The Jesus We Follow
Luke 9:23
October 28, 2018

You are familiar that we are now in a segment in Luke’s gospel
Which we have called “Messianic Misconceptions”

They now know that He is the Messiah, but because they have a distorted doctrine on the Messiah they don’t yet fully understand what Jesus came to do.

Jesus started correcting those misconceptions in verse 21
When He emphatically warned His disciples
NOT to go out and preach that He is the King.

Jesus knew that this message would only further cause the people
To seek Him as the source of their happiness and political deliverance
And provision and healing.

INSTEAD Jesus revealed to the 12 exactly what the message would be that they would preach.

Luke 9:22 “saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”

They were told not to preach about Him being the King
But where to preach His suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection.

BUT JESUS WAS HARDLY DONE.

SEE THERE IS A REASON
We preach a suffering and rejected and dying and rising Jesus.

AND THAT REASON IS BECAUSE THIS IS ALSO
WHERE THOSE WHO FOLLOW JESUS WILL BE ASKED TO GO.

AND THAT IS WHAT JESUS IS ABOUT TO REVEAL.

If you remember from Matthew’s gospel,
After Jesus made this statement about His necessary suffering and rejection and death and resurrection it did not immediately set well with the 12.

Matthew 16:22-23 “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

That only further solidifies the point that
• Even the 12 weren’t looking for a Jesus who could save them from sin.
• Even they wanted a Jesus that would give them their “Best Life Now”.

And since they had signed up to follow Jesus,
All of this talk about suffering and dying really needed to be corrected.
So Peter took it upon Himself to rebuke Jesus.
To which Jesus called him Satan and told Peter “you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Peter wanted Jesus for selfish reasons, not legitimate ones.

And so it was yet another misconception that Jesus must set straight.
Jesus must reveal to His disciples what is required in order to follow Him.

• I have referenced these verses more times than I can count.
• I refer to them continually while counseling people in my office.

And yet, I told Carrie this week,
I’m not sure that any of us actually grasp what Jesus said here.
IN SHORT, WE NEED THIS REMINDER

This is the very heart of what it means to be Christian.
This is as direct a statement as you will ever see regarding what Jesus demands of His followers.

And if I may clarify.
• He doesn’t say anything about walking an aisle…
• He doesn’t say anything about signing a card…
• He doesn’t say anything about giving up a couple of hours a week to go to
church…

The requirements that Jesus set forth are for more intense than that.

And yet, these are Christ’s requirements.
• This is not what I think a Christian should be…
• This is not what FBC Spur has decided a Christian should be…
• THIS IS WHAT JESUS SAYS A CHRISTIAN MUST BE

YOU HAVE TO GET THAT.

After looking at “The Jesus We Preach”
Now we want to look at “The Jesus We Follow”

And before I give you the actual criteria let me first make sure
You understand who Jesus is addressing here.

(23) “And He was saying to them all”
• Who is this message for? “all”
• In fact even the next statement begins with “If anyone…”

This is the criteria for “all” people.
If “anyone” wants to be a Christian, this is what is demanded.
Can we see that?

I don’t want you reading this passage and passing it off as though
Jesus is just talking about those who really want to be fanatical here.
Sometimes I think people think there are DIFFERENT LEVELS OF CHRISTIANITY that you can choose to sign up for.
Like, you walk the aisle and on the card they give you there are options.

1) Full blown, self-sacrificing, wholly devoted, in the ministry, Jesus fanatic
• And if you take that option then your whole life is gonna be about Jesus.
• You’re gonna serve Him, you’re gonna tell people about Him,
• You’re probably gonna be in the ministry,
• You may end up living on the mission field.

And if you choose option 1 then rest assured you’ll get a bigger reward in heaven.

But if option 1 sounds like too much, consider option 2:
2) A definite Christian, who attends church regularly, and who lives a moral life, but does so without any real sacrifice involved.
• We’ll ask you to give, but only if it’s convenient,
• We’ll ask you to serve, but only if you have time,
• We’ll ask you to witness, but most likely only to close friends and family
members.

The reward package isn’t as good as option 1,
But you still get a golden, silver-lined mansion at the end.

Others opt for option 3:
3) Your saved and you’re going to heaven, but sporadic church attendance is plenty.
• This option doesn’t require any real devotion to God’s people.
• You’ll never be asked to teach or to witness or to counsel anyone.
• And even the moral requirements are minimal, just don’t do anything really bad
like kill someone.
• If asked, tell people you are a Christian,
• Be sure and “like” religious posts on Facebook and that’s really all we need.

You’ll go to heaven, but when you get there
You won’t be involved in all the singing and serving and stuff,
You’ll just have to spend your days fishing and golfing up there.

It’s like we think that when Jesus gave this mandate for His followers that He wasn’t talking to everyone, just the fanatics.

So let me ask you again, who is Jesus talking to here?
“all”; “anyone”

In short, He is talking to me and He is talking to you.
And let me show you what Jesus requires of anyone and everyone
Who wants to be saved by Him.

3 things.
#1 SELF-DENIAL
Luke 9:23a

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself,”

Notice also the word “must” here.
• It is the same word Jesus used in verse 22 about how He “must suffer many things and be rejected…and be killed and be raised”

This isn’t optional, this is mandatory for all would-be followers.
“he must deny himself”

“deny” is an interesting word.
ARNEOMAI (ar-nay-o-my) in the Greek, and it is a strong term.

It is used of Peter’s adamant denial of Jesus.
Matthew 26:70-72 “But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.”

In Acts 3 it is translated “disowned”
Acts 3:13-14 “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,”

And Jesus says that the first criteria of being one of His followers
Is that you do that to yourself.
“he must deny himself” “he must [disown] himself”

What does that mean actually?

Well there are 2 main ways in which you need to understand this.
1) IT MEANS TO DENY ALL RELIANCE UPON YOUR GOOD WORKS AS ACCEPTABLE TO GOD.

There are many people who place their eternal hope
On the fact that they have done enough good to get to heaven.

Remember the Pharisee?
Luke 18:11-12 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”

• That Pharisee was basically laying out his resume of all that he had done to deserve God’s favor.
• That man had no doubt spent hours praying and hours fasting and over the years given a large amount of money.
• And he trusted that in the end that it would be enough to merit going to heaven.

Of course Jesus taught us:
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

And in order to follow Jesus all of those efforts,
All of those merits must be denied. They must be disowned.

AND PLEASE UNDERSTAND.
It’s not that Jesus won’t take people who have done religious works, it’s that people who trust in their religious works won’t take Jesus.

They don’t think the need Him.
• They’ve got their baptismal certificate…
• They’ve got their IRS giving statement…
• They’ve got their Disciple Now T-shirt…
• They’ve got that Bible with all the notes in it…

And the high cost of following that Jesus is going to require
Seems too high for people who don’t really need Him.

Surely their good works are enough to get them access to God,
And so they don’t see the need for Jesus
Or the suffering required in following Him.

That is why it is necessary to become “poor in spirit”
Before you’ll be saved.
You must realize how utterly invaluable your works are.

And they must be disowned.
They must be trashed.

This was the point behind Paul’s testimony.
Philippians 3:5-6 “circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.”

We might even add his statement to the Galatians:
Galatians 1:14 “and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.”

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

Paul counted all his religious works as “rubbish”

We must as well.
Take all your ribbons, take all your certificates, take all your plaques
And throw them in the trash.
Become a beggar.

Monte Walsh “I ain’t spittin’ on my whole life.”

Well, that’s exactly what has to happen for a person to follow Jesus.
But it’s not just the good works that must be denied.
2) IT ALSO MEANS TO DENY ALL DESIRES OF THE FLESH

If I can put it clearly then let me say it like this.

If you choose to follow Jesus
Then you should at the very least understand
That you are no longer in control of your future.

If you are going to put yourself in service to Christ
This means that you quit calling all the shots.

Take those college plans you have,
• And disown them, your education is now up to Christ.
Take that retirement you have and the plans you’ve made
• And disown them, you’re now in service to Christ.
Take that bucket with that list of all the things you plan on doing before you die,
• Burn the list and throw away the bucket.

You are surrendering it all to Christ.
The flesh no longer gets to call the shots in your life, Christ does.

Go ahead and look at the end of this chapter.
Luke 9:57-62 “As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Do you see Jesus there demand self-denial from all those men?
• The first Jesus told him he’d have to deny his worldly comforts to follow.
• The second Jesus told him he’d have to give up his inheritance to follow.
• The third Jesus told him he’d have to give up his reputation and the approval
of his family and friends to follow.

Let it go, deny yourself.

This is precisely what the followers of Jesus in the New Testament did.

Remember Peter and Andrew?
Matthew 4:18-20 “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”
(they got a new occupation)

Later Peter even recounted:
Matthew 19:27 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

Do you remember James and John?
Matthew 4:21-22 “Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

They didn’t just leave their boat, they left their father.
The family fishing business was about to no longer be “Zebedee and Sons Fishing”.

Do you remember Matthew?
Luke 5:27-28 “After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.”

Matthew left his job as a tax collector.

But the point is everyone that followed Jesus had to deny themselves.
• For one it was a fishing business
• For one it was a tax booth
• For one it was their father
• Later Jesus will ask the Rich Young Ruler to give up all his possessions.

It’s not some specific thing that you must leave to follow Jesus.
It’s that you must deny everything that keeps you from following.

YOU CANNOT KEEP YOUR OLD LIFE AND FOLLOW JESUS.
The path that gratifies the flesh and the path that Jesus walks
Are too very different paths.

Denying yourself is a universal mandate for all who want Jesus.

Followers of Jesus aren’t those who seek the world, they are those who crucify the world
Galatians 6:14 “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Followers of Jesus aren’t those who live to please the flesh, followers of Jesus crucify the flesh
Galatians 5:24 “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

THEY JUST LEFT IT ALL TO FOLLOW JESUS.
• They denied any goodness which they held on to as a means of pleasing God
• And they denied any worldly lust that would hinder them from following Christ.

And Jesus says that this “must” happen.

The first requirement to following Jesus is Self-Denial
#2 SUFFERING DAILY
Luke 9:23b
“and take up his cross daily”

I’m aware that in our day this has become somewhat of a metaphorical statement.
• Someone gets sick and they say, “It’s just the cross I have to bear”
• Someone has a hard job and says, “It’s just the cross I have to bear”

I understand what they are saying, and their point isn’t necessarily wrong.

But that’s NOT what Jesus was talking about.
• The “cross” wasn’t a metaphor in Jesus’ day.
• The “cross” was an instrument of horrific, humiliating, excruciatingly painful
death.
• The “cross” was the preferred method of execution for anyone who dared to
rise up against Rome.

In somewhat similar fashion today Jesus would have to say something like
“Take up his electric chair” or “Take up his lethal injection”

To take up the cross was a picture of bearing scorn and reproach and suffering and ultimately death.

THE CROSS TODAY IS ADMIRED
• Is a preferred piece of art in most houses
• And is probably the most crafted symbol in jewelry

BUT IN JESUS’ DAY IT WAS HIDEOUS.
• People didn’t even say the word “cross” because it was so shameful.
• People were crucified naked and hung up along the roads for all to see.
• It was vile it was gruesome it was detestable

And Jesus here says that anyone who wants to follow Him must “take up his cross”
• You are about to take upon yourself shame
• You are about to take upon yourself scorn
• You are about to take upon yourself the promise of death

WHY DOES HE SAY THAT?

Because Jesus’ life is a life of exclusion and reproach and suffering and death, and if you follow Him, that will be your life too.

• You are about to follow a Jesus who condemns this world.
• You are about to proclaim a message that condemns this world.
• You are about to stand in opposition to the god of this world and his fallen world system

Do not expect to be applauded for it.

John 15:18-20 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘ A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

John 16:1-3 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.”

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

• This world is going to point
• This world is going to snarl
• This world is going to laugh
• This world is going to mock

Some of you in secular work places know this scorn,
These youth who have determined to follow Christ feel this in the school.
IT IS THE REPROACH OF THE CROSS WHICH YOU FEEL

Luke also records the word “daily”
“take up his cross daily”

• When they mock you today, do it again tomorrow.
• When they scorn you today, do it again tomorrow.
• When they hate you today, do it again tomorrow.

Following Jesus is not a one-time event.
It is a lifetime commitment.

THIS IS WHAT JESUS REQUIRES.

In fact, listen to Paul rebuke the Corinthians for their failure to grasp this.

He speaks very sarcastically here
1 Corinthians 4:8-16 “You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.”

Paul points out that those who truly follow Christ are scorned,
Yet somehow the Corinthians are being honored in the world.
DO THEY NOT SEE THE PROBLEM WITH THIS?

Do we remember what Jesus said earlier in Luke’s gospel?
Luke 6:22-23 “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. “Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.”

And
Luke 6:26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”

You need to understand what Jesus requires to follow Him.

It will be COSTLY because you have to deny yourself.
You can also expect CONFLICT because the world will not rejoice in what you do.

You will be walking with a cross on your back.
• Your message will be the message that the world hates, not the one they want to hear.
• You will be preaching about a world so sinful that the only manner in which it could be redeemed is if God crushed His own Son on a cross.
• You will be preaching about a salvation that is only found in Jesus and not through their good deeds or man-made religions.

Don’t expect the world to applaud.
You will be expected to face CONFLICT and suffering.

Listen to Paul admonish Timothy
2 Timothy 1:8 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,”

Again:
2 Timothy 2:3 “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

Again:
2 Timothy 4:5 “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

This is a call to Self-Denial and it is a call to Daily Suffering.
• You will be a swimmer traveling upstream and against the flow
• You will be a voice of righteousness to a world that loves sin
• You will be a pebble in the shoe, a cog in the gears, a hurdle, and a restraint to a world that wants to push forth the machine of immorality.

• You’ll frustrate them with your refusal to sacrifice worship for worldly events
• You’ll annoy them with your refusal to go along with worldly endeavors
• You’ll irritate them with your stand against their immorality
• You’ll infuriate them with your insistence that they repent
• You’ll alienate them with your call for them to trust in Jesus Christ

And you will suffer as a result
You’ll lose friends – You’ll lose jobs – You’ll lose invitations
• In Jesus day they LOST access to the synagogue…
• The people of the book of Hebrews LOST their property…
• Many in the book of Acts had to FLEE their homes and their cities…
• Some even LOST their lives…

But this is the call, this is the requirement, if you want Christ.
You cannot just be this happy little friend of the world
And follow Jesus at the same time.

If you think you are, then you are deceiving yourself.
I don’t know what you call it, but it’s not following Jesus.

The call of Jesus is a call to Self-Denial and a call to Suffering Daily
#3 A SACRIFICIAL DESTINATION
Luke 9:23c

“and follow Me”

You would do very good at this point to ask the question: “Where?”
And then you’d do good to answer it.

When Jesus took up the cross, where did He go?
• First to the World to be rejected
• Then to Golgotha to be crucified
• Then to the Grave to be buried
• Then to Glory to be exalted forever

When Jesus says “follow Me”
Be sure you understand where He is asking you to go.
• It is certainly the path to life
• It is certainly the path to heaven
• But before that it is the path that leads to death.

MAKE NO MISTAKE, WHEN JESUS APPROACHES FOLLOWERS, HE IS RECRUITING THEM TO THEIR DEATH.

Jesus plainly told Peter:
John 21:18-19 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

Paul said:
Acts 20:22-23 “And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.”

We see the death of James in Acts we see the death of Stephen there as well.

In fact, you’re familiar with Acts 1:8
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The word for “witnesses” there is MARTYS (mar-toos)
It’s where we get our word for martyr.

Jesus said “you shall be My martyrs”

Do you understand what Jesus is saying here?

His invitation to follow Him was an invitation to follow Him to His death.
• This is a call that is COSTLY
• This is a call to CONFLICT
• This is a call bringing CONDEMNATION

This is the calling and the requirement for “all”.
This is the requirement for “anyone [who] wishes to come after Me”

I KNOW WE LIVE IN A DAY OF THE ALTAR CALL
Where people are lured down the aisle
With all kinds of pretty promises of blessing and ease and fulfillment.

But those altar calls resemble nothing of the invitation of Jesus.
• Jesus invited His followers to leave their lives behind for good, not just
their pews for a moment.
• Jesus invited His followers to embrace daily suffering, not just to be patted
on the back for choosing to receive Christ.
• Jesus invited His followers to a life that passed through death on the way
to glory.

Jesus said that He must suffer and be rejected and be killed and be raised.
This the Jesus we preach and it is the same Jesus that we follow.

When you sign up to follow Jesus, you are signing up:
• To say good-bye to all your previous plans and treasures,
• To put yourself at enmity with the world,
• And to go forth embracing death.

I’m sorry if that’s not how it was first pitched to you.
But make no mistake this is how Jesus offered it.

We must evaluate our lives.
We must renew our commitments.
We must get serious about what it is we are called to do.

This morning we are taking the Lord’s Supper,
And in that I want to remind you that part of taking this Lord’s Supper is a proclamation of our commitment to His death.

Consider what the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

It is absolutely central to the Christian faith that our Lord suffered and was rejected and was killed.
• We believe that
• We preach that
• We follow that

And every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper
We remember that and pledge again our commitment to it.

That is the Jesus we proclaim AND that is the Jesus that we follow.

Jesus told us plainly.
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

To partake in the Lord’s Supper is NOT an empty ceremony of remembrance,
• It is moment to remember the sacrifice of Christ.
• It is a moment to rejoice in the sacrifice of Christ.
• It is a moment to confess again my need for the sacrifice of Christ.
• It is a moment to renew my commitment to follow this crucified Christ.

Do not partake lightly.

Tanya Park has a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and is the Area Director of a Christian based foster care and adoption agency called A World For Children. Tanya and her husband Scott live in Amarillo and have two children; a daughter, Tristen, who is 16 years old and a son, Charley, who is 5 years old.  Tanya has served as a member of the worship band at Trinity Baptist Church for the past eight years. Tanya has a heart to worship the Lord through guitar, bass guitar and her voice.

Andrea McConnell, from Amarillo, Texas will be leading our worship. Andrea has a heart to worship the Lord in spirit and truth and lead God’s people to His throne. She has a passion for seeing women of all ages grow in the knowledge of Christ and serve Him faithfully. With a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from LSU and a Master’s in Christian Education from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, she spends her day homeschooling her two daughters and loves being a mom to, Emma (14) and Abby (11). She also currently teaches two days a week with two homeschool co-op groups.
Andrea is a minister’s wife and has been married to her soul-mate, Troy, for 17 years. She has past experience in public education and women’s ministry. She has led worship for women’s ministry events for over 10 years. Most importantly, her one desire is to be a servant of her Savior and see Jesus Christ high and lifted up.

Welcome To God?
Psalms 15
October 21, 2018

• I can’t pretend to say that I know the views of past generations.
• I can’t say I know what the culture 100 years ago thought about whether or not they were acceptable to God.

But I do think I have a pretty good gage on the current culture.

Society in general today is filled with an audacity
And an absolute conviction that they can in fact walk up to God,
Lay on His coach, raid His fridge, and “hang out” with Him
Whenever they want.

People today, in all lifestyles and habits, seem to be overwhelmingly convinced that
• God is not angry,
• God is not judgmental,
• God has no standards,
• And God has no specific requirements.

People are convinced that God is an all-inclusive, super-welcoming,
No questions asked kind of deity that readily accepts everyone.

In fact, He’s often portrayed as overly grieved
That more people won’t come by and visit,
As though He were not totally self-sufficient.

And I can’t say that contemporary Christianity has helped this problem.

Our society is continually bombarded with the message that
• “God loves you just the way you are”
• “That Jesus is anxiously knocking, just begging and pleading that you’ll let Him in”
• “That Jesus would rather go to hell than stay in Heaven without you”
• “That God is not angry, He’s not disappointed”
• “That God’s arms are open wide and ready to overlook all your failures”

Really that God should be viewed similar to your grandmother
Whose door is always open, who always has cookies on the counter,
And who will approve of all your decisions and endorse any lifestyle.

Our culture, by in large, believes this.
And that is partly because many under the banner of “the gospel”
Have proclaimed it.

BUT THAT IS A HORRIBLE MISREPRESENTATION OF GOD

And it causes me to wander what people with such a view
Do with a Psalm like the one we study tonight?

It is a Psalm that asks perhaps the most important question
That has ever been put on paper.

(1) “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”

There are two questions there, and really they both ask the same thing.

“who may abide in Your tent?”

• That would have been a reference to the “tent of meeting” where God’s glory
dwelled.
• You’ll remember that it was not David who built God’s temple, but rather his
son Solomon,
• And so in David’s day, God still dwelled in that tabernacle or tent.

David is asking, who is able to go inside and camp there with God?

“Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”

The same question asked a little bit differently, but
• Who can live in close proximity to God?
• Or, who is fit to be God’s neighbor?

In a SPIRITUAL SENSE we could expand that to mean,
“Who is able to go to heaven and dwell with God?”

That’s a pretty important question, wouldn’t you agree?
• Who will God accept?
• Who will God consent to live with?
• Who will God consent to stay in His house with Him?

In David’s day the answer was clear.
NO ONE

IF YOU’LL REMEMBER, no one was able to abide in God’s tent.

Only the High Priest ever even went into that tent, and he only went once a year, and not without taking blood, and he most certainly didn’t “hang out” in there.
• He went in quickly, he did his job, and he exited quickly.
• And you’ve even heard about how he had a rope on one leg and a bell on the other so they could pull him out if he offended God and was struck dead.

The thought of anyone entering the Holy of Holies with a sleeping bag WAS ABSURD. And all of Israel knew that.

YOU CAN’T ABIDE IN GOD’S TENT.

And you can’t “dwell” on His “holy hill”.

Do you remember when God’s presence came down on Sinai?
Do you remember the command?

TURN TO: EXODUS 19
This was when God liberated His people from Egypt and they traveled to Sinai.

Look at this scene.
(Verses 1-6) God relates His selection and deliverance of these very people, and He offers that they can be His people; closer to Him than any other.

(Verses 7-9) The people agree, they want to be the people of God, and now God is going to speak to them.

But then look at the warning they are given.
(Verses 10-25)

• Don’t touch the mountain
• Don’t touch anyone who touches the mountain (stone him or shoot him)
• Don’t break through and gaze at the mountain

This was intense and terrifying

And now you’re asking me, “Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”

Does that not seem like a bizarre question?
We can’t even touch His hill, let alone build a house on it.

AND YET THAT IS WHAT DAVID IS ASKING.

Isaiah also asked it:
Isaiah 33:13-14 “You who are far away, hear what I have done; And you who are near, acknowledge My might.” Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?”

That sounds more like what Moses was talking about.
• Who can walk right up that mountain and pitch a tent in God’s presence?

Consider:
Psalms 24:3 “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?”

Forget abiding and dwelling,
• In Psalms 24 David wants to know who can even climb God’s hill or even stand
in the Holy of Holies.

Who can even go in there?

Consider:
Revelation 6:12-17 “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

These are sinners during the Great Tribulation
And when God peals back the sky and reveals Himself on His throne,
Even the world knows that they can’t even stand before Him.

• Forget climbing His hill
• Forget abiding in His tent
• Forget dwelling on His mountain
• WE CAN’T EVEN STAND WHERE HE CAN SEE US

Do you see the absolute absurdity of the question?

David asked the question and everyone knows the answer.
If anyone could stand before God,
It would require and impeccable person.

And can I just go ahead and say from the outset here,
That IF YOU THINK YOU CAN stand before Him by your own merit
That you absolutely stink at “self-evaluation”.

Do you remember the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector?
Luke 18:11-13 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’”

The Pharisee had no clue, the tax collector gets it.

To have this assumption that we can just kick open God’s door,
Go and raid His fridge, plop on His couch, grab His remote,
And kick our feet up on His coffee table is absurd.

Let me put it to you like this.
GOD IS NOT APPROACHABLE

Now if that causes your antenna to go up,
Because it seems to contradict this warm and fuzzy view of God that you have developed then YOU NEED TO LISTEN UP here.

Where in the Bible do you find God being approachable?

Did Abraham find Him approachable?
Genesis 15:12 “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.”

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

Did Moses find God approachable?
Exodus 3:4-6 “When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said also, ” I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”

Did Isaiah find God approachable?
Isaiah 6:5 “Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

And the list goes on.

I must remind you that God is holy,
And PEOPLE DID NOT go running through the veil as if to say,
“Hey God, what’s up?”

1 Timothy 6:15-16 “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”

TRYING TO ENTER GOD’S PRESENCE NONCHALANTLY IS ABSURD!

Have we not read about Aaron’s sons (Nadab and Abihu) whom God incinerated with fire because they offered strange fire?

Have we not read about Uzza who God struck dead because he reached out and touched the Ark of the Covenant?

Have we not read about Uzziah who tried to enter the temple to burn incense and God struck him with leprosy until the day of his death?

Where did this notion of familiarity and unconditional acceptance before God come from?

The very existence of the tent of meeting and later the temple
Was to illustrate the fact that you did not have access to God.
YOU COULD NOT APPROACH HIM.

And here David asks, “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”

You get the idea that David is almost asking that question rhetorically, as if he knows the answer is no one.

HOWEVER – GOD GIVES AN ANSWER.
• There is a person who can dwell with Him.
• There is a person who is welcome to sleep in His house
• There is a person who is welcome to be His neighbor.

And then God rattles off 11 characteristics
That a person who would dwell in His presence must possess.
We’re going to group them into 5 just to make it a little easier to walk through.

This is the type of person who can dwell with God.
• Anything short of this, and you must get outside the veil.
• Anything short of this, and you must not even touch the mountain.
• Anything short of this, and you must not even gaze intently so as to gain a peak.

God here gives 5 categories and criteria for the type of roommate He will accept.
#1 HE MUST BE ONE WITH AN INNNOCENT HEART
Psalms 15:2

“He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.”

Let’s examine that a little.

“integrity” there is TAMIYM
It literally means “blameless” or “perfect” or “without blemish”

It was the word God used to describe the type of offering He would accept.
Exodus 12:5 “Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.”

Leviticus 1:3 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD.”

It was also the word used to describe Noah,
who was the only man God chose not to destroy when He flooded the world.
Genesis 6:9 “These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.”

And it was the commanded behavior God gave to Abraham.
Genesis 17:1 “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.”

It simply means that if you want to dwell with God
Then you must walk perfectly.
You must have no flaws in the way you live.
There must be no blemishes in your behavior.

Put another way, that person must be one who “works righteousness”

When you talk about what he does, or how he works, it must be perfect.
All of his deeds must be righteous.

And to make sure that you understand that it’s NOT JUST AN OUTWARD ISSUE, God adds, “And speaks truth in his heart”

It’s not only outward perfection that God demands,
But also inward perfection of the heart.

It is summed up by the command “Be holy as I am holy”

If you want to dwell with God then you must have a totally innocent and blameless and upright and truthful heart.
• If your actions ever fall short
• If your motives are ever impure
• If your thoughts are ever ungrateful
• If you ever do anything just for show or pretense
• Then you are scratched off the list as one who is acceptable to dwell with God.

The one who dwells with Him must have an innocent heart
#2 HE MUST HAVE AN IN-CHECK TONGUE
Psalms 15:3

“He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;”

What all of these have in common is that
They are examples of a person using their tongue
To bring ruin to someone else.

“slander” is RAGAL in the Hebrew and it actually is the word used for a “spy”.
It is one who stealthily does danger to someone who is unsuspecting.

This isn’t a person who lambasts someone with hurtful words,
It is someone who uses their tongue stealthily to ruin another.

And that is implied again with one who “does evil”, especially by way of their conversation.

Also of one who “takes up a reproach against his friend”

“reproach” is a word that means “to disgrace”

It is what Job’s friends did to him.
Job 16:10 “They have gaped at me with their mouth, They have slapped me on the cheek with contempt; They have massed themselves against me.”

This is a person who uses their tongue to ruin other people.
• It’s not necessarily talking about someone who speaks mean words,
• But rather someone who gossips and attacks with their words from behind.

They seek to ruin the reputation of another.
They seek to cause other people to hold one in contempt.

And God says anyone that does that sort of thing
Is scratched off the list of candidates.

One who cannot control their tongue is not fit to dwell with Him.

An Innocent Heart, An In-Check Tongue
#3 HE MUST HAVE IMPARTIAL EYES
Psalms 15:4a

“In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD;”

We are speaking here of his JUDGMENTS of others.
• We are speaking here of the type of people he approves of
• And the type of people he rejects.

And the implication is that
If you are someone who is going to dwell with God
Then you must be in total agreement with God’s judgments.

Your judgments must be His judgments.

God says here that “a reprobate is despised”
That’s an interesting phrase.

The word for “reprobate” is actually verb, not a noun.
It is MA’AL and it means “to reject”

It is most commonly used to speak of God’s rejection of unholy people.
Jeremiah 6:30 “They call them rejected silver, Because the LORD has rejected them.”

So the term “reprobate” is a term that
Simply speaks of a person God has rejected.

And here we find that if you want to dwell with God
Then you had better not be one who accepts those whom God rejects.

Instead “in whose eyes a reprobate is despised”

“despised” is BAZAH it means “to hold in contempt” or “despise”

Genesis 25:34 “Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”

If you want to dwell with God then you have hold in contempt the things that God rejects.
• You can’t call evil good, you can’t call good evil.
• You can’t find humor in the base and vile things of the world.

Psalms 50:16-18 “But to the wicked God says, “What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth? “For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you. “When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers.”

God says it’s evil. If you are a person who associates with it,
Then you are not welcome to dwell with God.

On the flipside they must be a person “who honors those who fear the LORD”

And it really means to “heap honor” on that type of person.
The word “honor” actually means “to make heavy”.

While you reject those whom God has rejected,
You must heap loads of honor on those who fear the LORD.

If you’re not that person then you’re not welcome to dwell with God.

An Innocent Heart, An In-Check Tongue, Inspired Eyes
#4 HE MUST HAVE AN IMMUTABLE WORD
Psalms 15:4b

“He swears to his own hurt and does not change;”

This is a person of absolute integrity.
• They don’t say one thing and do another.
• They don’t mislead.
• They don’t fail to come through.
• They don’t’ take false oaths or make false vows.

If they tell God they will do something, they do it.

It is NOT the type of person who promises
A certain behavior or offering to God and then fails to deliver.

That type of person is not welcome to God, and cannot dwell with Him.

#5 HE MUST HAVE IMPECCABLE VALUES
Psalms 15:5a

“He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.”

This is not a person who has ever cheated anyone.
In fact, he’s not even a person who has legitimately profited off of the misfortune of another.

Certainly we understand the problem of taking a bribe,
But God even speaks here of a person who loans money at interest.
A person who sees his brother’s need
As an opportunity to bail him out and make a profit doing it.

It speaks of a person who has the right values in life.
• He doesn’t love the world more than he loves his brother.
• He forsakes the world for the good of his brother.

And if he’s not this type of person then he cannot dwell with God.

And then we are told, “He who does these things will never be shaken.”

That is to say they will never get “tripped up”.
• They will never be rendered disqualified.
• They will always be allowed to dwell in God’s presence.

BUT
• If you’ve ever slipped from integrity…
• If you’ve ever used your tongue maliciously…
• If you’ve ever patted on the back those whom God rejects…
• If you’ve ever failed to honor those who fear God…
• If you’ve ever failed to keep your word…
• If you’ve ever profited off of the misfortune of another…

Then forget it, you cannot dwell in God’s presence.
• Don’t go behind the veil…
• Don’t touch the mountain…
• Don’t gaze to see if you can catch a glimpse…
• YOU ARE NOT FIT NOR WELCOME IN HEAVEN

Does that make sense?

And so we ask that question again:
“O LORD, whom may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?”

Well, do you know anyone who fits those qualifications?
And the answer is of course: YES – Jesus does.
He fits those qualifications.

He walked with integrity and worked righteousness and spoke truth in His heart and never slandered or did evil or took up a reproach against His neighbor. He despised the reprobate and honored those who feared the LORD. He kept His word and never exploited the poor or the innocent.

HE ALONE IS WELCOME

And that is why we read unbelievable passages like this:
Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

• He entered and He sat down
• He does in fact dwell there with God.

And “in Him” and through Him we also gain our access.
Hebrews 10:19-22 “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

• We draw near through Him.
• We draw near “in Him”
• That is the only way any of us ever draw near to God or dwell with Him.
• That is the only way any of us ever confidently approach God.

AND HERE’S THE REALITY.

We live in a world where the vilest of sinners
Seem to think that they could just waltz into God’s presence anytime,
And that is so not true. God is not approachable for them.

But us, His children, clothed in Christ
Can boldly approach His throne.
And we can dwell with Him forever.
And we can pitch our tent next to His
And drop our sleeping bag in His floor.

We CAN run behind the veil…
Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

We CAN climb the mountain…
Hebrews 12:18-24 “For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, “IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED.” And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.”

We CAN gaze intently into the glory…
2 Corinthians 3:12-18 “Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

“O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”

Through Jesus, I can.

Now that’s the main thing I want you to understand tonight.
I want you to see the gospel in this Psalm.

• Through Jesus the unapproachable is made approachable.
• Through Jesus the off limits is made available.
• Through Jesus we are granted access to God.

Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

I first want you to know that.

But I ALSO want you to know something else tonight.

I DO NOT just want you to take a full-blown passive approach
To your being acceptable to God.

While it is certainly true that
None can be made pleasing to God apart from Jesus Christ,
I do not want you to think that this means we just “Let go and let God”

When you read Psalms 15
• You must FIRST come to a humble understanding that these criteria are only met in Jesus.

• But you MUST NEVER just absolve yourself of the fact that this is still how God commands for you to live.

We are made acceptable through Christ,
But you must understand that Christ’s imputed righteousness
DID NOT nullify God’s expectation
That you would still strive for righteousness in your own life.

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

• Did Christ remove our condemnation? Yes
• Did Christ free us from the law of sin and death? Yes
• Did Christ appease the wrath of God on sin? Yes

But why? “so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us”

We are still called to strive for God’s perfect level of righteousness.

That means that Psalms 15 is still very much in effect for us.
God expects you and me to live in this manner.

Recently we studied the book of James with the youth.
I love (and at times hate) the book of James.
James is so bold and matter of fact with his readers.

WHY?
Because James grew up with Jesus.
• He saw Jesus in every conceivable walk of life and now James is looking at this church which claims to be like Jesus, and James says, “Um wait a minute, that’s not how Jesus lived.”

And he confronts the church.
And if you’ll notice it is over things much like what Psalms 15 says.

We read about the necessity of an INNOCENT HEART
That a person’s walk and works must be righteous.

And James said to the church:
James 2:14-17 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

God expects His church to walk righteously.

We read about the necessity of an IN-CHECK TONGUE
That we must not tear down our brother with our tongue.

And James said to the church:
James 3:8-12 “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.”

God still expects the church to control their tongue.

We read about the necessity of IMPARTIAL EYES
That you honor who God honors and reject whom God rejects.

And James said to the church:
James 2:1-7 “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?”

God still expects the church to honor His judgments.

We read about the necessity of IMMUTABLE WORD
That you keep your word.

And James said to the church:
James 5:12 “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.”

You still must walk with integrity.

We read about the necessity of IMPECCABLE VALUES
That we must not exploit the poor or innocent to gain the world.

And James said to the church:
James 5:1-6 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.”

You still can’t love the world.

AND THAT’S THE FLIPSIDE OF THIS CONCEPT.

• No one who falls short of this standard is welcome to abide with God,
• Since we have all fallen short, none are welcome.
• However, through Christ we are granted access to dwell with God.

But don’t assume that just because you’ve been accepted
That now somehow the expectation has been lowered, it has not.

This is still God’s expectation for His church.
We are still called to walk in such a manner.

Colossians 1:9-10 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

And that is why the church sings this song.
We continually uphold to our congregation this intense righteous standard of God.

On one hand this righteous standard drives us to Jesus and causes us to glorify Jesus.

On the other hand this righteous standard reminds us of the high calling of living like Jesus in this world.

WE CONSTANTLY REMEMBER THAT.