is why he repented.

I’ll show you one more set of beliefs David had.
#5 ABOUT PUNISHMENT
Psalms 51:18-19

We are talking here about the conviction and punishment
God brings because of sin.
And David says it is good.

It is good for God’s people.
(18) “By Your favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem.”

God had just confronted David through Nathan the prophet
And pronounced him some pretty severe punishments.
And yet David saw that as a good thing.

He saw that as something that would ultimately
Strengthen the walls of Jerusalem.

Why?
(19) “Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, In burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.”

• After seeing David’s sin…
• After seeing God’s displeasure…
• After witnessing David’s repentance…

There is no doubt the entire nation
Was inspired to worship more sincerely.

I would imagine David’s confession produced repentance from many in Israel.

And David says that is a good thing.
• It is good that God convicts of sin.
• It is good that God announces His displeasure.
• It is good that God grants repentance as a means of forgiveness.
• It is good because knowledge of it purifies a nation.

Now I know that is covering this Psalm rather quickly,
But I hope you see now the theology that drives repentance.

What is more perhaps now you can see why people don’t repent.
People don’t’ repent because of what they don’t believe.

• Perhaps they don’t believe God is gracious.
• Perhaps they don’t believe God can cleanse them.
• Perhaps they don’t believe God will judge them.
• Perhaps they don’t believe man needs God’s help.
• Perhaps they don’t believe that man is actually fallen.
• Perhaps they don’t believe forgiveness can restore them.
• Perhaps they don’t believe forgiveness can cover all their sin.
• Perhaps they don’t believe forgiveness is worth it.
• Perhaps they don’t want their lives used as a testimony.
• Perhaps they think they can worship God without it.
• Perhaps they think that a pure heart is not a prerequisite for worship.
• Perhaps they think God will accept the proud.
• Perhaps they think repentance won’t help the body.

People who believe those sorts of things are prone to never repent.
But you can see why David did.

You can see what he believed
And therefore why repentance was necessary.

So tonight we just focus on the theology behind repentance
And ask if there are any of those truths that we do not believe
That would lead us to a lack of repentance.

Repentance is a great grace that God has bestowed upon the church,
And when your theology is correct
You clearly see why you need it so badly.

What Every Crowd Needs To Hear
Luke 12:49-59
September 29, 2019

I saw a quote from R.C. Sproul this week that resonated. He said:
“We have a generation of people who think they can stand before the judgment seat of God despite their sins.”

What a tragic reality that is.

We read:
Revelation 20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

The Bible is clear when it teaches that every man will appear before God
He will bring every act to judgment, and God will punish men for their sin.

Solomon reminded of this very truth:
Ecclesiastes 12:14 “For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

And yet for some reason people seem to think that
When they stand before God
Their sin either won’t be seen, or that God won’t care.

Isaiah spoke of this very type of false confidence:
Isaiah 28:14-18 “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place. “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place.”

Judgment is real.
• Men will give an account before God.
• The standard of His judgment is perfect righteousness.
• The penalty for failing to meet His standard is eternal torment in hell.

The notion of thinking you can stand before God despite your sin
IS A FOOLISH NOTION.

And every man needs to hear this.

Perhaps you remember when Paul went to Athens and was mocked at the Areopagus as an idle babbler who proclaimed strange deities.

Paul’s message for them in response was direct:
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

The message of God to the world is a message of repentance.
It is a message of demanded righteousness.
It is a message of certain judgment.

IT IS THE MESSAGE THAT THE WORLD NEEDS TO HEAR.

And it is the message that Jesus is bringing to the crowd in Luke 12 & 13.

If you will remember, Jesus is presently surrounded by a large crowd.
Luke 12:1 “Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another…”

And because of this crowd Jesus began to instruct His disciples regarding ministry to the crowd.
• We heard Him warn them about hypocrisy.
• We heard Him warn them about fearing judgment.
• We heard Him warn them about letting a desire for results manipulate them.

But most recently Jesus has reminded them that when they minister,
Everything they do should be done with an eye to the coming judgment.

Jesus reminded His disciples that He would return and when He does all of His slaves will give an account for how they served.

Last week we even heard our Lord reference 4 different types of slaves.
• The Noble Slave – Who is found faithful to the commands of his master when
the master returns.
• The Nasty Slave – who rebels against the master and even begins to beat the
truth servants of the master.
• The Negligent Slave – who knows what to do, but just doesn’t do it.
• The Naïve Slave – who doesn’t know the master or what to do because he is
naïve to the concepts of judgment.

JUDGMENT IS REAL.

And is the next point our Lord desires to really drive home.
I find that fascinating.

Jesus gets a large crowd
And the topic He desires to discuss is judgment.
• He doesn’t talk about prosperity (in fact He warned against it)
• He doesn’t talk about the importance of getting along (He’s going to blow that up in a minute too)
• He doesn’t’ talk to the crowd about how God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life. (You know the basic Jeremiah 29:11 sermon)

Jesus got a big crowd and so Jesus preached judgment.
That is the message that every crowd needs to hear.

And this morning, we listen as Jesus talks to us about judgment.
There are 4 points we take from this text.
#1 THE JUDGMENT JESUS BRINGS
Luke 12:49

This is certainly an interesting verse,
And yet another one that the masses
Would have a hard time believing Jesus actually said.

He said, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth”:

Incidentally, “fire” is a reference to judgment.

It is both a metaphor of judgment
And incidentally the literal form of judgment.

Remember the preaching of John the Baptist?
Matthew 3:10-12 “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John there spoke of two baptisms that Jesus would bring.
• One would be a baptism of the Holy Spirit – that is salvation.
• The other would be a baptism of fire – that is judgment.

Context in that passage reveals that.
John spoke of fire as being that which burns up the chaff.
Fire in John’s sermon is judgment and Jesus will bring it.

BUT NOT JUST METAPHORICAL FIRE.
JESUS WILL BRING LITERAL FIRE.

Peter speaks of the Lord’s return and day of judgment:
2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

During a Q&A at youth camp this year a student asked John MacArthur about the Christian’s role in preserving the earth and environmentalism.

John MacArthur’s response was: “If you don’t like what humans are doing to the earth today wait until you see what Jesus is going to do to it.”

Peter revealed that He will destroy it
“with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

He will literally “cast fire upon the earth.”

Isaiah 66:15-16 “For behold, the LORD will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. For the LORD will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all flesh, And those slain by the LORD will be many.”

In His explanation of the parable of the wheat and the tares:
Matthew 13:41-43 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Jesus is bringing judgment.

In verse 49 Jesus reveals that this is one of the reasons for His coming.
“I have come to cast fire upon the earth”

• Part of the work of Jesus is to bring judgment to a sinful world.
• Part of the work of Jesus is to burn up the wicked with unquenchable fire.
• Part of the work of Jesus is judgment.

Certainly Jesus came first to seek and to save that which was lost.
Certainly Jesus came first to serve.
Certainly Jesus came first to be an atoning sacrifice for sinners.

Certainly Jesus is a Savior.
BUT JESUS IS ALSO THE JUDGE.

John 5:22 “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,”

Jesus came to this earth to save sinners,
But those who remain unredeemed He will destroy with fire.

And perhaps you were already aware of that.
Perhaps you were aware of the fact that after Jesus is finished saving the elect that He will then destroy the wicked.

The SHOCKING PART of the verse is what He says next:
“and how I wish it were already kindled!”

It is the most overlooked concept of God’s nature.
People tend to want to just limit God to one attribute
And sort of throw Him in one camp.

Most of the time in our culture that attribute is love or mercy.
And so mankind rationalizes that since God is loving
And since God is merciful that He cannot also be angry.

And that is not true.
Psalms 7:11 “God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.”

Of the sinful rebels in the nation of Israel we read:
Psalms 95:9-10 “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways.”

Even last Sunday night God spoke to His people who engaged in superficial worship and who approved of the world, God said:
Psalms 50:22 “Now consider this, you who forget God, Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.”

We are confronted then with the complexity of God
That He is not limited to one expression at a time,
But God demonstrates His full attributes at all time.

• He is angry and merciful at the same time.
• He is holy and loving at the same time.
• He is Savior and Judge at the same time.

And we even see this reality in Christ.
This man came to save sinners, but at the same time eagerly anticipated the day when He would set fire to this earth.

• Do not forget the holiness of Christ.
• Do not forget the righteous indignation of Christ.
• Do not forget the desire of Christ to return and purify this earth and rule in righteousness.

And don’t assume that judgment won’t come
Because Jesus just won’t be able to bring Himself to do it.

Oh yes He will!
In fact, He said, “how I wish it were already kindled!”
Let that sink in.

It doesn’t mean He doesn’t want men to be saved…He does.
It doesn’t mean He isn’t merciful…He is.
It doesn’t mean He isn’t patient…He is.

But at the same time, in the full mystery of the deity of Christ,
He also has a great righteous longing for the day
When sin is fully defeated and the evil works of this world are burned up.

And He is perfectly just in this!

2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”

So if you want to take a point from the message
That Jesus is preaching to this crowd…JUDGMENT IS COMING!

It is very much within the nature of our Lord
To return and cast fire upon the earth. You need to know that.

That is the Judgment Jesus Brings
#2 THE JUDGMENT JESUS ENDURES
Luke 12:50

So Jesus announces that there is a certain judgment coming in which He will in fact cast fire upon the earth.
But that judgment is not the next judgment on the timeline.
Jesus reveals another judgment that is coming first.

And this judgment is not one which the world will endure,
It is one that He will endure.

“But I have a baptism to undergo…”

You already saw how the word “baptism” can also be a word indicating the endurance of judgment.
Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Baptism there was a term for judgment and it is here as well.
Jesus has a judgment that He must “undergo”

It is the cross.

And He even says regarding this judgment:
“and how distressed I am until all is accomplished!”

Certainly we see that distress show up in the garden.
Luke 22:41-44 “And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”

What we learn here in Luke 12 is that the distress of the cross wasn’t just felt in the garden, it was a distress Jesus bore daily.
Always on His mind was the reality of where He was headed.

In just a short while He would die at the hands of wicked men.
And yet it was NOT the physical torment of the cross that gave Him grief,
It was the judgment of the cross.

On the cross Jesus would bear the full fury of God’s wrath.
For all the sin of all the elect for all time.

We have seen it many times, but it always warrants examination.
Matthew 27:45-46 “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

• As we have often times pointed out the darkness there is very significant since
darkness is that which accompanies the day of the Lord judgment.
• The day of God’s wrath is often referred to as a day of darkness.
• On the cross, Jesus was bearing God’s wrath against sin.
• And just to make sure that you understand that He didn’t simply symbolically
bear it, Jesus actually expresses His grief crying out, “MY GOD, MY GOD,
WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

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

Jesus bore the sin of many, that is the elect,
And because He bore their sin,
He also endured God’s holy judgment on that sin.

All the fury of God…
All of His holiness ignited…
It was all poured out on Christ.

Isaiah even said, “the LORD was pleased to crush Him”

That is the baptism our Lord is referring to.
• He had a judgment that He must endure.
• It was the judgment of the cross where He would atone for sinners.

And Jesus said, “how distressed I am until it is accomplished!”

“accomplished” there is TELEO which is the same word used in John 19:30.

John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

Jesus knew what was coming,
And until He finished His ministry there was distress.

He had a job to do.
He was currently fulfilling the righteous requirements of God (you know that as Active Obedience)
And He would soon bear the full wrath of God’s fury on the cross (you know that as Passive Obedience)

And the point so clearly made here is this:
JUDGMENT IS REAL

• Lest you think the judgment of God is some sort of myth…
• Lest you think that God will at the last moment choose mercy over judgment…
• Lest you think that God doesn’t have it in Him to crush sinners…

Look at the cross!
God was pleased to crush Him!
God totally crushed His Son.

Isaiah 52:13-15 “Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men. Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.”

Isaiah said He was “marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men.”

• God DIDN’T just give Christ “the look” on the cross.
• God DIDN’T offer Jesus a “timeout” on the cross.
• God DIDN’T put Jesus on probation on the cross.
• God crushed Him.
• God marred His appearance beyond human recognition.
• God poured out full fury on Him…His own Son!

And yet you think that when you stand before God
That more than likely He won’t go through with it?
Judgment is coming and Judgment is real.

The world needs to know that.

The Judgment Jesus Brings; The Judgment Jesus Endures
#3 THE JUDGMENT JESUS CAUSES
Luke 12:51-53

Here Jesus addresses some preconceived notions of His disciples.

We know what their expectations where:
“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth?”

That’s exactly what they supposed.
Isaiah 9:7 “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

That’s exactly what they thought.
And Jesus corrects them here because
Before that occurs there is another judgment that is coming.

This judgment is in the form of persecution.

And it is part of the judgment of fire the Lord speaks of,
Only here it DOES NOT have to do with consuming His adversaries,
BUT RATHER WITH PURIFYING HIS CHILDREN.

Malachi 3:2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.”

Some of the Lord’s fire consumes the wicked,
But some purifies the saints.

And that is a judgment that the Lord introduces here.
(52-53) “for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Jesus speaks of an intimate persecution.

What you have here are people
Who would rather turn their back on a member of their own family
Than to turn their back on their sin.

• Here we have a man and wife.
• That man and wife have a daughter and a son, and the son gets married.
• We don’t know who the believers are in the story, whether it is the parents or the kids, but what is clear is that some are believers and some are not.
• There is a division that occurs even between parents and child.

And there is a reason.
THERE IS NO FELLOWSHIP BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS.

2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

John 3:19-20 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”

You see this all the time.
• We have a world that constantly calls for everyone to just get along.
• We have a world that claims to want unity more than anything else.

And the world has a plan for how to achieve that unity.
According to the world unity is achieved through TOLERANCE
They think that we achieve unity by
Eliminating judgment and promoting tolerance.

And when we do that we will finally have peace.
The world just wants everyone to embrace the dark.

And to some extent they are true.
If everyone fully tolerated everyone’s sin then there would be a surface type of peace on the earth.

There would be peace with men
But what there wouldn’t be is peace with God.

God is Light and He does not fellowship with darkness.
1 John 1:5-7 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

What is more, we have Jesus “The Light of the World”
Who came to rescue men from darkness.

Colossians 1:13-14 “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

And when He does that, then we also become light.
John 12:36 “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”

Ephesians 5:6-12 “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.”

And because of this the division remains.
The darkness hates us.

John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

And this is the issue that Jesus brings up here.

There is a real judgment that is coming for His disciples.
• They will be hated by the darkness.
• They will be persecuted by the darkness.
WHY?
Because Jesus will save them and make them light
And for that the darkness will hate them.

Now the question arises at this point as to WHY Jesus revealed that here?
• We read basically the same statement in Matthew 10,
• But Matthew 10 is about evangelism and so it makes sense to us that He
would say that.

But here He is clearly talking about judgment,
Why does He bring this up now?

He is making a point:
• When we talk about the judgment you need to know that it is very decisive.
• The judgment is black and white.
• You are either on one side of this thing or the other.

You are either light or you are darkness,
But you can’t be some mixture in between.
You are either in fellowship with God or fellowship with the world.

There are only 2 sides and you are one or the other, but never both.
AND JESUS CAUSES THAT JUDGMENT.

He is the catalyst.
• If He had not come, the world would remain in darkness and we could all just get along.
• But He did come and shined light into the darkness and began to redeem men into the light and this is the cause of judgment.

But mostly you need to see that you can’t be on both teams.
JUDGMENT IS RIGID
It is coming, It is certain, and it is clear.

You are either with Him or against Him.
1 John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;”

You can’t be in both camps.
That is the Judgment Jesus Causes

The Judgment He Brings, The Judgment He Endures, The Judgment He Causes
#4 THE JUDGMENT JESUS DEMANDS
Luke 12:54-59

In John 7:24 Jesus said:
John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

We might also call it DISCERNMENT.
Jesus commands us to “judge with righteous judgment”

Now let me tell you what is happening here.
We have just reached that final break in the sermon.

1) Inspired by a Growing Crowd
2) Inspired by a Greedy Request
3) Inspired by a Genuine Concern

Here is the final leg of the sermon
4) INSPIRED BY A GLARING PROBLEM

The problem is that this crowd is headed for judgment
And they are totally unaware of it.

We have now reached the invitation to this great sermon.
Jesus is now appealing to the masses to believe what He has to say about the judgment and to respond accordingly.

And it begins with them opening their eyes
And having proper discernment.

He starts with their use of discernment in natural things.
(54-55) “And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. “And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way.”

Well they didn’t have Doppler Radar or Weather.Com
But people in Jesus’ day COULD STILL FORECAST THE WEATHER.

• If a cloud built up in the west over the Sea of Galilee they knew “A shower is
coming”.
• And if the wind was blowing from the deserts in the south they knew “It will be
a hot day.”

These people had the ability to recognize things going on around them
And make wise discerning evaluations based on that information.

And yet, regarding Jesus they had totally neglected discernment.
• He had walked among them.
• They had heard Him speak.
• They had seen His miracles.
• And yet they had remained totally undiscerning or unwilling to make the logical decision about Him.

That is why He says:
(56) “You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?”

They readily applied logical discernment to every aspect of life
But refused to do it in regard to Jesus.

Could they not see what was going on?
Surely they could, they just didn’t want to.
(naïve slave)

Jesus said “why do you not analyze the present time?”

What was “the present time”?
• It was the time of salvation.
• It was the days before the judgment arrived.

DO YOU SEE WHAT’S GOING ON?
• We have a holy God who has promised to judge mankind.
• We have a Messiah who will come and cast fire upon the earth.
But before that comes, we first have a Savior who is offering forgiveness.
• We first have a Savior who is offering men a way to be forgiven and saved.
• We have a Savior who is offering men righteousness.
• We have a chance for salvation.

That is what is going on.
And Jesus says that these people refuse to see it.

And He goes on:
(57) “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?”

• “Why does someone else always have to tell you to think about the coming judgment?”
• “Why does someone else always have to tell you to think about salvation?”

It seems like in view of the certainty of God’s judgment
That you would initiate that thought on your own.

It seems like you’d have the discernment to say,
“You know one day I’ll die and stand before God,
I wonder if there is anything that can be done ahead of time?”

It seems like you’d be wise enough to contemplate that now.
But they weren’t.

And to that Jesus gives an analogy.
(58-59) “For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. “I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.”

• The picture is of a man who has a debt that he cannot pay.
• And this man has been grabbed by his opponent and they are headed before the magistrate.

What you need to know is that the man’s guilt is not in question.
HE HAS THE DEBT AND HE CAN’T PAY IT.

And since that is the case Jesus is asking why don’t you “on your way there make an effort to settle with him so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.”?

In short, why don’t you try to settle out of court?
• If you know judgment is coming.
• If you know judgment is certain.
• If you know that judgment differentiates between the righteous and the wicked.
• And if you know that you are one of the wicked.

Then why don’t you try to settle accounts now?

Especially since right in front of you stands a Savior
Who can pardon you and clothe you in His righteousness.
You need to use good judgment.

And this is the beginning of the invitation Jesus is giving to this crowd
And it is a good place for us to pause this morning.

Have you thought about this friend?
Have you realized that judgment is real?
• Jesus will return and burn this world up with fire.
• God will sit on His throne and judge even the secrets of men.
• And those who are guilty will be thrown into the lake of fire.

But in the meantime, there is a Savior.
• His name is Jesus and He is the One who can forgive your sin and clothe you in His righteousness.

It only stands to reason that you would seek Him out before the judgment comes.

And since He can come at any time, and you don’t know the hour of His coming.
• And since death can spring upon any man suddenly.
• It seems like waiting to cry out to Jesus is risky gamble.

Today is the day to cry out to Jesus.
2 Corinthians 6:2 “for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”

Apart from Him what is your plan for the great day of judgment?

“And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?”

This morning I would echo those words to you.
• Judgment is real and God will do it.
• But there is a Savior at the present time who will forgive you and clothe you in His righteousness
• If you will deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.

And that is a judgment you must make.
That is a decision you must make.
Either to submit to Christ or to stand before God without Him.

As I told you at the beginning regarding the statement of R.C. Sproul
“We have a generation of people who think they can stand before the judgment seat of God despite their sins.”

That is not a wise judgment.
Analyze that today is the day of salvation
And run to Jesus before the judgment comes.

You Too, Be Ready
Luke 12:41-48
September 22, 2019

As you know, we are currently in the middle of a sermon our Lord preached and one that we called at the beginning,
“The Sermon on the Crowd”

It was a sermon preached by Jesus on an occasion when such a large crowd approached that they were literally stepping on one another.

We also said that it is a sermon that has a bit of a random feel
Because Jesus is sort of addressing what is going on around Him.

We’ve seen two of those issues.
1) INSPIRED BY A GROWING CROWD
This is where Jesus saw the crowd and then began to address His disciples about the realities of ministry.

He gave 3 truths before He was interrupted
And then last week we listened as He gave a 4th.
• Don’t Fake Piety
• Don’t Fear Persecution
• Don’t Fret Rejection
• Don’t Fall Asleep

It was all good advice to the disciples about ministering in this world.

Of course, as we noted, in the middle of that sermon He was interrupted by a man who wanted Jesus to serve as a sort of civil judge on his behalf.
2) INSPIRED BY A GREEDY REQUEST
And in response to that man’s request the Lord taught us
All about greed and worry and the dangers associated with it.

But as we said, after addressing that issue
He returned to remind His disciples to do all that they do
With a view to the second coming and the impending judgment.

And that is where we left off last week.
Jesus told us to BE READY.

It is foolish to live like there will be no judgment at the end of this life.
And yet so many are so eager to do just that.

Perhaps you are aware of various views of eschatology
And of how people choose to interpret prophetic promises by the Lord.

In recent years there has been a dramatic rise
In what is known as the PRETERIST VIEW.

Preterism comes from a Latin word that means “PAST” in regard to time.
And basically believes all the promises have already been fulfilled in the past.
The preterist view was formed because of
An inability to rationalize a few basic texts of Scripture.

Texts like:
Matthew 10:23 “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.”

Matthew 16:28 “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Matthew 24:34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

Or even
Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”

Preterists basically listened to the voice of scoffers who read those verses and then said, “Ha! Jesus must have been wrong because He did not return “soon” or in the lifetime of the disciples.”

And in an attempt to gain understanding to those promises
The preterist view concluded that all of those promises
Must have already been fulfilled.

Now I must point out to you that Peter answered those scoffers for us. We don’t have to get into some verbal wrangling with them.

2 Peter 3:3-10 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

Peter told us NOT TO get discouraged or frustrated
By scoffers who question the return of the Lord.
But those who fell into the Preterist camp did just that.

Basically the Preterist view says this:
That all the prophetic promises of the Bible, including those of our Lord, and those of the book of the Revelation have already been fulfilled. They were fulfilled in the past.

The date chosen by Preterists is A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed.

And just to be clear, here is what they believe:
• The tribulation
• The Second Coming
• The Millennial Reign
• IT HAS ALL ALREADY HAPPENED.

According to their view,
• When Jesus talked about hell, He was talking about the events around A.D. 70 and the destruction of the temple.
• When Jesus talked about returning, it was a spiritual or symbolic return fulfilled in the church, which now represents His kingdom.

According to this view,
• There is no more view to a second coming (it already happened),
• There is no coming judgment of the world.
• This world will last as long as we take care of it.
• Satan, sin and death are as defeated as they’re ever going to be,
• And when you die you just go to heaven.

In our day perhaps you can see how this view conveniently fits a worldview that:
• Hates the notion of Lordship and Jesus physically reigning
• Caters to the whims of society
• Finds a way to make environmentalism a mission from God
• Eliminates the fear of a coming judgment
• And kills all Christian incentive for holy living
• And encourages people simply to make their best life now

(And, incidentally, it would shock you if I read a list of people to you who have at least in part bought into that view.)

But I promise you this view is on the rise.

It seems to blatantly overlook the heresies of Hymenaeus and Philetus:
2 Timothy 2:16-18 “But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.”

It seems to blatantly overlook Paul’s 2nd letter to the Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

And it seems to blatantly miss promises in Scripture like those in the book of Acts
Acts 1:10-11 “And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

Rather what we have here is a view
That has been forged out of intellectual argument
And then adopted by a culture that is quite eager
To remove the threat of a coming King
And Judge who will require all men to give an account.

It is a tragic view that is quickly on the rise today.
And you simply need to know where the battle ground may soon be,
Even in the church.

WE MAY VERY SOON FIND OURSELVES FIGHTING THE BATTLE
FOR THE PROMISE THAT JESUS WILL COME AGAIN.

AND IT IS A STAND WE WILL TAKE.

WE ARE NOT THOSE who are willing to relegate the entire Bible to just some history lesson immediate applicable to only a few who lived 2,000 years ago.

WE ARE THOSE who watch in faith for Jesus to fulfill His promises exactly as He said He would.

We believe that the Son of Man will come in the clouds
And every eye will see Him and the dead in Christ will rise
And Christ will in fact destroy this earth with fire and judgment.

He said He would, and we refuse to spiritualize those promises away.

What is more, passages like Luke 12 have basically no meaning to us
If all Jesus spoke of was being ready for A.D. 70.

No, we believe that His promises and His warnings still hold true
And that just as He told us last week:
Luke 12:40 “You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

I bring that up to you this morning for a couple of reasons.
1) The church must be on the alert. We are the pillar and support of the truth and therefore we are mandated to stand against prevailing error.
2) The text we study this morning would fit well in addressing this argument based upon the question that Peter asks.

(41) “Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?”

This interjection by Peter represents the 3rd turn in our sermon.

We saw the first 2.
• Inspired by a Growing Crowd
• Inspired by a Greedy Request
• Now we see: Inspired by a General Concern

Peter wants to know who this message is for.
• Is this just for the disciples or is this warning for the entire crowd?
• Is this just for those alive before A.D. 70 or do people alive today need to hear it?

What we see here is Jesus answering the question of Peter.
In our text this morning Jesus is going to answer Peter’s question
By giving us a reminder about being ready.

And just to go ahead and give you the answer at the outset,
Jesus is going to show Peter that the statements He made about being ready must be applied personally, by every single person.

You cannot just apply these warnings generally,
They must be applied personally.
You must be ready.
I must be ready.

WE ARE REMINDED THAT WHEN OUR LORD TOLD US
WHO SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO THIS WARNING,
HE DID NOT LIMIT IT EVEN TO THAT GENERATION.
HE LEFT THE WARNING OPEN FOR ALL MEN.

Don’t read the promises of Jesus’ return with a telescope
Where you just want to tell everyone else to be ready.
Read the promises of the return of Jesus with a mirror
Where you ask whether or not you are ready for His return.

That’s the answer.

Now in giving that answer Jesus will introduce us to 4 slaves.
And as we examine them you will undoubtedly be able
To find yourself operating in one of these 4 capacities.

Now, I must be honest at the outset and tell you that
• Only 1 of these 4 slaves is actually saved.
• So if you find yourself living like one of the other 3 then know at the outset that repentance is in order.

But we’re going to look at these 4 slaves and then we must each personally evaluate our own lives.
#1 THE NOBLE SLAVE
Luke 12:42-44

Peter wanted to know, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?”

Here is how Jesus answers:
“Who then is the faithful and sensible steward..?”

We see first and foremost from our Lord here
What sort of qualities He is looking for in His slaves or servants.

He is looking for those who are “faithful”
And for those who are “sensible”

“faithful” is the Greek word PISTOS
It means “trustworthy” or “believing”
It is very close akinned to PISTEUO which is our word for “believe”

Jesus is looking then very simply for a slave
Who believes in Him and is faithful to Him.

“Sensible” is the Greek word PHRONIMOS (fron-ee-moss)
It means wise, or intelligent, or prudent.

You’ve seen it before.
Remember Jesus story about the wise and foolish home builders?
Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

Remember the parable about the virgins?
Matthew 25:1-2 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. “Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.”

We are talking then about wisdom.
And as we have said many times before, “Wisdom is not what you know. Wisdom is what you do with what you know.”

• A foolish man may be very smart, and may know a lot of facts, but if he does not apply those facts to his own life, he is a fool.
• A wise man takes what he knows to be true and acts on it.

That is what Jesus is looking for here in a servant.
He wants one that believes Him, is faithful to Him,
And who does what He is told.

And the reason He wants an obedient slave is because he has a job:
“his master will put him in charge of his servants to give them their rations at the proper time”

So the master had entrusted this slave to faithfully feed the other slaves.
There was a job entrusted to him.
The master wanted the slave to faithfully care for the other slaves.

And the master wants a slave who is faithful and sensible to do that job.

And to that Jesus says:
(43-44) “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”

The key point to be made here is that when the master comes back,
If that slave was found to have been faithful to his job
Then Jesus says that slave is “Blessed”

And to that end there will be a reward.
“Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”

And this promise isn’t just given here.
We see this type of promise from Jesus all over His preaching ministry.

• In Matthew 25 the slave who was faithful with 5 talents received 5 more;
the slave who was faithful with 2 talents received 2 more.

• Also in Matthew 25, the people who were faithful to care for the least of
these. Jesus will say, (34) “Come, you who are blessed of My Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

• In Luke 19 the slaves who were faithful with their “mina” (100 days wages)
each received cities corresponding to their level of faithfulness.

It is the common referred to promise by the Lord
That when He returns He will reward those slaves
Who believed He would come and who, because of that belief,
Lived in a faithful manner wisely doing what He told them to do.

THAT IS THE NOBLE SLAVE.

When the Lord told them what to do and how to live they do it.
And when the Lord returns He will reward them.

All we have to do is reminisce in our minds to the commands of Jesus.
• Commands regarding benevolence…
• Commands regarding evangelism and preaching…
• Commands regarding His church…
• Commands regarding the governing authorities…
• Commands regarding our enemies or our persecutors…
• Commands regarding our families…

Those who truly believe Christ will return
• And who believe that they will give an account
• And who are wise enough to obey those commands
• And who strive to be found faithful to His commands when He comes.

That is a saved slave. That is a noble slave.
And that slave gets rewarded by the master.

But unfortunately not all slaves are noble.
#2 THE NASTY SLAVE
Luke 12:45-46

And here we talk of a nasty slave, not so much in reference to a dirty body, but in reference to a wicked, brutal, defiant spirit.

Look at this slave.
(45) “But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk;”

Obviously this slave is not a good man.
Forget his lack of faithfulness,
He is flat out defiant of the things of the master.

He is described as one who “begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk;”

• That is not a nice man or a good man.
• That is not a man who shows any affinity for Christ’s church at all.
• He doesn’t love the church
• He doesn’t serve the church
• He brutally attacks the church.

He isn’t concerned about holiness or faithfulness,
He is concerned only for the flesh.
Eating and drinking and drunkenness or his desire.

He is anything but faithful,
He is actually better spotted as an enemy of the church.

And certainly we see people like that in our world today.
• They aren’t just negligent of the church, they are militant against her.
• They hate the church.
• They persecute the church.
• They want the flesh and they hate the church for standing against them.

That is a wicked and vile slave.
They are the type of slave that would go around chanting “Not my master”

They would be like those Jesus spoke of in John 3
John 3:19-20 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”

• They hate Christ.
• They hate the thought of His rule.
• They hate the thought of His return.
• They hate the slaves that follow Him.
• They want nothing to do with Christ at all.

But listen, just because they don’t submit to Christ
DOES NOT MEAN He is not their Lord and Master.

He is in fact Lord of all.
All men were created by Him and for Him.

And when He returns they will give an account for their nasty behavior.

(46) “the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.”

First let me remind you of
The REPEATED PRINCIPLES which we learned last week.

The master is coming, but again you notice how.
“on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know”

We saw that last week didn’t we?
• Remember, His coming will be like a thief, and the whole point is that you don’t know when a thief is coming.

In the Olivet Discourse Jesus said:
Matthew 24:36-44 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”

• Jesus said His coming would be SUDDEN like the days of Noah.
• And He said His coming would be SUPRISING like a thief.

Well clearly that is how Jesus returns to this nasty, wicked slave.

But perhaps the MORE SHOCKING reality in this verse
Is what Jesus says that He will do to that evil, defiant slave.

He “will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.”

That verse should be added to the book entitled
“Things people can’t believe Jesus actually said”

He said that when He returns
He will take that wicked slave and “cut him in pieces”

That isn’t just death; that is mutilation.

It reminds us of the story in the book of Judges (19)
• About the man whose concubine was raped and killed in the city of Gibeah
• And so he cut her up into 12 pieces and sent her body to the 12 tribes of Israel
• And they were so appalled that they nearly completely destroyed the tribe of
Benjamin for what they did.

What Jesus says here is drastic and severe and appalling.
It speaks volumes to His views on rebellion and defiance.

Those men who refuse to bow to Christ or to serve Him,
But who instead attack His bride
Will be slaughtered by the Lord when He comes.

And then…he will “assign them a place with unbelievers”

That is, after they are cut in pieces
He will then send them to hell for all eternity
Where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

And again, this isn’t the only place Jesus references this slave.

Remember those who were not faithful to care for the least of these?
Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;”

Remember the slave who was unfaithful with the talents the master had given him?
Matthew 25:30 “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Remember the parable of the wedding feast how the king invited all the men of the city, but they didn’t want to come?
Matthew 22:5-7 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. “But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.”

Remember the vineyard renters who killed the vineyard owners son in Jesus parable? Jesus asked what will the vineyard owner do when He returns?
Matthew 21:41 “They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

The point?
• You don’t want to be a defiant slave.
• Do not be one who attacks the servants of this master.

The Noble Slave, The Nasty Slave
#3 THE NEGLIGENT SLAVE
Luke 12:47

Now there are also some things you need to know about this slave.

First of all, like the first 2, he was also obligated to serve the master.
Every man has that obligation and this one was no different.

Secondly, you should see that he knew that.
“And that slave who knew his master’s will”

He knew who his master was, and he knew what His master wanted.
He was not ignorant.

What was his problem? HE WAS NEGLIGENT.
“and did not get ready or act in accord with his will”

He knew who the master was and he knew what the master wanted,
He just didn’t do it.

Now, it doesn’t say anything about him being a brutally cruel man.
• It doesn’t say anything about him beating slaves.
• It doesn’t say anything about him getting drunk.
• It doesn’t say anything about him being vile in his behavior.

He just didn’t do what the master told him to do.
He wasn’t mean-spirited, he was negligent; he was lazy.

And as a result of knowing what to do and not doing it,
Jesus said he “will receive many lashes”

The master DOESN’T cut him in pieces,
But the master DOES severely discipline him.

It is the picture of the slave being tied to a post and whipped repeatedly for his failure to do what he was commanded.

We see them in Scripture too:
Luke 14:15-20 “When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But He said to him, ” A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ “Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ “Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’”

Do you see that they were just distracted?
• They had other things that were of priority.
• They had other things that mattered more.

Sure the master gave a list of things they were to do,
It’s just that their own agenda was more important than the masters.

They had not learned the realities of submission to their Lord.
They did their own thing.

Many in our world fall into this category.
Matthew 24:37-39 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

They are people who just are busy carrying on with the things of life.
• They are not concerned about the will of the master.
• They are not concerned about His glory or His kingdom.
• They are concerned about their own comforts and glory and kingdom.

As I have said before, I say again,
And I continue to beat this drum perhaps for the rest of my life.

WE HAVE SO MANY EVEN IN THE CHURCH
WHO GIVE PRIORITY TO EVERYTHING BUT CHRIST.

What do you suppose you will tell Him when He returns?
• When He asks you why you did not gather with the saints in worship…
• When He asks you why you did not evangelize the lost…
• When He asks you why you did not care for the poor…
• When He asks you why you did not spend time in prayer…

What will you tell Him?
• I had to work.
• I had football practice.
• I had a basketball game.
• I bought a field and had to look at it
• I bought some oxen and had to work them out
• I married a wife and had to spend time with her

Do any of those things make you a bad person? No, not necessarily.
But none of them are your primary calling.

“And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes”

Negligence is not what the Lord looks for in a slave.
He is looking for faithfulness and sensibility. This slave had neither.

And by the way, this slave is a lost slave.
Any service they gave to the master was merely lip service and for show.
They are NOT reckoned here with the noble slaves who receive reward.

The Noble Slave, The Nasty Slave, The Negligent Slave
#4 THE NAÏVE SLAVE
Luke 12:48a

“but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but a few.”

So this is yet another slave.
This one didn’t serve the master either, but HE HAS A REASON.
He didn’t know the master and he didn’t know what he wanted.

Please note that ignorance of God’s requirements
Does not nullify those requirements.

This slave is still lost and this slave is still flogged,
Just not as severely as the slave who knew better
Or as the slave who attacked the church.

This slave will still spend eternity in hell,
But here we also learn the important truth that
THERE WILL BE DEGREES OF TORMENT IN HELL.

And the level of torment is determined by one’s level of knowledge.
The more you know, the more severe the punishment.

Now some would say, “Well it’s not fair that he gets flogged at all. He didn’t know what to do so how can Christ flog him for it?”

That answer is given in Romans 1
Romans 1:18-20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

The fact is that this slave did not know the requirements
But the reason is because he did not want to know.

It is NOT as though the master kept himself secret.
The master painted evidence of Himself all over creation.
• It should have been obvious to this slave that this world didn’t create itself.
• It should have been obvious to this slave that there was something bigger going on here than just his own ambitions.

The problem is that this slave suppressed that truth and never took it upon himself to ask who the Master was, or what He might want.

He was naïve to think that no one was watching
Or that no one cared how he lived.

You could even look to Romans 2 and see that this master had given him a conscience.
Romans 2:14-16 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”

• Where did they get this conscience?
• Where did they get this inner sense of right and wrong?
• Surely they should have realized that someone greater than them was at work.

They didn’t know because they didn’t want to know
And thus they deserve judgment.
They are without excuse.
And he will be flogged for their failure to serve the master.

And that is the first point that must be recognized.
• Those who serve the master faithfully get rewarded.
• Those who do not serve the master get punished.

But also we learn that the level of recompense
Is determined by level of exposure to the truth.

(48b) “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

Now do you see how the Lord answered Peter’s question?
“Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?”

Jesus’ answer is that this truth is universal and personal.
Don’t worry about who else is hearing this message,
You worry about how you are hearing it.

Don’t let the truths of our Lord’s return and the subsequent judgment
Be something you apply to someone else.
These truths are for you. They are for me.

Quit looking around and trying to figure out
If your neighbor has been a faithful slave.
You need to look in the mirror and see if you have.
Because when He returns
You will give an account for how you served.

And you should know that your level of exposure and knowledge will work against you on that day.

We know of the unreached people groups who have never heard the name of Jesus.
• If God will flog them and send them to hell for their failure to submit to Christ, how much more severely will He punish those who sat in church pews week after week hearing the truths of His word?

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

SO THE POINT?

YOU TOO BE READY
It foolish notion to treat the Second Coming of our Lord
As some event with no relevance in your life.

Luke 12:40 “You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

The Sin of Forgetting God
Psalms 50
September 22, 2019

As a kid my parents used to have a check framed hanging on the wall.
• It was a check my dad used to buy horses and apparently they were horses that made him a lot of money in a time when we desperately needed it.
• Below that check the words were written: “Rock Pile”
• It was a reference to the story of Joshua 4 when the children of Israel crossed the Jordan river into the Promised Land.

From inside the riverbed Joshua commanded the people to gather 12 stones.
Joshua 4:20-24 “Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ “For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

• The stones were to cause Israel to remember their God.
• They were meant to cause them to remember their Savior and Provider.
• They were meant to be a tool to teach the next generation about the greatness of God.

It was all about remembering.
Indeed, so much of the Old Testament was set up like this.

I’ve always liked the way the writer of Hebrews described the Old Testament ordinances.
Hebrews 5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

The ordinances of the Old Testament
Were referred to as “the elementary principles.”

And that such a good description.
• When you think about the Law of God it was very elementary.
• Everything could be seen or tasted or touched.
• It was very picturesque meant to make a memory in the mind.

For a sacrifice,
• You searched for an unblemished Lamb.
• You then laid your hands on it.
• You killed it and spilled its blood.
• That blood was sprinkled on the altar.

And everything there was very dramatic so as to make a distinct memory.
It provided for parents to do for their children exactly as God commanded.

Deuteronomy 6:4-8 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.”

All of the visual realities made it easy to talk to your children about God
As you walked through life.

• You searched for a perfect Lamb and you talked about the holiness of God.
• You laid your hands on that Lamb and you talked about the need for atonement.
• You killed that Lamb and you talked about the penalty of sin.
• You sprinkled that blood on the altar and you talked about the mercy of God.
• You saw that pile of rocks and you talked about the deliverance of God.
• You put that verse on your gates or on your forehead and talked about how nothing was more important than loving God.

Everything commanded was meant to cause you to remember God.

BUT SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENED.
People began to find comfort in the ritual and to totally miss the point.
That is to say they substituted the ritual for the relationship.

Before long everything was about the tradition and the ordinance
And the ritual and God’s place in all of it was forgotten.

It’s what Jesus continually rebuked the Pharisees for.
• They walked around in long robes and prayed in public and sacrificed mint,
and dill, and cumin, but they didn’t love God.

It’s what Jesus rebuked the church at Ephesus and the church at Laodicea for.
• They went through the motions of religion, but they had no love for Christ nor
saw any need for Him.

It was what Jesus said in Matthew 15
Matthew 15:7-9 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'”

Jesus called their worship futile.
Jesus said it was in vain.
It was all about them, and not about God.

Of course our Lord also taught us very distinctly
What true worship was supposed to be like.

Speaking to a Samaritan woman Jesus said:
John 4:23-24 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

There is just such a stark difference between the two.

• True worship remembers God, loves God, is grateful to God, and cries out to God in genuine gratitude.

• Ritualistic worship seeks only to go through the motions of the ordinances without ever really giving any thought to God at all.

And that has been a problem that has reared its head
More than once throughout the Bible.
Nearly every prophet in the Old Testament addressed that same problem.

Go to Isaiah 1:11 – “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?”
Go to Jeremiah 7:21 – “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh”
Go to Hosea 6:6 – “I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice”
Go to Joel 2:13 – “rend your heart and not our garments”
Go to Amos 5:21 – “I hate, I reject your festivals”
Go to Micah 6:7 – “Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams..?”

Over and over we find God, through His prophets,
Addressing His people that He is not looking for sacrifices,
But He wants them to love Him and obey Him
And be grateful to Him and to trust Him.

And that is the message of Psalms 50 as well.
The backdrop for the Psalm is that God’s people have forgotten Him.

And not only will we see what that looks like,
But we will also see what God has to say about it.

It is a courtroom scene, and one that all of God’s people should hear.

We’ll break this Psalm down into 3 main points.
#1 THE SUMMONS
Psalms 50:1-6

We actually talked this morning again in Luke 12
About the realities of the coming judgment.

In these first 6 verses the Psalmist reminds us of
7 great reminders about the God of judgment.

1) HIS PREEMINENCE
“The Mighty One, God, the LORD”

It’s not hard to grasp that the Psalmist wants you to understand that
WE ARE NOT DEALING HERE WITH SOME IMPOTENT JUDGE.

He is not some pushover whose power
Is merely awarded to him by someone else.

Judges in our day have power,
But it is only power which is given to them by someone else.
And their judgments only have power because they are
Supported by the police force or other institutions.

But God’s position as judge is not some awarded position.
He sits as judge because no one dares defy Him.
• He is “The Mighty One”
• He is “God”
• He is “the LORD”

He is above all. He is preeminent.

Man must remember this.
In our day when man seems to want to continually pass judgment on the works of God.
• They ask, “Why does He allow so much evil?”
• They ask, “Why does He allow natural disasters?”
• They question His goodness, and some would even be so bold as to say He’s not doing a good job.

How backward the world has it.
He is God, and while we will all stand before Him,
He will never stand before us.

And the weight of this Psalm is found in the reality
That this God “has spoken”

That means, stop what you are doing and listen.

2) HIS PRECINCT
“And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.”

In short, everyone is under God’s precinct
• Everyone will answer to Him and stand before Him.
• There is no chance that when you die you might stand before some lesser judge.

Every man gives an account to the God who created them.

Romans 14:10-12 “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.”

3) HIS PERFECTION
“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone forth.”

This speaks not just to how good God looks,
But ultimately to His standard of judgment.

• He always judges perfectly.
• He always judges righteously.
• The guilty are never acquitted.
• The innocent are never condemned.
• His standard is the perfect plumb line of righteousness.

He is a perfect judge.

4) HIS POWER
“May our God come and not keep silence; Fire devours before Him, And it is very tempestuous around Him.”

It is A TERRIFYING SCENE to say the least that
This Judge takes the bench amid a devouring fire of judgment.

It is not wonder Jesus told us:
Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

• This judge has full power to carry out His judgments.
• There is no threat of an appeal to a higher court.
• When He speaks, it is done, and He has the power to carry it out.

We are reminded of the incident with Job.
• As Elihu warned Job of God’s imminent judgment we actually saw a thunderstorm approaching.

Elihu said:
Job 36:33 – 37:5 “Its noise declares His presence; The cattle also, concerning what is coming up. “At this also my heart trembles, And leaps from its place. “Listen closely to the thunder of His voice, And the rumbling that goes out from His mouth. “Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth. “After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard. “God thunders with His voice wondrously, Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.”

And when God answered Job out of the whirlwind
Job would learn of God’s great power.

5) HIS PREROGATIVE
“He summons the heavens above, and the earth”

In short, He can judge whomever He pleases.
AND ALL WILL COME.

We’ve seen at the GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT
How death and hades and the sea give all the dead which are in them,
And they all appear before God.

If He summons you, you are coming.
If He desires to judge you, you will be judged.

Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

6) HIS PEOPLE
“to judge His people”

No doubt God will judge all men at the last great day,
But this Psalm is about how God has chosen to judge His people.

He says in verse 5, “Gather My godly ones to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

ON THIS OCCASION God has chosen to enter into judgment with all those who have said that they will follow and obey Him.
• It is those who said they would follow Him and love Him and obey Him.
• It is those who entered into a covenant agreement with Him.

And on this day, they are the ones who are called to stand before God.

It is as Peter said, “Let judgment begin with the household of God.”

7) HIS PRESENCE
“And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. Selah”

There will be no proxy in the courtroom.
There will be no stand in just passing down the ruling.

Throughout the Old Testament prophets came and spoke of God’s will and God’s desires and warned of God’s judgments.

But at the time of the judgment, no one will speak for Him.
“God Himself is judge.”

But very simply we have here learned that the God of the universe
Has decided to summon His people before Him
For the purpose of judgment and this is a terrifying thing.

That is the summons
#2 THE SIN
Psalms 50:7-21

This is the bulk of the Psalm.
It is God outlining His judgments of His people.

And you will find here that God has TWO GREAT ISSUES with His people
That He desires to address.

Most certainly the church should pay attention.
1) THEIR EMPTY RELIGION (7-15)

What we find here is a clear case of misplaced confidence.
They are far too certain that what they are doing is acceptable to God
WHEN IT IS NOT.

Now you will notice that God begins by explaining what He is NOT dealing with.
(7-8) “Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God. I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.”

Make no mistake, God IS JUDGING His people.
God came to “testify against” them.

But the problem is not their lack of attendance or sacrifices.
The problem is not that they have grown lax in their religious participation
THEY HAVE NOT.

In fact God says “your burnt offerings are continually before Me.”
They were busy in their religion.

But God first wants them to understand that
Sacrifices in and of themselves are not the goal.

(9-13) “I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds. “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains. “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats?”

When you read those 5 verses WHAT YOU ARE FORCED TO ADMIT
Is that to assume God finds satisfaction in the religious gifts we bring
Is a bit absurd.

God created every animal on the planet.
They all belong to Him.
Are we really to assume that what He wants more than anything is for us to bring one to Him as a gift?

Try that with our spouse this Christmas.
Just go to your wife’s closet and pick out one of her dresses,
Then wrap it and give it back to her for a present.

But in reality that’s sort of what is happening
When we bring any gift to God.
He already owns it all.

Nor is it a matter of need on God’s part.
(12) “If I were hungry I would not tell you”

It’s also not that God needs our money as some sort of financing operation so that He can accomplish His goals.
WE ARE NOT GOD’S PROVIDER.

• All of the things that we bring are meant to be brought with hearts full of gratitude and faith.
• With God, when we bring our offerings, it really is the thought that counts.

But according to God all His people were bringing Him
Was a bunch of sacrifices or routine religion and nothing else.
AND THIS DID NOT PLEASE HIM.

In fact, He tells them what He wanted.
(14-15) “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

Do you see what God wanted?

GRATITUDE
“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving”

• That reveals to us that they were bringing God offerings, but they weren’t bringing them out of a spirit of gratitude.
• They weren’t bringing them in recognition of what God had already provided.
• Their heart was all wrong.

Maybe they thought they were purchasing salvation.
Maybe they though God would be obligated to give them more

Either way, the concept of gratitude to God was gone,
And you cannot worship God without gratitude.

FAITHFULNESS
“And pay your vows to the Most High”

Solomon said:
Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 “When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands?”

When God confronted Israel through the prophet Hosea He said:
Hosea 6:4-6 “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

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

Their religion was more about manipulating God
Than it was about submitting to Him.
They did what they did to get what they wanted,
Not out of a spirit of submissive obedience.

God also wanted TRUST
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble”

• Instead of running to Egypt or running to some other false savior, why don’t you run to Me?

What a message it sends to God when
His people run everywhere else for deliverance but to Him.

God wanted HONOR
“I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

Through Malachi God asked:
Malachi 1:6a “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the LORD of hosts to you,”

SO THE FIRST PART OF THIS INDICTMENT BECOMES CLEAR.
The people were faithful to bring sacrifices and to attend all the ceremonies, but God was not pleased.

BECAUSE
• In their offerings there was no gratitude.
• In their attendance there was no faithfulness.
• In their lives there was no trust.
• In their ceremonies there was no honor.

They were missing the point.

In the mid 90’s our Texas Baptist convention went through a split.
I remember the battle lines were clearly drawn.
• You either took to the side of the fundamentalists
• Or you took the side of the liberals

For many rural churches the fundamentalist side seemed right because they were the ones that held most strongly to the traditions and rituals.

But just because a people do all the right things externally
Does not make their worship pleasing to God.

They may worship in truth, but do they worship in spirit?
• Many, like the church at Ephesus, had actually left their first love.
• Their religion consists of tradition learned by rote.

And to that, we simply have to ask, why we do what we do?
• Why do we appear here in church?
• Why do we put money in the offering plate?
• Why do we pray?
• Why do we sing?
• Why do we preach?

Because all of those things without a spirit that loves God
Are just empty religious rituals.

God confronts here their empty religion.
2) THEIR EVIDENT REBELLION (16-21)

Here is the other problem.
While they are very religious, it appears that their religion is only skin deep.

They seem to have the ability to make great confessions about their faith and then live with absolutely no conviction whatsoever.

And God is addressing that.
(16) “But to the wicked God says…”

Don’t misunderstand, God hasn’t changed audiences.
He is still talking to His people whom He has summoned before Him.
It’s just that God is more accurately addressing their character.
They are covenant people and they are wicked.

And to these covenant people, possibly even teachers, God asks:
“What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth?”

Wow!
That would be like God looking at the church and saying,
“Who do you think you are to go out and preach My word!”

Why?

(17-20) “For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you. “When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers. “You let your mouth loose in evil And your tongue frames deceit. “You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son.”

• Do you see that they are phonies?
• Do you see that they are hypocrites?
• Do you see that they have no conviction?

They “hate discipline”

That means they have no interest in holy living,
For they don’t want God to confront or correct their sin.

Isaiah 30:9-11 “For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

We understand when the world doesn’t want to be corrected by God,
But it is a sad day when the church resists that correction.
These people want pleasant words they do not want their sin exposed.

“you cast My words behind you”
They have no interest at all in what God has to say about anything.

2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,”

• They are bored with the scriptures.
• They are bored with the text.
• They want something exciting and innovative and entertaining.

They have no concern for what God has to say about anything.
This is evident in their disdain for preaching
And in their propensity not to read their Bibles.

“When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers.”

What a grievous evil we see even in the church today
When the church loses her propensity to be light and salt in the world.

• The darkness hates the light and does not want their deeds exposed
• So many in the church so prefer to be loved by the world that everything is acceptable and laughable.
• There is no testimony against their corruption…
• There is no witness against their sin…
• There is only smiles and handshakes and rejoicing in a good reputation.

God has outlined behaviors in His word that He hates
And yet His people run into the world and congratulate those who do it.

Just look at social media
• A teenager announces her pregnancy – “Congratulations!”
• A man announces a divorce from his wife – “Gotta do what’s best for you man!”
• A pastor posts a picture holding a sign at a gay pride rally saying “I’m sorry” and it is met with “love this!”
• And we won’t even get into all the posts shared with profanity and lewd images

And I’m talking about supposed Christian people.

What must God think when His people
Would rather blend with the darkness than expose it?

“You let your mouth loose in evil And your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. “

• They were liars and slanderers.
• They spoke things that were not true and they used their lies to destroy others.

Have we forgotten what Jesus said about slander?
Matthew 5:22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

And yet His people did these very things.
• Tolerance of Evil
• Lying
• Slander

Do you understand that these are things that God never does.
And yet His people were running out into the world
And representing Him by doing those things.

(21) “These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.”

Notice that strong indictment.
“You thought that I was just like you”

A few months ago the United Methodist Church held a vote to determine whether or not homosexuals would be allowed to serve as ministers and whether ministers would be asked to officiate same sex marriages.

Thankfully they voted to maintain their long held convictions
and decided not to allow it.

But you should have seen the outrage via social media.
• “My God just loves people”
• “My God accepts everybody”
• “My God told me not to judge”

All of those statements simply indicate people who hold to the sentiment God expressed here, “You thought I was just like you”

But that is what His people were doing.
They totally disregarded all truth and conviction
In order to be friends with the world and run into their sin.

Where the first side was the Fundamentalist.
This group is the LIBERALS.

• They just throw out the word of God and throw out what He says.
• They become their own judges of all things moral and give littler care to what God thinks about anything.

The first group failed to worship in spirit,
This group refuses to worship in truth.
They don’t care what God has to say about anything.

But here you have God laying out the sin of His people.
• EMPTY RELIGION – FUNDAMENTALISM
• EVIDENT REBELLION – LIBERALISM

BOTH FAIL TO HONOR OR LOVE GOD.

And He said, “I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.”

The Summons, The Sin
#3 THE SOLUTION
Psalms 50:22-23

Pay special attention to that first statement.
“Now consider this, you who forget God”

Do you see the main indictment of His people?
Those two groups above look like polar opposites
And yet they have ONE MAIN THING IN COMMON.

They “forget God”
• One forgets Him in the worship service.
• The other forgets Him in the world.

And so God tells them they’d better straighten up.
“Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.”

We read this morning about that wicked slave
Whom the Lord will cut into pieces and assign to the unbelievers.

Apparently that is an age-old sentiment.
God is not joking here.

God wants them to start recognizing Him and giving Him gratitude.
“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me”

Start seeing whom I am and what I do
And give me gratitude and honor for it.
That is worshiping in spirit and in truth.

“And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.”

That means make a forcible change in your life.
Stop doing evil and start doing good.

Now, I want you to notice something in these last two verses because it is a good reference for us.

God basically tells them He wants 4 things.
• REMEMBER ME
• RECOGNIZE THE REALITY OF JUDGMENT
• HONOR ME WITH GRATITUDE
• FORCE YOURSELF TO CHANGE DIRECTIONS

When you put all 4 of those realities together do you know what we call it?
REPENTANCE

• To once again focus on God and see His wrath on sin.
• To be thankful and grateful for His goodness
• And to determine to stop offending Him and start living to please Him.

And that is what God demands here from His people.
This is not a message for the world, this is a message for the church.
Repent!

Bring me more than ritualistic religion –worship Me in spirit!
And live your convictions in the world – worship Me in truth!
Otherwise, I will tear this place apart.

There has to be a conscious effort
On the part of His people to not forget God.

Remember He is a God who will judge His people.
Hebrews 10:230-31 “For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”