Our God Reigns
Psalms 47
September 1, 2019

Last Sunday night we looked at Psalms 46 and a reminder that
When God is with is there is nothing He cannot handle.

• His People Will Not Fear
• His City Will Not Fall
• His Works Will Not Fail

Most agree that Psalms 46, 47, & 48 tend to work together in a theme.

In Psalms 46 God announced the certainty of His earthly reign and exaltation.

He said:
Psalms 46:10 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

It was a great promise.
• A guarantee that this whole earth is coming to Him.
• There is no chance that He will lose.
• There is no chance that Satan will overthrow Him.
• He is going to win.
• He is going to reign.
• He is going to be exalted.

Moving from that great announcement,
Psalms 47 is a Psalm of great anticipation.

The Psalmist begins to anticipate the glorious reign of God
And even to call people to rejoice as a result.

It is a Psalm that ponders how great it will be
When Jesus finally takes the throne and rules this world.

In order to study it, I tried for many hours to just come up with a sequential outline,
But I never found one that seemed to follow the pattern.

Instead TONIGHT I would rather show you
The 3 main truths that are woven throughout the Psalm.

• The Psalmist makes 3 distinct points as he anticipates the day God reigns,
• But they aren’t necessarily in sequential order.
• Rather all 3 truths are saturated throughout the Psalm.

And so we’re going to look at them like that,
But since it’s a short Psalm it won’t be hard
To still gain understanding and grasp the heart of the Psalmist.

The First Theme or Point of the Psalmist I want you to see:
#1 THE GLORIOUS REIGN
Psalms 47:2, 5, 7, 8, 9

Verse 2 says, “For the LORD Most High is to be feared, A great King over all the earth.”

You see there the announcement and anticipation
Of our God reigning as “King over all the earth.”

We are not here speaking
Simply of His sovereign authority over all things,
But rather the day in which He physically
Takes the throne of the earth and reigns as King over all things.

And we even understand from previous Psalms
That this is an announcement of the reign of Jesus.

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

We are talking about the reign of Christ on the earth.

It shows up again in
(5) “God ascended with a shout, The LORD, with the sound of a trumpet.”

• The ascent there is to the throne.
• It is a picture of His coronation as King.
• It is the day He takes the throne.

He is seen as ascending in power and amid great pomp and pageantry.

In verse 7 we read, “For God is King of all the earth;”

In verse 8, “God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne.”

And in verse 9 we see the former rulers of the world
Coming corporately to submit to this new reigning King.

“The princes of the peoples have assembled themselves as the people of the God of Abraham, For the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted.”

World rulers have taken a lesson from the people of God
And are coming before Him just like His worshipers do.

They see Him as the One who has captured all other defenses.
“the shields of the earth belong to God”

There are no rebels left with any defense against His rule.
• He alone reigns on the throne.
• He alone sits as sovereign over the earth.

And the Psalmist says: “He is highly exalted”

This is one of the main anticipations of the Psalm.
The Psalmist is focused upon
THE GLORIOUS REIGN of God upon the earth.

He is looking with His mind’s eye to the day
When Jesus sits on the throne of the world.

And we can certainly take a moment and anticipate that great day as well.
There is so much, particularly in the O.T., that speaks of that day.

I want to quickly show you some of them tonight,
If for no other reason, than to build your anticipation as well.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 24

Isaiah 24 DOES NOT begin with the reign of Jesus upon the earth.
Rather, Isaiah 24 reminds us of
The horrific condition of the earth in its present state.

Isaiah 24 reminds us how badly the earth needs a righteous King.

(READ 24:1-6)
It is a prophetic announcement of God’s coming judgment upon a sinful world.

The earth is spoken of as polluted,
But don’t misunderstand the terminology.

God is not referring to a melting polar ice cap
Or burning rain forests or polluted oceans.

Rather God is referring to the iniquity that has stained the earth.
Things like transgression, violation of laws, and broken covenants.

We could easily throw in the shedding of INNOCENT BLOOD since:
Numbers 35:33 “So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.”

This is the state of the world
And we see God angry and ready to destroy it.

Look down to verse 19
(READ 24:19-23)

We see that the earth is in danger because its transgression is heavy.
And God is promising to punish it.

He has promised to come and rain judgment upon this world
And ultimately to redeem it from its sinful curse.

And this is not the only place this judgment is spoken of:
TURN TO: ISAIAH 63:1-6
• It is a picture of God coming in wrath and judgment to punish this sinful earth.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 10:33-34
• That is the concluding verses of a chapter in which we see God promising judgment on the wicked (here pictured by Assyria)

It’s just a reminder of the sinful present state of this world
And how badly we need a righteous King to reign.

Well God has promised to judge this world
And to set His King upon the throne.

And this King, and His righteous reign is seen in Isaiah 11.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 11:1-9

This is just a small picture, but you see the glorious reign He will have.
• A King not reigning in corruption but in righteousness.
• A King not motivated by lobbyists or popularity, but justice.
• A King who judge in fairness and righteousness.
• A King who will slay the wicked and remove sin from the earth.

This is the reign that the Psalmist is anticipating in Psalms 47.
• He is anticipating the day when Jesus is the “great King over all the earth”
• He is anticipating the day when Jesus “reigns over the nations.”
• He is anticipating the day when Jesus “sits on His holy throne.”
• He is anticipating the day when Jesus “is highly exalted”

And based upon the corruption and pollution of this world,
It is easy to anticipate and eagerly await that day as well.

• We certainly look with eager eyes to the day when Jesus will return and redeem this world from the curse.

• We certainly look with eager eyes to the day when Jesus will reign and rule in righteousness and fairness for the world.

It is an easy day to anticipate!
And that is one of the major points of this Psalm.
It is simply anticipating The Glorious Reign.

But there is a second point that emerges in the Psalm as well.
#2 THE GRACIOUS RESULT
Psalms 47:3-4

I love the thought process here.
The Psalmist cannot separate the reign of Christ
From the effect it will have on His people.

AND WE SHOULDN’T.

Part of our anticipation for Christ to reign
Is because of the promises He has made to us when He does.

Perhaps we start with the day when the Rich Young Ruler walked away sad from Jesus.

It was Peter, in all his honesty, who asked:
Matthew 19:27-29 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”

It may have been a selfish question, but don’t act like it’s not a common one.
Everyone wanted to know, Peter is just the one to ask.

• Peter could see a world he had forsaken.
• Peter could see that he had left it all for Jesus.
• But it didn’t keep him from wondering, “what then will there be for us?”

And the answer of Jesus is wonderful!
“in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

• Wow, that’s quite a promise.
• Peter, I’m going to make you and the other apostles my chief governors.
• You are going to reign with Me.

And not just you guys.
“everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”

In short, the reign of Christ means benefits for His followers.

And you are aware of this.
It is not uncommon for us to read about our INHERITANCE.

Ephesians 1:10b-12 “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”

1 Peter 1:4 “to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,”

And this is also why many times we are not only referred to as saints or sons or believers, but also HEIRS.

Romans 8:17 “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

Galatians 3:29 “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”

Galatians 4:7 “Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.”

The point being, we also have great anticipation of our Lord reigning upon the throne, because we know we will reap the benefits of that.

And let’s get a little more specific as to what we will inherit.
Matthew 25:34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

There Jesus reminds that there is a KINGDOM which we will inherit.

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

Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

We are promised to be heirs of the kingdom.

And perhaps the greatest picture of this is found in:
Revelation 21:1-7 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”

There you see it again.
“He who overcomes will inherit these things”

We are talking about inheriting the kingdom of heaven.
We reign with Christ upon the earth.
All the benefits of the kingdom are ours.

Now notice the Psalmist.
(3) “He subdues peoples under us And nations under our feet.”

• They understood that no longer would they be the trampling mat of the world.
• Christ would come and reign over them and elevate them to the preeminent nation of the world.

(4) “He chooses our inheritance for us, The glory of Jacob whom He loves.”

It is here seen as Sovereign Grace.
• He chose us.
• And He chose our inheritance.

To read it again:
Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

We turn our backs upon this world of sin and corruption
And we step into a world of perfection and glory.

We leave behind this sinful world.
We inherit a glorious kingdom.
It is the hope of all those who trust in Christ.

In this world we are outcasts,
We are strangers and aliens.
But look to the day when Christ reigns,
And we reign with Him in His glorious kingdom.

We looked at Isaiah 11 a moment ago.
Well return to it and see the rest.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 11:10-12:6
• Do you see them all coming home?
• Do you see their enemies all cut off?
• Do you hear then the joyful song of chapter 12?
• Do you hear them rejoice for “great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel”?

Earlier we looked at Isaiah 24 and God’s judging a sinful world.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 25:1-9
• Do you see the benefit of those who are His?
• Do you see them defended?
• Do you see them in the banquet?
• Do you see the benefits of death removed along with reproach?

Earlier we looked at Isaiah 63 and the One from Bozra who came to judge the earth. Look at the result.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 65:17-25
• They are the benefits of those who inherit the kingdom.

And now you understand what Jesus meant when He said:
“everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”

And the Psalmist just can’t help anticipating all of that.
He anticipates the glorious reign of Christ,
But he also anticipates reigning with Him.

As do we.
Romans 8:18-25 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

THAT IS US.
• We suffer now, but we won’t suffer always.
• We were saved in hope.
• “we hope for what we do not see” and “with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

That is the mindset of the Psalmist as well.
The Psalm Anticipates The Glorious Reign
The Psalm Anticipates The Gracious Result

One more thing the Psalmist anticipates
#3 THE GLOBAL RESPONSE
Psalms 47:1, 2, 6, 7, 9

And it’s easy to see that the GLOBAL RESPONSE of all men
To the reign of Christ IS WORSHIP.

(1a) “O clap your hands, all peoples”
• That is give Him thunderous applause
• Give Him a standing ovation.
• Erupt in exuberant praise.

(1b) “Shout to God with the voice of joy”
• More than when an athlete pushes a pigskin across a goal line.
• Rise to your feet and exalt the great God who reigns.

(2) “For the LORD Most High is to be feared”

What a statement!
The King James says, “For the LORD Most High is terrible”

You may not like that terminology,
But did we not read when He will do this earth?

We laughed at youth camp
During a Q&A when a student asked John MacArthur about the believer’s responsibility to care for the environment.

He said, “If you don’t like what humans are doing to the environment, wait until you see what Jesus is going to do to it.”

There’s truth there isn’t there?
• He’s going to judge the nations.
• He’s going to destroy His enemies.
• He’s going to burn this world with fire.
• He’s going to extinguish sinners.

And the Psalmist calls for praise because of this.
The Psalmist says to applaud Him for this.
The Psalmist says to shout with a voice of joy because of this.

But it’s not just applause and joyful shouting.
(6-7) “Sing praises to God, sing praises; Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm.”

5 times the Psalmist there told us to sing the praises of God.

I’m just going to reiterated it again,
I do not understand believers who can have the audacity
To tell this King that they have no interest in singing to Him
When He so clearly mandates it.

But not just singing.
The Psalmist said, “Sing praises with a skillful psalm”

The word there for “skillful” is MASKIYL
It means “a song of contemplation”

That is put effort into it and think about what you are singing.
Contemplate who He is and sing accordingly.

To sing with depth and thought.
To sing of who He is and what He did.

This great God deserves the best singing we can give Him.
Songs that truly describe His glory and His work
And praise Him accordingly.

And you also see this worship in the fact that every single human presents themselves before His throne as His people to highly exalt Him.

(9) “The princes of the people have assembled themselves as the people of the God of Abraham”
• They are all there, they have come to worship Him.
• There are no factions wandering around chanting, “Not my King”
• Every knee is bowing…
• Every tongue is confessing…

TURN TO: ISAIAH 66:18-24

Do you see it there?
• Every nation, every person.
• They are all coming to worship and exalt the King.

Verse 23 says that “All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the LORD”

TURN TO: ZECHARIAH 8:20-23
• You see it again, people eager to come and worship the King.

TURN TO: ZECHARIAH 14:16-21
• And again, you go or else.
• It is not optional.
• Every person in global worship of this king.
• And the Psalmist anticipates that day.

In fact, because God has promised:
Psalms 46:10 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Since God has promised to be exalted,
The Psalmist in anticipation calls for it now.

• He calls for clapping today.
• He calls for shouting today.
• He calls for singing today.
• He calls for the nations to come and bow today.

And if you’ll think about it, this is who we are.
We are Gentiles who have come and surrendered to Israel’s King.

We have said that we do not want to wait until eternity,
We will start our singing now.
We will begin our worship today.

And this is what we do here tonight.
• We also anticipate His Glorious Reign
• We also anticipate The Glorious Result
• We also anticipate The Global Response

Do Not Worry – Part 1
Luke 12:22-34 (22-28)
September 1, 2019

As you know we are currently in this sermon of Jesus.
It is somewhat reactionary in the sense that
Jesus seems to be caught responding to all that is going on around Him.

• When He saw the large crowd approaching He addressed His disciples regarding some of the dangers and temptations of ministering to a large crowd.

• It was verses 1-12 and we called that portion of the sermon: “In Response To A Growing Crowd”

But as we saw last week, Jesus train of thought was interrupted
When a man in the crowd blurted out for Jesus to help him
With a financial squabble he was in.

And that began section number 2 which will carry from verses 13-40
Which we call: “In Response To a Greedy Request”

Out of the blue, in the middle of the sermon, a man interrupted Jesus.
Luke 12:13 “Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

And that interruption has now inspired the preaching of Jesus
For the next 27 verses.

SO LAST WEEK we listened as Jesus both addressed that man and made and example out of him for the crowd.

• Jesus REBUKED that man stating “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

Which was Jesus’ way of saying, “Your earthly wealth is not My concern.
I came to save the world from sin, not to act as Judge Judy”

• And then Jesus used this man as an EXAMPLE to address the massive crowd and to warn them of the dangers of greed.

• He even closed with that HEARTBREAKING STORY of a man who worked hard his entire life, amassed a fortune, and even had such a large crop that he decided to tear down his barns and build larger ones.

The problem was that though this man
Had done very well for himself in terms of earthly wealth,
He had failed to store up any wealth for eternity.

He was not rich toward God.
And on the day his barns were completed God called for his life
And his story became the ultimate tragedy.

Jesus labeled him a fool and said, (21) “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

I told Carrie when we got home that that story might just be the saddest story in the Bible. And yet there are so many who live it exactly like that.

None the less, the point was made by Jesus.
• Your life should show a definite priority of heaven over earth.
• It is a mistake to become preoccupied with obtaining earthly wealth.

That was clear.

WHAT IS ALSO CLEAR is that this is a very convicting point to make to humanity.
• After all, we live on this earth.
• We can see this earth.
• We have never been to heaven nor have we ever seen it.
• Right now we live in bodies that require food and water and covering to live.
• We have never seen our glorified bodies that won’t require those things.
• And since these bodies can’t go long without food or water it seems to make sense that food and covering should be a priority.

That’s just human logic.

And so it may have been that this crowd was somewhat perplexed,
Maybe even a little scared by what Jesus said.

He was asking for them to take an incredible jump of faith there.

And because Jesus knows the heart of man,
It stands to reason that His next course of action
Would be to address that very fear.

That is what He does here.
And we will break this section of His sermon down into 4 points.

#1 A COMMAND TO OBEY
Luke 12:22-23

We notice now that the direction of Jesus’ sermon has shifted.
(22) “And He said to His disciples,”

I think it would be a mistake to assume that it is only the 12 here.
• This would be people who are following Him and determined to learn from Him.
• It would also include those who are believers, and perhaps even some who are merely superficial believers.
• But it would be a much larger group than just the 12, and certainly even though He is addressing His disciples, the entire crowd can hear.

“And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.”

He starts by linking this message to the previous parable.
• We just learned about a foolish farmer who became rich on earth, but was not rich toward God and in an instant fell into eternal bankruptcy.

• It was a foolish decision on his part to be so preoccupied with earthly things and so unconcerned about eternal things.

And based upon that foolish example Jesus gives instruction, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life”

That is to say, “do not worry about THIS life” or “this physical life”
Specifically “as to what you will eat; nor for your body as to what you will put on.”

Don’t be preoccupied with the physical aspects of life.
Don’t be overly concerned about satisfying physical needs.

It is a simple command,
And I want to start by reminding you that it IS a command.
And commands are meant to be obeyed.

That means that worrying about life is a sin.
• Worrying is an act of disobedience before Christ.
• To worry about earthly things is to do that which Christ specifically forbade.

“do not worry about your life”

And honestly, because He is the Lord He does not owe us an explanation.
But in His grace He gives one anyway.

(23) “For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.”

That is a great statement and one that requires some reflection.
• Jesus is talking about “the meaning of life”
• Jesus is talking about “the chief purpose of the body”

And what do you suppose that it is?
Do you suppose that the chief purpose of the body is regarding what you put in it and what you put on it?

Trust me, there are many who think so.

I’m not opposed to people who want to eat healthy,
But there are some who are so preoccupied with what they put in the body that one might suppose that their only goal in life is to keep their body healthy.

There are some who are so preoccupied with fashion and dress and even comfort and clothing
That one might suppose their only focus in life
Is to adorn this body and make it look good.

Is that really the purpose?
Is that why God gave you a body?
(So that you would feed it right and clothe it well)

If that is the case then some of the apostles greatly sinned against God
Because Paul mentioned that he had often times gone hungry
And even been in cold and exposure.

Someone might well tell him he is sinning
For not taking better care of the body God had given him.

• What is the purpose of life?
• What is the purpose of the body?
• Why did God give you either?

Jesus here gives us direction by saying, “life is MORE than food…the body is MORE than clothing”

Food and clothing may be part of it,
But life and the body are so much more than just that.

Well I think Scripture speaks very clearly to what Jesus means.

CONSIDER LIFE:
Colossians 3:3-4 “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

You catch that.
Christ is your life. He is the purpose.

Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Paul indicates that the purpose of life has nothing to do with my goals or dreams and sure is not something as superficial as self-preservation.
My life now is Christ and faith in Him.

Romans 14:7-9 “For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

All of those give a very important reminder that your life
Was not given to you simply so that you would preserve it.

God DIDN’T give you life just so you could do everything you could
To make it as long as you possibly could.

God gave you life for the purpose of using that life for His glory.
• Your life is an offering to God.
• It is meant to be spent, not in self-satisfaction, but in service to the Lord.

And the same could be said for the body.
CONSIDER THE BODY:

We learned a great deal from the life of Jesus about this:
Hebrews 10:5 “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME;”

• God didn’t give Jesus a body so He would come and show us proper techniques of caring for a body.
• Jesus didn’t come as a nutritionist who taught us how to eat right.
• He was given a body for one overarching purpose: OBEDIENCE.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Here we see that our body is a temple of God’s Holy Spirit.
And many even use this as a means to say “So you should take care of it”
“You should eat right and exercise because your body is a temple.”

That is not the Biblical application there.
That’s just someone who wants to use Jesus to sell exercise equipment.

Paul told Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:7-8 “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

The point of having a body which is a temple of the Holy Spirit
Is about godly living.
It is about using that body for holiness not sinful activity.

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

Yielding our body to obedience is actually a form of worship.

2 Corinthians 5:8-9 “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”

Our body is here so that we might walk in a manner that pleases the Lord.

We don’t preserve the body,
In fact Paul says there is ample reason to buffet our bodies.

1 Corinthians 9:27 “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

You just see the point Jesus is making all throughout the Scriptures.
“For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.”

I’M NOT SAYING eating healthy or dieting or exercise are bad things, they certainly aren’t.
• We saw a couple of weeks ago that laziness and gluttony are certainly sins.

I’m just pointing out that nutrition or physical fitness
Or self-preservation are not the end goal or even the primary goal.

Life is Christ.
The Body was given as a conduit to obey Christ.

And yet some leave Christ out and put all the focus on the body.
That is what that foolish farmer was doing.
• All his preparation, all his work was for one purpose and it was so that his body
would be taken care of for many years to come.

• No thought of eternity…
• No thought of Christ…
• All his focus was on the body and caring for the body and Jesus called him a
fool for being so preoccupied.

And so His command is clear.
“do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.”

That is a command to obey.
#2 A CONSIDERATION TO OBSERVE
Luke 12:24-28

There’s actually 4 considerations that Jesus offers.
• He just uses simple observations from nature and simple human logic to get you and me to think rightly about how foolish it is to worry.

Let me give you these 4 considerations.
1) WORRY DISREGARDS YOUR VALUE (24)
“Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!”

Now I do need to say at this point that it is important that you recognize that Jesus is here speaking to His disciples, not necessarily everyone.

We saw that in verse 22.
• We also see down in verse 30 that Jesus distinguishes again, “For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.”

You can see that Jesus is distinguishing between the children of God and the nations of the world. He’s not speaking to everyone universally here.

• Even in verse 32, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

You see that Jesus is addressing God’s children, God’s flock,
Not necessarily everyone in the world.

And you need to see that because it is an important distinction to be made
As we address the notion of your value.

Now on one hand we do understand common grace.
• Common grace is that good will that God has for all mankind universally.
• That is to say that God has good hopes and good desires for all humanity.
• He so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son
• He sends rain on the just and the unjust
• He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth
• He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked

Certainly God has good will towards all humanity.

And certainly, as Jesus insinuates here, human life has more value before God than animal life.
• That is simply true too.
• I know in our day there has become some confusion on this topic, but Jesus makes it clear that human life has much more value than animal life.

• It doesn’t mean we don’t love animals, or that animal cruelty isn’t wrong, but don’t let your focus get skewed here. Human life has much more value than animal life.

But even that isn’t all that is in view here.

What we are talking about here is the greater value of the redeemed.
• The value God places on His children.
• The value God places on His flock.

And just at the outset I would remind you that
It is a tremendous value that God places upon His children.

Acts 20:28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Those verses certainly express to you the value that God has assessed to His children.
• He paid a high price for our redemption.
• He paid with the blood of His own Son.
• He paid with something far more valuable than silver or gold.

God has assessed great value to His children whom He has redeemed.

UNDERSTAND THAT FIRST.

Now let’s look at the verse.
“Consider the ravens…”

And let me stop you there, Jesus used a raven on purpose.
• It was filthy
• It was unclean
• It was annoying
• It was loud and obnoxious

But even more than that, ravens aren’t disciplined at all.
“Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them;”

Here we have a filthy, unclean, annoying, obnoxious,
And totally undisciplined bird who doesn’t take any precaution whatsoever to make sure it has something to eat.
And if it did starve to death no one would miss it.

AND YET, GOD FEEDS THOSE THINGS.

And to that Jesus says:
“how much more valuable you are than birds!”

If God would take the effort to feed an annoying unclean animal,
Don’t you think He’s going to take the time to feed His children
Whom He has paid such a high price to redeem?

Do you not know how much more valuable you are to God than that?
Psalms 34:8-10 “O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.”

Psalms 37:23-26 “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.”

It’s a simple issue of your value before God.

But when you worry about what you will eat or what you will wear,
You are actually disregarding how much God values you.

Imagine if your child continually came to you worried that you weren’t going to feed them any supper…
• Eventually would you not set them down and explain to them that you’d go hungry before you’d let them go hungry because you love them so much?

Well little flock we are talking here about your heavenly Father.
• He values you!
• He purchased you with the blood of His Son!
• If He’ll feed a bird, He’ll certainly feed you because you are much more valuable then they are.

So worry disregards your value
2) WORRY DISPLAYS YOUR ARROGANCE (25-26)
“And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? “If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?”

Now that subtitle may surprise you a little.
• You may ask, “How can worry demonstrate that I am arrogant when the whole reason I am worried is because I don’t know how I’m going to do something?”

• You’d say, “If I was arrogant then I’d be confident I could do it and I wouldn’t be worried.”

No, worry and arrogance run very close.

Many times we worry as a result of arrogance.
• Your worry indicates that you have assumed responsibility or abilities that you don’t have.
• Your worry indicates that you have entered a world of authority that is not yours to assume.

Look at the verse.
(25) “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?”

Now can I ask you who it is that is sovereign over the span of your life?
It isn’t you.
It is God.

Acts 17:26 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

Psalms 139:16 “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

Friend, I hate to tell you, but you aren’t going to live one second longer
Than God has ordained for you to live.

I don’t care how often you buckle your seat belt or how much kelp you eat.

God is sovereign over our appointed times and the length of our days.

And if you take up responsibility for the length of your life
Then you have taken up a responsibility that is beyond your pay grade. And that is arrogance.

And if you do take up a responsibility that is beyond your ability
I can promise you that anxiety is coming.
(You have arrogantly assumed responsibility for that you have no right to assume and for that which you cannot control)

Do you suppose that you “can add a single hour to [your] life’s span?”
How?

You can’t.
That’s all up to God
“If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?”

What is Jesus’ point?
• Things like how long you will live on this earth are not your responsibility.
• Things like where you will get food are not your responsibility either.

Those things fall under God’s responsibility.
If you try to arrogantly assume responsibility from God
All you’re going to do is cause yourself anxiety and worry.

You weren’t created to control that.
Worry just means you’re trying to control something
That is beyond your control.

We’d do better to remember the advice of the Psalmist from Sunday night.
Psalms 46:10a “Cease striving and know that I am God…”

• Or “Be still and know that I am God”
• Or “Stop and know that I am God”
• Or “Settle and know that I am God”

• You are not God.
• You can’t handle things like how long you live or where to get food.
• Those things are God’s prerogative.
• You quit worrying and let God do God’s job.

Your job is obedience, not provision.
So do you see that worry is just displaying your arrogance?

Worry Disregards Your Value Worry Displays Your Arrogance
3) WORRY DENIES GOD’S GOODNESS (27-28a)
“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you?”

Now Jesus moves from birds to flowers.
“Consider the lilies…”

He’s not talking about a specific variety here, but basically all flowers in general.

And what is so special about a flower?
Namely this.

That despite how temporary they are
God still takes great effort into their beauty.

When you want to talk about their beauty Jesus says “not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.”

And that is remarkable considering how temporary they are.
Jesus says they are “alive today and tomorrow [are] thrown in the furnace.”

THE QUESTION IS: Why would God go to such great efforts and pour such great beauty into something so transient?

Well this is where we talk about the goodness of God.
Good in the sense that He cares for all His creation
With great detail and faithfulness.

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

God reminded Job that He sent rain on land where no people live
Simply so that the grass in the land would have water.

That is meticulous care for seemingly insignificant things.

Job 39:1-4 “Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer? “Can you count the months they fulfill, Or do you know the time they give birth? “They kneel down, they bring forth their young, They get rid of their labor pains. “Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them.”

There God reminds Job that He is even active in the birth of mountain goats and deer and the raising of their offspring.

God attends the birth of every creature on this planet.
He is meticulous in His care of His creation.

Jesus said:
Matthew 10:29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”

Not only is the Lord present for the birth of every creature,
But He is also keenly aware of the death of every one of them.
He is involved in His creation and meticulous about its care.

David said regarding humanity:
Psalms 139:1-6 “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

And what God did for David He does for every single human, especially those who are the redeemed.
• He knows everything about you at all times.
• He knows your thoughts.
• He knows our words before you do.
• He knows the rhythm of your heart.
• He knows your cholesterol level.
• He is “intimately acquainted with all my ways”

We are simply talking about a God who is good
And who cares for all His creation,
Even grass which will wither and be burned tomorrow.

• And “if God so clothes the grass in the field”
• And if God waters the desert
• And if God helps the mountain goat to calve

“how much more will He clothed you?”

Do you get the point?
When you worry about things like provision you are overlooking and even denying the very goodness of God to care for His creation.

It is an accusation that God doesn’t take care of His creation.

Certainly that doesn’t mean that God does not allow or even ordain some measure of human SUFFERING. We know that He does.

That is to say that God may not always clothe you like you think He should.
• But that is never because He doesn’t know…
• And that is never because He doesn’t care…
• And that is never because He can’t…

It’s simply because He is using that hardship for a greater purpose.

But to worry about it like you don’t know where it’s going to come from
Is to greatly deny God’s basic goodness to care for His creation.

Worry disregards your value Worry displays your arrogance Worry denies God’s goodness
4) WORRY DEMONSTRATES LITTLE FAITH (28b)

Did you catch that final statement from Jesus?
“You men of little faith!”

Do you understand how worry is a slap in the face to God?
Do you understand why it is a sin?

• Christ commanded us to not worry or to be preoccupied with the things of the world.
• And then He wanted us to consider a few things as to why He gave such a command.

And at the heart of it is because
Worry over temporal things is an insult to God.

• When you worry about what you will eat or what you will wear, you are in essence accusing God of not caring enough about you to care for you.

• When you worry about what you will eat or what you will wear, you are in essence telling God you’ll do His job for Him because His work has been unsatisfactory.

• When you worry about what you will eat or what you will wear, you are in essence accusing God of not being able to manage His creation.

• When you worry about what you will eat or what you will wear, you are in essence telling God He cannot be trusted.

Either He can’t do what He said or He won’t do what He said.
Both of those sentiments are a slap in the face to God.

That is why we say that worry is a sin.
And that is just part of why Jesus commanded us not to do it.

FRIEND, OUR COMMAND IS TO concern ourselves with spiritual things and leave the physical things up to God.
• Your life is not about trying to continually clothe this body or feed this body.
• Your life is about Christ and obedience to Him.

So here we see
1. A Command to Obey – Do Not Worry
2. A Consideration to Observe

We’ll finish this text next time.

Our Stronghold
Psalms 46
August 25, 2019

We have talked several times about the events of the Great Reformation
And even of the monk with the mallet known as Martin Luther.

• In 1520 Pope Leo X condemned 41 of Luther’s 95 thesis, but also gave Luther time to repent.
• Luther in response burned the Papal Bull (which was an edict of excommunication)
• As a result in 1521 Luther was called before a tribunal to recant all his works.
• It was called “The Diet of Worms”.
• After admitting all the works before him were his, Luther asked for a day to consider his answer.

The next day he came back and uttered the famous response:
“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other, may God help me. Amen.”

• It broke the tribunal into chaos and Luther left.
• In May of the following year Emperor Charles V passed the Edict of Worms which condemned Luther a heretic, made him an enemy of the state and called for his capture.

This was just a small picture of the many dangers and troubles
Luther faced in his life.

What was clear however in Luther’s life was that
While facing such dangers he had a favorite Psalm emerge.

And of course you’ll have no problem guessing it.
It was Psalm 46.
Many even call it “Luther’s Psalm”

There is no doubt that Psalm 46 inspired Luther’s most famous hymn.

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing. You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same; and he must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.

That Word above all earthly powers no thanks to them abideth; the Spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with us sideth. Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still; his kingdom is forever!

• That hymn wasn’t likely written on the eve of the Diet of Worms.
• Most attribute it to 1527 as a plague was approaching,
• But it is clear to see how Luther’s love of the 46th Psalm clearly inspired it.

Luther wrote “A Mighty Fortress is our God”
The Psalmist wrote “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

It is a clearly a Psalm meant to encourage the church
Even as they face dangers and troubles of every kind.

And this is certainly important for us, since Jesus was very clear:
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus said that in this world and in this life we would have trouble.
Our courage would be in the fact that Christ has overcome the world.

And so while facing troubles and trials we take refuge in Christ
Who is the victor over the hostility of the world.
That is what Psalm 46 is about.

It is a bold declaration as to why the children of God
Have the courage to face any trial without fear of defeat or failure.

There are many ways to outline this Psalm.
(In my study, I wrote about 5 different ones)

3 main points tonight.
#1 GOD’S PEOPLE WILL NOT FEAR
Psalms 46:1-3

And for better understanding of the message of the Psalm,
I would probably give you a much longer point title than that.

It would be more accurate to say:
“God’s people will not fear, no matter the horror, because God’s presence is comforting.”

And clearly the presence of God is the theme of the Psalm.

(1) “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”

But that’s not the only place God’s presence is mentioned.
• (5) “God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved”
• (7) “The LORD of hosts is with us;”
• (11) “The LORD of hosts is with us;”

Clearly the main thrust of the writer is that
God’s presence makes all the difference.
If God is with us, we have the advantage in any situation.

And in these first 3 points the reality is that
God’s presence keeps God’s people from succumbing to fear.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…”

Our lack of a fear directly corresponds to the presence of God.

Psalms 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

Psalms 27:1 “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?”

God is very much pictured here as
• The One whom we hide behind or take refuge in when trouble arises.
• The One who has the true strength to face any hardship
• And so as long as He is with us, we aren’t worried about the outcome.

And God IS with us.
The Psalmist calls Him “A very present help”

• He’s not just a curious spectator.
• He’s not even like a coach from the sidelines cheering us on.
• He is “very present”
• He is in the middle of it.

One preacher once said, “Jesus never promised to keep His children out of trouble, but He did promise to get into trouble with them.”

His nature has been to enter our struggle.
• We saw His presence with the children of Israel as they left Egypt.
• We saw His presence with those Hebrew boys in the furnace.
• And the greatest depiction was Christ taking on flesh as Emmanuel – “God with us”

He is in the middle of the battle.
He is in the middle of the storm.
And if He is there, then the trouble is really irrelevant.

That is why we say “God’s people will not fear, no matter the horror, because God’s presence is comforting”

And notice the Psalmist also says that very thing.
(2-3) “Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.”

Understand the mindset in Bible times.

Nothing represented strength and security like a mountain.
• It was resolute, it was steadfast, it was unmovable.
• That is why Jesus used it as an analogy when He said “if you have faith like a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move” (Matthew 17:20)

He speaking of something seemingly immovable.

On the flip side, nothing was more dangerous than the sea.
• It was huge, it was mysterious, it was dangerous.

And so here you have the reality that all that was dangerous
Has overcome all that was steadfast.

What you have here in natural terms is nothing short of a tsunami.
• An earthquake in the sea that covers the mountains.
• It is an unspeakable horror.

And the Psalmist says, even something like that
Won’t cause us to fear so long as God is with us.

AND THAT’S GOOD BECAUSE WE FACE TROUBLE.

NATURAL LIFE CHANGING TROUBLE.
• I talked with a man Wednesday night who is 45 years old and recently found out that he’s got cancer in his brain, lymph nodes, liver, spleen, and bones.
• I read this past week about the son of former Cowboy’s quarterback Babe Laughenburg. His 21 year old son found at 2 years ago that he had a rare type of leukemia and he died this past week.

• I’m 42, I’ve got a son who’s almost 16.
• In 3 years’ time either one of those could be us.
• Life can throw trouble at you…big trouble.

OR IT COULD BE A LITERAL TSUNAMI
• Probably not in Texas, but a tornado or flash flood or fire could certainly constitute a natural disaster that could change your world.

OR IT COULD BE A HOSTILE CULTURE
• It’s no longer hard to imagine radical Islam invading America or militant atheism passing laws to make Christianity illegal.

OR IT COULD BE GOD’S JUDGMENT ON A NATION
• Certainly America is ripe for fire to fall from heaven.

YOU GET THE POINT.
At any moment any one of us could face unspeakable trouble,
Equivalent to our mountains falling into the sea.

In the blink of an eye all that we know to be sure and resolute
Could instantly be overcome by that which is terrifying and dangerous.

And yet the Bible reveals that we face that with courage
And not fear when we realize His presence.

That’s the secret to not fearing is to be keenly aware of His presence.

I would appeal once again to that famous story with Jesus asleep on the boat.
You know it by now.
Matthew 8:23-26 “When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.”

The word Matthew used there for “storm” was SEISMOS
It’s where we get our word for seismograph
(the measuring device used to measure earthquakes)

Matthew called it an earthquake on the sea; a tsunami
And they were all terrified.

But they seemingly responded correctly because they ran to Jesus
• And said, “Save us Lord; we are perishing!”
• Mark’s gospel, “Teacher do you not care that we are perishing?”
• Luke’s gospel, “Master, Master we are perishing!”

You get the picture, pandemonium broke out
And they were all screaming for Jesus to wake up
And do something about the storm.

• According to Matthew’s gospel He did calm the storm, but first He rebuked the disciples and said, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”

That’s very interesting.
• You have people in a storm that they can’t handle.
• Jesus is there and they know He can handle it.
• So they approach Him and plead with Him to fix the storm.

That seems like that is exactly what they should have done.
And yet Jesus rebuked them for it and told them their faith was small.

What was the problem?
The problem was the fear that accompanied their request.

Consistent in every gospel account are the words “we are perishing”

What they should have done is gone and laid down with Jesus
And took a nap with Him.
They should have realized His presence.

That will help you too in your storms when you realize
That Jesus has said He will never leave you nor forsake you.
We don’t fear when we realize God’s presence.

God’s People Will Not Fear
#2 GOD’S CITY WILL NOT FALL
Psalms 46:4-7

This is the next great declaration of the Psalmist.

And again I would more accurately say:
“God’s City will not fall, no matter the holler, because His promise is louder.”

That’s what the Psalmist depicts here.
• It is a picture now of the city of Jerusalem,
• Surrounded by her enemies,
• And they are outside the gates yelling and hollering all sorts of threats against God’s people.

(The Psalmist could have had several historical incidents in mind here.)

But the point is that the enemy is outside hollering threats.
(6) “The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;”

That word “uproar” in the Hebrew is HAMAH
And it means “to murmur, growl, roar, to make noise”

And that’s what they’re doing outside the gate.
• (It brings to our mind the children of Israel shouting outside of the walls of
Jericho and watching those walls fall down flat)

Now the enemy is doing it to Jerusalem.
They are threatening them and yelling about their demise.

The Psalmist however knows that God’s voice is louder.
In response to the hollering of the enemy the Psalmist says:
(6) “The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted.”

That’s quite a difference.
• The enemy’s voice scared people and made them shake a little.
• God’s voice actually melts the earth.

THE POINT: God’s voice is louder!

Remember David speaking of that great storm
Which God produced back in Psalms 29?

Psalms 29:3-9 “The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, The LORD is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful, The voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

And so you understand the point here that
The Psalmist isn’t worried about God’s city falling to the enemy
No matter how loud the enemy yells.

They’ve got God on the inside.

That is why He says:
(4-5) “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.”

That is again an interesting statement.
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God”

For an initial comfort
• It painted the picture of security inside the city.
• One of the main ways attacking armies overthrew walled cities was to stop up their water supply.
• If you keep water from flowing through the city it won’t be long before they have to come out.

But the Psalmist paints a picture of endless provision in the city.

Beyond that, once again, God is there.
“God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;”

The enemy can’t do anything here so long as God is here.

And furthermore the Psalmist writes,
“God will help her when morning dawns”

We remember:
Psalms 30:5 “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.”

The idea is that the rage of the enemy is only TEMPORARY.
• The enemy may yell and howl and threaten all night long,
• But there is coming a day when God will speak and silence them forever.

And that is why the Psalmist is so confident.
(7) “The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold.”

• We aren’t counting on these walls to protect us.
• We’ve got something here more powerful than these walls.
• We’ve got “The LORD of hosts”
• And as long as He is here, you aren’t coming in.

And certainly that was proven in Israel’s history.

In fact, the only time the enemy did come in and destroy the city
Was because God had departed.

It’s actually a remarkable story.
It covers Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel.

But basically you have Jeremiah telling the people that
They have REFUSED TO TAKE REFUGE IN GOD.

He says things like:
Jeremiah 2:11-13 “Has a nation changed gods When they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit. “Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the LORD. “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”

God’s people were no longer taking refuge in Him.
And yet they still thought they were secure.

Jeremiah 7:3-12 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. “Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. “Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. “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. “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.”

Israel thought they were safe because they had the temple.
You can hear such a definite difference in their song than the one we study tonight.

• The Psalmist tonight said “The LORD of hosts is with us;”
• The people in Jeremiah’s day said “The temple of the LORD” is here.

They thought they had some superstitious advantage because of the structure.

If you read Ezekiel
• You’ll find that God gets up out of that temple and leaves the city and goes to the mountain overlooking the city and when God leaves Babylon comes in.

It wasn’t the city walls or even the temple that made the city safe,
It was God.

And the Psalmist knew that so long as God is with us,
It doesn’t matter how loud the enemy gets, God’s city won’t fall.

Sometime go read 2 Kings 18-19
• About how the King of Assyria approached Jerusalem with all those same
taunts about how he had toppled nations and would certainly topple
Jerusalem.
• At one point the King of Assyria even wrote a letter to Hezekiah that he should
not let his God deceive him because he would certainly return and destroy the
city.

2 Kings 19:14-19 “Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. “Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. “Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. “Now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”

That is confidence, not in walls, but in the presence of God.

And it doesn’t matter how much the enemy hollers!

Remember:
Psalms 2:1-6 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

And here we learn again.
The secret to not falling prey to the threats of the enemy
Is to remember God’s promises.

Let God’s word be louder in your life.

I can tell you where most fear and doubt and anxiety come from.
It comes from listening too much to the howling of the enemy.

Listen to God’s promises instead and you’ll find that this city won’t fall.

God’s people will not fear God’s city will not fall
#3 GOD’S WORKS WILL NOT FAIL
Psalms 46:8-11

Or again, if you want the more detailed version:
“God’s works will not fail, no matter the hostility, because God’s power is greater.”

Again the hostility is revealed.
• Verse 9 shows the presence of “wars” and “the bow” and “the spear” and “the chariots”

It is that enemy that has surrounded the city and threatened to undo it.

But the Psalmist wants you now to see how God handled it.

(8) “Come, behold the works of the LORD, who has wrought desolations on the earth.”

That is to say, “Come look at the massive army God has killed”

(9) “He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire.”

All you see are burning chariots and broken spears.

That major threat; that massive trouble; that loud barking army…
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
They’re dead!

And to that, comes the point.
“Cease striving and know that I am God;”

• You probably better know it as “Be still and know that I am God”
• In other words, “settle down, I’m God”

And what a reminder!
REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH!

Deuteronomy 32:39 “’See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.”

TURN TO: ISAIAH 43:1-13
(you’ll find a very similar message)

It is a reminder.
Do you realize who we are dealing with?

• When we say that “God is our refuge” do you grasp what that means?
• When we say that God is in our midst, do you grasp the magnitude of that?

We are talking about God.
• The God who poured the oceans out of the palm of His hand.
• The God who measured the heavens by the span.
• The God who spoke and light appeared.

• He never gets tired
• He never gets weary
• And nothing is too difficult for Him.

Consider His reasoning through history.

God approaches Abram to tell him that He is going to make a nation out of this elderly barren man.
Genesis 17:1-8 “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

Later Sarah hears it and thinks it impossible:
Genesis 18:9-14 “Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

There’s a good question.
Answering it rightly will absolve you of your fears.

• If you believe that God is with you
• And you believe that God has promised your good
• And you know that God can do anything
• Well then what is there to fear?

The same promise is made to Jacob later:
Genesis 35:11 “God also said to him, “I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you.”

It’s all about grasping the power of the God
Who is promising to be with you.

THIS GOD IS WITH US.

And God says:
(10) “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

In other words, quit stressing about it,
I am God and I am going to win.

Spurgeon mentioned that this verse should give us great missionary confidence.

God is going to be exalted.
He is going to win.

And you will realize that this same confidence was the basis of the Great Commission Jesus gave us.
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus said the same thing.
I have all the power and I’ll be with you always.

That is why we know it won’t fail.

SO
• If you want to overcome fear, realize God’s presence.
• If you want to overcome falling prey to the enemy’s threats, remember God’s promises.
• If you want to overcome failure, recognize God’s power; that He never fails.

That is the essence of this Psalm.
• There is no horror…
• There is no holler…
• There is no hostility…

That should cause God’s people to fear, fall, or fail because God is with us
He is our refuge and strength.

That is what the Psalmist is singing
And that is what Luther was singing in that great hymn as well.

But let me give you another picture in this Psalm.
• I’m convinced that this Psalm has eschatological (end times) pictures as well.

The Psalmist said:
(2) “Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea.”

Well let me tell you that’s good, because one day they will.
Revelation 6:12-14 “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”

Revelation 16:17-20 “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.”

The Psalmist also said that in the midst of the howling enemy that God will melt the earth with His voice.

And we read:
Revelation 19:19 “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.”

Revelation 20:7-9 “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.”

Also interesting there in a prophetic sense is the statement:
“God will help her when morning dawns”

Do you remember what Jesus said?
John 9:4-5 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

When Jesus was here it was the day.
We see that a lot, He was the light of the world.

And yet night came.
John 13:30 “So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.”

The world crucified the light and darkness fell upon us.
Now the church operates as lights in the world.

But we also have this promise.
2 Peter 1:19 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

Revelation 22:5 “And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.”
And the Psalmist then told us to look at the slain and realize that God has already decreed that He will be exalted.

He will break every spear and burn every chariot.
Isaiah 9:4-7 “For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 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.”

This was not just a promise for Israel in the Old Testament.
WE HOLD TO THIS PROMISE.

We hold to it in every form of trouble.
• That God’s presence is our strength.
• That God’s promises are our hope.
• That God’s power is our peace.

And so the simple encouragement to the people of God is
TAKE REFUGE IN GOD.
• Don’t trust in your own power.
• Don’t fret the enemy’s taunting.
• Don’t doubt God’s victory.

Know He is with you, remember His promises to you,
And trust in His unequaled power to bring it to pass.

And tonight, by way of response,
We’re going to stand and sing that great hymn.
#8 in your hymnal.

The Foolish Farmer
Luke 12:13-21
August 25, 2019

Well, it’s been a while since we were in Luke’s gospel.
My records show it was June 30th when we last studied here.

• No doubt with mission trips and youth camp and school commissioning it has taken a while to get back to this wonderful gospel account.

• But this morning we return to this book study that we actually began over 2 years ago.

• You might also like to know that 12:13 is the middle verse of the book of Luke, so we’re halfway there.

I am eager to get back to it, and I hope that you are as well.

We actually started this segment in Luke’s gospel back at the end of June.

It is a sermon preached by Jesus.
The sermon begins in Luke 12:1 and ends in Luke 13:9 and it is primarily a sermon for Jesus’ disciples.

And it is a sermon that seems more than anything
To have been a reactionary one by our Lord.

Now, I don’t mean to insinuate that our Lord was just shooting from the hip,
In His sovereign prerogative He certainly covered what He intended to cover.

Only, what you see here is that the layout is one where
Jesus is more so addressing what is going on around Him
And even questions that are being asked.

It gives the feel really of how we might imagine a street preacher, merely addressing the issues that are going on around him.

And last time we looked at this chapter I told you that you can break this sermon down into the 4 major events that seemed to prompt the sermon.

The first we saw last time:
INSPIRED BY A GROWING CROWD

We read in verse 1 that “Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all…”

And so you see that as Jesus and the disciples were together a crowd started to grow.

• We aren’t told why they came, with the exception of the man we meet today who wanted a judgment from Jesus.

• We might suppose they came for the same reasons other crowds came which was to receive healing or food from Jesus.

But as the crowd arises, Jesus takes the opportunity
To address His disciples in regard to ministering to a crowd.

And to them He gave 3 very important pieces of advice.
1) DON’T FAKE PIETY (1-3)
• The Pharisees loved the crowd and loved recognition and so they were often prone to put on a show of religious piety in order to impress the crowds.

• Jesus called it hypocrisy and warned the disciples against it reminding them that everything will one day be revealed, including the motives of their hearts.

• Don’t let a crowd cause you to be phony.

2) DON’T FEAR PERSECUTION (4-7)
• A crowd can have a tremendous influence over a preacher of the gospel, especially if the preacher fears his words might not be popular.

• Jesus warned His disciples that their message should not change just because there is a threat of persecution from a mob.

• They should not be afraid of those who can kill the body, but rather they were to fear Him who after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell

3) DON’T FRET REJECTION (8-12)
• Sometimes a crowd can cause you to stray from the truth out of fear, but sometimes a crowd can cause you to alter the message out of a desire for results.

• Jesus has made it clear that the requirement for salvation was to submit to the message of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately to confess Jesus before men.

• That is to be the requirement we hold men to. And that requirement doesn’t change even if it means losing the crowd.

And so you can see that what Jesus had to say
Was actually inspired by a growing crowd.

Well this morning we move to the second part of the sermon,
Which seems to immediately jump to A NEW TOPIC.

And that is because Jesus gets interrupted.
So this morning we move to the second point of Jesus sermon.

This portion of the sermon is:
INSPIRED BY A GREEDY REQUEST

We read in verse 13
“Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

We don’t know why the whole crowd approached Jesus,
But we do know why this man came.

He wanted to come before this Rabbi (“Teacher”)
And get a ruling judgment regarding his legal situation.

Of course you notice, he WASN’T asking for Jesus’ opinion on the matter,
He already knows the judgment he wants.
He merely wants Jesus to enforce his own judgment.

“tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

• This man hasn’t come for salvation.
• He hasn’t come even for healing or food.
• He has come because he has a family squabble and he wants Jesus to give
him the authority to win it.

He had obviously grown impatient with the preaching of Jesus
Because the second Jesus takes a breath,
This man interrupts inflicts his own agenda on the situation.

He obviously hadn’t listened to a thing Jesus had been saying regarding confessing Christ or enduring opposition or blasphemy of the Spirit.

This man had one thing on his mind and it was that Jesus
Settle this dispute with his brother regarding the family inheritance.

And so this man’s outburst
Will now direct the sermon of Jesus into a new direction.

Jesus will actually address him in our passage this morning,
But ultimately this question inspires the next 27 verses of the sermon.

12:13 through 12:40 is all given in response to this man’s greedy request.

And so, we now get to learn what Jesus has to say about money.
And I don’t mind telling you, it is ONE OF HIS FAVORITE SUBJECTS.

In fact the Bible even insinuates that you can
Discern a man’s salvation by how much he loves money.

Remember Zaccheus? (we’ll see him chapter 19)
Luke 19:8-9 “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.”

Jesus saw his willingness to give his possessions away
As in indication of genuine salvation.

On the flip side, remember the Rich Young Ruler? (we’ll see him in chapter 18)
Luke 18:22-23 “When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.”

Jesus saw his unwillingness to part with his possessions
As an indication of a man who had rejected salvation.

So clearly when dealing with the topic of wealth,
It is important to us what Jesus has to say about it.

SO, THIS MAN COMES as part of the giant crowd
To stand before Jesus in hopes that Jesus will command his brother
To share the family inheritance.

And Jesus immediately responds to him
(14) “But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”

What you get there amounts to a rebuke from Jesus.

• It WAS NOT that Jesus couldn’t have answered.
• It IS NOT that Jesus would have been out of place to answer.

Some of you will remember the church at Corinth and how some members were dragging other members to court.

Paul rebuked them for having such disputes in front of non-believers and he said:
1 Corinthians 6:5-6 “I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?”

Paul told the Corinthians that if they had disputes they should be handling them internally and not airing their dirty laundry before the world.

So clearly Jesus, even apart from being the Son of God,
Had plenty of authority and jurisdiction to act as a judge in this matter.

The reason for Jesus stern response to the man
Is because Jesus had no interest in such matters.

He was in effect responding in frustration as if to say,
“Seriously you think My chief concern in this world is to make sure you get all the money you think you deserve?”

• Take that up with someone else.
• Leave Me alone with it.

“who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

And to that can we just state the obvious?
Jesus chief concern is not that you get all the money you think you deserve.

Leon Morris said, “He came to bring men to God, not to bring property to men.”
cited in: (MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Luke 11-17; Moody Publishers; Chicago, IL; 2013] pg. 132)

That rebuke alone should be sufficient
To clearly slam the door on every prosperity preacher who proclaims that
The purpose of the Son of Man is to make people rich.

Jesus was NOT INTERESTED IN making sure this man
Got all the money or property he thought he deserved.

However, since Jesus is interested in saving men from sin,
Jesus was more than eager to address the sin of this man’s heart.

And so that is what He does.
(15) “Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

This man is likely now wanting to slink away into the crowd unnoticed
• Because not only has Jesus rebuked him,
• But now Jesus is using him before the crowd as “exhibit A” for the type of
greed that must be avoided.

You’ll notice that Jesus isn’t just addressing this man.
Luke says, “Then He said to them…”

Jesus took this man’s question,
And is now using him as the chief example
For preaching a sermon to the entire crowd about greed.

And since it is not a flattering sermon, it is safe to say that
This man should have gone away sufficiently rebuked, shamed,
AND DESPERATE FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD.

And so let’s take some time this morning and listen
To what Jesus had to say in regard to this man’s greedy request.

JESUS BEGINS WITH A WARNING
• “Beware”, He says
• And “be on your guard”, He says

Two distinct commands there regarding greed.

“Beware” indicates that there is a danger that you need to be enlightened to.

“be on your guard” indicates that once you are aware of the danger that you should take steps to protect yourself from it.

If you are unware of the danger, then you need to be made aware.
If you are aware, then you need to protect yourself from it.

THAT MAKES SENSE.

So let’s talk about that for a moment.
Jesus said to “Beware” of “greed”.

Did you realize that greed is a dangerous threat that you face?
Did you realize that it is something that Jesus would warn you to look out for?

WHY?

Perhaps the best place to start is with another statement from Jesus.
(One that we will see later)
Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Greed or love of money is dangerous
Because it so easily captivates your heart.

Please understand what Jesus taught.
Your treasure does not follow your heart, your heart follows your treasure.

And so AT THE VERY ROOT of the issue we are talking about
Something that has the propensity to captivate your very heart.

Anytime we deal with something that potent, or with that kind of potential
It is worth paying attention to.

Beyond that, THE WARNINGS OF JESUS REGARDING WEALTH
In Luke’s gospel alone are staggering.

Consider what we already studied:
Luke 6:24-26 “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”

• That’s a remarkable warning from the Lord.
• Those who are finding their satisfaction in this world have indicated that they have chosen this world over the next.

That is certainly what we see occurring with the rich man in hades:
Luke 16:19-25 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. “And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. “And he cried out and said, ‘ Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”

Or consider what is yet to come in Luke’s gospel:
Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

• There we learn that it is not possible to love God and love money at the same time.

The Apostle John went so far as to say:
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

That is a serious charge.

Or of course that Rich Young Ruler:
Luke 18:22-25 “When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! “For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Do you understand then why loving money is so dangerous?
Jesus said that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

That alone should tell you how big a threat greed is to your very soul.

AND LET’S BE CLEAR THERE FOR SURE.
Money is not the problem. Money is neither good nor evil.
BUT LOVING MONEY IS CERTAINLY EVIL.

In fact, greed is considered by God to be idolatry.
Colossians 3:5 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”

And it is idolatry of such a potent nature
That it can actually captivate the heart of a man
And even lead him away from the faith.

1 Timothy 6:9-10 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Do we need to talk about Achan who was so captivated by the spoils of Jericho that he defied the Lord’s command and hid some in his tent and ended up getting his entire family stoned to death?

Do we need to talk about Balaam who was a prophet for profit and was even willing to set a stumbling block before the people of God for money and was killed as a result?

Do we need to talk about Gehazi, that servant of Elijah who would lie to Naaman and receive pay for the services of God and thus be struck with leprosy?

Do we need to talk about Ananias and Sapphira who were struck dead by God for lying to the Holy Spirit regarding the money they withheld from their sale of land?

Do we need to talk about Judas who for 30 pieces of silver denied the Lord and ended up not only dead but in eternal hell for his greed?

When Paul tells Timothy that “some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs”
He’s not joking around.

That is why Paul goes on to tell Timothy
1 Timothy 6:11 “But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”

You need to understand that greed is a serious threat
To your heart, to your faith, and even to your eternity.

It is no wonder Jesus said to “Beware”

Our country seems well aware of the danger of DRUGS or of the danger of GUNS or of the danger of OBESITY or of the danger of BULLYING.

Jesus says you’d better be aware of the danger of greed.
It will pull your heart away from God and lead you to hell.

That’s a serious warning.

And because greed is such a dangerous threat Jesus goes on to say that YOU SHOULD TAKE STEPS to protect yourself from it.

“be on your guard”

• We already read that Paul told Timothy to “flee from these things”

Listen to Jesus here
Luke 12:33-34 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Since it is true that your heart follows your treasure
Jesus indicates that one of the best ways to protect your heart
Is to invest your treasure in heaven instead of earth.

In fact Jesus says you should begin to liquidate your earthly treasure and invest it in eternity so that your heart moves from this life to the next.

That is a practical step to guarding yourself from greed.
In other words, GIVE!

Listen to Paul again:
1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”

• If you are rich (and everyone in America is…just let me take you to Malawi)
• Then you need to make sure you are protecting yourself from greed.

HOW?
• Well, don’t be conceited (that is to think that you are more important than the poor)
• Don’t fix your hope on riches (It takes less and a second for your 401K to disappear)
• Instead, do good, be generous, be ready to share what you have, store up a treasure in heaven.

It would be utterly foolish to allow greed and love of money
To captivate your heart and send you to hell.

Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

JUST LET THAT SINK IN.

So Jesus says “Beware” of the danger of greed.
And “be on your guard”

But notice He also said to “be on your guard against every form of greed”

Sometimes we think greed is a sin that is limited to the wealthy.
But do you realize that a poor man can be every bit as greedy as a rich man?

Let me ask you, who is Jesus rebuking here?
The man who asked the question.

Was he the one with the inheritance or the one who merely wanted it?
He didn’t have it, he wanted it.

I’m sure that man would accuse his brother of being greedy
For not sharing the inheritance.
JESUS REVEALS THAT THIS MAN IS ALSO GREEDY,
IT’S JUST A DIFFERENT FORM OF GREED.

Some people express their greed through hoarding their wealth.
Some people express their greed through coveting wealth.

You don’t have to be rich to be greedy.
And Jesus says you had better watch out for greed in every form.

Why?
“for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

Incidentally, the word for “life” there is NOT BIOS which speaks of biological life.

The word is ZOE which speaks of meaningful or purposeful life as in eternal life.

That is to say that it is absolutely foolish
To predominantly concern yourself with wealth or possessions
Because they have absolutely no bearing on eternal life
Or even meaningful life.

And how I wish people would grab ahold of this one.
It has become an epidemic.

• You’ve got a whole generation of people coming out of college greedy for the wealth of the people they call “The 1%”. (as if sharing their wealth had anything to do with happiness)
• But it’s no wonder because from the time kids hit high school they are pulled aside to start thinking about college because you have to go to college to get a good job to make good money to have a fulfilling life.

THAT IS A HUGE LIE BEING PROPOGATED BY THE WORLD

Money has absolutely no bearing on living a meaningful life
Or purposeful life and it certainly has no power to gain eternal life

• Jesus was so poor that He had to borrow money from a fish to pay the tax in his own temple. He admitted to being homeless.
• Peter and John told the cripple that they didn’t have any money to give him.

Would we really assume these men missed out on living life to the full?

And so you can see why Jesus is giving such a strong warning here.
• Chasing money…
• Loving money…
• Being preoccupied with money…

It will only pull your heart away from God and lead you to destruction,
And it will never bring about a fulfilled and satisfied life.

I wish I could stand Pastor Felix in front of you this morning.
• He’s the pastor from Mozambique that we met in Malawi.
• That man had to borrow a bicycle and ride it 70 miles (probably with a woman
on the back of it) just to come attend our church conference.
• He’s got nothing…nothing but the biggest smile you ever saw.

He’s got a joy and a satisfaction that poverty can’t steal,
There’s plenty of rich people in America who aren’t half as fulfilled as him.

“Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

Well that’s the warning.

Then Jesus gives an ILLUSTRATION to drive His point home.

(16-20) “And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘ “But God said to him, ‘ You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’”

Consider this illustration for a moment because it is so potent.
Here we have a man and we see some things about his life.

HIS SUCCESS – (16) “The land of a rich man was very productive”

• He was already rich and now he’s got a bumper crop on top of it.
• He would do good to ask who made his crop productive, but he doesn’t seem to care to give credit to God for that.

HIS STRESS – (17) “What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?”

If you think that having money eliminates stress and greed you are wrong.
Greed is a heart problem, not a money problem.

This man has more than he knows what to do with
And now he is stressing over how to keep it all.

Well we know how Jesus would answer.
• Jesus would tell him to give it to the poor and find true satisfaction.
• Jesus would tell him to use it to store up treasure in heaven.

But that’s not what this man does.
HIS SOLUTION – (18) “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.”

His solution is to figure out a way to keep it all for himself.

And you’ll notice, he thinks that it will FINALLY GIVE HIM
THE PEACE AND COMFORT AND SECURITY HE LONGS FOR.

He was already rich, but he thinks this extra will finally do it.

HIS SUPPOSITION – (19) “And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”

If you think that’s true, you are naïve.
I promise you that will not be enough for this man to rest.

Beyond that, it is clear idolatry because he has fixed his hope on riches.
His full barns and not God are the reason he will smile at the future.
That is idolatry!

If your retirement fund is the reason you have hope for the future
Then the idolatry of greed has already toppled you.

HIS SLIPUP (20) “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’”

Wow! Talk about a massive miscalculation!

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

How foolish to think that wealth is going to bring you
Any kind of prolonged satisfaction.
You don’t even know if you’re going to be alive tomorrow.

Here we have a rich man, with all the wealth he could ever imagine,
Finally thinking it will pay off, and he never gets to enjoy it.

Instead, on that very night he dies, and spends eternity in hell.
In an instant he went eternally bankrupt.

How foolish is that!
• To spend his whole life cramming everything he could into some barn.
• And when that barn was full, he went for bigger barns.

What satisfaction or enjoyment did it give him?

• He spent all that time working that field
• He spent all that time tearing down a barn.
• He then built a new barn.
• He shoveled all that grain in there.
• And the first night he tried to lay down and enjoy it…death.

And to that Jesus said:
(21) “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

And by the way what Jesus means there is: FOOLISH
“[Foolish] is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

That’s the answer to this man who wants a piece of the inheritance…
• That’s the sermon this crowd heard as a result…
• That’s the warning from Jesus we had better heed as well…

Friend, you need to know that greed is a dangerous threat, (and probably more so in America than any other place on earth.)
• We are bombarded 24/7 with advertising which has one goal and that is to make you dissatisfied.
• As I mentioned young people are brainwashed to get a high paying job and to get security.
• As adults we’re told to make sure and save for the future.
• A new generation in our country is crying for some form of socialism where everything is free and someone else will pay off their debts.
• Those with money are fighting back insisting they pay it themselves.

And both call the other side greedy.

It’s not hard to see that greed is ripping our country apart.

Well that’s what greed does.
It destroys everything.

Proverbs 30:15 “The leech has two daughters, “Give,” “Give.”

• Don’t make it your life’s ambition to acquire wealth, make it your ambition to store up eternal wealth.
• And if you are rich, don’t die with more wealth on earth than you have in heaven; that is a foolish way to go.

Instead protect yourself from greed.
Be a giver and thus transfer your treasure to heaven
And Jesus said your heart will certainly follow.

AND LET ME ALSO SAY THIS.
Scripture provides us with TWO OPTIONS regarding how to respond to this message from Jesus.

One was a rich man we simply call “The Rich Young Ruler” he chose wealth over Christ and went away sad.

The other is a tax collector we call “Zaccheus” he chose Christ and gave his wealth away.

If greed has already toppled you and you don’t know what to do.
If you feel the conviction of God in your life.
• Run to Jesus for forgiveness.
• Trust in Him and be clothed in His righteousness.
• Let this life go that you might gain His.

Let go of the phony life to grab that which is life indeed.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”

Living With Liars, Evil Beasts, and Lazy Gluttons
Titus 3:1-7
August 18, 2019

When you read the sermon title you may already be a little on edge
Wondering what in the world are we talking about this morning?

A sermon titled: “Living With Liars, Evil Beasts, and Lazy Gluttons”
Seems to be a harsh and quite possibly an offensive sermon.

Where in the world would a pastor get a title like that?

Well the answer is that I got it from Paul.
And Paul got it directly from the evil beasts themselves.

Titus 1:12 “One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

That’s how the people of Crete described themselves
And Paul says in the very next verse, (1:13) “This testimony is true.”

And the focus of Paul’s letter here to Titus
Is regarding how to live in a culture
That is self-proclaimed as deceptive, evil, lazy, and gluttonous.

If you are not familiar with the book of Titus,
It is a true jewel for the church today.
• It is often thrown in the group as one of the Pastoral Epistles (along with 1 & 2 Timothy) and it fits there because it is after all a letter written to Titus regarding his ministry.
• But it is really the content of the letter that sets Titus apart. In this letter Paul is especially interested in the issue of personal evangelism.

It is all about how to be a witness in a wicked world.

And this morning, we are going to look a little deeper at one passage,
But really, I just want to give you the Cliff’s Notes to the whole book.
THE MESSAGE AS A WHOLE IS WHAT WE ARE INTERESTED IN.

You see the basis for the letter in 1:4-5
“To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,”

Crete is the small island in the Mediterranean Sea just south of Greece,
And just west of Turkey and it still bears the same name today.

Perhaps you remember that the apostle Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem and was taken as a prisoner on an Alexandrian ship to Rome for trial.

Here was the story:
Acts 27:7-15 “When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone; and with difficulty sailing past it we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea. When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul began to admonish them, and said to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” But the centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul. Because the harbor was not suitable for wintering, the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there. When a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete, close inshore. But before very long there rushed down from the land a violent wind, called Euraquilo; and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along.”

• So Paul was a prisoner the first time he ever landed in Crete.
• It was at a place called “Fair Havens” on the south side of the island.
• And Paul stayed there as a prisoner for many days.

• Discontent with the harbor in Fair Havens the pilot insisted on sailing further along the island of Crete to the harbor of Phoenix for the winter,
• But the ship would never make it.

• A violent storm arose and the ship was pushed out to sea eventually wrecking near the island called Malta.

On one hand that tells you a little bit about the purpose and social scene of a place like Crete.
• An island of sea ports for ships moving in and out and traveling through the Mediterranean; one can only imagine what types of immoralities that occurred there.

What is also true is that while Paul was a prisoner on this island
His heart must have been burdened for an island so lost in sin.

The Biblical record does not give us the timeline,
• But sometime after Paul’s release from Rome he apparently sailed back to this island to share the gospel and plant a church.
• He then left Titus there to organize and continue the work of evangelism.

No doubt this would have been a difficult mission.

BUT TITUS WAS NOT ALONE ON CRETE.
TITUS WAS WITH THE CHURCH.
• Souls had been saved on that island.
• There were some who had no doubt repented at the preaching of Paul and placed their faith in Christ and had been saved.

The main job of Titus was to prepare those people
For their ministry of personal evangelism.

This included establishing the leadership in the local congregations in each city.
• Titus was to “appoint elders in every city” and was even given the qualifications he was to use as he appointed them.

And one of the main qualifications these men were to have
Was that they must be sound in doctrine.

(1:9-11) “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

Paul knew what the people on that island were like.
He described them as “rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers”

Certainly the men who preached the gospel on that island
Would need to be well established in the faith
So that they could maintain the purity of the gospel.

And just to make sure everyone was aware of who their mission field was, Paul wrote:
(1:12) “One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

So the churches in Crete were tasked with the mission
Of evangelizing an island that was self-proclaimed as
Deceptive, evil, lazy, and gluttonous.

That’s no easy mission field.

AND YET, THAT’S NOT ALL THEY WERE.

Paul goes on to reveal:
(1:13-16) “This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

Now I hope you caught all that Paul was saying there.

• He first confirmed their own testimony about being deceived, evil, lazy, and gluttonous. Paul said, “This testimony is true”
• And because it is true the church must “reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith”

This is important for you to see.
We’re going to talk a lot in a moment about
You being kind and meek and gentle and merciful and all those things,
But it is important that you do not take that instruction
To mean that we should not confront sin.

Clearly here Paul mandates that sinners must be severely reproved.
You see that.

But what we also find here is that IN ADDITION TO being deceptive, evil, lazy and gluttonous
• That Paul also refers to them as “defiled and unbelieving”
• And he says that “both their mind and their conscience are defiled”

So to that list of iniquity we now add defiled in mind and conscience.
• That means that they have no bearing for truth or morality.
• They think evil things are ok and it doesn’t bother them to partake.

That’s what it means to be defiled in both mind and conscience.
It means you don’t think evil is wrong and it doesn’t bother you to participate in it.

Now that is certainly bad enough.
• They are deceptive
• They are evil
• They are lazy
• They are gluttonous
• They are defiled.

And yet that still isn’t all.
AND HERE IS THE REAL KICKER

Paul says, (16) “They profess to know God”

• The claim to be believers.
• You can approach them in their wickedness and reprove them and they will respond to you by saying, “I believe in God”.

Now rest assured, they are NOT believers.
They claim to know God, but they do not.

Paul says, “by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

So they claim to be believers but they have no fruit.
They are instead deceptive, evil, lazy, gluttonous, defiled, detestable, disobedient, worthless false believers.

And Titus’ job is to show the church how to witness in that culture.

Now I certainly DON’T WANT to make a direct correlation between Crete and Spur ISD. That certainly would not be fair.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME I don’t think anyone in here has too difficult a time listening to the description of Crete and seeing that our current American culture shares a similar description.

America is a land of people who “believe in God” and yet are deceptive and prone to evil and are disobedient don’t seem to care or be bothered by the fact.

My point is that this letter is likely more relevant to our current predicament than we may want to comfortably admit.

And even many who go to the school
May feel like at times they are going to the island of Crete.

It is frustrating isn’t it?
• It would have been hard to live as a Christian in a culture like Crete.
• It is hard to live as a Christian in a culture like America.
• It is hard to live as a Christian in a culture like the public school.

That’s just reality.

And the question is:
HOW WOULD GOD HAVE ME BE A WITNESS IN A CULTURE LIKE THAT?

Well that is precisely the question Paul answers in chapters 2 & 3.

Now, we’re going to move quickly past chapter 2, but I do want you to get the highlights of the instruction.

You will notice in chapter 2 that Paul highlights every class of people.
• Older men, older women, younger women, younger men, slaves, and even Titus.

And the whole idea for all them is that they live godly.
They need to let their godly lifestyle backup their preaching.

And this is made clear throughout the chapter.
• After telling older men, older women, and younger women how to act Paul says in verse 5 “so that the word of God will not be dishonored”

• After telling young men and Titus how to act Paul says in verse 8, “so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”

• After telling slaves (employees) how to act Paul says in verse 10, “so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.”

You understand the reasoning.
Preach the gospel, and then live godly so as to not undo your preaching.

Go preach the gospel and live godly while you do it.
Understand that the world wants to shoot holes in your message
And the easiest way for them to do that is with our unholy living.

After all verses 2:11-14 remind us that God’s grace came
To lead us to live godly in this present age.

And if we had time we could talk a lot here about a lot of things.
PERSONAL HOLINESS
CLEAN LANGUAGE – profanity and gossip will kill your witness.
INTEGRITY – cheating and lying will kill your witness.
DEVOTION TO CHRIST INSTEAD OF THE THINGS OF THE WORLD – when we talk about our love for Jesus, but in reality we are devoted to everything above Him and His church.
MODESTY & SEXUAL PURITY – Christians should not act and dress like the world in these areas. You’re killing your witness.

BUT BASICALLY – Preach the truth and live the truth.

(11-15) “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”

And all of that is good advice,
But none of that is what I want to primarily talk to you about.

I INSTEAD CHOSE TO EXAMINE THE PASSAGE
That most convicts me and that I most need to hear.

WE LIVE IN THIS WORLD, MUCH LIKE CRETE.
• We have godly desires and place much value on God’s standards.
• And yet we live in a culture that places almost no value on God’s standards.

AND IT IS FRUSTRATING ISN’T IT?

I won’t lie to you, I get frustrated.
You can ask Chris Horn, I had to text him last week to pray for me because the old Rory in me want to just blow a gasket.

• When I look at the school calendar and see that there is not a single Friday night or Saturday that we can have Disciple Now without kids being expected to leave and participate in sports.

• When I see practices being scheduled during Wednesday night church or on Sunday nights during church.

• And when I see that Christian parents place a higher priority on their child’s athletic involvement than their spiritual growth.

I’m not going to lie, I get heavily frustrated and even angry and just want to declare war on the school system in general.
Thankfully I’ve got a Christian brother who will say,
“Don’t blow a gasket, what do you expect from the world?”

You’ll see that’s precisely Paul’s advice.

But we see that mentality among believers today don’t we?
• You know we want to declare war on the ACLU or on LGBTQ or on Liberal politicians or on coaches who schedule practices or games during times of worship.

• We blame some of them for ruining America and prefer that they’d just leave so America can be what I want it to be.

• If we could just get rid of all the socialists, and homosexuals, and pedophiles, and whoever else then we could take this country back to one that pleases God.

• You know, if we could just tell all those liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons to leave Crete then this might be a respectable island again.

Friend, I have that sentiment sometimes.
BUT IT IS THE WRONG SENTIMENT

Unbelievers are all too often seen as the enemy.
They are not the enemy, they are the mission field.

Those liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons
Where the only reason Paul went to Crete to begin with.
THEY WERE THE ONLY REASON HE LEFT TITUS THERE.

Those people weren’t the enemy, they were the mission field.

And that is what chapter 3 of Titus is about.
• It is a call for you and me to view unbelievers differently.
• It is a call for you and me to quit seeing the lost as the problem and start
seeing them as our calling.

• God DIDN’T send you into the world to run the unbelievers out.
• He DIDN’T ask you to call down fire on the Samaritans.
• He’s NOT sending you into that school to run out all the lost.

He sends us there to reach the lost with the gospel.

That is what I want to show you in the remainder of our time together.

You quickly notice that chapter 3 begins with the word “Remind”.
• That is for us than an indicator that we aren’t about to get something new here.
• We’re about to be reminded of something we should already know.

There’s 3 things Paul told Titus to remind the believers in Crete of.
#1 REMEMBER YOUR SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS
Titus 3:1-2

Here we simply have the calling of God for how believers are supposed to respond towards unbelievers in the world.

• God knows the world is evil.
• God knows the world is corrupt.
• God knows that often times that includes the leadership.

And yet the calling is still clear.
“Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.”

I think I can sum those up in 4 attitudes.
1) BE SUBMISSIVE TO YOUR AUTHORITIES

Submission is very important word to God.
• Children are to submit to their parents
• Wives are to submit to their husbands
• Church members are to submit to their leaders
• We all are to submit to the governing authorities

The reason is because all authority is established by God.

Romans 13:1-2 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.”

• God established all rule.
• God established all authority.
• It all trickles down from Him.

And so to resist any authority that He has placed over you
Is actually an act of defiance against God’s ultimate authority.

And this includes the school system.
• Students if you have any hope of honoring God in the school system…
• If you have any hope of adorning the glorious gospel of God…
• If you have any hope of being a good witness in the school…

It starts with you being a submissive student
To your teachers and administrators.
You must submit.

Now obviously I’m not talking about submission in defiance of God.
• When the authorities tell us not to pray, we follow Daniel’s example and pray anyway, we just submit to the consequences.
• When the authorities tell us not to evangelize, we follow the apostle’s example and preach anyway, we just submit to the consequences.
• When the authorities tell us to engage in profane things, we follow those 3 Hebrew boys who wouldn’t bow, and we just submit to the consequences.
• When authorities plan things that pull us away from devotion to the church, we remain devoted to the church and we just submit to the consequences.

BUT WE ARE NOT ALLOWED (even then) TO FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS
• Do you understand that when we followed Christ we surrendered our rights?
• We became citizens of Heaven.
• We now submit either to the command or the consequences for His glory.
IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOUR TEACHER ISN’T TREATING YOU FAIR.
• Do you realize that when Paul wrote these letters the Roman government was in charge and was perhaps the most corrupt, immoral, pagan, and anti-Christian government the world has ever seen?

And by the way parents this goes for you too.
It’s important enough that I’m not going to try and ease into this, I just want to say it clear so that no one misunderstands the point.

When your child gets a bad grade or gets disciplined or doesn’t get enough playing time in the game or doesn’t get the part or any other injustice that you deem horrible for your child.

DO NOT GO TO THE SCHOOL AND ATTACK THEM.

• If you do, you just killed any chance for you or your child to be a witness to that
teacher or administrator.
• You just chose your child’s comfort over their soul, and that is not what
Christians are called to do.

The calling is to “be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient”

It may not be fair, then lead your child to the throne of God
And teach them about the high calling of submission
When suffering unjustly.

But it’s going to be really hard to invite that teacher to church
After you’ve attacked them for not giving your kid enough playing time.

We are called to “be subject” and “to be obedient”

Be submissive to your authority.
2) BE READY TO DO GOOD

Paul says that we must “be ready for every good deed”

You understand that this the way we catch the attention of the lost.
• A teacher or a school mate may not be interested at all in your gospel, but your willingness to serve and help them might just open the door.

Paul will even say later in the letter:
Titus 3:14 “Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.”

It is clear that Paul saw this as a must.

I can brag on Zek a little here because he drives me nuts in this area.
(always the last one out because he was helping the band director)

That’s exactly what Paul is talking about.
When you go into that school go above and beyond in the area of good deeds and in that way adorn the gospel you are preaching.

3) BE MERCIFUL TO SINNERS

“malign no one”

The word is BLASPHEMEO it’s where we get our word for blaspheme.

And let’s be honest, some people are thugs.
• Some people do sinful awful things.
• Some people have awful language.

But verbally maligning them to others will do no good.
We preach the gospel to them and certainly call for repentance,
But attacking their name to the world
Isn’t going to help you win them to Christ.

I just know it’s going to be hard to get them to listen to the gospel
If they’ve already seen you smear them on social media.

4) BE CONSIDERATE OF EVERYONE

“to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.”

All of those words certainly have different meanings,
But mostly this morning I just want you to grasp the theme.

Give people (even lost people) the benefit of the doubt.
DON’T BE A FIGHTER.

That word “consideration” is PRAUTES in the Greek.
Most of the time it is translated “meek” or “gentle”
We often define it as “strength under control”

The people in the school may have different priorities than you,
But that doesn’t give us the right to be disrespectful or mean.

As I said, this is an area God is working on me.

I do get frustrated when the things of the world take precedent over the things of God, but the Bible is clear who NOT to get frustrated with.

Don’t get frustrated at an unbelieving coach or an unbelieving administrator or an unbelieving teacher.

Why would they care more about the things of God?
And just because we have different priorities DOES NOT MEAN
I get to attack them or ruin their reputation or try to take their job.

It’s awfully hard to witness to a person
After you’ve declared war on them.

Jesus was continually kind to unholy and ungrateful men.
God sends rain on the just and the unjust.

And the calling here is simply to remember that
As you walk in a lost world you need to walk in
A submissive, serving, merciful, and considerate manner.

Otherwise the gospel you preach won’t be heard.

Remember Your Social Expectations
#2 REMEMBER YOUR SINFUL EXPLOITS
Titus 3:3

In a minute we’re going to give out bracelets to our youth and teachers.
This is the verse that’s on them.
This is the verse that I need to wear when I get frustrated with the world.

I need be reminded that I used to be lost too.
“For we also once were foolish ourselves”

Psalms 14:1-3 “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.”

Are they foolish? Yes
• They don’t honor God, they don’t seek after God, they turn aside, they don’t do good.
• Yes, they are foolish for that.

BUT SO WAS I.
What is worse, I was one of those people who professed to know God
But by my deeds I denied Him.

I WAS A FALSE BELIEVER.
• I used to think football was about the most important thing in the world.
• I used to think church attendance was lame, especially on Super bowl Sunday.
• I used to think that getting girls was the highest pleasure.
• I used to think that verbally assaulting people was the highest form of humor.

Why would I now be surprised when other lost people do the same?
• They are spiritually dead.
• They can’t hear.
• They don’t have the spirit of God.

Why would I expect a lost person to care about spiritual convictions?

When I was lost, I didn’t.
• I was “disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures”
• I was “spending my life in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.”

Here’s the reality.
I can’t be too hard on them because I was just like them.

And here’s the other point.
IT’S NOT LIKE I CHANGED MYSELF.

It’s not like I saw the error of my ways, and made a conscious effort to change and now expect them to what is right like I did. You all know that isn’t what happened.

#3 REMEMBER YOUR SAVIOR’S EXAMPLE
Titus 3:4-7

Now there’s a wealth of theology here that is going to be left on the table,
BUT AGAIN SEE THE POINT.

The ONLY reason that we are not like them anymore
Is because: (5) “He saved us”

He was kind, He was loving, He was merciful, and “He saved us”

And it wasn’t “on the basis of deed which we have done”
• He saved us when we didn’t deserve it.

Instead He washed us and He made us new!
“by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit’

• “regeneration” speaks of the new birth (i.e. being born again)
• “renewing” speaks of the new life you now enjoy

You didn’t change yourself, God did that.
He came and saved you and changed you by His grace.
And He made you (an unworthy sinner) an heir of salvation.

He took you; a deceitful, evil, lazy, gluttonous, defiled, detestable, disobedient, worthless, phony believer;
And washed and transformed you into an heir of heaven.

THE POINT? GOD SAVES SINNERS.
And that includes the people you go to school with.
That includes people you go to work with.

They may be vile and wicked and detestable
And they may not care at all about spiritual things.
Well neither did you, but that didn’t stop God from saving you.

So go into that school; go into that workplace; and preach the gospel.
And while you do it.
• Live Holy and live your convictions
• Be submissive
• Be ready to serve
• Be merciful
• Be considerate

And remember that where it not for the grace of God
You’d still be just like the people you’re trying to reach.

And then take a page from the example of your Savior
And go make heirs out of fools.

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.”

And to help you remember that, we’ve got a gift for you.
And then we want to pray for you.