Can I Expect Deliverance?
Psalms 41
June 23, 2019

We hear a lot today about “breakthroughs” and “healings” and “deliverances” and things of that nature.

We hear a lot of confident talk
Particularly from the charismatic movement regarding healing in sickness and deliverance in bondage and things of that nature.

And sometimes the claims are so bold and outlandish
That they even cause us to shiver a little.

And certainly there are many problems we have
With the charismatic claims of health, wealth, and prosperity.

But perhaps an overlooked problem with the movement is that
They have actually caused faith in God to decrease.

• Because they claim healing and deliverance in so many areas,
• And because we clearly do not see their claims come true
• They actually produce more skepticism than they do confidence in our God.

And that is sad, because
A genuine believer most certainly CAN EXPECT deliverance from God.

In fact, that is what this Psalm is about.
It is a Psalm in which David is afflicted by the enemy,
But he is confident that God will deliver him.

In an even greater picture it is a prophetic Psalm
• About how our Lord was afflicted by the enemy, even betrayed by Judas,
• But He was also confident in the deliverance of God.

Verse 9, “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.”

That verse is said to have been fulfilled during the Last Supper:
John 13: 18 “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’”

So clearly it is a Psalm of confidence
That God will deliver even from the vilest of enemies.

It is sung both by the lesser David and by the greater David.
But it is a song of expectation that God will deliver.

What I want to make sure you understand tonight
Is where the BASIS OF THIS CONFIDENCE comes from.

What I want you to understand
Is where the foundation of this assurance dwells.

YOU CAN HAVE IT TOO.
But it’s not from naming it or claiming it or sharing the post on Facebook.

We’re going to have a bit of a lengthy introduction and I’m going to ask you to turn to a lot of texts, but follow with me tonight.

I want to start with a very penetrating story that our Lord taught us:
TURN TO: Matthew 25:31-46

• This is the end of the sermon that is typically referred to as “The Olivet Discourse”. It is Jesus’ sermon on the end times.

• He closes the sermon with a series of parables and then this final revelation about the judgment.

(READ 31-46)

• You are likely familiar with that story.
• It is the Lord’s account of the judgment.
• It is very black and white.

We see the separation of the redeemed and the unregenerate.
It is a clear and distinct separation
No different than a shepherd separating sheep and goats.

Our Lord puts the redeemed on the right and the unredeemed on the left and then He pronounces judgment.
• Ultimately the redeemed “inherit the kingdom prepared for [them] from the foundation of the world”
• And the unredeemed are sent “into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;”

What has been confusing to some is the standard of judgment
Our Lord uses to distinguish between the two.

HE DOESN’T SAY (as many would expect)
• That the righteous get the kingdom because they followed Jesus
• And the unrighteous get judgment because they rejected the Jesus.

That would make sense to us from a gospel standpoint
Since He alone is the Savior.

INSTEAD JESUS SAYS that the righteous get to enter the kingdom
Because they cared for the poor
Whereas the unrighteous get judgment because they neglected the poor.

“for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.”

And some then have wondered if the Lord is teaching that entrance into the kingdom of heaven can be earned simply by helping the poor.

And the answer to that question is: NO
Salvation cannot be earned by a lifetime of benevolence.

The reason is because a lifetime of good deeds
Will not erase even one instant of evil deeds,
And regardless of our goodness, our sin warrants judgment.

The gospel message is clear, salvation cannot be earned by good deeds.

So what then is our Lord talking about?

It is this:
You cannot earn life by helping the poor.
However, you do prove life by helping the poor.

Benevolence is not a means of salvation, it is a fruit of salvation.

A man who helps the poor reveals his salvation is GENUINE,
Whereas a man who does not help the poor
Indicates that his religion is WORTHLESS.

James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Religion that doesn’t care for the least is worthless religion.

And this is clearly articulated in Scripture.
TURN TO: Isaiah 58

• It is a great chapter outlining the difference between effective religion and worthless religion
• Because here we have people who are religious (fasting) and it isn’t working.

And they want to know why.
(READ 1-3a)

You see the question:
“Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?”

• Their religion wasn’t working.
• Their religion was not motivating God to respond favorably and they wanted to know why.

So God tells them.
(READ 3b-4)

Basically, because your religion is selfish.
You do what you do for your own benefit not the benefit of others.

And to that God then preaches the sermon.
(READ 5-14)

Now what you notice is that
God has very specific expectations
For what true religion is supposed to look like.

(6-7) “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”

And according to God, if you will do that
THEN YOU CAN START TO EXPECT YOUR RELIGION TO PAY OFF.

That is, you can start to expect that God will answer you and deliver you.

In fact, if you do those things:
(11) “the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”

So you see the same principles.
• Those who evidence the purity of their religion by helping the poor can expect
deliverance from God.
• Those whose religion does not involve helping the poor have only worthless
religion.

WHAT WE LEARN THEN IS THIS:
• Care for the poor is not only a great expectation of God, but it is also a true
fruit of genuine conversion.

BUT NOT ONLY THAT:
Because God promises to deliver those who help the poor,
OUR PARTICIPATION IN BENEVOLENCE
BECOMES A GREAT FOUNDATION FOR OUR CONFIDENCE.

What I mean is this.

Our confidence in God’s deliverance
Is directly proportional to our participation in helping the poor.

One more text:
TURN TO: 1 John 3:13-22

Now it is clear that on John’s mind throughout the letter
Is the issue of assurance.

9 times in the letter John uses the phrase
“By this we know…” (or one similar)

He even gives that great statement at the end of the letter:
1 John 5:13 “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

ASSURANCE IS ONE OF HIS GREAT THEMES,
And he is giving a great hint to it here.

He starts by
• Addressing something that typically attacks our assurance,
• And that is being hated by others.

(13) “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.”

Let’s be honest, no one likes to be hated.
And when people hate us for what we do
It can cause us to greatly question our motives.

But our assurance does not come from men.
AND THAT IS WHAT JOHN WANTS HIS FLOCK TO KNOW.

(14-15) “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

So John is very direct.
• You don’t get assurance from the world’s approval.
• But you do get assurance from knowing you love the brethren.

Well how can we know that we have loved the brethren?
(READ: 16-18)

• So clearly there John is linking our love of the brethren to our benevolent care of the brethren.
• We know we love our brother when we care for our brother.

BUT HERE IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEE:
Here comes the assurance

(READ: 19-22)
Did you catch that? It’s rich!
• Even when our heart condemns us…
• Even when we don’t feel saved…
• Even when we are aware of our failures and shortcoming…

There is a place we go for assurance
And that is to the fact that we help the poor.

Even in our darkest days of doubt it is our help of the poor
That assures us that we are God’s children in spite of our failures.

We know we are His by this.

Do you see the assurance?
• Even when I fail, I can still have assurance through benevolence.
• I can still have confidence of God’s deliverance because of benevolence.

I know that was lengthy, but that makes a perfect segue into Psalms 41.

Now, I want to look at this Psalm a little unconventionally.
That is to say, I don’t want to start at the beginning.

I want to actually start by looking at verses 10-12
DAVID’S CONFIDENCE
Psalms 41:10-12

It is certainly a request from David regarding his enemies,
But it is also one that is filled with bold confidence.

Consider verse 10 “But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up, That I may repay them.”

That’s a pretty bold prayer.
David not only gives his request, but his motive.

I want you to deliver me and I want you to deliver me
For the purpose of vengeance.

Many a commentary has trouble with that statement and rightly so.
It doesn’t really sound Christian at all.

Romans 12:19-20 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”

We are aware of that command.
We understand the concept of trusting God to secure justice for us.

And look, it’s impossible to know David’s heart here,
But maybe that is what he means.

MAYBE HE MEANS THAT GOD’S DELIVERANCE IS THE REPAYMENT.
For example, “They really want to see me fall, well raise me up, that’ll show them!”

Some have suggested
• David intended it under the banner of him being the King whose job it was to meter out justice for evil doers.

I don’t really know what David is thinking here
Except to point out to you that David is clearly confident
In his right to be delivered and for his enemies to be punished.

There is no hesitation in David’s statement.

And he continues in confidence
(11) “By this I know that You are pleased with me, Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.”

There again, they haven’t even announced the results yet
And David is already standing in the victors circle.

• He has assurance.
• He is confident that God for him and that God will deliver him
• And that God will not let his enemies win.

And again:
(12) “As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And You set me in Your presence forever.”

That is ultimate victory there.
Those three verses are not spoken like a man who expects to lose.

He speaks of vengeance, he speaks of vindication, he speaks of victory.
He is confident that it will be his.

Whatever is going on in the backdrop I just want to make sure that you see that David is a man who has assurance.

• Can you imagine assurance like that in your life?
• Can you imagine having such confidence?
• Can you imagine being so certain that God will deliver and vindicate and usher
out vengeance on your account and give you victory?

Well David clearly has it.

And of course with this also being a prophetic Psalm of the Lord
We can easily say that Jesus had this assurance as well.

SO DAVID IS CONFIDENT.
HE EXPECTS DELIVERANCE.

WELL, WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT?
• Delivered from what?
• Delivered from who?

Well let’s back up now to verses 4-9
DAVID’S CONCERN
Psalms 41:4-9

Here we find the struggle David finds himself in.

And there is a very important verse that I need you to see right out of the gate.
(4) “As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.”

Ok, so now you can throw out righteous living
As the source of David’s confidence.

• David is a confident man in spite of the fact that he has sinned against God.
• David has assurance despite the fact that he is not perfectly righteous.

Jesus may very well be confident in His own righteousness, but David can’t be.

And I find this very interesting because
I am much more like David than I am like Jesus.
If David can have assurance in spite of being sinful, I want to know how.

Well we’ll get there, but first let me show you why he needs assurance.
And that is because: HE IS IN TROUBLE

(READ 5-9)
You can easily see there 4 problems David is facing.

• Now the backdrop is that he is sick.
• He has an illness and it is an illness that threatens his life.

And in the midst of this illness
We learn that the world is not rooting for David’s recovery.

We see: DISDAIN
(5) “My enemies speak evil against me, “When will he die, and his name perish?”

Well that’s special.
David is sick and the prayer request of his enemies
Is that he will just go ahead and die.

We see: HYPOCRISY
(6) “And when he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood; His heart gathers wickedness to itself; When he goes outside, he tells it.”

This is especially sweet.
His enemy actually comes to visit him when he is sick
As though he is a friend.

“How you doing David? You feeling ok? What’s your temperature today? Is that where they plug in your life support machine?”

And David knows that this man doesn’t care for him.
David knows that he is only there to fish for information to run back and tell the rest of David’s enemies.

He’s just trying to give them a timeframe as to when David might die.

We see: CONDEMNATION
(7-8) “All who hate me whisper together against me; Against me they devise my hurt, saying, “A wicked thing is poured out upon him, That when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”

That is to say that they all think he deserves what he is getting.
They are all like Job’s friends who assume that his sickness is deserved.

It is like those who sneered at Jesus and according to Isaiah 53 “Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.”

• They know he is sick.
• They are sure he deserves it.
• They are waiting for him to die, and they are rooting for it.

We see: BETRAYAL
(9) “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.”

Even those who should care have bought the propaganda.
To David it feels as though everyone hates him.

So make sure now that you understand the scene:
• David is sick
• The world is against him
• He is not perfect, but has sinned against God
• But he is confident that God will heal him and deliver him and show up those who hate him.

That is confidence isn’t it?
That is assurance isn’t it?

I mean that is right up there with what John taught us when he said, “Don’t be surprised if the world hates you”

• Don’t let the world’s hatred steal your assurance.
• Don’t let the accusations of your heart steal your assurance.

Well David certainly didn’t.
He was confident.

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THIS ASSURANCE?
How could David be so certain that God would heal him and deliver him and silence his foes?

Well now let’s look at the first 3 verses of this Psalm.
DAVID’S CONVICTION
Psalms 41:1-3

Without breaking it down too much can you see the main point?

God cares for those who care for the poor.

In fact, there are 5 promises made on behalf of those who care for the poor.
• “The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble”
• “The LORD will protect him”
• “The LORD will…keep him alive”
• “The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed;”
• “In his illness, You restore him to health.”

Furthermore David knew that a man like that
Would not be given over to the desire of his enemies.

No wonder David could say:
“How blessed is he who considers the helpless;”

That person receives the blessing of deliverance,
Protection, care, sustenance, and healing.

Now, just so you understand the magnitude of that statement.
• We are now 41 Psalms into this book.
• In fact you may even notice that before Psalms 42 it says “Book 2”
• In this first grouping of Psalms David has used this phrase “How blessed” in only 5 Psalms.

Psalms 1:1 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”

And if you remember that is referring to
The man who delights in the Law of the Lord.

And for that man there are promises.
Psalms 1:3 “He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.”

So to the man who delights in God’s word
God promises provision, production, perseverance, and prosperity.

And none of us question that because we know the value of God’s word.

Psalms 2:12 “Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

There the blessing is for those who take refuge in Christ.

This is also the blessing of:
Psalms 34:8 “O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”

And:
Psalms 40:4 “How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.”

And of course there the promise is that those who delight in salvation
Will be saved from wrath and judgment
But will be justified in the righteousness of Christ.

None of us argue with that.
We are certain of it.

Psalms 32:1-2 “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!”

That is a man who leans upon grace
Instead of works or self-righteousness.

That man is promised forgiveness and justification.

So…
• If you delight in God’s word you can expect to be fruitful…
• If you take refuge in God’s Son you can expect to be saved…
• If you appeal for grace you can expect to be forgiven…

Do we question any of those things as being far-fetched?

Then don’t see this one as far-fetched either.
If you consider the helpless you can expect to be delivered.

What it screams to us is that God values those who value the poor.
• It reminds that God cares for those who care for the poor.
• It reminds that God delivers those who deliver the needy.
• It reminds that God raises up those who raise up the broken.

And is this not what Jesus taught us in Matthew 25?
Matthew 25:34-40 “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. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

It’s as though Jesus echoed this same blessing
At the end of the Olivet Discourse.

It is the same means of assurance
That the apostle John offered in his epistle.

You can have assurance if you care for the poor.

But let me ask you, since this Psalm is also a picture of Christ who no doubt suffered.
• Was He not delivered?
• Was He not protected?
• Was He not kept alive?

You say, “No, He died”
1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;”
He was kept alive

• Was He not sustained?
• Was He not restored?
• Did God not raise Him up?
• Was He not avenged of His enemies?
• Was He not vindicated?
• Has He not been set in God’s presence forever?

God honored that!

Never was there another who cared for the poor and helpless
Like Christ did and God fully honored His word.

Of Christ we read:
2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”

AND HE WAS BLESSED

• There is a blessing for those who care for the helpless and the poor.
• There is a promise of deliverance
• There is a promise of protection
• There is a promise of life
• There is a promise of sustenance
• There is a promise of restoration and healing

David certainly knows that.
That is why he is confident God will raise him up
Even though he has sinned against God.

He knows that God has given a magnificent promise that even sinners will be delivered if they care for the helpless.

And that takes us then to that final point of the Psalm
DAVID’S CHORUS
Psalms 41:13

That is why David ends in praise.
Because he doesn’t deserve to be raised up.
He doesn’t deserve to be healed.

It is a blessing only offered by the God of Israel.
• What other god would promise to be your nurse during sickness?
• What other god would concern himself with your infirmities?
• What other god protect you and keep you alive when everyone is against you?

Certainly not the pagan gods of Ammon or Philistia
Or Moab or Islam or Hinduism.
Those gods don’t care and they offer no assurances.

But our God does.
And for that David praises Him!

“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.”

God has given a tremendous blessing to His people.
• He has promised that if you will care for the poor then He will care for you.
• Praise God for that blessing and that promise.

The Christian Song – Part 3
Psalms 40 (11-17)
June 16, 2019

Here over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at the 40th Psalm.
I call it “The Christian Song”
Because it is a song that every believer can identify with.

Let me recap them quickly tonight.
#1 DAVID’S DELIVERANCE
Psalms 40:1-3

We recounted how before this Psalm began
• David had come to his senses (pure grace) and realized that he was in “the pit of destruction” and in “the miry clay”
• This realization led David to cry out to the Lord for deliverance.
• By the time the song begins David is recounting how the Lord answered that request.
• David asked and “patiently waited” indicating true faith and the Lord responded to that faith with deliverance.

“He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”

This is a universal testimony of Christian salvation.
Every person, by reason of their sin, is in the pit.
Every person, by reason of their sin, is in the miry clay.

It may be the miry clay of gross immorality,
Or it may be the miry clay of religious self-righteousness,
But it is clay none the less.

It is sinfulness that has rightly earned the wrath of God.
And every person needs salvation from it.

AND GOD (as He has done for all believers) SAVED DAVID FROM IT
The result is not a life left in sin, but a life pulled out of sin.
The result is a life no longer in the clay, but now on the rock.

Every Christian has this testimony of a changed life.
And it is so obvious that your acquaintances can recognize the change.

“Many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD”

There is no such thing as a Christian with an unchanged life.
There is no such thing as a Christian with no light to shine.

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

God so changes the internal disposition and desires of the heart
That a genuine believers salvation out of sin is obvious.

That is what David first sings of.
His Deliverance
#2 DAVID’S DOXOLOGY
Psalms 40:4-5

As we noted, throughout Scripture we see that
After a moment of great deliverance or great revelation,
The writers of Scripture would break into a great statement of praise.

It is called a doxology.

That is what David does here.
• He said in verse 3 that God “put a new song in my mouth”, verses 4 and 5 reveal that song.

And it is a song of praise all about how great God is,
And how blessed we are for having been saved by Him.

And this is also a universal Christian reality.
A non-singing Christian is a contradiction in terms.
A non-praising Christian is a phony and a fraud.

• Anyone who has truly seen their sinfulness and felt the grief of the displeasure and judgment…
• Anyone who has then seen the atonement of Christ and then begged God for that justification…
• Anyone who has felt the relief of God’s forgiveness for that sin…
• Anyone who has then been filled with God’s Spirit and given new life…

Will automatically break forth in praise.
It is impossible not to.

God is too good!
Christ is too worthy!
Salvation is too wonderful!
Christians break out in praise to God.

That is how this song begins.
David’s Deliverance David’s Doxology
#3 DAVID’S DELIGHT
Psalms 40:6-8

And this is really the heartbeat of the Psalm.
This is probably the most telling difference in David’s life
Now that he has been saved.

He finally gets it.
• God isn’t interested in empty traditional ritual.
• God wants to be loved.
• And God desires for that love to be shown through obedience.
• God wants a righteous life.

And David says, “my ears You have opened” – I GET IT!

“Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired”

But as we said, David also spoke prophetically here.
• David knew that God demanded a righteous life,
• But David also knew it was beyond him to give it.

So David looked ahead to the One
Who would satisfy God’s righteous desire.

We saw how the writer of Hebrews took Psalms 40:6-8 and applied it to Christ.
• It was Christ who took on human form…
• It was Christ who obtained a righteous life…
• It was Christ who presented that righteous life to God…

And in Him, David is now also pleasing to the Father.

David’s delight then is both in righteousness
And in the One who provides it.

Isn’t that also the mentality of a Christian?
We are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

We are those who agree with Paul who spoke of the righteousness God desires and then said:
Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

• We desire holiness.
• We want to be righteous.
• We hate sin.
• It grieves us.

And yet, we still understand that in our flesh righteousness eludes us.

So we also delight in Christ, who is our righteousness.
We delight in the One who fully satisfied God’s holy commands.

We strive for perfection, and we love the Christ who provides it.

That is a Christian’s delight.
• Those who don’t desire righteousness…
• Those who have no affection for Christ…
• Those who are bound up in religious ceremony and not love for God…

Those are not genuine believers, and they would never sing this song.
But we sing it because we are grateful for what Christ provides.

David’s Deliverance David’s Doxology David’s Delight
#4 DAVID’S DECLARATION
Psalms 40:9-10

This is another universal truth regarding genuine believers:
THEY ARE MISSIONARIES.

• They do not hide their light under a bushel…
• They do not keep their salt away from a tasteless world…
• They don’t maintain that their faith is a private matter…

No, they broadcast Christ from the mountaintops.
They profess Him publicly.

That is what David did.
“I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;”

“I will not restrain my lips”
“I have not hidden Your righteousness”
“I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation”
“I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth”

That’s a far cry from those today who want their faith to be a private thing.
It is not. And it never was never intended to be.

Those who have been genuinely delivered by God’s grace
Not only sing God’s praises,
But share God’s gospel with the world.

It is not only a simple mandate,
But it is also a desire of the Christian heart.
We long to see the glories of Christ proclaimed to the world.

Well, that is what we’ve seen so far as we’ve studied this 40th Psalm.

You can see why we call it “The Christian Song”
It is descriptive of the Christian life.

Well there is one more point in this song
And it is one that I think is so important,
And a song that we continually sing.

Let me just give it to you and then we’ll talk more about it:
#5 DAVID’S DEPENDENCE
Psalms 40:11-17

• As much as we love the remembrance of our deliverance and salvation from God.
• As much as we focus on the day our lives were changed.
This may actually be the part of the song that is still the sweetest.

BECAUSE WE KNOW LIFE
• Salvation is certainly great and glorious
• Forgiveness is a wonderful thing.
• We sing, we share, we submit to God’s commands

But inevitably we also stumble

I’m mindful of those churches in the book of the Revelation
Because we so easily see ourselves in their failures.

To Ephesus Jesus said:
Revelation 2:4 “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

• Despite their salvation, and their love of sound doctrine, they had allowed their Christianity to run cold and had neglected their first love.
• They got snared in the routine of religion and forgot that loving Jesus was the most important thing.

I do that too.
It’s a grievous sin and one that is unacceptable to Christ, but I have done it.

To Pergamum Jesus said:
Revelation 2:14 “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.”

• They were a church that loved Christ and wouldn’t forsake Him no matter the pressure, but they also were prone to get too comfortable with the world.
• They struggled with their convictions against sin and let people dwell in their church that loved the world.

I’ve done that.
Confronting people for loving the world is a hard job.
It’s far easier just to turn a blind eye to the sin of others.
It’s easier just to laugh with them and be friends.

To Thyatira He said:
Revelation 2:20 “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”

• That church began to tolerate idolatry and the woman who led the people there.
• No doubt they knew it was wrong, no doubt there were some who wanted it changed,
• But speaking up proved to intimidating so they just left it alone.

I do that.
There are times when sin must be confronted
But for the sake of my own personal comforts, I just ignore it.

To Sardis He said:
Revelation 3:2 “Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.”

• That was the lazy church who felt like they had done enough.
• They quit pushing, quit serving, quit going, and just tried to retire.

I’ve done that.
You just get tired and so you try to coast.

My guess is that you can identify with some of those too.

And that’s just a few of the sins
That even believers fall into from time to time.

If we wanted to get really extreme all we have to do is take a jet tour through 1 Corinthians where we find believers stumbling in all sorts of areas.
• They are divided over who is the greatest
• They are comfortable in the world
• They refused to mourn or deal with a sexually immoral brother
• They were dragging each other into court and suing one another
• They were visiting prostitutes
• They were depriving one another
• They were eating in idols temples to the detriment of their brothers
• They were failing to compensate their ministers
• They had confusion regarding gender roles
• They were getting drunk during the Lord’s Supper
• They were seeking the showing sign gifts in the public worship service
• And they denied the resurrection

My point?
BELIEVERS CAN STUMBLE INTO SIN.

And so as glorious as it is to sing about salvation,
The reality is that the Christian song would not be complete
If there was not a verse that dealt with security.

And that is where David concludes this song.

Well, let me just go ahead and make sure you see here that
DAVID HAS MESSED UP.

(12) “For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me.”

While it is not pleasant, it is accurate.
• While every believer has a testimony of deliverance and salvation,
• It is true that every believer also has a testimony of a backsliding and failure.

We can all sing the song about the day we shot out of the gate
Running at full speed singing the praises of Jesus
And telling the world about what a wonderful Savior He is.

But the reality is also true that at some point along the race
We are prone to trip, fall, roll, and mess the race all up.

That is where David is.
HE HAS BLOWN IT.

BUT THAT IS ALSO WHAT MAKES THIS PSALM SO WONDERFUL.

Because despite David’s failures,
He is still able to sing a song about a redeeming God
Who carries us in spite of our failures
And who delivers us in spite of our stumbling.

In fact, David is here counting on it.

In these final 7 verses you have David depending on God.
• It is what we do every day.
• It is the lifestyle of the Christian.

And let me show you what David is depending on God for.
1) HE IS DEPENDING ON GOD TO PRESERVE HIM (11)
“You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.”

In my mind it is one of the most mind-boggling
And yet remarkable things that God does for His children.

It is called SECURITY.
It is the reality of ASSURANCE.

If I were God (and you can be very thankful that I am not)
And I was concerned about holiness and obedience
And being glorified by my children
I WOULD BE TEMPTED TO HOLD THEM UNDER A MASSIVE ULTIMATUM.

My ace in the hole would be the continuous threat of judgment.
• You better put down that sin, or I’ll call the whole thing off and send you to hell.
• You better start singing praises, or I’ll change my mind and cast you into hell.
• You better start witnessing, or I’ll grab you by the neck and fling you into hell.

It seems that the ULTIMATE MOTIVATIONAL TOOL for obedience
Would be fear of ETERNAL TORMENT.

Indeed, many who have their theology all messed up
Still use this tactic today.
They threaten people with losing their salvation if all the legalistic requirements are not ritually kept.
• You better be in church…
• You better take the Lord’s Supper…
• You better give…
• You better sing or witness or teach or whatever…

And if you don’t, you might just lose your salvation.

BUT THANK GOD, THAT IS NOT WHAT GOD DOES
IN FACT GOD DOES JUST THE OPPOSITE.

He gives assurance to His children,
That despite their failures and shortcomings
Nothing will ever separate them from His love.

And that is what David is trading on here.
Indeed that is what we trade on.

As David lives his life in a desire to dwell in glory for all eternity,
He is dependent; not upon his own ability to earn it,
But on God’s willingness to be compassionate.

“You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me;”

Wow, what a statement!

It was also David who said:
Psalms 103:8-11 “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.”

David knew that despite the wickedness of man,
God never failed to be compassionate.

It was the attribute Jeremiah banked on in the book of Lamentations as he looked upon the aftermath of God’s judgment on Jerusalem.
Lamentations 3:22-23 “The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

David knew that nothing could keep God from being compassionate.

And because of this he said:
“Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.”

We are talking here about PRESERVATION.
We are talking here about SECURITY.

And David was keenly aware that
The power of preservation was not in the strength of his arm,
But in the depth of God’s compassion and loyalty.

How many times do we rejoice in this!

We read:
John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

Security does not depend on the steadfastness of the sheep.
Security depends upon the strength of the shepherd.

Sheep stray…
Sheep rebel…
Sheep follow their own stupid impulses and get themselves in danger…

It is the shepherd who protects and preserves them
In spite of their foolish inclinations.

We depend on that!
Not that we are so good at enduring,
But that Christ is so good at preserving.

How else can we say it?
• If the prolonging of my salvation was up to me for even 1 second, my salvation would be eternally lost.

Or how we rejoice in the realities of Romans 8 where Paul reminds us that God’s plan begins with foreknowledge and ends with glory…every time.

Romans 8:29-30 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

Christ doesn’t lose any.

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

• It doesn’t matter if Satan accuses us…
• It doesn’t matter if our own heart condemns us…
• It doesn’t matter if the enemy attacks us…
• Nothing can separate us.
• Not because we are strong, but because He is.

That is what David is singing about.

He walks through this world depending on the fact that
God will not let him fall, but will certainly preserve him.

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

John 6:39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”

DAVID IS DEPENDING ON IT.

WHY?
Because David knows how sinful he is, which is what he reveals in vs. 12.

But that also reveals to us another thing that David is depending on.
2) HE IS DEPENDING ON GOD TO FORGIVE HIM (12)
“For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me.”

David was UNDER NO DELUSION
That he either deserved salvation or that he deserved to keep it.

He knew what he was, and that he continually failed.

In this instance he had been surrounded by “evils” or we might consider them to be temptations and David had fallen.

The result was that “My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head”

David was aware of great transgression on his part.

I like that he says, “my heart has failed me.”
• As Christ mentioned last Sunday night, so much for “follow your heart”
• When David followed his heart all it managed to do was lead him into great sin.

Now, we don’t know which sin or sins David is referring to here,
But the point is not about which sin.

The point is about that in spite of his sin
David is still banking on God’s forgiveness.

What a blessing to have that reality in our lives.
I lean on many of the promises of God, but I can’t say that there are any that I lean on more than 1 John 1:9

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

What a great promise that is!
That God has already promised in His word
That if I will confess my sin to Him, then He will forgive me.
That is remarkable!

Jesus even incorporated that into the model prayer.
Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

It is a bedrock on which the Christian depends.

And that makes this also a staple of the Christian life.

It is important that you understand,
But repentance is not a one-time trick for a Christian.
We don’t just use it at salvation and then never revisit it.

Repentance is the daily language of a Christian.
• We continually repent
• We continually confess
• We continually humble ourselves before God

Repentance is the mark of humility that is a necessary attribute
For anyone who claims to have been redeemed.

One who denies their sin or who harbors their sin,
Has no fellowship with God.

Consider what the apostle John said in the rest of that 1st chapter of his letter.
1 John 1:5-10 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

• We don’t claim perfection…
• We certainly don’t deny our failures…
• We own up to our sin…
• We confess our sin…
• We ask God to cleanse us of our sin…

And then we depend upon the fact that God will forgive us our sins.
David certainly did.
That is a Christian mindset.

He depended on God to preserve him He depended on God to forgive him
3) HE IS DEPENDING ON GOD TO DELIVER HIM (13-15)
“Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; Make haste, O LORD, to help me. Let those be ashamed and humiliated together Who seek my life to destroy it; Let those be turned back and dishonored Who delight in my hurt. Let those be appalled because of their shame Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

David lived this life under the same struggles that we do.
Just as we have a devil who prowls around like a roaring lion,
Seeking whom he may devour; so did David.

• He knew there were those “who seek my life to destroy it”
• He knew there were those “who delight in my hurt”
• He knew there were those “who say to me, ‘Aha, aha!’”

That can certainly speak of PERSECUTORS, but it can also speak of TEMPTERS.
• Those who seek to lead you into sin.
• Those who seek to corrupt you.
• Those who seek to sit back and point the finger after you’ve run into their sins.

David knew they were there,
And he knew on his own he was no match for them.

Paul told us:
1 Corinthians 10:12 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

Well David was taking heed.
In fact, he was depending on God to deliver him from their temptations.

“Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; Make haste, O LORD, to help me.”

It was Jesus who taught us to pray:
Matthew 6:13 “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]”

And that is what David is doing here.
He is depending on God’s deliverance
So that he does not fall into sin.

That is part of the Christian song.
• We live this life daily with defiling influences and a destructive Satan,
• And all the while we depend upon God to deliver us from his attacks.

That is the Christian life.

And one final thing David depended on God for:
4) HE IS DEPENDING ON GOD TO FINALLY SAVE HIM (16-17)
“Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!” Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.”

Here David recounts that he is not the only one
Who is counting on God for salvation.

He is not the only one who is counting on God
To preserve him and forgive him and deliver him.
Indeed every believer is depending on God for those things.

Every believer is depending on God to finalize his salvation.

And David here recounts that to God.
“Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!”

• If there are ever to be saints in heaven…
• If there are ever to be a multitude around the throne…
• If there is ever to be a heavenly chorus…

It will only be because God causes it to happen.

And those who are there will forever give
Glory and praise and honor to the One who secured it.

Revelation 5:11-14 “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.”

That is what David is depending on.

And then David closes with a reminder that on his own he is nothing.
• If God doesn’t come through, all will be for naught.
• He is totally, 100%, dependent on God for all things.

(17) “Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.”

And there you have the Christian Song.
• It is a Song of Deliverance from sin and destruction
• It is a Song of Doxology or Praise
• It is a Song of Delight in righteousness and the One who provides it
• It is a Song of Declaration of God’s glorious gospel
• It is a Song of Dependence as we know we’ll never make it apart from Him.

This is the song of the Christian life,
And it is the song that all true believers sing.

• If you don’t have a song of deliverance…
• If you don’t have a doxology of praise…
• If you don’t have delight in righteousness or in Christ…
• If you don’t declare His glorious gospel to the world…
• If you are not dependent daily for forgiveness and preservation…

It’s time to examine your relationship with Christ.
This is the song of the true believer.
This is the Christian Song.

Go and sing it well!

What Jesus Wouldn’t Tolerate – Part 3
Luke 11:37-54 (43-46)
June 16, 2019

As you know, we are currently looking at
A very direct and confrontational event in the life of Jesus.

• He preached a very penetrating sermon about being authentic or being real
• At the conclusion of that sermon a Pharisee invited Jesus over to eat.

What Jesus did there would be shocking to some.
Jesus picked a fight.

He intentionally passed up the water basin
And did not wash His hands before He ate.
(It’s not because Jesus was unaware of the custom, it’s because He was picking a fight)

Some would balk at the notion that Jesus would purposely be combative or confrontational or insulting, but that’s exactly what He was here.

WHY?
Because Jesus was confronting the greatest enemy
That His flock dealt with on a daily basis;
And that was the false religious leaders of the day.

We even saw in Zechariah 11 and Ezekiel 34
• How God had had enough of these false shepherds
• And that one of the reasons for sending His Son was to deliver His sheep from their destructive grasp.

So rest assured, when Jesus came
It was NOT to make friends with those who had been attacking His flock.
Jesus came to expose and remove them.

He may have been invited over to eat,
But He was in no way interested in friendship.
Jesus accepted this invitation for one reason
And that was to secure the opportunity to directly confront this Pharisee.

And so we have been discussing what Jesus clearly wouldn’t tolerate.
In this confrontation we learn that there are things that simply were not ok to Jesus.
There were things He would not let slide.

We saw the first 2 last time.
The first to problems the Pharisees had that Jesus wouldn’t tolerate.
#1 THEIR GREEDY HEARTS
Luke 11:39-41

Right off the bat Jesus exposed their hypocrisy by revealing that though they were clean and attractive on the outside, inside they were full of sin.

Jesus said they were full of “robbery and wickedness”

They were full of greed.
• They did what they did because they loved money.
• We even read stories about them devouring widow’s houses.
• We listened as they told us the most important thing was not to swear on the gold of the temple.
• We heard them teach others to give money to the synagogue instead of helping their own parents.

They were corrupt.
They had greedy hearts.
Jesus wouldn’t tolerate it.

We pointed out that Jesus has no tolerance for anyone
Who seeks to use the ministry to gain the world.

And in our world of prosperity preachers
Who seem to have made quite a racket off of the desperate

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

Their moment of glory is but a flash in the pan.
Jesus does not tolerate those who use the ministry
As a means of gratifying a greedy heart.

We also saw a second reason last week as to why Jesus wouldn’t tolerate them.
#2 THEIR SUPERFICIAL RELIGION
Luke 11:42

Very simply put, they knew how to put on a show.
• A tithe was a tenth and they were meticulous to make sure that everyone saw them counting out even 1 out of every 10 seeds they harvested.
• It was quite impressive to see a Pharisee not overlook even the smallest seeds.
• It must have really caught the attention of the people.

The problem was that while they were meticulous in their giving
They greatly missed the point.

They had no “justice” and that had no “love” for God.

And since loving God is the greatest commandment,
It is indicative of religious leaders who totally missed the point.

The whole goal of this thing is loving God.

1 Timothy 1:5 “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

I mean, if you really want to reduce down
What we do in the ministry, it is to lead men to love God.

But here you have spiritual leaders that don’t even love Him.
And Jesus wouldn’t tolerate it.

And neither do we.
• We don’t tolerate those who substitute loving God for empty ordinance and routine traditions.
• That is not acceptable.

And we looked at those two last time.

Jesus called out the Pharisees because they had Greedy Hearts and because they had Superficial Religion.

This morning we move forward.
#3 THEIR LOVE OF GLORY
Luke 11:43

ONE MIGHT ASK,
Why someone would be in the ministry if they didn’t love God?

And the answer is obvious.
THEY LOVE GLORY.

“Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places.”

Matthew’s gospel would add “and being called Rabbi by men”

Very simply put they were in the ministry
Because they loved the accolades that they received from their ministry.

This is a very revealing truth regarding true or false ministers.
• You either are in ministry for God’s glory or your own.
• You either serve God’s agenda or your own
• You either seek God’s kingdom or your own

There is no middle ground here.

God is either using you to glorify Himself,
Or you are using God to glorify yourself.

And if you are familiar with the Pharisees
Then you know that they were ALL ABOUT THEIR OWN GLORY.

We read in Matthew
• How they loved to give with trumpets sounding.
• How they love to pray on the street corners.
• How they make sure everyone knows about their fasting.
• We’ve read about their long blue tassels and broadened phylacteries

It was all so they could receive the reward of human glory.

Here we read that they “love the chief seats in the synagogue and the respectful greetings in the market places.”

We found out in verse 42 that they DIDN’T LOVE GOD,
But we find out here that they DO LOVE GLORY.

This is important to understand.
EVERYONE HAS MOTIVES THAT DRIVE THEM.

True ministers have godly motives.
• Love of God
• Love of the lost
• Desire for God to be glorified
• Desire for Christ to be obeyed

False prophets also have motives that drive them.
Typically the Bible can put them in at least 1 of 3 categories.
• Sex
• Money
• Glory

That is why they do what they do.

And here Jesus calls them on their love of glory.

Now this is problematic on a number of levels.

Not the least of which is:
Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

GOD DOESN’T SHARE GLORY

Anyone who then is in ministry for the glory they can receive
Is already putting themselves in direct competition with God
For the thing God refuses to share.

That’s a problem and Jesus wouldn’t tolerate it.
You don’t get to use service of God as a charade to serve yourself.

Yet that’s what the Pharisees did.
It was their means of glory.

And anyone who ever steps up on the stage in church
Had better be very guarded against this very thing.

I think it’s even more dangerous in our day of social media and internet where it is so easy to do as YouTube says and “Broadcast Yourself”

Now I’m NOT saying it’s wrong to broadcast a ministry.
• We are thankful for faithful preachers who do preach on television or the radio
or internet.
• We are grateful their ministries are broadcast.
• We post our sermons on our website and on Facebook.

I’m not saying that’s a sin, but it is imperative before you do post things like that that you ask WHY YOU ARE POSTING IT.

Is it for the glory of God or is it for your own glory?

Because one thing Jesus clearly didn’t tolerate
Was those who used ministry as a means of glorifying themselves.

And yet this is what the Pharisees did.

WHAT IS WORSE, because they were the spiritual leaders
Their example influenced their followers.

I told you in Luke 14 Jesus will eat with a Pharisee again.
Turn over there and look at the issue that emerges.

TURN TO: Luke 14
• We know He’s eating at the Pharisees house.
• In verses 1-6 He challenges them regarding healing on the Sabbath.

But then we learn that Jesus notices something.
(READ 7-14)

JESUS EXPOSED THE WHOLE CHARADE.
• You had people who had obviously learned from the Pharisees and were
fighting for the most glorious spots.
• And you have Pharisees who only invited the people that it would be
personally beneficial to invite.

That is ministry for your own glory, not God’s.
And Jesus wouldn’t tolerate it.

These are false prophets and false teachers
Who distort the truth, misrepresent God
And ultimately lead people into sin and destruction.

It was not acceptable and it still isn’t.
• We as the church stand against such corruption and hypocrisy.
• We draw the line here.

Jesus wouldn’t tolerate them, and we can’t either.

The Bible tells us a Christian why we serve:
Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;”

I’ve always liked the quote:
“The donkey that carried Jesus at the triumphal entry, knew that the applause was not for him.”

It is just unthinkable that someone then would jump into the ministry
For the purpose of receiving the glory that only God deserves.

Jesus wouldn’t tolerate it.

So we see what it was about these religious leaders that Jesus wouldn’t tolerate:
Their Greedy Hearts, Their Superficial Religion, Their Love of Glory
#4 THEIR DEFILING INFLUENCE
Luke 11:44

We have again here Jesus pronouncing “Woe” on the Pharisees
And again we ask why He is so upset?

“For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

• This is a verse that may be a little bizarre in our culture.
• Some may think that Jesus is talking about not walking on a grave at the cemetery.
• But there is a much bigger issue at stake.

When you read the Old Testament Law it doesn’t take long
Before you come across the word “unclean”.

It carried the idea of being impure, defiled,
And worst of all, unfit to be in the presence of God.

So one who was “unclean” was commanded to go outside the camp.
God dwelled inside the camp, so the unclean had to go outside.

Some things carried with it pre-determined time periods
• Like if you had a baby a woman was unclean for 1 week if she had a boy and 2 weeks if she had a girl.
• And then she had to go through the ceremonial cleansing and was welcomed back into the camp.

Other issues of uncleanness were determined by the length of the uncleanness.
• For example a leper was unclean until his leprosy was gone.
• We know about the hemorrhaging woman who had been unclean for 10 years.

And in this state a person was considered defiled
And not able to draw near to the presence of God.

So mostly I just want you to understand that
BEING UNCLEAN WAS NOT A PREFERRED POSITION.

Now, regarding WHAT JESUS SAID HERE, all we have to do is read:
Numbers 19:16 “Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.”

• So if you’re just walking through a field and stumble upon a dead body or
accidentally touch a bone or a grave you are automatically unclean.
• For this reason the Jews were very meticulous to clearly mark their graves.
• You didn’t want to accidentally touch a grave and then be unclean for 7 days
and off limits to the presence of God.

Now with that as a backdrop you understand the implication of Jesus.

He calls the Pharisees “concealed tombs”

That is to say that they are a defiling presence,
And one that has been concealed
To purposely catch people unaware and defile them.

In fact “people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

So that means the Pharisees are actually defiling people
And making them unacceptable to God
And the people don’t even know it.

To put it another way.
The Pharisees leave people in a worse condition before God than they were previously.

How dangerous is that!

That, by the way, is the same way Satan works.
2 Corinthians 11:12-15 “But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”

And this has been the procedure of the false prophets from the beginning.
God spoke of them throughout the Old Testament.

Consider this warning from Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 13:8-16 “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Because you have spoken falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord GOD. “So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord GOD. “It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will break out. “Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?'” Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath. “So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be consumed in its midst. And you will know that I am the LORD. “Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and its plasterers are gone, along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

There the prophets simply told people what they wanted to hear.
• They pretended to be servants of God,
• They downplayed the sin of the people,
• They told them God was not displeased.

The people went away happy and yet in worse condition before God.

That is what the Pharisees had done as well.

Through their legalism and superficial religion
And training people to love glory and money
And keep everything external they had also corrupted the people.

They assured people that God was pleased with them
When in fact God was angrier than ever.

That is the danger of a false religious leader.

Perhaps you remember that warning from Jesus about the wide and narrow roads.

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

We hear there the very clear warning that
Not everyone who thinks they are going to heaven actually is.
In fact, most aren’t.

The road to destruction has many people on it.

It begs the question, why would anyone enter that wide road if they knew it was headed to destruction?

And the answer is, they don’t know it’s headed to destruction.
• Because there is a false prophet standing at the entrance of that wide road ushering people through assuring them that they’ll be fine.

That’s why Jesus says next:
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

Those are the false prophets that are convincing men
That they are acceptable to God when they are not.

THEY ARE FRAUDS AND PHONIES.
They look like shepherds, but they are really wolves.

Jesus wouldn’t tolerate these religious leaders
Because they assume the role of religious teacher
And assure men that they have the answers for eternity
But the reality is they do not.

• They actually defile men.
• They actually cause men to be in a worse condition.
• They actually lead men away from God, not to Him.

THEY DEFILED MEN
And I just can’t stress enough how much this irritates Jesus.

Matthew 18:6 “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

You just don’t want to be the guy who leads someone into sin and defilement.

In fact, this will resonate with many of you.
• We’ve been studying the Psalms on Sunday nights
• Several of those have been what is known as “Imprecatory Psalms” or Psalms
that call down judgment on someone.

Do you remember the type of people mentioned in these Psalms?
It is those who stealthily lead others into defilement and ultimately destruction.

Remember?
Psalms 5:4-10 “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You. The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit. But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You. O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes; Make Your way straight before me. There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue. Hold them guilty, O God; By their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, For they are rebellious against You.”

Psalms 10:5-15 “His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them. He says to himself, ” I will not be moved; Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity.” His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness. He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the hiding places he kills the innocent; His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate. He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair; He lurks to catch the afflicted; He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net. He crouches, he bows down, And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones. He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it.” Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted. Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, “You will not require it.” You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan. Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none.”

These are sinful men who pretend to be righteous men
Who ultimately lead others into defilement.

Jesus described them as “concealed tombs”
Who lead people to judgment while they are “unaware of it.”

Do you see why Jesus wouldn’t tolerate them?
Do you see why Jesus felt compelled to walk around and point them out?

This is why we have no qualms whatsoever about talking about
The Joel Olsteens or Kenneth Copelands or Benny Hinns of this world.

Those are men who are concealed tombs.
They defile men without them knowing it.

Jesus would not tolerate it, and neither does His church.

He actually told the church at Ephesus:
Revelation 2:2-3 “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.”

And later:
Revelation 2:6 “Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

Jesus wouldn’t tolerate the Pharisees because of:
Their Greedy Hearts, Their Superficial Religion, Their Love of Glory, Their Defiling Influence
#5 THEIR POWERLESS MESSAGE
Luke 11:45-46

I can’t help but chuckle every time I read this passage.

Jesus has just emptied both barrels directly at the Pharisees.
He has dressed that man down in harsh fashion.

And it is at this point that a Lawyer speaks up.

Now, when we say “lawyer” don’t think about lawyer in our day.
We aren’t talking about an ambulance chaser or that type of corruption.

A lawyer here was a supposed EXPERT IN THE LAW

This was a guy who took his copy of the Law
And not only taught it and explained it,
But relentlessly held people accountable to it.

He was the enforcer.
• He was the one who took not only what the Law said, but all those books of
Jewish interpretation
• And made judgments on people’s lives regarding if they were keeping it
accurately or not.

To a lawyer, nothing was more important than keeping the Law,
And his constant message was that
“The Law was the road to becoming pleasing to God.”

Well certainly this Lawyer thought that
If anyone in the room was pleasing to God, it would be him.

After all, who could be more acceptable to God than one who devoted his life to the proclamation and enforcement of God’s Law?

And so this lawyer pipes up in the midst of this rebuke by Jesus and says, (as if Jesus didn’t know), “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.”

• This lawyer felt like he’d been hit by friendly fire.
• Perhaps Jesus was unaware about His tone…
• Perhaps Jesus didn’t realize that the Pharisees and lawyers worked closely together…

Surely Jesus did not mean to offend them.

But we read:
(46) “But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.”

“Woe to you lawyers as well!”
• Do you see how direct and confrontational Jesus is?
• Do you see that He was well aware that He insulted them but He kept going anyway?
• Do you see that He had no intention of being their friend or ally?

These people had mutilated His flock, and He would not tolerate it.

And He explains why.
“For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.”

That’s not hard to understand.

These men had no problems piling requirement upon requirement On the backs of men under threat of displeasing God.

That is what Jesus means by “burdens”

• Do this or you can’t please God…
• Do that or you can’t please God…
• If you want God to be pleased do this and this and this and this…

One commentary put it like this:
“On the Sabbath, they taught, a man may not carry a burden “in his right hand or in his left hand, in his bosom, or on his shoulder.” But he may carry it “on the back of his hand, or with his foot or with his mouth or with his elbow, or in his ear or in his hair or in his wallet (carried) mouth downwards, or between his wallet and his shirt, or in the hem of his shirt, or in his shoe or in his sandal (Shabbat 10:3). Multiply this by all the regulations of the Law and ordinary people have a burden beyond bearing even to know what the might do and might not do. But there is also a multitude of loopholes for a lawyer who knew the traditions which enabled him to do pretty well what he wished.”
Sited In: (MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Luke 11-17; Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL; 2013] pg. 104-105)

They put an unbearable burden on people.
It was the burden of pleasing God through your own adherence to His law.

It was a case of one not having a clue what the Law was for.

Paul told this to Timothy as he told him that there were some teachers who had to be stopped:
1 Timothy 1:6-11 “For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.”

• Paul’s point there is that the Law is extremely valuable.
• It is God’s ordained tool to expose sinners and bring them to conviction.
• But it is a terrible tool for making men righteous.
• In fact, it can’t.

We don’t have time this morning, but go read Romans 7.
That famous “I don’t do what I want to do” passage by Paul.

You know what you have there?
• You have a Pharisee who has been convicted of his sin in the Law.
• Specifically God showed Paul his sin of coveting.
What was Paul’s first response?
To try harder and do better.

He knew the Law was right, he knew it was good. He agreed with the Law,
The problem was, he couldn’t do keep it.

The Law could condemn him, but the Law could not justify him.

In fact Paul would go on to say:
Romans 8:3 “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,”

What the Law could not do was justify.
Galatians 2:16b “…since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

The purpose of the Law was not to make man righteous,
It was to condemn men and ultimately drive them to Jesus
Who would impute His righteousness to them.

The Law (Paul says) is a tutor to lead us to Christ.

But that is not how these lawyers preached it.
They threw on men’s backs that
The only means of being pleasing to God was to flawlessly keep the Law.

Later, at the Jerusalem council, when certain Jews wanted Gentiles to come under the Law, Peter would address them like this:
Acts 15:10 “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?”

No one can be justified through the Law.
THAT IS A MESSAGE OF SALVATION WITH NO POWER.

Can you see what Jesus would not tolerate these lawyers?

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

• Jesus came to bear our burden.
• Jesus came to be our righteousness.
• Jesus came to free us from sin.

These lawyers fought to keep men under it.
They were the direct enemies of the gospel Jesus was bringing.

And we see still see this in our world today.
We call it legalism.

I see people enforcing all sorts of religious actions and calling them requirements for salvation.
• Dietary restrictions…
• Worship in certain days…
• Certain levels of attendance…
• Certain religious ordinances…

Things that are held up as “musts” if you are to pleasing to God.

And yet, the true gospel says that Jesus alone makes us pleasing to God.
• He is our righteousness.
• In Him there is no condemnation.
• In Him the righteous requirement of the Law has been fulfilled.

That message of legalism was not tolerated by the Lord.

And incidentally it wasn’t tolerated by the apostles either.
• Just read Galatians some time and see how angry Paul is about it.
• Listen to his warning to the Colossians not to listen to those people.

And church we don’t tolerate it either.
As we said last week, we hold to SOLA GRATIA and SOLA FIDE and SOLUS CHRISTUS.

We believe salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone
And we protest anything that says otherwise.

These are non-negotiables.
Jesus would not tolerate them and we won’t either.

So Jesus wouldn’t tolerate these men because of:
• Their Greedy Hearts
• Their Superficial Religion
• Their Love of Glory
• Their Defiling Influence
• Their Powerless Message

There are 2 more which we’ll look at next time.

What Jesus Wouldn’t Tolerate – Part 2
Luke 11:37-54 (39-42)
June 9, 2019

Last time we met we really just started introducing this concept
That Jesus was not just this man of blanket tolerance.

He would not have bought the slogan of our culture which says that “Tolerance is our greatest virtue”

In fact, as we saw last time, there was one group of people
That Jesus would not tolerate at all.

It was the FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADERS of Israel.

We even learned that exposing them was a big reason as to why He came.
Zechariah 11:8 “Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me.”

Ezekiel 34:10 “’Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”‘”

• We saw that God had had enough, and that Christ was coming to deal with the
false shepherds who had ravaged and mutilated God’s flock.

And that opposition is clearly seen in the story of Luke 11.
• Jesus was invited to eat lunch with a Pharisee and Jesus went on the offensive.
• Jesus entered the house and purposely walked right past the basin which was used for ceremonial washing.

And trust me, it’s not because Jesus didn’t know the custom of the day.
THIS WAS INTENTIONAL.

What is more, the Pharisee said nothing.
• Scripture only reveals that “he was surprised”

But that was enough to cause Jesus to go on the offensive and attack.
He had no patience for these people.
He had no tolerance for these people.

They had misrepresented God and were mutilating His flock.
He came to fight.

And I just like to make sure that you see this reality in Jesus
So that you don’t buy into the common thought of the culture
That we aren’t supposed to oppose anything.

WE MOST CERTAINLY ARE.
We oppose false doctrine and false teachers.

Certainly you know that this is at the very center of Protestant thought.
You know why we are called “Protestant”
We are Protest-ant

And it centered around those 5 SOLAS which we have talked about.
• We protest anything that takes away from the sufficient of Scripture.
• We protest anything that supplants grace as sole motive of salvation.
• We protest anything that adds to faith as the sole requirement for justification.
• We protest anything that cheapens the exclusivity of Christ as the only Savior.
• We protest anything that detracts from God alone receiving the glory.

Those are hard and rigid lines that we draw.
We just don’t tolerate false teachers or false doctrine
Because it leads men into sin and ultimately eternal judgment.

Well, Jesus didn’t tolerate them either.
And this morning He’ll begin to spell out why.
We find here 7 explanations from Jesus as to why He was against these Pharisees.

These are 7 reasons why Jesus would not tolerate the false religious leaders of Israel.
#1 THEIR GREEDY HEARTS
Luke 11:39-41

As you already know, we have the setting here which was
Jesus entering a Pharisee’s house and not washing His hands.

You should also know that this is not the first time a similar incident has occurred.

TURN TO: Matthew 15

(READ 1-2)
• A similar incident, though Jesus not eating at a Pharisee’s house
• And this time it was His disciples who broke the tradition

(This further indicates that what Jesus did in Luke 11, He did intentionally.)

But there Jesus’ disciples broke the protocol of the Jews.

As you will see, it was an issue of defilement.
• The Jews taught that you could be defiled if something unclean was on your
hands.
• (It was just one of those many meticulous rules of the Pharisees)

Of course Jesus responds there by dressing down the Pharisees
For valuing their traditions over the word of God.

But later Jesus returns to the issue with His disciples.
(READ 10-11)
• Jesus wanted the disciples to know the simple truth that “It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

Well that seems straightforward enough.
However, the disciples were so steeped in their religious tradition
That they didn’t understand.

(READ 15-20)

So you understand the tension.
• You have a Pharisee who gave no regard for the condition of his heart calling people defiled because they might have accidentally digested some dirt.

• And you have Jesus exposing the nonsense of that theology by revealing it is sin on the inside, not dirt on the outside that makes a man defiled.

Well, we come to Luke 11 and we see that
JESUS HAS BROUGHT UP THE SUBJECT AGAIN.
He purposely didn’t wash His hands.
He is ready to confront again.

And when He reads the surprise of the Pharisee Jesus fires His first shot.

(39) “But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.”

I’m pretty sure everyone here understands the analogy.
• You are far more worried about the sanitation of the inside of your coffee cup than you are about the outside of it.
• You might drink from a cup that was dirty on the outside, but you’re not drinking from one that is dirty on the inside.

So you understand Jesus’ point about what true defilement is.
INSIDE DEFILEMENT IS WORSE THAN OUTSIDE DEFILEMENT.

And Jesus said that is the problem with the Pharisees.
They have an enormous amount of hypocrisy.

On the outside, they are clean and religious and disciplined
And well-mannered, and really look the part.
The problem is the inside.

On the inside Jesus (who sees the heart)
Said that they were “full of robbery and wickedness”

“robbery” is the word HARPAGES (har-pa-gay)
It means “plunder” or “pillage” or “booty”

“wickedness” is PONERIA (pon-ay-ree-a)
It means “evil” or “depravity” or “malice”

Jesus looked at this Pharisee who appeared to be a model citizen
And said, he was totally corrupt on the inside.

His whole objective was to get money
And he was totally unscrupulous as to how he would do it.
And Jesus squares off with the Pharisees here regarding their greed.

Not the only time…
Luke 16:14 “Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money…”

Luke 20:45-47 “And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

That certainly speaks volumes to their corruption.
• They would walk through the synagogue as the most godly among men and foreclose on a widow’s house that afternoon.

• They would pray the most beautiful and eloquent prayer but it was only so they could earn the seat of honor at the table.

Even in that passage we looked at a moment ago in Matthew 15
• When Jesus told them that they had a problem of making void the word of God
for the sake of their tradition, we read one specific.

The Law clearly states that a child is to honor his father and mother.
(This would have included financial help in their old age)

And yet Jesus noted:
Matthew 15:5-6 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”

You understand that.
• Someone in their church needs to help out their parents who are in need,
• But the Pharisee says. “You should give it to the synagogue instead”.

Well of course they did, because they had access to those funds.

You get the picture.
They hid their greed behind a cloak of piety and religious ceremony.

Or another:
Matthew 23:16-17 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ “You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?”

Well that should certainly tell you something about their mentality.
• You could break a vow if you just vowed it against the temple.
• But if you vowed it against the gold of the temple, you had to keep it.

Not hard to tell what they valued was it?
Clearly they were hypocrites.
Clearly they loved money.
Clearly they were defiled on the inside.

But that is NOT ALL that Jesus confronts about them.

He also confronts them because
In their greed they greatly misrepresent God.

Notice what Jesus says next:
(40) “You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?”

See, by the way they acted and by the way they taught,
They were sending a message to all of Israel.

The message?
GOD ONLY CARES ABOUT THE OUTSIDE

Certainly Jesus was angry at the way
They exploited His sheep for their own financial game,
But equally disturbing is that they misrepresent God.
Equally disturbing is their distortion of the gospel.

• They make it seem as though God is superficial.
• They make it seem as though God only cares about appearances.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Last Sunday night (in our Psalms 40 study) we talked about this and even went on a sort of a jet tour through the prophets of the Old Testament.

What you discover is that the Old Testament prophets
Were extremely singular in their mission.
It’s almost like they were all preaching the same message.

What was their universal message?
The external doesn’t mean anything if it is not accompanied by the heart.

Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

Jeremiah 4:4 “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”

That message resonates throughout the Old Testament.

Every time God raised up a prophet to speak they addressed the issue of Israel making their religion only external.

And yet the Pharisees had done exactly the same thing.
The message of their lives told people that the inside doesn’t matter.

And Jesus calls that foolish!
“You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?”

That is to say, “Can’t you see that God cares about the inside?”

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

And then Jesus even offers the necessary correction:
(41) “But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

“Give that which is within”?
• He is talking about the things that you love in your heart.
• For the Pharisees that was money.

Jesus is telling them to give away their money
(since it was the idol of their heart)
And then they can experience true cleanliness.

• Get rid of your idols…
• Get rid of your greed…
• Give your money away and then you’ll be clean.

It’s the same truth Jesus gave to the Rich Young Ruler
Matthew 19:21 “Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

It’s the same principle.
Throw away your idols if you want to be clean.

But this was a message that the Pharisees
DID NOT ACCEPT, PRACTICE, OR PREACH.
Their message clearly taught the people that
God didn’t care about the inside,
Only that you maintained a good religious appearance.

AND JESUS WOULDN’T TOLERATE IT

And can I tell you something?
HE STILL DOESN’T.

Scripture is saturated with the reality that
Our Lord does not tolerate those
Who use the position of spiritual leader for financial gain.

Look at the qualifications of an overseer.
1 Timothy 3:3 “not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money.”

What is more, at the end of that letter Paul warns Timothy of the dangers of loving money.
1 Timothy 6:10-11 “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. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”

There’s just no place for a spiritual leader who loves money.

Paul gave the qualifications of an elder to Titus:
Titus 1:7 “For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain,”

And even Peter reminded elders of the requirement of the Lord
1 Peter 5:1-2 “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;”

You can see that the mandate is clear.
You don’t get to use the office of spiritual leader
As a means of gaining worldly wealth.

We clearly see that corruption in our day.
• Particularly in the Charismatic movement and the proponents of the prosperity
gospel we see pastors worth millions.

But don’t assume it’s just there.
Any pastor (rich or poor) who harbors a love for money
Is being addressed here by Jesus.

Love of money is a characteristic of a false prophet.

2 Peter 2:12-16 “But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.”

It is false prophets who follow the way of Balaam and love the wealth of the world.

And Jesus did not tolerate them.
• You could not be a shepherd of His sheep if your goal was to use His sheep to satisfy your own greedy desires.

This not only exploits the flock, but it also portrays God as superficial.
That God is only concerned about outward appearances.

But nothing could be farther from the truth.

So you see one reason why Jesus wouldn’t tolerate this Pharisee.
• He exploited the poor and in his hypocrisy he made God look superficial.

He had a greedy heart.
Jesus wouldn’t tolerate it.

#2 THEIR SUPERFICIAL RELIGION
Luke 11:42

This of course follows right in line with the issue He just addressed;
Namely that their religion totally misses the point.

With the Pharisees it was all about the externals.

And Jesus uses very strong language as He confronts them.
“Woe to you” OUI in the Greek.

It is to pronounce the most severe
And unspeakable judgment on a person.

And we ask:
What did they do that could provoke such a strong rebuke from Jesus?

“For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

Most of you are probably familiar with the concept of the “tithe”,
But if you’re not…

The word “tithe” meant “tenth”.
And what it really was in the Old Testament was a sort of income tax on the children of Israel.
(That’s a bad way to describe it, but it will help you understand it)
• It was not a free will offering
• It was not a thank offering
• It was not a sin offering

It was a command that you bring a tenth of your produce
And a tenth of your income and you give it to the priest.
That is how the priest survived and some of it was given for the care of the poor.

It was a national Jewish command.

The debate today continues regarding the place of the tithe in the New Testament church.
Some hold to it, some do not.

The facts are, it is not commanded anywhere in the New Testament.
• The New Testament instead commands sacrificial giving.
• The reality there being that for some 10% may not be enough and for others it
may be too much.

Others have argued that while it is NOT COMMANDED, it IS COMMENDED like in the passage we see here where Jesus says, “these are the things you should have done”

On a personal note, my family does tithe.
1) So as not to be an offense to those who hold to tithing
2) I was raised to do it and I think I would offend my conscience if I did not.

But, if you’re looking for a great command on giving look to 2 Cor. 9.

2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

The simple command would be:
• Give
• Give generously
• Give sacrificially
• Give in faith
• Give joyfully

But mostly, just understand that tithing was a big part of Jewish culture.

Well here you have the Pharisees really putting on a show.

They “pay tithe of mint and rune and every kind of garden herb”

The idea being that they would take the harvest of even the smallest seed or leaf and meticulously count out 1 out of every 10 to bring to God.

It was quite the display and must have been impressive to people
To see the Pharisees even unwilling to overlook the smallest seed
As they gave to God.

IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED IMPRESSIVE, BUT NOT TO JESUS.
He knew it was all for show.

How?

Because He could see their hearts.
“and yet disregard justice and the love of God”

There’s nothing wrong with being meticulous in giving.
(though certainly if you do it for show there is a problem)

But where giving falls flat is when you do it without loving God.

Amos 5:21-24 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

This epitomized the Pharisee.
It was all external.

Jesus said to them:
John 5:42 “but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.

And in all honesty, there could not be a bigger problem than that.

The great and foremost commandment in the Bible is clear.
Matthew 22:36-37 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’”

If you miss that one, you’ve really missed it all.

And that was a problem of the Pharisees.
It was a problem Jesus wouldn’t tolerate.

He did not tolerate this supposed spiritual leader
Walking around in meticulous practice of religion
While Jesus knew full well that this man had no love for God.

And He calls them on it (more than once)
Matthew 6:2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

Matthew 6:5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

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

AND AGAIN, not only was it a personal sin,
But because they were the spiritual leaders of Israel,
It also made them guilty of grossly misrepresenting God.

Through their actions they taught people that
God was pleased so long as you gave your money,
It didn’t really matter if you loved Him or not.

In essence they portrayed God to be no different than a pagan idol.
Some sort of PROSTITUTE DEITY
That can be bought or appeased if the price is right.

That’s not God at all.
And yet that’s what the Pharisees were spreading.

Luke 12:1 “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, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

The simple fact is that Jesus just doesn’t tolerate it.
• He is not ok with religion that is merely locked up in rituals and ordinances and traditions but is void of any real love for God.

• He is not ok with what may appear to be a well-oiled machine or a talent filled stage or a booming budget if there is no real love for God.

• He is not ok with a well sung song or a large monetary donation or a skilled sermon if there is no real love for God.

That is all a sham and Jesus didn’t tolerate it.

Hence pronouncing “Woe” here on the Pharisees for being in that boat.

And again we can appeal to the New Testament to see that just like a love of money is not acceptable in a religious leader, neither is hypocrisy.

Back to that list of qualifications for an elder or overseer:
Titus 1:8 “but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,”

“devout” there is HAGIOS
It is defined as “undefiled by sin, free from wickedness, religiously observing every moral obligation, pure, holy, pious”

It simply isn’t acceptable to the Lord
For a spiritual leader to lead a double life.
You have to be genuine, you have to be pure.

In 1 Timothy Paul says:
1 Timothy 3:2 “An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,”

Paul there says “above reproach”
• That certainly doesn’t mean free from accusation since even Satan continually accuses the brethren.
• It means free from credible accusation. Or above the need to be reproved.

Even when a leader messes up, he is humble and repentant.
But hypocrisy can’t be there.
Jesus doesn’t tolerate it among spiritual leaders.

Jude wrote about false leaders:
Jude 12-13 “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

Everything is a depiction of phoniness and deception and hypocrisy.

• “hidden reefs” is the word for a sunken log. It is undetected danger just below the surface of the water. And that is them.

• “clouds without water” they are liars. They bring no helpful rain.

• “autumn trees without fruit” like the fig tree Jesus cursed, they look the part, but offer nothing genuine.

• “wandering stars” they offer guidance, but in reality are of no use for navigation.

And you will also notice that Jude says that the Lord has
“reserved” the “black darkness” for them “forever”.

He doesn’t tolerate it.

Peter wrote:
2 Peter 2:17-19 “These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”

You get similar language:
“springs without water” they offer the reality of refreshing water, but they don’t deliver.
“promising freedom while the themselves are slave of corruption”

That’s the problem with men like this.
• They are so religious on the outside.
• They appear to have it all together.
• Everyone thinks they are legitimate.
• But they are missing “justice and the love of God”

They are unredeemed and unconcerned about it
And thus they help no one.

They are like the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day
• Who never stood in the presence of the Lord,
• And therefore don’t have a message from God,
• But who still pretend as though they do.

The LORD said:
Jeremiah 23:32 “Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the LORD.

You get the point.
• All they do is deceive the flock
• All they do is lead the flock astray
• The suck the flock in and fool them with their outward displays of religion,
• But they never teach the flock to love God.

All they do is pull the people away after themselves.

When Paul spoke to the Ephesian elders, he said:
Acts 20:28-30 “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. “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

And that is the problem.
• They do what they do outwardly to steal the flock from the Lord.
• But since they don’t love the Lord, they don’t teach their people to love Him either.

And again, JESUS WON’T TOLERATE IT.
He is clearly against these Pharisees.

So Jesus goes to this man’s house and picks a fight
Because this Pharisee has already been offensive to Jesus.

1. He is offensive because of his Greedy Heart
2. He is offensive because of his Superficial Religion.

And you and I must note that
These are things that Jesus will not tolerate.

AND WE MUST NOT EITHER.
• Not in our own lives.
• Not in the lives of others.

There are 5 more things we’ll see there that Jesus wouldn’t tolerate,
And we’ll get to them next time.

The Christian Song – Part 2
Psalms 40 (6-10)
June 2, 2019

Last Sunday night we began looking at this 40th Psalm
Which is a special Psalm in my life as it was the first passage
That I discovered after I was saved.

It is a Psalm which gives us a remarkable picture of the Christian life.

The realities expressed here by David are realities that
All Christians have discovered and that all Christian enjoy.

These are universal Christian testimonies and declarations.

We looked at the first 2 last Sunday night.
#1 DAVID’S DELIVERANCE
Psalms 40:1-3

We noted that these 3 verses indicate a testimony by David
Of a time in the past when God delivered him from “the pit of destruction” and “out of the miry clay”

As we noted:
• “pit of destruction” would be the divine penalty of sin (i.e. hell)
• “miry clay” would be the consequences of sinful life on earth

Unbelievers dwell under both.
They are both enemies of God
And suffer the due penalty of their sinful choices.

David had come to realize that this was his predicament.
So at some time before this Psalm was written David cried out to the Lord.

We know he cried out in genuine faith
Because of patiently waited for God and God alone to deliver.

And according to verse 2 God did just that.
“He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”

It is a testimony of salvation.
• God did for David what David could not do for himself.
• God delivered him from his sin and from the eternal consequences of that sin.

And as we said, THIS IS A UNIVERSAL TESTIMONY FOR ALL BELIEVERS.
• We all were dead in sin
• We all were previously disobedient in heart
• We all were headed for hell
• We all lived in the consequences of our sin

And for all believers, God delivered.
God saved.
He pulled us out of our sin and set our feet in a secure location.

Coupled with that, “He put a new song in [our] mouth, a song of praise to our God;”

• He changed us.
• He changed our heart as indicated by the song
• He changed our life as indicated by our outward testimony

He made us new, He made us different.
He saved us from wrath and He saved us from our sin.

It is the universal Christian testimony.
And we saw it in David.

We also saw the second point last Sunday night
#2 DAVID’S DOXOLOGY
Psalms 40:4-5

David spoke of a “new song” verses 4 & 5 reveal that song.
It is an overflowing song of praise and gratitude from a grateful heart.

• There David recounted the unsearchable blessing of being a child of God.
• There David acknowledged how impossible it is to declare or speak of or count all of God’s blessings.

It is simply a song from a grateful heart with incompetent words.

And this is also a universal Christian reality.
All those who recognized their pitiful sinful condition,
But then received the gracious salvation of God respond in like praise.

How could you not?
We saw several of these same types of doxologies throughout the New Testament.

Well, those were the FIRST TWO STANZAS of this Christian Song.

Tonight we move forward.
#3 DAVID’S DELIGHT
Psalms 40:6-8

As we noted in verse 3 God had worked a change in David’s life.
• It was NOT merely some external commitment to morality.
• God inwardly changed David’s perspective and heart.

It was the type of change that we see typified by
The New Covenant and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, ” I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

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

Certainly we understand that this New Covenant would be ultimately coming through Jesus Christ many years after the life of David.

But if you’ll see it,
• David’s heart had been opened by God to understand the very reality prophesied
• And even to place his trust in the One who would bring that New Covenant to fruition.

I WANT YOU TO NOTICE DAVID’S NEW FOUND PERSPECTIVE.

(6) “Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.”

Now this statement should certainly make sense to you,
But I just want you to know how foreign it was to David’s day.

It seemed that no one seemed to understand this reality in David’s day.
Everything they did was tied to some form or external ritual or sacrifice.

Although God always intended His work to be an internal work,
The people almost exclusively kept it external.

For them it was all about the outward ritual
(seen even into the days of the New Testament).

I want to quickly show you tonight that this was never the case.
God always intended salvation to be a change of the heart,
Not just some religious ritual.

It’s just that the people never seemed to understand that.

Consider first that passage in Deuteronomy that is referred to by Jesus as “The Great and Foremost Commandment”

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

To simply illustrate how the Jews missed the point,
• By the time Jesus arrives you have the Pharisees writing this command on paper,
• And then putting it in little pouches and tying those pouches to their foreheads
• And to their left arm (because it was closes to their heart)

They totally missed the point of what God was commanding.

I had a conversation with a couple of my baseball players and coaches the other night at the game in Roosevelt.

One of my assistant coaches said he wanted to get a Bible verse tattooed on his back.
• I asked him what good that was supposed to do if he had no affection for God
in his life?
• I asked him if a Bible verse tattooed on his back was supposed to get him into
heaven?
• I told him God wanted to write His word on his heart, not his back.

At that point one of the players piped up and said, “What if during open heart surgery, the doctor actually tattooed a bible verse on your heart?”

That’s called missing the point.
The Jews routinely did as well.

But they shouldn’t have because it was the clear message
Of nearly every single Old Testament prophet.

Let me show you.
Isaiah 1:11-17 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies — I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”

Jeremiah 7:21-23 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. “For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’”

Hosea 6:6 “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Joel 2:12-13 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.”

Amos 5:22-24 “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

Psalms 50:7-15 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God. “I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me. “I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds. “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains. “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats? “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

Do you get the idea?
It has always been about the heart.

When we talk about
The DIFFERENCE BETWEEN true believers and false believers…
When we talk about the tares among the wheat…

It is this piece of information that distinguishes the two.

The false believer (the tare) assumes God is pleased
Because he is involved in all sorts of outward religious activity.
But the true believer has come to understand that
It is about obedience of the heart, not religious activity.

Remember this conversation?
Mark 12:28-34 “One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.”

It was all about understanding what God was looking for.

And this is a major lightbulb that comes on for the redeemed.
• They come to a knowledge of their own sinfulness; that is they realize they are in the pit and the mire.
• They cry out to God for deliverance and salvation.
• And their one cry is to now be righteous in the heart, not just in ritual.

And if you will see it, this is DAVID’S NEW DESIRE.
This is DAVID’S DELIGHT.
He no longer wants to merely be religious.

Listen to him:
(6) “Sacrifice and meal offerings You have not desired;”

He gets it doesn’t he?

That’s why he says; “My ears You have opened”
That is to say, “I get it God”

“But offering and sin offering You have not required.”

So many in Israel saw the sin offerings as a form of CHEAP GRACE
That allowed them to live however they wanted
So long as they just kept sacrificing animals.

But David has learned better.
The sin offerings were a tremendous grace of God, but they were not meant to encourage you that sin is ok.
• The goal was still righteousness…
• The goal was still obedience…

David has learned that.
He doesn’t come like so many do today who just want to be able to live their lives however they want let Jesus take care of eternity.

That is a mentality of the lost.
That is a hope of the spiritually dead.

A true believer longs for righteousness.
A true believer longs to be obedient.
A true believer is grateful for atonement,
But grieves that they have needed it.

• They mourn over sin
• They hunger and thirst for righteousness
• They desire to stand before God with a pure heart

That is what David is expressing.

BUT LET ME SHOW YOU WHERE THIS PSALM GETS EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL (and why we call it “The Christian Song”)

David desires righteousness, but through eyes of faith,
David looks to the One who will provide it.

Look at verses 7-8
(7-8) “Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”

• From David’s lips that sounds like a great statement.
• It is full of discernment and submission and commitment.

But what you need to know, is it’s NOT David’s statement.

TURN TO: Hebrews 10:1-10
You are familiar with the opening of this chapter.
It falls very much in line with what we have been talking about tonight.

(1-4) That sacrifices cannot take away sin.
• Killing sheep will not make you righteous.

And then we read:
(5-7)

Now you recognizes that. It’s Psalms 40:6-8.
And it is the declaration of Jesus.

• That God gave Him a body so that He could live a righteous life.
• That God made Him human so that He could satisfy the requirements of the Law.
And He did.

And then we read
(8-10)

That is to say that Jesus Christ
Offered this righteous life to God as an acceptable offering.

Now, when we read Psalms 40 in the light of Hebrews 10
We realize that while David has a tremendous desire to live a righteous life before God.

Ultimately David knows what every believer knows…
That the righteousness he presents before God is an alien righteousness. That is to say, it is not his own.

• It is a righteousness that came from somewhere else.
• It is the very perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.

AND THIS IS DAVID’S DELIGHT.

As a man confronted by God
David knows that God desires true righteousness of the heart,
And David here even prophesies where it will come from.

It is a righteousness that will be provided through Christ.

And this is also the delight of every believer.
• We desire righteousness
• how we long to be holy
• We want the man of sin to be done away with
• And at the same time we rejoice in the One whose righteousness justifies me until that day occurs.

David’s delight is not just in righteousness.
David’s delight is also in Jesus.

Are these realities not true of every believer?
• We have a testimony of deliverance…
• We have a doxology of praise…
• We have a desire for righteousness and a delight in Jesus…

That’s universal for all believers.

David’s Deliverance, David’s Doxology, David’s Delight
#4 DAVID’S DECLARATION
Psalms 40:9-10

Now this one may step on a few toes, but perhaps that is necessary.

Look at the next mentality of David.
• This man who had received deliverance…
• This man who recognized righteousness in Christ…

What is he doing?
HE IS TELLING EVERYONE

(9) “I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation.”

He is telling everyone!

In fact:
“Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O LORD, You know.”

• No one can keep me quiet about this.
• I’m telling everyone about this One who made me righteous.

(10) “I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.”

We have learned this principle lately as well:
Luke 11:33 “No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.”

We have said it many times,
But how do you know if someone has the light?
THEY SHINE THE LIGHT.

• They don’t “restrain” the message.
• They don’t hide the truth.
• They don’t conceal God’s mercy from people.
• They broadcast it.

This is such a fundamental reality to true Christianity that Jesus even said:
Matthew 10:32-33 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

If you remember Matthew 10 then you know that it is that chapter
In which Jesus calls the 12, and sends them out.

But He sends them out as “sheep in the midst of wolves”
In fact He tells them it will be dangerous.

But He sends them out with the warning that
Not to allow anything to keep them from confessing Him before men.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”

How can it be that we have all these people in the American church
Who have absolutely no desire or willingness
To proclaim salvation to the rest of the world?

And I’m not just talking about
The dangerous places of the Middle East.

We’ve got people in our own congregation
Who would not share their testimony in a Sunday School class,
Let along proclaim Christ in the streets.

And there is something wrong there.
If you have the Light you shine the Light; it’s that simple.

And that is what you see from David here.
Rest assured God, I’m telling everyone that I can.

But not only that, I want you to see the message David is preaching.
This is also important.

In a day where the preferred message is “God loves you”
Or “Why don’t you come to church?”
I want you to see what David preaches.

1) “I have proclaimed glad tidings of Your righteousness to the great congregation.”

What is David preaching there?
“Your righteousness”

That’s a two-part message.
It is to preach the holy standard of God
And it is to proclaim the One who alone satisfies it.

David went to the world with a primary message about God.

That message was that God was righteous
And that God demanded righteousness.

David preached “You shall be holy as I am holy”

And lest you think that message is too harsh, may I remind you that it is the message of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:8-11 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”

That is what David is doing as well.

“Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O LORD, You know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart.”

• I didn’t keep quiet about it.
• I didn’t hide my light.
• I declared to the world how righteous You are and how You demand that same righteousness of us.

That is our message.
The world knows that God is love, they have forgotten that God is holy.

But that’s not all that David proclaims.

2) “I have spoken of Your faithfulness”

That is interesting.
What does it mean that God is faithful?

Especially why does a lost world need to know it?
Well, faithful means that God does what He says.

Well God has promised that
For all those who sin and do not repent,
They will be judged in eternal hell.

And the world needs to know that God is faithful.
(Go read Lamentations, it is a testimony to God’s faithfulness of His promises in Deuteronomy 28)

He is faithful to save those who repent,
And He is faithful to judge those who do not.

David proclaimed righteousness as the standard God required.
David proclaimed faithfulness regarding the judgment God will bring.

A third thing David proclaimed
3) “I have spoken of Your …salvation;”

And that is God too.
He saves sinners.

Those who repent and turn from their sin,
And who confess their need for His righteousness…
God saves them.

It is the message of the hope of the gospel.
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

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.”

Will God judge sinners? Absolutely, He is faithful to His word.
But He is also faithful to save sinners who repent and trust in Him.

David also proclaims:
4) “I have not concealed Your lovingkindness”

That is CHECED – God’s loyal covenantal love.

It is the reality that God keeps His covenant.
God has a loyalty to the elect whom He has chosen
And He will not let them slip away.

He will relentlessly pursue each one until they are all redeemed.

And when we go to sinners
We can remind them of this wonderful fact,
That God is not only willing to save sinners,
But God is eagerly seeking to save sinners.

And God will save all who whom He has chosen and all who call on Him.
And David let all of Israel know that.

David also proclaimed:
5) “I have not concealed…Your truth from the great congregation.”

It is not only God’s reliability and trustworthiness,
BUT IT IS ALSO GOD’S MESSAGE.

David was not ashamed of the gospel.
• He took it to the world.
• He proclaimed it to the world.
• He spoke it in church and He spoke it in the square.

And this is a Christian reality.
We are those who proclaim the gospel of salvation.

• We talk of God’s righteousness…
• We speak of God’s faithfulness to judge…
• We speak of God’s mercy to save…
• We speak of God’s loyalty to pursue sinners…
• We speak of God’s truth in all of this…

We carry that message to men.

So, just following with the flow of the Psalm.

We know a Christian by:
• Their testimony of Deliverance
• Their song and Doxology of praise
• Their Desire for righteousness and their Delight in the One who supplies it.
• Their Declaration of the gospel to the world.

Those are basic Christian realities.
There is one more, and we’ll get to it next time.