Deliver Us From The Evil One
Psalms 12
September 23, 2018

Last week as we looked at the 11th Psalm
We asked a question regarding the value of righteousness.

In a world where it doesn’t appear that righteousness can promise to keep us out of trouble, one might ask: “IS RIGHTEOUSNESS VALUABLE?”
And the 11th Psalm answered with a resounding “YES!”

Why?
Psalms 11:7 “For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.”

We learned that righteousness is valuable
Because God loves righteousness.

Beyond that, we learned the fate of those who are not righteous.
Psalms 11:5-6 “The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.”

So, the point was clearly made.
• God is on His throne
• He watches the world
• He will judge the world
• The wicked will be destroyed and the righteous will dwell with Him.

RIGHTEOUSNESS MATTERS

And this means that it should become the desire of every believer,
Not only to obtain righteousness through the redemption of Christ,
BUT ALSO TO LIVE A RIGHTEOUS LIFE.

• Certainly we rejoice in our justification.
• Certainly we rejoice in Christ’s imputed righteousness.
• Certainly we rejoice in the fact that now, being “in Christ” we are declared righteous in the sight of God.

But for a believer it is NOT AS THOUGH
We now give no other thought to living a righteous life.

We DON’T just sit back and say, “Well, I’m righteous in Christ, so now I will no longer concern myself with the issue.”

Paul wrote:
Colossians 2:6 “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,”

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Ephesians 4:1 “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,”

It is the passage Ben preached last Sunday morning.
Ephesians 4:17-24 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

That is Paul telling believers that you didn’t learn of a Christ
Who saves you and then lets you live like a heathen.
That’s not what Jesus taught.

• Jesus rescued from sin
• Jesus imputed righteousness to you
• And Jesus expects you to now walk in that righteousness

We have been declared righteous through the atonement of Christ,
And we now have an obligation to no longer live in wickedness,
But to fully put on Christ and live like Him.

And Paul spells this out very clearly to the Colossians.
Colossians 3:5-10 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him”

Don’t live in sin, these are the types of things that invite God’s wrath.

Paul is NOT SAYING that if you fail to be righteous that God will now forget about your justification and condemn you along with the world.

That’s not it at all.
Our salvation in Christ is a permanent salvation.

But Paul is pointing out even to believers that
The God who saved them still hates wickedness
And still loves righteousness.

And therefore it should be the desire of every one of His children
To live in righteousness.

Paul stated it clearly:
1 Thessalonians 4:3a “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…”

God intends us to now live righteous lives.

HOWEVER, YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT THIS IS A STRUGGLE
It’s not as though there are no obstacles along the way.

On one hand we have OUR FLESH
Sometimes referred to as “the old sinful nature”

It would be nice if salvation instantly did away with the flesh,
But it does not.
Even as justified children of God,
We still possess that fallen and sinful nature.

Our flesh still loves sin.
God’s Spirit certainly wars against this nature, but it is there none the less.

Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

We still possess that evil and deceptive heart that Jeremiah spoke of.
We have a disposition for sin.
And I don’t think I have to prove that to you, you are already aware.

The other obstacle is we face AN ENEMY
We face one who loves to push us and tempt us into the sin that our flesh already craves.

That means that when sin presents itself,
Not only do you have a sinful flesh that wants to participate,
But you also have an enemy who will encourage you to do it.

All of this is clearly seen in the temptation of Eve.
Genesis 3:4-6 “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

There you see both agents at work.

• You have a woman whose FLESH clearly wanted the fruit. It was “a delight to the eyes, and…the tree was desirable to make one wise”

• And you have the ENEMY who was right there reassuring here that nothing bad would come of it.

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

James alludes to that tempter who does nothing more than come as an ally to your flesh and offer you what your sinful nature already desires.

THEY ARE REAL OBSTACLES.

And these obstacles don’t leave just because you are in Christ Jesus.
We are still in a war, not just for truth, not just for soles,
BUT WE ARE IN A WAR FOR OUR OWN SANCTIFICATION.

We fight a battle for our own purity.
Ephesians 6:10-17 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

We fight for our own sanctification.
We fight for our own practical righteousness.

The question is: HOW DO WE FIGHT?

Well, since the flesh is one of our problems,
We fight by KILLING THE FLESH.
Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

In other words, we starve the flesh to death.
It’s the old Indian proverb about the soul of the warrior who is being drawn by two wolves. One wolf seeks to pull him to all that is good, the other wolf seeks to pull him to all that is evil. When the young man asked, which wolf would win, the old man answered, “The one you feed.”

Quit encouraging the flesh, quit feeding the flesh.
Starve it out.

Back to the passage we read a moment ago in Colossians.
Colossians 3:5 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”

My translation says “consider the members of your earthly body as dead”
But the literal translation is “put to death”.

You have to kill the flesh.
Jesus spoke in hyperbole about this, but I think you understand His point.

Mark 9:43-48 “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.”

If you want to defeat defilement, then kill the flesh.

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

Here we find that
God is at work also because of the weakness of our flesh.

Paul asks the Corinthians not to think too much of themselves.
• That is to say, “Don’t assume that your flesh isn’t that bad, or that you can handle it.” That’s a recipe for disaster.

You have to agree with Paul:
Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”

But because of the weakness of our flesh
Paul also reminded the Corinthians that
God not only tempers our temptation,
But also provides a way of escape.

So in regard to the obstacle of our sinful flesh
• We find that we overcome that obstacle through starvation of the flesh
• And through reliance upon God to provide a way of escape.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER OBSTACLE?
What do we do about the enemy who constantly throws temptation our way?

And Jesus gave us that answer:
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.’]”

What are we taught to do about the temptation of the enemy?
We are taught to pray about it.

We are commanded to pray
That God would shield us from his defiling temptations
And that God would deliver us from his wicked plans.

• If you have learned that righteousness is important to God…
• If you have learned that righteousness comes with opposition…
• If you have learned that the flesh and the enemy are that opposition…

Then starve the flesh and ask God to stop the enemy.

Now, does that make sense?
I know that’s a quick run through the topic of temptation.

But I wanted to give you that intro because tonight in the 12th Psalm
We have an example of what that prayer regarding temptation looks like.

Jesus taught us to pray that we would not be led into temptation
And that we would be delivered from the evil one.

David gives us an example of just that kind of prayer.

And again, this is a song appointed for the church to sing.
• It is a doctrine that the church must drive into their minds through repetitive singing, so that they can easily and quickly draw upon it.

Let’s look at what a prayer against temptation looks like.
Now, I’m going to apologize a little here because we are not going to look at this Psalm in our normal verse by verse pattern.
I just don’t think that’s the best way to understand it.

Instead, we’re going to look at it as a whole and pull from it the main points and themes. (And since the Psalm is only 8 verses, that won’t be too difficult)

There are 4 observations we make about this Psalm.
#1 THE CULTURE
Psalms 8:1-2, 8

Here we simply want to set the scene of exactly where David is dwelling.

We all readily recognize this Psalm as a plea for help from David.
Hence the “Help, LORD” found in verse 1.

What we want to know is:
• What does David want help with?
• What type of help does David want?

In this first point we are looking at the problem.
We are looking what David wants help with.

And here are the problems.

1) GODLINESS IS OUT (1)
“for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.”

We clearly see there from David that
He lives in a culture where godliness is not trending.
No one wants it…It is not being pursued.

Granted we have seen some times of revival in our history where men in general did pursue godliness.

We have certainly seen periods of time where men at least pursued morality.

There was a time in America where it was seen as a beneficial thing
To at least have a religious affiliation.

There was a time, maybe 40-50 years ago where
• It was considered a good thing to be a “God-fearing American”,
• It was a good thing to “go to church”,
• It was a good thing to be involved.

Society valued and acknowledge the benefits of morality
And that Godliness was a good thing.

But that is not the culture David refers to.
• David’s culture puts no premium on godliness.
• David’s culture is not rewarding righteousness.
• There are no benefits to it.

It is not a culture that values godliness
And since there is no temporal benefit to being godly
“the faithful disappear”

• If going to church doesn’t help their poll numbers then politicians just quit going to church.
• If being Godly doesn’t help the bottom line of their business then business owners quit worrying about being godly.

That’s David’s point.
He lives in a culture were Godliness is out.

2) SIN IS IN (8)
“The wicked strut about on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.”

David sees a culture which does not value godliness,
But does value what David calls “vileness”.

It is simply that which is worthless and detestable
And contrary to what is upright and godly.

David’s culture doesn’t just participate in it secretly, his culture exalts it.
• It is paraded down the streets
• It is used as the main form of advertising
• It is talked about and joked about and pursued
• It is applauded

I think we understand that type of culture.
A culture which uses sexual immorality as the main form of advertising because advertising agencies know that a half-naked woman won’t push our culture away from their product, but will instead draw our culture to it.

• There was a time even in America when such antics would have bankrupted a
business.
• There was a time when if a business had advertised with a half-naked woman
or with a homosexual couple, that business would have folded.

But not anymore.

“vileness is exalted”
And because of that, “the wicked strut about on every side”

It’s a circular effect – It’s a compounding problem.
• The more society participates in wickedness, the more society comes to accept wickedness.
• The more society accepts wickedness, the more emboldened the wicked become.
• And they just do more and more and more.

That is the problem with David’s culture.
It is not a culture that encourages righteousness.

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

This world will not reward you for righteousness.
Instead they will do everything they can to ruin it.

Now, one might assume that David just hates sin
And wants God to judge them all.
We’ve certainly seen those imprecatory Psalms where David is calling for God’s vengeance on the wicked.

But that is not necessarily the request here.

For when David mentions the specifics of the sin that bothers him,
He doesn’t speak of their idolatry or their immorality.

David actually reveals the specific threat he’s concerned about.

Godliness is Out, Sin is In
3) FLATTERY IS THE PLAN (2)
(2) “They speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.”

Certainly they are all liars, and that is problematic.
But it’s not just lying in general.

David has a problem with the fact that they speak “with flattering lips and a with a double heart”

• They aren’t slanderers…
• They aren’t verbal abusers…
• They are slick speaking flatterers

They are the type of people who seek to worm their way in
By telling you what you want to hear.

We all know what gossip is.
Gossip is when people say something behind your back that they won’t say to your face.

A similar sin is flattery.
Flattery is when people say something to your face that they won’t say behind your back.

Gossip is meant to destroy your reputation before others.
Flattery is meant to enslave you to the one who offers it.

And as you’ll see in a moment, this is really what has David concerned.

It is a culture that doesn’t love godliness and that exalts vileness,
And it is a culture which stealthily tries to capture people with flattery.

It’s that “friend” who seeks to seduce you into sin
By flattering you and building you up and appealing to your flesh.

It is the advice of Satan.
It is called temptation.

Do you remember how Satan tempted Jesus?
Matthew 4:3 “And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

That WASN’T Satan questioning Jesus’ divinity.
Both of them were well aware that Jesus is God’s Son.

What Satan was doing was saying, “I don’t think it’s right that God’s Son; someone as important as You, should go without bread.”

Slick isn’t it?
Well that’s the same culture David lives in.

• Godliness is Out
• Sin is In
• And Flattery is the plan.

That’s the culture.
#2 THE REQUEST
Psalms 12:1, 3-4

The first request is in verse 1, “Help, LORD”

Certainly, just as Jesus taught, David understood
The need for God’s help in overcoming this temptation he was facing.

Specifically the request is made in verses 3-4
(3-4) “May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaks great things; Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”

So again we are confronted with those flattering lips.
And David adds that they are also very boastful about it.
“The tongue that speaks great things”

It is a tongue which offers sin
And then boldly proclaims there will be no repercussions.

It is Satan reassuring Eve
Genesis 3:4-5 “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

It was Satan reassuring Jesus that if He would make God prove His love that God would bow down to His request and bail Him out.
Matthew 4:6 “and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'”

In short, they are very convincing.

I’ve told you many times that they don’t call it temptation for nothing.
And it is like Paul warned the Corinthians,
If you face this thing in pride, it’s going to topple you.

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

And you can think it’s not that big of a deal,
But go again to the temptation of Jesus.

We just read about Satan daring Jesus to throw Himself down.

Have you ever read where Jesus was when Satan told Him that?
Matthew 4:5-6 “Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'”

There was Jesus, standing on the pinnacle of the temple.
Temptation is real, the tempter is smooth.

They flatter, they promise it will all work out.
He assures you no one will know.

David knows that they are more than he can handle on his own.

So David cries (1) “Help, LORD”
And he requests (3) “May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things;”

In short, David wants God to stop the tempter.
He is praying exactly was Jesus taught us.

Matthew 6:13 “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

And based on the culture you see why that is a very appropriate prayer.

The Culture, The Request
#3 THE ANSWER
Psalms 12:5

In the second line of verse 5 we read it, “Now I will arise,” says the LORD”

• David humbles himself before God in regard to the dangers of temptation.
• David humbles himself and asks God to help him in an area that he cannot handle on his own.

And God responds to the humble cry of His servant.

WHY?
(5) “Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise,” says the LORD”

God responds to the humble request of His children.

• If you try to handle this in pride.
• If you try to handle this in your own strength.
• If you, like Peter, assure Jesus that you can handle this, then get ready for the fall.

But, if in humility, you obey the command of Jesus
And humble yourself and ask for His help
Delivering you from the crafty schemes of the tempter,
David says that God will answer.

Did we not read it in Jesus’ parable about the persistent widow?
Luke 18:6-8 “And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

And notice specifically what God is going to do.
“I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”

This ISN’T a prayer about God crushing the wicked.
Don’t let that “cut off all flattering lips” phrase throw you off.

David isn’t asking God to crush the wicked
(though there are certainly Psalms where he does).
This Psalm is asking God to deliver him from the tempter.

And God says, “Absolutely!”
“I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”

WE CAN EASILY APPLY THAT
• Do you live in a corrupt culture?
• Do you attend a workplace where vileness is exalted in the breakroom?
• Do you attend a school where locker room talk is vile and immoral?

Certainly you don’t want to fall into that sin.
Certainly you understand the value of righteousness.

But how do you overcome it?
Jesus said – PRAY
• Pray that God would not allow you to be led into temptation by some set of
flattering lips,
• And that God would deliver you from the smooth offer of the evil one.

That is what David prayed and God was more than eager to oblige!

When you humble yourself and ask God to protect you from temptation, HE WILL!

THAT’S HUGE!

One more thing:
The Culture, The Request, The Answer
#4 THE ASSURANCE
Psalms 12:6-7

This is how David responded to God’s promise of deliverance.
“The words of the LORD are pure words”

Unlike the flattering deceptions of the enemy,
God actually does what He says.

His words are pure.
“As silver tried in the furnace on the earth, refined seven times.”

• If you want pure silver, you stick it in the furnace and you melt it down and burn out all the dross.
• If you want really pure silver, then you let it cool and then melt it down a second time.
• If you want unbelievably pure silver you might consider doing it a third time.

David said God’s word is pure like silver that has been refined 7 times!

GOD DOES WHAT HE SAYS

And so notice David’s statement of faith.
(7) “You, O LORD, will keep them; You will preserve him from the this generation forever.”

There again we see that this prayer
Is NOT about David wanting God to destroy the wicked.
David wants God to save him FROM the wicked.

And David knows that God will do it because God said He would do it.

So do you understand what this means?

GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE IN YOUR STRUGGLE AGAINST SIN.
And when believers will humble themselves and trust in Him
And request His help against temptation, God will grant it!

No wonder Jesus taught us to pray that way.

And, because we are in the Psalms.
Not only is this a prayer we pray, but this is a Psalm that the church ought to sing.

• The church should sing about how God delivers the righteous from temptation.
• The church should sing about how God is a fortress from deception.

AND WE SING:
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing. You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same; and he must win the battle.
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.
That Word above all earthly powers no thanks to them abideth; the Spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with us sideth. Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still; his kingdom is forever!

A Ministry Lesson from Jesus – Part 2
Luke 9:10-17 (12-17)
September 23, 2018

I realize it has been a couple of weeks
Since we looked at this passage in Luke’s gospel.

If you will remember, Luke is still in his 3rd major section of his gospel (7:18-9:20) which we simply call the “Who Is This Man?” section.

We have several times seen the question posed in Luke’s gospel, “Who is this Man?”
• John the Baptist
• The Pharisee in his house
• The disciples after the storm
• And most recently Herod upon hearing of the disciple’s ministry

Luke 9:9 “Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see Him.”

And of course each time Luke emphatically reveals the answer to that question.
• After John the Baptist asked, Jesus instantly worked miracles
• After the Pharisee asked Jesus declared the sinful woman forgiven
• After the disciples asked the demoniac made the declaration

And the answer to Herod’s question is coming soon
Luke 9:20 “And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

It is fairly easy to see that Luke has recently been
On a dedicated mission both to ask and to answer
The foundational question about Jesus.

Who is this man?
He is Jesus, the prophesied Messiah, the Savior, the Son of the Most High, the Christ of God.

Luke has been pretty focused on revealing that without many diversions.

However, we noted that Luke did interrupt the continuity of Herod’s question by inserting this story in the middle.

IN ORDER TO MAKE HIS POINT ABOUT WHO JESUS IS, it would have been a seamless transition to go from Luke 9:9 directly to Luke 9:18,
But Luke risked the distraction in order to include this story.

Some no doubt might assume that Luke is just being thorough,
Wanting to make sure he records all the stories of Jesus and lists all His miracles.

But that isn’t true.
If you read the other gospel accounts you find that Luke actually skipped a lot of information that would have fit in this section.
• Luke omits Jesus walking on water
• Luke omits Jesus’ sermon about being the bread from heaven
• Luke omits many miracles along the Sea of Galilee
• Luke omits the healing of the Canaanite woman’s demon-possessed daughter
• Luke omits Jesus feeding the 4,000
• Luke omits Jesus restoring sight to a blind man

Luke most definitely was NOT trying to give you
An exhaustive description of all that Jesus did.
He recorded what fit his theme.

And since this story of feeding the 5,000 actually seems to interrupt his current theme, we really begin to wonder WHY HE INCLUDED IT.

And the answer is because this story
Begins to introduce us to Luke’s next theme.

Beginning in 9:21 Luke will move to his next segment
Which could be called “Messianic Misconceptions”

Jesus is going to begin addressing all the misconceptions the disciples have about the Messiah and about what it means to follow Him.

This story certainly fits that mold,
And it is apparent that Luke couldn’t bear to skip it.

We are looking at this story because here we find Jesus doing such a wonderful job of explaining the necessary attributes of true ministry.
• Ministry is not a platform for fame
• Ministry is not a gateway for riches
• Ministry is not an occupation of rest
• Ministry is not a conduit for accolades

Though many in our world certainly make those assumptions.

Jesus is giving the disciples there first real lesson in ministry. Namely He is revealing what makes Him tick,
And what must make them tick if they are to follow Him.

These are 5 necessary attitudes a person must have to be in ministry

We already saw 2
#1 ACCOUNTABILITY
Luke 9:10a

We simply read “When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done.”

We are reminded that every believer is in the service of the Lord
And every believer will give an account of that service to Him.

• We don’t serve according to our own standards
• We don’t operate according to popularity poles or social pressures
• WE SERVE THE LORD AND WE ANSWER TO THE LORD

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

The Lord had told the 12 to go, preach, heal and to be content as they went,
Now He is asking, “Did you? Did you do what I commanded?”

Every single believer in this room
Can expect to answer that same question one day.

We are accountable.
#2 PRIORITY
Luke 9:10b-11

And I again remind you of the setting.
When we take into consideration the information from all 4 gospel accounts we learn:
• The disciples have just returned from a mission trip and they are likely exhausted
• Jesus just received word that John the Baptist had been beheaded, and He was no doubt grieving
• The crowds throughout Galilee were relentless
• Bethsaida was not only remote, but actually home to at least 5 of the disciples.

Mark 6:30-31 “The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)”

And we talked about the joys of a peaceful retreat and get-a-way.
We talked about the excitement of returning home on furlough.

But you remember the problem.
Mark 6:33 “The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them.”

Someone leaked their itinerary and when the disciples got off the boat near Bethsaida, the crowd was already waiting.

And we recounted how frustrated we might have been
Under similar circumstances.

But Jesus, to no one’s surprise, did what Jesus always does.

John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

They came, and He accepted them.

Luke said, “and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.”

OF COURSE HE DID.
He came to seek and to save that which was lost.

But it forced us to answer the question.
Does the ministry ever end?

I mean if exhausted disciples and a grieving Jesus aren’t reason enough to close up shop for a day, is there ever a time when we can?

And the answer from Jesus certainly seems to be, “No”.
We are always on mission.
Our ministry is priority #1

• Does that mean we never make plans? No
• Does that mean we never take vacations? No
• Does that mean we never tend to necessities? No

It just means that in all of those things we are still ministers,
And we never forget that.

1 Peter 3:15 “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”

Ministry rarely occurs when you plan for it.
But it’s not uncommon to pop up at Wal-Mart, or the airport, or at the doctor’s office, or some other place when you weren’t expecting it.

Make sure that service to your Lord is your priority.

Saw these 2 last time, but there’s more that is required
#3 LOVE
Luke 9:12-13

Of course we probably need to first remind ourselves what love is.
Love is the sacrifice of self for the good of another.

And it is an absolutely necessary attitude of ministry
Which Jesus teaches the disciples here.

I’m sure AT THIS POINT the disciples
Must have felt like they had already been MORE THAN GRACIOUS.

Luke says, “Now the day was ending”
And the point is that it was already very late.

• The disciples must have felt like they had already done their part and had probably already gone the extra mile.

• Their vacation had already been interrupted, but now it’s time to send the crowd away so we can get on with our trip.

And so Luke records:
(12) “Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.”

Now for the sake of full understanding
You need to know that this issue of feeding the crowd
Had already been on the mind of the disciples all day.

In fact, John’s gospel tells us:
John 6:5-6 “Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.”

That means, from the moment that the crowd began to arrive
Jesus had already placed the bug in their ear
About what it would require to feed them.

Jesus already knew what He was going to do, but this was a teaching opportunity.

The immediate answer from Philip was:
John 6:7 “Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.”

As soon as Jesus brought up the question, Philip did the math and figured that feeding this crowd just wasn’t going to be cost effective.

A “denarii” was a day’s wage.
• We’re talking about nearly a year’s salary to feed this crowd (this crowd that
shouldn’t even be here I might add)

But it is evident that as Jesus began to preach
They began to try and figure out what to do
About this crowd’s physical needs of hunger.

And by evening time they have it figured out.
(12) “Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat;”

The disciple’s solution?
Send them away.

And if you’ll notice, their reasoning even sounds noble.
• We don’t have the money
• It’s getting late
• This is a desolate place
• It’s really in their best interest
• We’re only thinking of them

And if you think the disciple’s only motive was the crowd’s well-being
Then you are gravely mistaken.

• Did Jesus not give these same 12 authority to heal diseases and cast out
demons?
• Had Jesus not just commissioned these same 12 to also preach the gospel?

And yet, nothing is recorded about any of them doing any of that.

A crowd of 5,000 shows up
And they aren’t preaching, they aren’t healing,
They’re just trying to find an acceptable way to get rid of them.

“Send the crowd away”

You’ll notice that their noble reasoning earned them a rebuke.
(13) “But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!”

Again, other writers give us a little more to the story.

When the disciples suggested sending the crowd away so they could eat,
• Jesus first asked them to look and see how much food they already
had.

Mark 6:38 “And He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

They said to send the crowd away and Jesus said,
“Don’t you have some food?” And then “Go look!”

It is the reminder that IF YOU HAVE THE MEANS to meet the need
Then YOU SHOULD MEET THE NEED.

1 John 3:17 “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”

So the disciples start looking and what do they find?
(13b) “And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

SURELY Jesus wouldn’t want them to go
And spend that much money on 1 simple meal.

But do you understand what Jesus is teaching here?
He is teaching the necessity of love in the ministry.
• Those who minister must do it without selfishness.
• Those who minister must learn to sacrifice themselves for the good of others.

That might be your resources
That might be your lunch
That might be your time

Because the reality is that if you don’t minister out of love,
You either won’t minister at all or you’ll minister wrong.

Consider this example:
Luke 10:30-35 “Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. “And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. “On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’”

The Levite and the priest had no love, and so they had no ministry.

There is very little ministry that ever occurs without costing you something.

I’ll admit that it would be nice if all ministry could be scheduled between 10:30 and 11:30 on Sunday mornings, but it’s not nearly that organized.
It’s usually inconvenient…
It’s usually expensive…
It’s usually frustrating…

And if you don’t have love, then you won’t even attempt
95% of the ministry opportunities that come your way.

And then those other 5% that you DO attempt…
Without love you won’t do them correctly.

What did Paul teach us?
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”

If you don’t learn to sacrifice yourself for the good of another (love) then you either won’t minister at all, or you’ll do it wrong.

Jesus just confronted the selfishness in the disciples.

They had had enough of the crowds, “send them away”,
Let us get on with our own plans. And Jesus rebuked them.

Go find what you have and give it to these people.
LOVE IS REQUIRED

AND THE REMAINDER OF THE NEW TESTAMENT GIVES MANY EXAMPLES OF THIS:

2 Corinthians 12:15 “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?”

Philippians 2:3-8 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Philippians 2:17 “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.”

1 Thessalonians 2:8 “Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.”

2 Timothy 2:10 “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

Do you see it?
• Ministry requires self-sacrifice; otherwise known as love.
• It cannot be done any other way.

Accountability, Priority, Love
#4 TRUST
Luke 9:14-16

• Well we know that the disciples have learned that Jesus expects them to feed the crowd.
• You’d think after all the authority Jesus had just given them, this wouldn’t have seen so far-fetched.

However they don’t know what to do.
All they could scrounge was “five loaves and two fish”

John 6:9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?”

And the reason this seems so insignificant is because “there were about five thousand men.”

I think you can easily multiply that number according to their families
And 20,000 people is a safe assumption (at least)
Are you really going to feed 20,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish?

And then notice what Jesus said:
“And He said to His disciples, “Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each.”

That alone is a requirement of faith.
• The disciples are well aware of the limitations,
• They’ve already calculated and seen that this is beyond them.

But they do what Jesus says.
(15) “They did so, and had them all sit down.”

And I love what happens next.
(16) “Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people.”

The phrase I really like there is the phrase “kept giving”

It was a repeated action.
Jesus would reach into the basket and give Peter 5 loaves and 2 fish and tell him to go pass it out among that first group of 50.

• So Peter puts it in a basket and heads over…
• But he’s got to be thinking this is going to be embarrassing.

• Meanwhile John is in line right behind Peter and he’s thinking Jesus just gave
Peter all the food, what is He going to give me?
• And yet, to his surprise there’s 5 more loaves and 2 more fish. So he takes off.

And this occurs for each of the 12.

• And when Peter reaches that first group of fifty he reaches in and hands 1
loaf to the first guy (because you know you’ve got to ration it somehow) but
then when he looks in, there’s still 5 loaves there. Wait…what?

• And when he gives 5 loaves and 2 fish to the 50th person in the group his
basket is empty so he goes back to Jesus who puts five more loaves and
2 more fish in in it.

He “kept giving”

What’s the lesson there?
(it’s not for the crowd, it’s for the 12)

ALL MINISTRY FLOWS FROM JESUS
Trust is required

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

So can I tell you something about ministry that may shock you?

YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO DO IT
The ministry God commands is to be done only by His Spirit,
It is Him working through us.

If you can do it in your own strength, or by your own abilities
Then it is not by the power of His Spirit,
And therefore it can never be effective.

Take the statement by Paul.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Christians are real good at expressing all the things they can’t do in the ministry.
• I’m not a good speaker…
• I’m not a good listener…
• I’m just not good at that…

This ministry here of feeding the 5,000
Was absolutely impossible for the 12,
But it was not impossible for the Lord.

Christ is NOT asking you to just
“Do what you can” for the kingdom.
Make no mistake, Christ is asking you to
Do what you can’t for the kingdom.

Remember the concept of spiritual gifts?
1 Peter 4:10-11 “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

All that Christ is asking you to do,
He is asking you to do in His ability not your own.

Perhaps it will help if you think a moment about THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN worship and ministry.

Do you know the difference?
• Worship is when you bring gifts to God for His satisfaction.
• Ministry is when God gives gifts to you for His service.

While worship may deplete all that you have to offer.
Ministry is done in God’s strength.
He equips

Ministry is Christ doing through you what you can’t do on your own.

And this is important for every believer to understand.
If all you ever do is what you are confident you can do, then there is a lot of ministry you will never even attempt.

If you are going to minister for Christ
• You most certainly must make it a priority,
• You most certainly must do it in love,
• But you also have to trust that God can use you, and that He will use you.

All ministry is done in faith.

I’m always mindful of a friend of mine named Dallas Huston (he’s actually preached here in the past). We were talking about this very concept one day and he shared we me how he has often taken his sermon notes before a sermon and lifted them up to God and said, “Lord if you take 5 loaves and 2 fish and feed a multitude, then surely you can do something with this.”

That’s the mindset.
• Trust God to supply the words
• Trust God to supply the compassion
• Trust God to supply the opportunity
• Trust God to supply the strength

He’s the vine, you’re the branch – trust Him.

Accountability, Priority, Love, Trust
#5 FULFILLMENT
Luke 9:17

I love that this piece of information is included.

On one hand it REINFORCES what Paul told the Ephesians:
Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,”

This story certainly proves that.

But beyond that, have you ever wondered why there were 12 baskets left over?
• There’s no doubt…it’s because there were 12 disciples.

The phrase is very telling “they all ate and were satisfied”

Jesus didn’t just ask them to sacrifice their trip…
He didn’t just ask them to endure a long evening of ministry…
JESUS FULLY SATISFIED THE DISCIPLES THROUGH THE MINISTRY.

Now think about this.
• Ministry is costly…
• Ministry is tiresome…
• Ministry is inconvenient…
• BUT MINISTRY IS SO FULFILLING!

Let me read a couple of those verses again:
2 Corinthians 12:15 “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?”

Did you pick up on the “most gladly” part?
Paul wasn’t bitter about it, he was eager.

Philippians 2:17 “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.”

Did you catch what Paul said about being poured out?
“I rejoice”. There was no grief there.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 “Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.”

We were “well-pleased” to minister to you.

I think the disciple’s attitude prior to the miracle is pretty obvious.
I don’t think they’re all that excited about the ministry opportunity that day.

But how do you think they were feeling after the miracle?
After seeing thousands of people satisfied; after being the one to meet the need?

How do you think Peter felt, sitting on that grass, with a full stomach, looking over the contented multitudes and seeing what Jesus had just done?

Do you think they still wished they would’ve just sent the crowd away?
No way!

There is a fulfillment in ministry that you can’t get anywhere else.

It is pure joy to have Christ use you to bless another.
• Especially when it rerouted your day…
• Especially when it was done in His strength, beyond yours…

This is what sets us apart.

False prophets only minister for fleshly fulfillment.
• They want money…
• They want gratification…

But the true ministers of God are seeking something way better.
We are seeking the fulfillment of having been used by God.
That’s a blessing that money can’t buy.

So when Jesus sends you out as His minister; His ambassador
• You are called to do that which will be the absolute priority of your life
• You are called to do that which can only be done in love
• You are called to do that which can only be done in His power
• You are called to do that for which you will give an account to Him
ALL THAT IS TRUE

BUT I CAN ALSO PROMISE YOU THAT IF YOU DO THAT,
IT WILL SATISFY YOU MORE THAN
A WEEKEND GETAWAY ACROSS THE LAKE EVER COULD.

If you’ll think about it, this was a lesson Jesus has been trying to drive into the disciples for quite some time.

• What do you think He was saying when He found them mending their nets and
He told them “follow Me and I will make you fishers of men”?
• Was this not part of the point to the miracle of the great catch of fish?
• It was certainly the point at the end of John when Peter has returned to fishing
and the Lord reminded him, “You’re a shepherd Peter, not a fisherman”.

They were created for this.
This is where their fulfillment lies

AND THAT IS TRUE FOR YOU TOO!
• You weren’t just born for ministry, you were “born again” for ministry.
• You weren’t just created for ministry, you were recreated for ministry.

AND THERE LIES YOUR SATISFACTION
It is fulfilling
And this was the ministry lesson from Jesus.

Is Righteousness Valuable?
Psalms 11
September 16, 2018

Many of you are familiar with the book of Job.
It is the account of the most blameless man on earth,
Who fell into enormous affliction and suffering.

Job 1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

And yet, Satan incited God to afflict Job, claiming that
If Job lost his worldly comforts, then he would curse God to his face.
And so Job suffered mightily at God’s hand.

And while Job never cursed God, nor sinned with his lips
Job did begin to ask the very question we pose tonight.

IS RIGHTEOUSNESS VALUABLE?

And it was Elihu who really called Job on this question.
Job 34:9 “For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing When he is pleased with God.’”

Job 35:3 “For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You? What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’”

And Job wasn’t alone in this.
We remember Asaph in Psalms 73

Psalms 73:13 “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence;”

These were people who had sacrificed to live a righteous life,
But who then felt like that righteousness wasn’t justly treated.

And so from the midst of their affliction they asked,
“Is righteousness valuable?”

• What is the point of being righteous if it doesn’t make life better?
• What is the point of being righteous if it doesn’t save me from harm?

Well, that is the question of our Psalm tonight.
Only it’s not a question David is asking, it’s a question David is answering

Probably more than that,
It’s a faulty mindset that David is correcting.

David is addressing his contemporaries who are telling him
That being righteous won’t help him in his current predicament.

Their advice is not unlike the advice of Job’s wife.
Job 2:9 “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Similar to Job’s wife, when David finds himself in a difficult situation, his friends arise to give him worldly advice.

David’s friends tell David basically to “run”, to “fear”, and to “give up”.

Now, in fairness fleeing in the midst of adversity is not always wrong.
David in fact did it many times.
• Sometimes he did it to spare a fight.
• Sometimes he did it for the sake of the city or for his men.
• God specifically warned Joseph to flee Bethlehem when Jesus was a baby.
• Paul fled from Damascus in a basket

The problem with the advice of David’s friends
Is NOT that they told him to flee.
The problem with their advice comes in verse 3
When they ask, “What can the righteous do?”

David, you’re righteousness can only go so far,
Now it’s time to think practical and save yourself.

It is worldly logic.
It is decisions made with the eyes of flesh, not the eyes of faith.

And we see this type of advice given several times in Scripture.

It was this type of advice which Peter gave to Jesus when he pulled Jesus aside and told Him to quit talking about a coming crucifixion.

Matthew 16:22 “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”

Jesus called Peter Satan after that piece of advice.

It was the type of peer pressure the disciples sought to put on Jesus when He wanted to return to Jerusalem after just having escaped a murder attempt.

John 11:8 “The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?”

It was the type of practical advice the disciples tried to give Jesus during the feeding of the 5,000

Luke 9:12-13 “Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.” But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

It was the type of discouragement that other believers tried to give Paul when he was set on going to Jerusalem.

Acts 21:10-14 “As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'” When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

Those were all situations in which believers offered bad advice.
It was advice based on fear and worldly logic,
And it was advice which was void of faith.

We have both received and given that kind of advice in our lives.

Well here David has received some of this advice,
And in his frustration he wrote a song for the church.

As we read in the heading, “For the choir director”
This again was a song to be sung in the church.

And it is a song meant to answer the question,
“Is Righteousness Valuable?”

Let’s look at the Psalm together – 3 main points.
#1 THE FAITH WE PROCLAIM
Psalms 11:1a

“In the LORD I take refuge”

It is the opening line of this song in the church,
And it fully sums up the entire purpose and declaration of the song.

The word for “refuge” there is CHACA (hasa)
And it means “to flee for protection”

And David reminds the church, that our protection is found “in the LORD”

Notice that
• David DOESN’T say, “To the LORD I take refuge”
• David says “In the LORD I take refuge”

And in a moment you’ll see why this is such an important distinction.

But in a simple sense, it is David explaining to his pessimistic friends that in the LORD he has all that he needs.

He doesn’t have to flee
He doesn’t have to despair
He has a plan, and that plan is God

And of course this sentiment is not unique to this Psalm

Psalms 7:1 “O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,”

Psalms 16:1 “Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.”

Psalms 25:2 “O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me.”

Psalms 56:11 “In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

What an important song for the church to sing.
What an important doctrine for the church to grasp.

GOD IS OUR REFUGE.

Psalms 46:1-3 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.”

This is the reminder of David, and it is the declaration of the church.
• Regardless of what we face…
• Regardless of the trial…
• We have a refuge.

We have a place to flee for protection.
We run to the LORD.

Now, that’s just a general statement
That we all agree with even without any context.
It’s simply true, no matter the circumstance.

However, this song provides for us the context,
And why David felt so compelled to declare it.

The Faith We Proclaim
#2 THE COUNSEL WE REJECT
Psalms 11:1b-3

Here we find what prompted David
To make such a bold and direct statement.

We don’t know the specific setting of the Psalm,
But David’s friends enlighten us to the danger,
For they have given him some counsel.

And incidentally, the counsel is very disagreeable to David.
In fact, he can’t believe any other believer would give such counsel.

Hence the “How can you say to my soul..?”

The implication here is
“How can you (as a believer in God) give me advice like this?”

What is the advice?
“Flee as a bird to your mountain;”

• They want David to run.
• They want David to flee.

Now, as we said, fleeing is not necessarily a bad thing.
Certainly a Christian does not always flee, but without knowing the specific circumstance here, we can’t say with certainty whether or not fleeing was warranted.

The PROBLEM with the advice is not that they told him to flee,
But WHY they told him to flee.

It is why they told him that he needs to run.

And there are 3 reasons.
1) THE DANGER IS LETHAL (2)
“For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.”

There is a persecution that has emerged.
There is a hostility that is present.

It is instigated by “the wicked” and it is aimed at “the upright in heart.”

We saw last week how the wicked long to corrupt and defile the innocence of the humble, here we learn that they also like to destroy the life of the righteous.

Darkness hates the light, and therefore always attacks it.
And there is no shortage of passages in Scripture that speak to this effect.

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

Jesus said to His brothers:
John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.”

And then later He would tell His disciples:
John 15:18-21 “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. “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.”

Jesus said, “They hate Me because I convict them, and they’ll hate you because You’re with Me.”

This is the hostility that David is facing.
His wicked enemies want to kill him
Because he upholds a righteous standard.

And so his friends tell him to flee.
It could even be an implication for him to NOT BE SO STUCK ON RIGHTEOUSNESS.

David needs to make himself less of a target.
His commitment to the righteous life is getting him in trouble.

The wicked have a bow, it is loaded with an arrow,
It is drawn back, and it is pointed at David.

The Danger is Lethal
2) THE SYSTEM IS LIBERAL (3)
“If the foundations are destroyed..?”

Now of course this comes in the form of a question,
But it is a question which assumes this fact is true.

David’s friends are giving advice through the form of a question.
• Advice based on the extreme dangers David faces,
• Advice based on the fact that “the foundations are destroyed”

“foundations” is the word SHATHA (shoth)
And it speaks of “political or moral support”

In other words, David is in danger
But he can expect no help from the government,
Nor can he expect any help from society.

(This Psalm is likely set when Saul is King)
• The government is corrupt
• The government does not care about his righteousness
• And the “good people” of society will turn away to save their own skin

David’s culture is just not a culture that rewards righteousness.
And so, if he’s expecting some sort of deliverance by the civil authorities
Then he’s hoping for nothing.

And here we could talk for quite some time about
The absolute futility for believers to seek the government as a savior.
• I certainly agree with civil duty…
• I certainly agree with exercising the right to vote…
• I also agree with submission to the governing authorities…

I agree with all those things,
And have no problem with believers taking part there.

But, many believers today invest themselves in politics as if the government could somehow save us.
• Their entire focus is on elections and legislation and boycotts.

And the real problem with all this focus
Is that often times their hope follows.

This is why we see so many “believers” just crumble into despair
And get in fights in social media over political issues.

It represents people who place way too much hope in the government
Or society for their deliverance.

That’s what David’s friends were doing.
• They were convinced that all hope was lost because the governmental and societal systems were corrupt.

• They fell into hysteria and fear all because their moral foundations were being attacked.

And so they tell David he’d better run.

The Danger is Lethal, The System is Liberal
3) HOPE IS LOST (3b)

And this is the real problem, “What can the righteous do?”
• Do you hear their anxiety?
• Do you hear their fear?

More importantly do you see how shallow their faith is?
• If the government isn’t going to bail us out…
• If the government isn’t going to protect us…
• If society won’t do the morally right thing…

Then we have no hope, “What can the righteous do?”

That type of hysteria only proves that people
Are putting their faith in the government instead of in God.

We live in a world where “In God We Trust”
Is printed on the government’s currency,
But “In Government We Trust” is screamed by God’s people.

And that is a recipe for disaster.
Jeremiah 17:5-8 “Thus says the LORD, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD. “For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.”

Psalms 20:7 “Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.”

Psalms 108:12 “Oh give us help against the adversary, For deliverance by man is in vain.”

Psalms 118:8-9 “It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in princes.”

Now it is true that
• The government does in fact have a God-ordained function,
• Which they are required to perform under penalty of the judgment of God.

Romans 13:3-4 “For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”

Incidentally this is why we do not agree with “Separation of Church and State”.
It’s not that we oppose freedom of religion, we don’t.
It’s just that we want politicians to understand that they will answer to God.

The government has a function which they should fulfill,
But we never place our hope in whether or not they actually do it.

David’s friends basically said:
“If the government isn’t for us, then we are sunk!”

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

David’s friends need that verse.
And incidentally, David is about to give it to them.

He already questioned their pitiful counsel boldly declaring, “In the LORD I take refuge.”

Now David is about to explain why.
And it is a beautiful declaration of faith from God’s people.

The Faith We Proclaim, The Counsel We Reject
#3 THE GOD WE TRUST
Psalms 11:4-7

Here David just sets the record straight.
It is a lesson on perspective.

It is the same as when the King of Aram went to attack and kill Elisha and Elisha’s servant fell into dismay.

Elisha sought to change his perspective.
2 Kings 6:17 “Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

That is David’s purpose here.
• To open blind eyes
• To give proper perspective to those in despair

And David here gives us 3 counter arguments to the counsel of his faithless friends.
1) THE FOUNDATION ISN’T SHAKEN (4a)

David declares, “The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven;”

When David’s friends approached him and said, “the foundations are destroyed” David immediately said,
“You’re looking at the wrong foundation”

You are looking at the earthly throne.
I’m looking at the heavenly one.

This encounter also occurred for the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 6:1-5 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 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.”

• Uzziah had reigned for 52 years in Israel.
• Things were stable under his reign, and now he was gone,
• And all Isaiah could see was an empty throne.

And in frustration, possibly despair, he entered the temple,
Where he received a new perspective.

Uzziah was only a representative of the “the King”.
And that foundation was firm.

Remember Asaph when he fell into despair because it seemed like the wicked did whatever they wanted without consequence?

Do you remember what set him right?
Psalms 73:16-17 “When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.”

David is taking his doubting counselors there.
He, in effect, took them to Revelation 4
Where in heaven we see a throne and One on the throne.

It is the sovereign reality of God’s absolutely dominion.
• You think things are bad because the government is corrupt?
• You think things are bad because society is immoral?
• You think hope is lost because no one cares about Christianity anymore?

Have you forgotten who the sovereign King of the world is?

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

My whole life it seems it’s been the same story.
• Bill Clinton got elected, what are we ever going to do?
• George W. Bush got elected, it’s over for America now!
• Barak Obama got elected, there goes Christianity for good.
• Donald Trump got elected, it’s got to be the end for sure now.

What petty, faithless, ignorant, and short-sited statements!
GOD REIGNS ON HIS THRONE!

And that’s what David is telling his counselors.
“What do you mean righteousness is no longer valuable?
Have you forgotten who is King?”

Have you forgotten that our God reigns?
The foundations are just fine.

Charles Spurgeon said,
“The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which the believer rests his head.”

Absolutely true! Don’t rest your head on any other pillow.
Don’t stand on any other foundation.

The Foundation Isn’t Shaken
2) JUDGMENT ISN’T FORGOTTEN (4b-5)
“His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates.”

• Do you really suppose that the wicked are just getting off scot free?
• Do you really think God doesn’t see?
• Do you really think God doesn’t know?

He knows!
“His eyes behold”

He analyzes!
“His eyelids test the sons of men”

He is angry!
“The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates.”

There’s you another uncomfortable fact about God.
David says that God hates those who love violence.

DOESN’T SAY God hates violence.
It SAYS God hates those who love it.
(Does Romans 5 not call them enemies of God?”

God isn’t passive…
God isn’t wishy-washy…

Our God is a sovereign King,
Passionate about holiness and righteousness.
He is so passionate that He carefully watches every man,
And evaluates and judges their every deed and every motive.
And He responds in divine wrath to those who defy His decrees.

Proverbs 6:16-19 “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.”

GOD HATES WICKEDNESS.
So are you really going to ask me if righteousness is valuable?

Don’t fear the rise of the wicked, they won’t win.
Our God reigns and He hates wickedness.

The Foundation isn’t Shaken and Judgment Isn’t Forgotten
3) JUSTICE ISN’T FORSAKEN (6-7)

God doesn’t just hate the wicked,
He pronounces justice upon them.

(6-7) “Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.”

The obvious question is:
Do you understand what it means when God says He hates something?

HE CRUSHES IT!
“snares” – “fire” – “brimstone” – “burning wind”

Why?
“For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness;”

He does not let the guilty go unpunished

And He does not let the righteous go unrewarded.
“The upright will behold His face.”

POINT? – I don’t know what you saw on the evening news that sent you into such a tither, but OPEN YOUR EYES OF FAITH and see that things are as secure now as they have ever been.

Go read the book of Daniel
• And watch as God’s people are captives in a foreign land.
• And see how God systematically overthrows ruler after ruler

During the book of Daniel Babylon falls, Media falls, Persia falls,
Greece falls, the future fall of Rome is revealed –
And yet God’s people are still standing through it all.

Do you know why?
• Our God reigns
• He knows what is happening
• He will judge it in righteousness

SO CAN WE NOW ANSWER THE QUESTION:
“Is Righteousness Valuable?” – I think “yes”

BUT BEFORE YOU START HIGH-FIVING.
This also presents a massive problem for us.

We read this Psalm about God rewarding the righteous and we each
(out of human nature)
Just decided to put ourselves in the camp of the righteous.

You are rejoicing that God crushes the wicked and rewards the righteous.

But let me ask you, “Who told you that you were the righteous?”

Stop and look at your life.
Go back to that passage in Proverbs.
• You have never loved violence?
• You have never had haughty eyes?
• You have never had a lying tongue?
• You have never shed innocent blood?
• You have never devised wicked schemes?
• You have never run into evil?
• You have never been a false witness?
• You have never spread strife?

Who told you that you were righteous?

We just learned that God watches everybody.
(4) “His eyelids test the sons of men.”

“test” is the word used of “testing metals”
God knows who and what you are.

And furthermore we just learned that upon those who are not righteous, “He will rain snares; fire and brimstone and burning wind”

We determined that righteousness is valuable,
But the far more important question is, who among you has it?

Because God will judge with justice.
Romans 2:6-11 “[God] WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”

John 5:28-29 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

It’s amazing how easily people can read that and assume that
They are the ones who did the good deeds worthy of life.

Let me take you back now to that first line of the Psalm.
“In the LORD I take refuge.”

I told you that David doesn’t say, “TO the LORD I take refuge”
David said “In the LORD”

This is a picture of the atonement that is found
Only when we die to ourselves and are raised “in Christ Jesus”.

We are talking here about being clothed IN the righteousness of Christ.

Think about David’s righteousness?
Romans 4:6-8 “just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”

David said that his sins had “BEEN COVERED”.

He was not standing before God in his own righteousness.
• He was taking refuge “In the LORD”,
• That is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is that miracle of the imputed righteousness of Christ.
David had it, and so before God, he had nothing to fear.
Without it, you are merely the wicked whom God will destroy.

Now, there is a song for the church to sing.
My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

Righteousness is indeed valuable because the absolute sovereign God of the universe loves righteousness.

And that righteousness is found only by those who place their faith in the perfect righteousness and substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.

010 Break The Arm Of The Wicked
Psalms 10
September 9, 2018

Well after reading the Psalm, and looking at the title,
You are certainly aware that we are yet again looking at
Another one of those imprecatory Psalms

Does it surprise you to find that there are so many of them?
• We are already learning that the saints of old had a great deal to say about the wicked in this world and how they wanted God to respond to them.

I’ll admit again, that these Psalms seem to hit us a little funny
Because our current cultural Christian views
Tell us that such sentiments are so wrong.

There is no doubt that we have developed a theology
That looks to a God who is never angry at anyone.

And so when we read from His inspired word
Of a song that the church is to sing
Which asks God to break the arm of the wicked,
We naturally do a little bit of a double-take.

It just seems backward.

But again, I have no problem with that.
I am well aware that one of the main purposes of Scripture
Is to address my thinking and how wrong I am about so many issues.

Paul wrote:
Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

That’s exactly what God’s word does.
It renews our mind.

Because of the fall we don’t naturally think right.
• Our mind, like our will is fallen.
• It’s backward.

That’s why the world calls evil good and good evil.
God’s word sets us straight on areas where we don’t think correctly.

And I’m convinced that this is one of those areas.

If I could sum it up here tonight, I would say it like this.
THE CHURCH HAS FAILED TO GRASP
JUST HOW DANGEROUS THE WICKED ARE.

Well, David is well aware, and this Psalm is about that.

Just for some backstory,
• For centuries the early church paired Psalm 10 with Psalm 9. In many cases they didn’t even recognize a break between the two.

They certainly fit in regard to theme.
They both deal with our struggle with the wicked.

The obvious difference is that where Psalm 9 is
A song of praise for God as our Avenger from the wicked,
Psalm 10 is a lament when God seems slow to answer our cry.

And as we work through this Psalm tonight, what I want you to see pick
IS THE THREAT THAT THE WICKED POSE
And why David thought it necessary to so boldly pray against them.

Let’s break this Psalm down into 3 points.
#1 DAVID’S CONCERN
Psalms 10:1-11

When you look at those first 11 verses
You will see that David has 2 main concerns.

One is the ENEMY’S AGGRESSION (that’s what you see in verses 3-11)
That is certainly a problem which we will look at.

The other is GOD’S ABSENCE or perceived absence in the midst of it.

That’s where David begins.
(1) “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?”

It’s certainly not hard to recognize the fickle nature of David here.

Just last week in Psalms 9 we read:
Psalms 9:7-10 “But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

• We remember that great statement of confidence as David recounted the past and all that God had done for Him.

• As David recounted all his victories he was filled with praise acknowledging that God never forsook him and was always “a stronghold in times of trouble.”

• That’s a good Sunday morning worship song from a believer in a good position.

In Psalms 10 however, we see the prayer of that same person
When they are in the middle of affliction.

“Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?”

We don’t believe for a second that either of those statements is true.
God doesn’t stand afar off
And God doesn’t hide Himself from His elect in their trouble.

BUT IT SURE CAN SEEM THAT WAY CAN’T IT?

That is all David is reflecting.
• The situation is worse than David wants
• And God’s response is slower than David wants.

It is just a statement frustration from a man
Who sees all the damage the wicked are causing
And who wonders why God allows it to continue.

And in case God has failed to understand what David is talking about, he says, “In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted;”

I like David’s drama here.

It’s not just that the wicked pursue the afflicted,
But they “hotly pursue the afflicted” and they do it “in pride”.

You can feel David seeking to incite God here.

It’s as though David wants God to finally understand
Just how bad the situation is.

Furthermore David wants God to do something about it.
“Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.”

David wants God to do what He has commonly done.
Psalms 7:15 “He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made.”

Psalms 9:15 “The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made; In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.”

You understand where David is coming from here.
God isn’t moving fast enough for his liking.

And David wants God to know why they deserve judgment.
(3-4) “For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

David makes sure that God knows who the wicked are.
And at their very core they are those who do not trust God.
• They don’t submit to God’s sovereignty
• They don’t seek God’s direction
• They don’t acknowledge God’s presence

They just run around this world
Following the impulses of their own sinful hearts,
Doing whatever feels good
With no thought whatsoever regarding what God may think.

That’s why when we were lost we were called enemies of God.
• We didn’t care about what God wanted
• We didn’t care about what God said
• We didn’t care if God was watching
• We didn’t really even ever take God into consideration

That is what David means by “All his thoughts are, “There is no God”

It doesn’t mean that he spews atheism 24-7
It simply means that God’s will and God’s judgment
Never enters his thinking to motivate anything he does.

THAT IS THE WICKED IN THE WORLD.

These are the people that David is pointing out to God and asking that they “be caught in the plots which they have devised.”

Now certainly at this point we could venture off into the sovereignty of God and discuss WHY GOD ALLOWS THE WICKED TO ENDURE.

• We could talk about how God raised Pharaoh up so that later He could
demonstrate His power in him.
• We could talk about how God is not willing for any to perish, but for all to come
to repentance.
• We could talk about how God uses the wicked even to bring about His
sanctification in the righteous.

We could certainly venture off into those areas
And seek to give answer to David’s grief.

Or we could talk about David’s faith and the need for him to trust God even when he can’t see.

But if we want to follow the theme of the song
Then what we really need to discuss is
WHY THE WICKED ARE SO DANGEROUS.

That is what David brings forth.

He goes into a 7 verse discourse about the actions of the wicked
And why God should be compelled to stop them.

And this is important for the church to note.

David here gives 7 descriptors about the enemy or the wicked, let’s look at them.

1) HIS WAYS (5)
“His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.”

You could certainly read this verse
As if David is complaining because the wicked always seem to win.

Certainly that is the cry of Asaph in Psalms 73:
Psalms 73:11-12 “They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?” Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.”

That COULD BE what David has in mind as well.

But the word “prosper” there is a Hebrew word
That also means “to twirl or dance”.

• It was used of anguish, like a person “dancing of writhing in pain”
• And it was used of a person celebrating and “dancing about”

I don’t think he’s is talking about the wicked enjoying God’s favor.
I think he is talking about the wicked and their arrogant strut.

They are always dancing and prancing about,
• Happy about their lifestyle,
• Giving no thought whatsoever to the ordinances of God,
• And even those who oppose them, they snort at them or scoff at them.

WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE
Is a man living in wickedness and who proudly puts it on display
And boasts about it, and mocks anyone who confronts him about it.

WHAT IS THE DANGER HERE?
They make wickedness look appealing.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed the pompous and arrogant nature of many professional athletes today. Probably none more than the
“PRIMA DONNA WIDE RECEIVER”

What I was unware of was how all this started.
• I watched a ESPN documentary a few months ago about a man named Richard Flear who had tried his hand at college football, but eventually entered the world of professional wrestling.

• He struggled for a while, was even in a plane crash that broke his back, but when he healed he decided that he wanted to do two things. He wanted to be a blond and he wanted to be a bad guy.

And “The Nature Boy Ric Flair” was born.
He was the first.

• The first to show up in flashy suits,
• The first to show up bragging about 2 women on his arm,
• The first to brag about wealth and extravagance and immorality.
• It was about Ric Flair that the advertising people for his wrestling federation coined the phrase, “Women want him, men want to be him.”

During this documentary, many of the prima donna wide receivers said they took their inspiration from Ric Flair.

WHY?
• Because he made wickedness look fun.
• He danced about and boldly bragged,
• He traveled in luxury with women on his arm.
• He made it look appealing.

When asked, “Do you think people in the 80’s were living vicariously through you?” Flair answered, “In the 80’s? Oh most definitely. Everybody wanted to be me; every man, because I had the nicest clothes, the biggest cars, the biggest house, and more women. And I was the best wrestler.”
http://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/21151921

And this man inspired an entire generation of athletes.

And this is the danger.
They make sin look fun, instead of what it really is;
Namely that which will incite the wrath of God in your life.

This is why David sees them as such a threat.
2) HIS THOUGHTS (6)
“He says to himself, “I will not be moved; Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity.”

It again plays to their bombastic nature,
But it reveals that their pride is not a show.

We are not dealing with actors here who are playing a part,
We are dealing with people who genuinely believe
That they have found the good life.

They boast in their wickedness and they have conviction about it.
This makes them dangerous.

This makes them appealing to the rest of the world.

It would be one thing if they put on a show, but knew it was fake.
A person like that has a tough time selling his product.

But the wicked David sees genuinely and truly think they have found the golden ticket and it makes them so influential in the world.

3) HIS WORDS (7)
“His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.”

We are well aware that “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” and that is true for the wicked.

Because they live in wickedness
And because they truly believe it is the way to live,
THEY SPEND THEIR DAYS VERBALLY SELLING IT.

Like a professional wrestler they brag and boast and sell their evil
And seek to convince the world around them
That they have found the secret.

Just do this and you’ll be happy. Don’t you want to be like me!

This is the wicked of the world.
4) HIS PLANS (8)
“He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the hiding places he kills the innocent; His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.”

And here is where their danger steps it up a notch.
THEY ARE MISSIONAL.

They are hunting, they are watching, they are scoping.
And what is their objective?

They are planning to kill “the innocent”

And that doesn’t necessarily just mean that they want to physically kill all innocent people. What it means is that their goal is to corrupt them and kill their innocence.

THEY MAKE PLANS TO DEFILE.

And did you catch how they do it?
Look at the words there in verse 8 “lurking”, “hiding places”, “stealthily”

2 Peter 2:1-2 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;”

5) HIS METHOD (9)
“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.”

Not only is he hiding in the shadows to corrupt the innocent,
But here we see HOW HE DOES IT.

It’s through temptation and traps.
• He tiptoes like a skilled hunter and he offers fleshly enticement so that he might lure the innocent in and snag him in his net.

We’ve talked about it so many times.

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

He offers temptations, he offers what the flesh wants.
And the sole objective is to lure the innocent into his traps.

6) HIS PREY (10)
“He crouches, he bows down, And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.”

Who does he grab?
“the unfortunate”, also referred to as the poor or the innocent up in verse 8.

He’s not after the wicked, he already has them.
He is after the innocent, the needy, the broken, the afflicted.

He seeks people who are innocent and naïve
And he seeks to dazzle them with the perceived glory of sin.

But it’s all just a ploy, not to satisfy,
But to defile and to corrupt and to stomp out their innocence.

7) HIS ARROGANCE (11)
“He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”

And as David said earlier, he now says again,
That they run eager to do it because they have no thought whatsoever that God will ever do anything about it.

NOW, LISTEN FOLKS, THESE ARE THE WICKED.
Do you understand now why David is so adamantly praying against them?

He lifts up his eyes and everywhere he looks
He sees the innocent being drawn in and corrupted
By the bragging and immorality and boasting of the wicked.

They walk around in their fancy suits and big cars with two women on their arm and they say, “Hey young man, would you like a taste of the high life?”

It has one objective, and that is to steal his innocence.

Remember the story of Proverbs?
TURN TO: PROVERBS 7
That is exactly what David is talking about.

And he has had enough of that woman running free.
• He is sick of the way she prances through the streets,
• He is sick of the way she pursues the innocent,
• He is sick of the way she corrupts innocence.

And his frustration keeps him up at night.

That is David’s Concern
#2 DAVID’S CRY
Psalms 10:12-15

Do you catch all the verbs in those 4 verses?
• “Arise”
• “life up Your hand” (mighty power)
• “do not forget”
• “Break the arm of the wicked”
• “Seek out his wickedness until You find none”

THOSE ARE SERIOUS STATEMENTS.

It’s like David watched Ric Flair on TV and say, “God, bust him in the mouth, break his arm, and get that idiot off of television.”

David points out that all they do is spurn God.
(13) “Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, “You will not require it.”

God don’t let him do it anymore.
• David knows God has seen it,
• So David boldly prays that God will stop them,
• That God will break their arm,
• That God will stomp out their wickedness.

THAT’S A BOLD PRAYER.
Agreed.

Jesus 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.’”

Jesus taught us to pray that God would deliver us from evil.
That is exactly what David is praying here.

And someone might say, “Yes, but that’s talking about Satan, surely we shouldn’t pray about wicked people.”

The Bible says that we should be patient when we correct them, not that we shouldn’t pray.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

It would be great if they would all repent.
• Certainly they should be warned…
• Certainly they should be instructed…
• Certainly repentance and forgiveness should be offered…

But the fact remains that in a state of rebellion they are described as in “the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

And they are dangerous!

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

And then later:
Matthew 15:12-14 “Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

And we understand why He is so angry with them:
Matthew 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

There is danger there, they send people to hell, they must be stopped.

Paul addressed them too:
1 Timothy 1:18-20 “This command I entrust to you, Timothy,my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.”

Those men are blasphemers, and Paul wanted them stopped.
Paul commanded Timothy to “fight” them.

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

Those men upset people’s faith, and Paul wanted them stopped.

Titus 1:10-11 “For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

Paul said they
“must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families”

Or do you remember the immoral man of 1 Corinthians 5?
He was sleeping with his stepmother and bragging about it and the church thought it was funny.

After commanding the church to cast him out, do you remember what Paul said?
1 Corinthians 5:6-8 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

Do you not know that you have some innocent in here
who will see that and be lured into the trap?

This guy is going to kill their innocence.

Do you get the point?
THERE IS A BATTLE HERE TO BE FOUGHT

We don’t fight it with our fists,
We don’t fight it with swords,
We fight it in prayer.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”

Ephesians 6:10-12 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Did you catch that?
We “stand against the schemes of the devil”.

I really think the church is failing here in many regards.
• No we don’t physically attack people
• No we don’t take our own revenge
• No we don’t verbally threaten people

And David isn’t doing any of those things.
But David is praying boldly before his God that God would do something.

To the extent that David says,
“God, break their arm!”

Do you love the innocent enough to pray like that?
Do you care enough for the innocent and afflicted that you would pray in that way?

It is our love for our brethren that drives this prayer.

A couple of years ago we had a rattlesnake in our backyard.
I would love to deny it, but I’m terrified of snakes.
(I can’t hardly even run over one with my pickup)

But here was a snake in my backyard, and I have to realize something.
This snake would kill my children,
Regardless of how uncomfortable the battle is,
The snake has to die.

Now, again, we don’t kill people,
• But we pray for God to stop their evil influences.
• We pray that God would set them free from the snares of the devil,
• That they would no longer be used to corrupt the world around them.

It is a bold prayer, but I remind you,
I found this prayer while reading the Bible.

David’s Concern, David’s Cry
#3 DAVID’S CONFIDENCE
Psalms 10:16-18

So maybe your question is:
Where would David get the audacity to pray such a prayer?

I’ll tell you where, from God.
DAVID KNEW GOD

And it was David’s knowledge of God
That gave him the confidence to pray that prayer.

Look at what David knows about God.

GOD IS SOVEREIGH
“The LORD is King”

GOD IS ETERNAL
“King forever and ever”

GOD IS PROVEN
“Nations have perished from His land.”

God has crushed the wicked before.

GOD IS MERCIFUL
“O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble”

When the humble and broken cry out to Him, He hears. David knows this.

GOD IS JUST
“You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,”

David didn’t just pray that God would stop the wicked on a whim,
David prayed because he knew God would do it.

GOD IS VICTORIOUS
“so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.”

David prays this great prayer that God would stop the wicked,
Because David knows that God is a God
Who regards the prayer of the humble
And does vindicate them and stop the wicked.

Our prayer comes from the fact that we know God.
• The God who hates wickedness
• The God who draws near to the humble
• The God judges justly

And again, I remind you that this was a song given to the church to sin.
This was a prayer preserved for us.

No, we don’t want to miss the point.
• We don’t want to be like James and John wanting to call down fire on the Samaritans.

We want all men to be saved.
We want the wicked to be saved.
In fact, if the wicked never got saved
Then no one would be saved because all men are wicked.

But what we are talking about here
Is asking God to stop the promotion of evil and wickedness
Throughout our world.

TO PRAY THAT God would no longer allow the evil one, or those who he holds captive to do his will to entice and defile the innocence of those around us.

And just as David did,
We pray to this end because we know the God we pray to.

A Ministry Lesson from Jesus – Part 1
Luke 9:10-17 (10-11)
September 9, 2018

Well this morning we gaze upon Jesus’ most famous miracle.
It’s easy to call it that, because it (aside from the resurrection)
Is the only miracle that Jesus worked which is included in all 4 gospel accounts.

THIS WAS A BIG ONE.
And while each writer uses this miracle for a similar purpose, I always think it is important to understand where each writer is coming from.

There is a lot going on here in Luke’s gospel.
There are a lot of themes that he is juggling.

And I want you to see them so that you can gain an understanding of the point.

As I read through Luke’s gospel, it is easiest for me to see what he is doing in the concept of VARIOUS THEMES.

It’s fairly easy to recognize that LUKE OPENS with the theme of “JESUS, THE LONG AWAITED REDEEMER OF ISRAEL” (especially to the humble and broken)

That one jumps out pretty easily as we see how Jesus satisfies the Zacharia’s and the Elizabeth’s and the Mary’s and the Simeon’s and the Anna’s and the shepherds of Israel who were long looking for this Savior to come.

Luke gave us that for 3 chapters.

We saw a pretty clear jump into the next phase of Luke’s gospel as we might call it “THE MINISTRY OF JESUS”.

Starting with Jesus in Nazareth preaching the gospel,
Luke chronicled how Jesus went around preaching
And working miracles to validate who He was.

And that theme culminated really in
Luke 7:17 “This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.”

Jesus was at the height of ministry popularity.
He was saturating Galilee.

But in Luke 7:18 Luke began the 3rd theme of his gospel which might easily be titled the “WHO IS THIS MAN?” portion.

Now that Jesus popularity and power are evident,
It poses really the most important question of the book. Who is He?

Luke has given you several instances where this question has been asked,
And then emphatically answered by Jesus.

Luke 7:20 “When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?'”

And how did Jesus answer?
Luke 7:21-22 “At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.”

Then again after Jesus calmed the storm:
Luke 8:25 “And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

And how was the answer given? Through the demoniac on the shore.
Luke 8:28 “Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.”

Then again:
Luke 9:7-9 “Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen again. Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see Him.”

And that one will be answered in:
Luke 9:18-20 “And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

That is the current theme.
Who is this Man?
Answer: He’s the Messiah

That is what Luke is currently teaching you.

The next segment will begin in Luke 9:21 with what we might call:
“MESSIANIC MISCONCEPTIONS” as Jesus will address just how wrong the disciples are in who they expected the Messiah to be.

Now that’s an important theme to recognize
Because in some ways Jesus has already begun to address it.

We said several weeks ago that
• As Jesus warned Galilee that they were in danger of losing the truth we saw that as Jesus pulled back from them a little,
• He also began to really focus on the 12.

He has ramped up their training.
• We saw that field trip to the Gerasenes
• We saw Him take Peter, James, and John in to see the girl healed
• And we saw Him assign them an internship where He actually sent them out to preach and heal

However, part of the problem is that
The disciples don’t really understand the purpose of the Messiah, Which means they also don’t understand what true ministry is.

JESUS IS STARTING TO CORRECT THAT.

And this is a very important point for Luke.
• In fact, I can show you how important it is,
• Even how important this story is to Luke.

If you follow the story of the synoptic gospels
Then you will find that there is quite a lot that Jesus did
Which is recorded in Matthew and Mark that Luke omits.

For example:
• After this feeding of the 5,000 Matthew and Mark and John record that: Jesus will walk on water (Peter does too)

• John will include the sermon Jesus preached once He reached the other side of the lake about being the bread sent down from heaven.

Matthew and Mark then record that:
• He heals a great deal of people, many just by touching His cloak
• He will have a squabble with the Pharisees because His disciples don’t wash their hands before they eat, prompting Jesus to reveal the dangers of tradition and how all true defilement comes from the heart
• From there Jesus will travel to Tyre and Sidon and will heal the Canaanite woman’s daughter who is demon-possessed.
• He then works more healings along the coast of the sea of Galilee
• Following that Jesus will feed the 4,000
• They will then all cross the sea of Galilee again back to Bethsaida, where Mark records that Jesus will heal a blind man (the one who said people looked like trees walking around)
• And then Jesus will travel north with the disciples to Caesarea Philipi where He will ask, “Who do you say that I am?”

There is a lot of the ministry of Jesus
That Luke does not include.

IT’S OBVIOUS that
• He wants to jump from Herod’s question, “Who is this man?”
• Directly to the point in Caesarea Philipi when Jesus answers that question.

There is no doubt Luke is preserving that theme
So if you understand Luke’s commitment to answering that 1 question.
It’s easy to see why Luke omitted all those other stories.
LUKE IS MAKING A POINT.

However, Luke does keep 1 story in between the 2.
• He does include 1 miracle (even at the risk of distracting from the theme of answering Herod’s question).

Of all the miracles and stories that Luke omits,
He determines to keep this one.
Jesus feeding the 5,000.

I think the question is obvious; “WHY?”
Of all the stories that Luke omitted, why did he determine to keep this one?

It would have been a seamless transition to go directly from Herod’s question in verse 9 to Peter’s confession beginning in verse 18.

But Luke chose to risk the interruption by giving us this story.
We can certainly agree that Luke saw this story as too important to skip.

I think the reason is because
This story perfectly fits the concept
That Luke has also been highlighting which is:
“JESUS TRAINING OF THE 12.”

As Luke works through his gospel account
To systematically reveal to us who Jesus is,
He is also at work to reveal what it means to follow Him.

And this story taught such a great example about following Jesus
That Luke chose to include it,
Even though it risked distracting from his theme.

I FIND THAT FASCINATING.
It makes me want to look deeper into this story and find out what happened here and see what I can learn.

I’m just calling this text, “A Ministry Lesson from Jesus”
That’s really what it is, and I might go ahead and tell you that
This isn’t the only time Luke includes a story to teach this lesson.

You’re going to get this lesson again in a story that only Luke records
And that is the story of The Good Samaritan.

This is an important theme to Luke.

So let’s work our way through it this morning.

We are going to break this story down into 5 points and I’m going to present it to you as 5 realities you must know about ministry.

We are here as ministers of the gospel.
• Some are certainly vocational ministers, but we all are ministers.
• We are left here as lights in the midst of darkness.
• We are left here as ambassadors for Christ
• We are left here as those who publish the gospel to the world

If you are a follower of Christ, then you are a minister of the gospel

And as such, here’s 5 realities about the ministry you need to know.
#1 ACCOUNTABILITY
Luke 9:10a

We simply read, “When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done.”

Let that sink in for a moment.
Ministry comes with a divine standard and a divine expectation.

We don’t just do what suits us in the way we think best.
• We are under the authority of our Lord
• And when our ministries are complete, we will give an account to Him as to how we did it.

Certainly this is true of pastors and overseers and elders
Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

1 Peter 5:1-4 “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; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

But it is ALSO TRUE FOR ALL BELIEVERS
In the manner in which they serve the Lord.

There seems at times to be some confusion from believers regarding the concepts and realities of judgment.

You know, “Will we or won’t we be judged?”
Is there or isn’t there a judgment for those who believe?

And here’s the clarification.
For believers there is no condemnation.
Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Believers will never be condemned before God.
That is to say our sins will never be counted against us
And therefore causing us to be condemned to hell.

Christ Jesus, satisfied that debt for all believers on the cross,
And now in Him there is no condemnation.

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

This judgment is further explained by Paul in:
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

That is judgment and the penalty is loss or reward.
• Some will be saved with great reward, and some will be saved with no reward at all.
• Some will be saved with great treasure in heaven, some will be saved with no treasure in heaven.
• Some will be saved with many crowns, some will be saved with none.

There is an account to be given
Of how each believer lived their Christian life.

And it is the reminder to us all,
That ministry is not by our design, or by our delight.
We do what Christ commanded,
And we do it in a manner that pleases Him.

Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

And then we will give an account of that to Him.

That’s why Paul, in his encouragement letter to Timothy, penned that encouragement like this:
2 Timothy 4:1-2 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

The “living” are believers. The “dead” are non-believers.
Christ will judge them both.

That is something that the disciples are here learning.
• Jesus just sent them out for the first time,
• And when they returned He made sure they knew that they had to answer to Him regarding what they did.

He would want to know,
• “Did you do what I commanded?”
• “Did you go?”
• “Did you preach?”
• “Did you heal?”
• “Did you give it freely?”

And even later in Luke’s gospel Jesus will address more specifics
About those servants who do not do what they are told.

Luke 12:42-48 “And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. “But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

It’s serious isn’t it?
You don’t lightly enter into service for the King.

There we don’t just have a faithful slave who didn’t do a good job.
There Jesus actually spoke of a slave
Who proved he wasn’t a true save by adamantly disobeying.

And that is a reality too.
• There will certainly be some genuine believers who will suffer loss at the
judgment for a failure to obey as they should have.

• But there will also be some who thought they were believers who will find
that they were not, and that their failure to obey was merely the proof of that.

Those are like those people in Matthew 7 who cry, “Lord, Lord, did we not..?”

It is a dangerous reality.

But above all, simply understand, what you do (or don’t do)
Is being watched, it is being evaluated by the Lord
And you will answer for it.

The disciples gave an account.
So will we.

But Jesus has more to teach them than just that they will give an account.
Luke could have included that fact
Without including the story of the feeding of the 5,000.

Jesus has more to teach them and so here we find that
He is about to take them on a STAFF RETREAT.

(10b) “Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida.”

If you picture the Sea of Galilee in your mind,
It looks sort of like a footprint of your left foot print without any toes. (slender at the heel and wide at the top)

The most populated part of Galilee (Chorazin, Capernaum, even Cana)
Are all on the west side of the sea (what would be down the left side of your foot).

That is where all the ministry has been happening.

But Jesus just retreated with the 12 to “Bethsaida”.
For a geographical understanding,
Bethsaida would be directly under your left big toe.

Jesus here pulled the 12 away from all the crowds.
In verse 12 the disciples call it “a desolate place”

AND THERE WAS A REASON FOR THIS TRIP.

One reason is given in Matthew’s gospel.
It is the story of how Herod beheaded John the Baptist:
Matthew 14:9-13 “Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus. Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.”

Jesus just received word of John’s execution.
• This was the forerunner
• This was His cousin
• This must have also been a stinging reminder of what was coming for Jesus

Jesus was human, certainly grief is involved, and He wants to get away.

Coupled with that, the 12 have just returned from a mission trip.
Mark 6:30-31 “The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)”

The disciples were likely spent.
Ministry is indeed exhilarating, but it can also be exhausting.

The people of Galilee were relentless.
• Jesus was grieving.
• The disciples were tired.

And Jesus offers a small retreat/vacation
To the remote side of the lake to just get away from it all.

Not only that,
But for several of the disciples it afforded an opportunity for them to go home.

John 1:44 “Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.”

There is good reason to assume Nathaniel, James, and John
Were from there as well

So, after a long mission trip, after months of ministry,
The disciples are tired, Jesus is grieving, the crowds are relentless,
Let’s get away and rest.

Sound like a good idea to anyone else?
I’m betting Peter had the boat ready before Jesus finished the sentence.

But you’d think after the trip to the Gerasenes
That these disciples would have figured out by now
That JESUS IS ALWAYS TEACHING SOMETHING.

And this trip would be no different.

This will not be a trip for rest.
Jesus instead takes this opportunity as a perfect time
To teach the disciples the truth about ministry.

So here we are.
They have already learned about accountability in their ministry, now let’s look at the second thing they are about to learn.

#2 PRIORITY
Luke 9:11

Jesus and the 12 retreat to go get alone in a desolate place,
And they think it is just to recharge their batteries.
• Maybe do a little reading…
• Maybe do a little fishing…
• Maybe play a little golf…

And then that infamous 3-letter word: “But”

“But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him;”
Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!

Mark 6:33 “The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them.”

• I don’t know if they were sailing near enough the shore line that they could see what was happening as they sailed,
• But I’m certain as they drew near the shore to land that they could most certainly see what was waiting for them.

It would just ruin your day wouldn’t it?

• Somebody leaked your itinerary,
• Somebody shared your email address,
• Somebody gave out your cell phone number,
And once again a vacation that’s not a vacation!

It doesn’t say how the disciples initially responded to this,
But I don’t think it has to. We already know that in a minute
They’re going to tell Jesus to “send them away”.

But I can imagine those two sons of thunder (James and John) were ready to jump on that shore and give that crowd a piece of their mind.

But before James has a chance to tell those crowds they circled the lake for nothing we read: (11b) “and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.”

Even if you’d never read this story before,
YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING DIDN’T YOU?

Never bet against the compassion of God or His Son.

It reminds me of Jonah complaining to God about preaching to the Ninevites
Jonah 3:10-4:3 “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. “Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”

I knew it, You just couldn’t help Yourself could you God?

I knew it, You just had to heal them didn’t You Jesus?
Of course He did. Why did He come?
• To seek and to save what was lost
• To preach the gospel to everyone

What did He just send out the 12 to do?
To preach the kingdom and heal the sick

So when people who need to hear about the kingdom are willing to walk all the way around the Sea of Galilee to get to Him, what did you expect Him to do?

John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Jesus decision to postpone the vacation to minister to the crowd
Poses a real important question.

DOES THE MINISTRY EVER END?
And what would be the answer from Jesus here? NO

We are always ministers of the gospel
The gospel ministry is meant to take priority
Over every other thing in our lives.

Consider what Paul taught:
1 Corinthians 7:29-35 “But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away. But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.”

And by the way, this is the same Paul who taught husbands to love their wives and to sanctify them and sacrifice themselves for their wives.

Paul is not against marriage.
• And he is not saying that even if you’re married just go live like you aren’t.
• That’s not true either, married men have responsibilities that God commands them to fulfill.

But listen very closely.
A man may indeed have responsibilities to his wife and children and to any number of other things,
BUT THAT MAN STILL HAS 1 PRIORITY.

And that is what Paul was saying.
“secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.”

1 Peter 3:15 “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”

Peter says that you should “always” be ready.
• Peter had a wife, Paul even alludes to the Corinthians that Peter took her
along with him.
• Church tradition teaches that right before Peter was crucified upside down he
first stood at the cross of his wife encouraging her not to deny the Lord.

Francis Chan was asked last year about a message he would have for the church today.
“I’m pretty excited when I see the faith of some of the young people today that are just saying “God I’ll go anywhere, I’ll do anything.” There wasn’t a lot of that when I grew up. But what happened with those who did have that spark and that excitement. I saw how the church almost squashed that. And I’m praying for this next generation; for the young people who are just saying. “I’ll go anywhere, I’ll do anything.” And they’re doing it. They’re going overseas, or they’re right where they’re at in the inner cities and in the suburb just going “I’m going to be radically obedient; I’m going to follow Jesus completely”…
My challenge to the church is…would you set the example for the young people? What happened in my generation, when we were younger, there were those who were radical…but once they got married everything changed. Once they had kids everything changed. And I’m just praying “O God could I be an example for someone who’s married and has kids and is still thinking kingdom first?” Like 1 Corinthians 7, those who are married should live as though they’re not. There’s a sense in which this mission is bigger and can we still live and take risks and surrender our lives and say “You know what it’s me, my wife and my family…
Not only that, but I want to be an example to the young people and say, “You know what, you’re mission with the Lord doesn’t end when you get married and say, ‘Oh you’re dating so focus on each other, O it’s your first year of marriage, just focus on each other. O you just had a kid, then you know what, just take time for that little kid until he goes to school and then you’ll be free. And then once he goes to school it’ll be like O they’re a teenager now and just collect that family together and worry about yourselves”. But then you’re teaching this mentality again that is not about going out into the harvest and being a worker. It’s about let’s protect our family now. Now let’s keep us safe. Let’s find some gated community and you know, and keep them all in our house away from all the bad people. That’s…there’s no excuse for that…you can’t find that in this book.”
https://vimeo.com/216327211

What Francis Chan is talking about is
How American Christians today have idolized their families
And lost the sense that the gospel ministry takes priority over everything.

• Can you believe Jim Elliot would leave his wife and infant child to go to a primitive group of South American Indians where he would end up getting speared to death?

• Can you further believe that after his death, his wife Elizabeth went to those same people and took her infant with her because she supposed that the infant would make her less of a threat?

We are talking about priority.
Nothing was more important to the Lord.
• When was He too tired?
• When was He too hungry?
• When was He too grieved?

Think about all the inconvenient ministry times of Jesus.
• I think we can all agree that there was nothing convenient about the incarnation. There was nothing convenient about surrendering your glory and becoming an infant.

And then even in His ministry.
• How about the 4 friends cutting a hole in the roof and dropping their friend down in the middle of a sermon?
• How about a demoniac crying out in the middle of a sermon in the synagogue?
• How about a hemorrhaging woman grabbing you while you’re on the way to heal a sick girl?
• How about a mob showing up when you are on vacation?
• How about a thief dying next to you on a cross wanting forgiveness?

It was never convenient.
But it was always a priority.

And He is teaching this to the 12.
This isn’t even the first time.

Remember when Jesus stopped in Samaria to take a drink from that woman at the well?
Jesus had sent the disciples into town to buy food.

John 4:27-38 “At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” They went out of the city, and were coming to Him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. “For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”

Can you picture that scene?
• Those disciples just left the very town that the Samaritan woman just ran back in to.
• They got their food, but that was all.

In the meantime
• This woman gets saved,
• Runs back into the town and tells everyone about the Lord
• And here comes the whole town out to meet Jesus.

And the Lord says, “Look at them. I sent you into that town to reap, all you did was get food. I sent you to go reap what you didn’t even labor for, but all you were worried about was food.”

Does that convict you?
IT CERTAINLY DOES ME.

• I would have been right there with those disciples, buying food with no thought of the salvation of the Samaritans.
• I would have rebuked those friends for tearing a hole in the ceiling…
• I would have been like Peter telling Jesus, “We’ll never figure out who touched You, come on let’s go.”
• I would have been angry at this crowd waiting by the water’s edge about to ruin my vacation.

Because I am selfish,
And far too often my main priority is me, not the kingdom.

This is an object lesson from the Lord for the 12 to learn
That ministry not only comes with accountability,
But it also demands priority.

Whenever the opportunity arises, seize it.
Whenever the ministry presents itself, take it.
More than any other thing in this life, that is why you are here.

And you will give an account to the Lord for how well you did it.

Now obviously, we didn’t make it very far into this story this morning,
So we’ll come back to it next time.