042 God’s Goal Is Glory
John 9:1-3
April 29, 2018

Tonight we’re going to continue with our look at SOLI DEO GLORIA
As we have said, this is the CHIEF END.
It is why we are here.

But even more than that, we are learning that God’s glory
Is the driving force behind why God does what He does.

As John Piper put it:
“God has not merely acted so as to be worthy of praise, but more, he has made it his aim to win praise. God does not merely wait to be exalted for his power and righteousness and mercy, he has taken the initiative from all eternity to exalt his own name in the earth and to display his glory. Everything he does is motivated by his desire to be glorified. Isaiah 48:11 is the banner over every divine act: For my own sake, for my own sake I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another”
(Piper, John [https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/is-god-for-us-or-for-himself])

He goes on to say:
“God is praiseworthy, we ought to praise him, we will praise him – these are common truths among Christians, and we affirm them gladly. But less often do we hear the truth that the praise of God’s glory is not merely the result of his action but also the goal and purpose of that action. He governs the world precisely to the end that he might be admired, marveled at, exalted, and praised.”
(ibid)

That is the reality we are currently examining.
God does what He does to the end that His glory might be revealed.
God’s objective is to glorify Himself.

And we have learned that this is TRUE EVEN IF that revelation of glory is achieved through UNEXPECTED MEANS.

We discussed things like the fall.
• Where we learned that God did no merely allow the fall, God ordained the fall,
• For only through the fall of man could God be revealed as the Savior.
• Only after Adam and Even stumbled and fell could God reveal Himself to them as merciful,
• Only after they fell could God atone for their sin by clothing them in garments of skin.

God ordained the fall that He might reveal His glory as Redeemer.

We discussed things like the hardening of the Jews.
• Namely that God gave them a spirit of stupor and eyes to see not,
• That God hardened their heart from believing the gospel.

And God did this that He might reveal His mercy to the Gentiles.

We discussed things like the grafting back in of Israel.
• After killing God’s Son, they certainly didn’t deserve it,
• Yet God has also ordained this, that He might reveal His glorious mercy yet again.

And it doesn’t matter if you want to talk about
• The Fall
• The Hardening of Israel
• The Grafting Back in of Israel
• The Suffering of Joseph
• The Trials of Job
• Or any other incident

We see that it is the sovereign God who ordains all these things
That He might reveal and glorify Himself.

And because this is such an UNDER-DISCUSSED TOPIC, I just wanted to hit it a little bit more this evening before we move on from it.

And I want to start with one story, and then move on to several others.

But we’ll start here in John 9.
It is the story of the man born blind.

• In John 7&8 Jesus had been confronting the Pharisees during the Feast of Booths in the temple, and it was no small argument.

• In fact it ended with Jesus claiming to be the great I Am and the Jews picking up stones to stone Him.

And chapter 8 ends with:
John 8:59 “Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.”

Following that we read:
(9:1-3) As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

So Jesus and His disciples pass by this man,
And it reminds the disciples of a situation they want an answer to.

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”

That’s familiar to us isn’t it?
WHY THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING?

And we’ve said that many times the common evangelical answer
To the question would be for Jesus to say:
“It was actually Adam’s fault. It was all the fault of the fall. God didn’t want this, God didn’t intend this, it happened because of sin.”

And we’ve already discussed the dangers in that theology.

But the disciples actually had a different question in mind,
For they leave Adam out of the equation.

They only give Jesus two options.
Is this man blind because of his sin, or because of his parent’s sin?

Now first you need to understand that there is a theology in place here
And it is eerily similar to the one adopted by many today.
THE THEOLOGY IS THAT THIS SICKNESS IS THE RESULT OF SIN.

Evangelicals today say it is the result of Adam’s sin.
The disciples DON’T think that.
• They think it is either the man or his parents,
• But they still think the only possible reason why this man could have been born
blind is sin.

I want you to know where the thinking for this comes from.
Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

But their application is a little skewed,
For those verses speak in a national sense more so than a personal one.
It is obvious that if this generation blows it big time,
The next generation will suffer.
(See the Exile or the Wilderness wonderings)

In fact many passages in the Old Testament teach otherwise.
Deuteronomy 7:9-10 “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.”

Deuteronomy 24:16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.”

Jeremiah 31:29-30 “In those days they will not say again, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ “But everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.”

Ezekiel 18:20 “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.”

But through some perverted traditions, the disciples had come to believe
That all sickness was a direct consequence of sin.
And I think our study of the book of Job certainly reveals otherwise.

All sickness is not a result of sin.

Now it is beneficial to note that some sickness
Is indeed a direct consequence of sin.

1 Corinthians 11:29-30 “For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.”

Romans 1:26-27 “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”

Even Jesus earlier in the book of John told the crippled man.
John 5:14 “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”

There is a natural law that governs our universe that says
If you do stupid things, you will suffer consequences.

So in one sense there are some sicknesses that are the result of sin.
BUT ALL SICKNESS IS NOT THE RESULT OF SIN

Exodus 4:11 “The LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?”

Now granted there are some who would read that and say, “Sure God causes the blind eye, but He does so as punishment to sinners.”

And that is DEFINITELY what the disciples believed.

BUT IN THAT BELIEF THEY HAD A PROBLEM.
WHAT WAS IT?
They couldn’t figure out whose sin caused it.

HERE’S THE PROBLEM.
• Had this man been born healthy, and then become blind at some point,
everyone would have agreed that he had sinned and thus God struck him
with blindness.

But the fact that the man was born blind left it all in confusion.
That would seem to indicate that the sin occurred before he was born and thus he was blind as a result of his parent’s sin.

• But if that is true, why not make the parents blind instead of this child?
Wouldn’t that be a case of God punishing the child for the sin of the parents?

DO YOU SEE THEIR DILEMMA?

HOWEVER THE REASON THEY WERE CONFUSED IS BECAUSE THEY HAD NO CLUE AS TO WHY GOD ORDAINED SOMETHING LIKE INFANT BLINDNESS.

This sickness had nothing to do with punishment,
And everything to do with God’s glory.

(2) “Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Contrary to their traditional theology,
This man’s sickness had nothing to do with sin, or consequences,
Or immoral living, or the sin of his parents.

This man was sick because God chose to make him sick.

God wanted to use him for the purpose of revealing His glory.
The best way this man could be used for God’s glory was to be born blind.

And there it is again.
That same truth that God ordained things which we can’t understand
And He does so for the purpose of revealing Himself and His glory.

This man was born blind “so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

In the simplest sense,
It was the “works of God” that were given to Jesus which allowed Him to reveal Himself as the One whom the Father sent to save the world.

John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

In a very broad sweeping sense, every affliction Jesus encountered
Only allowed Him to demonstrate to an even greater degree
That He was sent from God.

Every cripple, every leper, every demoniac, every illness, every affliction that Jesus addressed only granted opportunity for Him to continue to reveal Himself.

Had there been no sick when He came,
Revealing who He was would have been much more difficult.

And so in a broad sense, this man’s blindness fits right in with that.

But this man’s illness is even more specific.
This man allows Jesus to fulfill specific Messianic prophecy.
Isaiah spoke of the reigning King and the conditions of His reign.

Isaiah 35:4-6 “Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah.”

It was prophesied that when the Messiah came, He would open blind eyes.
This is precisely the purpose for this man’s blindness.

This man allowed Jesus to specifically fulfill that prophecy.

And you can try to dance around this man’s blindness if you want,
But the unavoidable truth here is that
In order for Jesus to fulfill that prophecy
There had to be at least 1 blind man.

Someone had to be blind.
God had to ordain blindness in somebody.
It had to happen.

Here we find out it happened so Jesus could glorify Himself.

NOW LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION:
SUPPOSE GOD APPROACHED YOU AND SAID, “Is it alright if I use you as undeniable proof that Jesus is the Messiah” WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?

In order for Jesus to prove He was the Messiah,
Someone had to be blind. Someone had to be lame.
Someone had to be mute.

As we have said many times: If there is no villain, then there is no hero.
• If sin isn’t there, you can’t know mercy.
• If sickness isn’t there, you can’t know healing.
• If poverty isn’t there, you can’t know provision.
• If fear isn’t there, you can’t know peace.
• If uncertainty isn’t there, you can’t know assurance

This man’s sickness was NOT contrary to the will of God,
GOD ORDAINED IT,
It was for the purpose of proving Jesus was the Messiah.

John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

Matthew 11:1-6 “When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

Part of the purpose of God was to allow Jesus to fulfill a Messianic proof.

But I DON’T even think that was the greatest purpose.
The greatest purpose was to allow Jesus to prove a spiritual reality.

Look at how this chapter ends.
John 9:39-41 “And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘ We see,’ your sin remains.”

There is no doubt that Jesus is showing His power,
But He uses this man to fulfill Messianic prophecy in a much bigger way.

For even in those prophecies in the Old Testament,
The opening of blind eyes spoke more of spiritual ailments
Than physical ones.

Isaiah 29:17-19 “Is it not yet just a little while Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field will be considered as a forest? On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the LORD, And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”

Isaiah 32:1-4 “Behold, a king will reign righteously And princes will rule justly. Each will be like a refuge from the wind And a shelter from the storm, Like streams of water in a dry country, Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land. Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded, And the ears of those who hear will listen. The mind of the hasty will discern the truth, And the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.”

Now we know this passage speaks of a spiritual reality,
For it CANNOT speak of a physical one.
“Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded”

Isaiah 42:6-7 “I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.”

Isaiah 42:16 “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, And I will not leave them undone.”

Jesus was using this man to make a spiritual point.

This sickness wasn’t caused by sin, it was caused by God
To allow God to work physically and spiritually.

AND YOU SIMPLY CAN’T MISS THAT POINT.

Here we have a man who entered this world in a difficult condition
And Jesus flat out reveals that the reason God did it
Was in order to glorify Himself.

NOW THAT’S NOT ALL.
There are few more I want to show you quickly just to add to the foundation here.

TURN TO: JOHN 11:1-6

Everyone remember the story of Lazarus?
Again, the point couldn’t be clearer.

(1-3) “Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

There is not a doubt in our mind that Mary and Martha had a very specific expectation for Jesus.
• He was the miracle worker.
• He loved them.
• Certainly if He had the power to heal Him, and if He knew He was sick,
• Then certainly Jesus would definitely heal Lazarus.
• After all, He healed so many other people.

THAT’S A COMMON EXPECTATION AMONG CHRIST’S FOLLOWERS.
• We know He loves us.
• We know He can.
• So it stands to reason that He will.

And if He doesn’t, then we think something is terribly wrong.

But again, follow what Jesus says.
(4) “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”

Jesus didn’t say it wasn’t going to go through death,
He just said it wouldn’t stay there.

And then we get even more:
(5-6) “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.”

Did Jesus love Lazarus? Yes
Did Jesus have great plans for Lazarus? Yes

BUT THAT PLAN INCLUDED LAZARUS WALKING THROUGH DEATH.

Because the ultimate plan was what?
“that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”

Jesus certainly could have healed Lazarus at any moment,
And He didn’t even have to travel there to do it.

But the comfort of Lazarus and the expectation of Martha
Was not the goal.
Jesus purposely allowed Lazarus to die
That He might use his death to glorify Himself.

And look at how Jesus glorified Himself.
(38-45) “So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. “I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.”

We read that “many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.”

• These were Mary’s friends.
• These were people that cared about Mary and people that I’m sure Mary cared about.
• And God used Lazarus to glorify Jesus and save them.

I’m quite sure that those people weren’t the total reason Jesus ordained the death of Lazarus, but they were certainly part of it.

It just reinforces to us that God is using us for His glory,
BUT ALSO for our good.

And it’s NOT LIKE Christ just lets His children suffer affliction
While He walks through life without a care.

TURN TO: JOHN 12:27-28

“Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

That statement reminds of the prayer Jesus prayed in the garden.
• He is contemplating the suffering He is about to endure.
• He is about to suffer scorn and shame on the cross.
• He is about to endure the full fury of the wrath of God on sin.
• He is about to be cut off from the land of the living.

Unlike Lazarus, He knew He was being used for the glory of God
And His response.
“Father, glorify Your name.”

He knew the purpose.

Even in the next chapter,
• While in the upper room,
• After Judas departs to go and betray Him,
• And the entire process was set in motion, we hear Jesus say:
John 13:31 “Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;”

WHY DID IT HAPPEN?
The glory of God!

And after Jesus walks through such suffering and rises from the dead
• And He calls His disciples back to Himself, we recognize this conversation.

TURN TO: JOHN 21:18-19

Here He is recommissioning Peter to tend His flock,
And then notice what He says.
“Peter, you’re gonna die,
And it’s gonna be a death you aren’t that excited about.”

John chimes in with some commentary on the situation.
“Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.”

Why would Peter die in such a way?
Why not just let the apostles rapture up into heaven?
Because through their death they would glorify God.

That was the purpose.

And listen to me, the apostles understood this.

TURN TO: ACTS 21:7-14
• Paul wasn’t running from affliction.
• Paul wasn’t grasping at any chance of comfort.
• HE KNEW WHAT THE GOAL WAS

The purpose of all his trials was the glory of God.

And this is what the apostles preached.
1 Peter 2:12 “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

1 Peter 4:16 “but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”

• Do you not think that God could just reach down and stop the pain?
• Could God not prevent it from ever happening?

OF COURSE HE CAN!

So why does He allow it?
Because through it He reveals Himself and He glorifies His name!

It is all done for His glory.

That is why Paul wrote:
Philippians 1:29 “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,”

Two times Paul gives the purpose, just to make sure you don’t miss it.
Suffering has been granted to you by God “for Christ’s sake”

SOLI DEO GLORIA

That makes us more than just sufferers,
That makes us stewards of our suffering.

BUT THE POINT:
God ordains all things for His glory.

As John Piper said in the quote we read earlier.
“the praise of God’s glory is not merely the result of his action but also the goal and purpose of that action.”

Certainly we worship God for the revelation of who He is,
But we also understand that
Worship is the reason He chose to reveal Himself at all.

Now I’m happy to share with you, the article I read by Piper on this because he made such wonderful points.

You can simply google; “Is God for Us or for Himself?”
And the article will come up on the desiring God webpage.

But after making the claims that God does all things to glorify Himself Piper recognizes that this truth makes people uneasy.

In fact Piper calls it “God’s Cod-Centeredness”
(similar to if we said someone was self-centered)

And he recognizes that people stumble over this because
• After all we are called not to exalt ourselves
• Furthermore we don’t even like people who exalt themselves.

For people to spend time exalting themselves only indicates
A void inside them that lives and needs the approval of others.

And certainly that’s not God.
• He is all self-satisfying.
• All things come from Him and through Him and to Him.
• He doesn’t have some deficiency that needs accolades.

THEN WHY DOES GOD GO TO SUCH GREAT LENGTHS TO GLORIFY HIMSELF?

The answer is because He loves you.

Again to quote the article:
“The answer that I want to try to persuade you is true is this: because God is unique as the most glorious of all beings and totally self-sufficient, he must be for himself in order to be for us. If he were to abandon the goal of his own self-exaltation, we would be the losers. His aim to bring praise to himself and his aim to bring pleasure to his people are one aim and stand or fall together…In view of God’s infinitely admirable beauty, power, and wisdom, what would his love to a creature involve? Or to put it another way: What could God give us to enjoy that would show him most loving? There is only one possible answer, isn’t there? Himself!…For him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When he does all things “for the praise of his glory” as Ephesians 1 says, he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longings.”
(ibid)

The point is so true.
• God is the greatest that there is.
• We are incomplete without knowledge of Him.

The greatest thing God can give you is a revelation of Himself.
• To be able to draw near to Him through Christ is the highest honor.
• To be able to gaze upon His glory.
• To be able to meet Him behind the veil.
• To bathe in His mercy
• To stand in His grace
• To rest in His love
• To walk in His peace
• To rise in His healing
• To hope in His power
• To dwell in His comfort

These are the greatest treasures humanity can know.
And God must reveal them for us to know them.

• If God doesn’t reveal Himself, you can’t know Him.
• If God doesn’t ordain things like suffering or the fall, then He can’t reveal Himself.
• And it’s not God who misses out, for He is already fully satisfied with Himself.
• It is us who miss out.

GOD REVEALS HIS GLORY
And it is the most loving and gracious thing He can do.

Isaiah 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

Discipleship According to Jesus – Part 5
Luke 6:39-45
April 29, 2018

As you know we are working through Luke’s version of
The Sermon on the Mount.

And what we have recognized is that
Luke is keenly aware of how JESUS IS CONFRONTING those
Who are in the crowd, especially those who might be considered
“on the fence” concerning Jesus.

We have called them “The Curious”
These would have been the people referenced in verses 17 and 18 of the chapter.

Luke 6:17-18 “Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.”

The no doubt came because they had illnesses they wanted healed.
And certainly we don’t fault them for that,
As I’m sure many of us would have done the same.

It is also apparent that Jesus didn’t hold that against them either
Since He did in fact heal everyone in the crowd that day.

But once everyone had been healed Jesus then began to teach
And the thrust of the sermon has been on
THE NECESSITY OF FOLLOWING CHRIST.

The 1st group He addressed are those we called: THE COMMITTED.
• These were those who left everything to follow Jesus.
• They were first poor in spirit and then eventually actually poor.
• And Jesus said that their decision to forsake the world in order to gain Christ was the best decision they ever made.

The 2nd group He addressed are those we called: THE COMFORTABLE.
• No doubt they wanted Jesus’ healing and miraculous power,
• But they had been otherwise unwilling to forsake this world in order to follow Christ.
• Their god was their comfort,
• And Jesus said their decision to keep the world over Christ was the most foolish decision they ever made.

And then we realized that while those statements
Definitely applied directly to the groups he addressed,
Those statements were also meant to gain the attention of this new crowd

Jesus wanted these curious seekers to understand that
The decision about following Christ was no small decision.

Your entire eternity hinges upon what you do with Christ.
And because of that Jesus then began addressing this crowd.

HIS GOAL?
• To condemn them
• To expose them
• To hold up the mirror
• To lay them beside His perfect righteous standard that they might see their depravity and their total need for Him.

In short, He is showing them why they need Him.

AND YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT
He began confronting them with the concept of MERCY.

His goal was to show them that they are in fact nothing like God
And therefore they fall far short of God’s righteous expectation.

Whereas God is merciful to sinful men who do not deserve it, these people are not.
• They don’t love their enemies
• They don’t pray for their persecutors
• They don’t do good to people who hate them
• They don’t lend to people who don’t pay back
• They are not merciful just as their Father is merciful

And therefore they fall far short of the requirement of God
To gain treasure in heaven and to be considered His child.

They need the righteousness of Christ applied to their life.

Continuing on that thought LAST WEEK
We heard Jesus continue to expose their lack of mercy.

This time their LACK OF MERCY was revealed by their PRESENCE OF JUDGMENT.
• It is true that people had wronged them
• It is true that people had treated them badly
• It is true that people had hit them on the cheek and taken their coat

But Jesus’ point was that when those people return to you wanting forgiveness and mercy, then you MUST give it to them.

If you withhold mercy from someone who desires it, what does that say about your love of mercy?

Do you really want to live under a standard where everyone just gets what they deserve?

Obviously not.
Jesus was again teaching that mercy is required.

Well THIS MORNING He continues exposing this crowd.

And this time He addresses a little more
This crowd’s propensity to offer judgment instead of mercy.

AS WE NOTED, this crowd didn’t like to give mercy.
THEY LIKED TO GIVE JUDGMENT.

• When someone made a mistake and then came for mercy, they would much rather give them a lecture than mercy.
• When someone wronged them in some way and then came for mercy, they would rather make them suffer than have mercy.

In short, these people would rather be judges than be merciful.

And so after addressing their lack of mercy,
Jesus now begins to address their faulty judgment.

It would be one thing to offer judgment
If at the very least that judgment was accurate.
But these people don’t even offer accurate judgment,
And that also condemns them.

In short, Jesus is about to show them that they are guilty on 2 counts.
1) They don’t show mercy when they should
2) The judgment they offer is bad judgment

Let’s look at 3 points here.
#1 THE PARABLE
Luke 6:39-40

Jesus actually gives 2 parables here.
1) The Parable of the Ambitious Blind Man
2) The Parable of the Arrogant Pupil

Let’s look first at this Ambitious Blind Man
(39) “And He also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?”

NOW THE SETTING HERE
Is of a blind man who needs to cross some treacherous terrain.

• The terrain is unknown to him, and filled with danger.
• Namely there is a “pit” that he could in fact fall in to.

And because he has never traveled through this region,
It would be extremely beneficial if someone would guide him through
To keep him out of danger.

But what happens here is that ANOTHER BLIND MAN, who also doesn’t know the terrain, approaches the first blind man and says,
“Here, I’ll guide you through.”

And he grabs him by the hand and starts walking through the country.
And they “both fall into a pit”.

The emphasis here is on the audacity of the second blind man
To not only have the arrogance to think he could cross the land,
But also to be willing to drag the first blind man along with him.

Who would do such a thing?
Everyone knows that a blind man has no business
Being a tour guide through dangerous country.

And yet, this is how Jesus described the judgment this crowd was giving.
You are quick to offer your judgments to people as to what they need to do, but the reality is that you don’t know any better than them.

With our youth the last couple of weeks
We’ve been talking about the dangers of the tongue.

• We saw how the tongue is defiant and cannot be controlled.
• And we talked about how much harm it can actually cause.

To this end James gave a very strict warning.
James 3:1 “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”

And certainly this would include the office of teacher here,
But even more than that it’s anyone who feels the right to step up and offer advice or judgment to someone else.

It’s a pretty ambitious role to step into to say that you’ll give someone else advice on how to live. (but that’s what teachers do)

To find out if we are qualified for such an enterprise
James ends his section by asking us to check our wisdom.
Are you qualified to offer advice or judgment to other people?

Here is what James had to say:
James 3:13 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.”

THE FIRST CRITERIA YOU MUST POSSESS to be counted as one qualified to teach or advise or lead or judge another person IS WISDOM.

And wisdom is proven by your deeds.
James asks, “Do you even have good behavior? Do you even have good deeds? Can you demonstrate this wisdom you’re willing to offer?”

And that’s the problem with the blind man Jesus mentions.
He can’t even cross that terrain on his own, so why in the world would he feel qualified to lead someone else across it?

The second parable is the ARROGANT PUPIL
(40) “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”

Here we have a “pupil”
Who does not understand the point of being a pupil.
He walks into the classroom
And instead of sitting to learn tries to stand and teach.

Why is that a problem?
Because until you’re a successful pupil you aren’t qualified to be a teacher.

I’ve heard Kermit Woolley talk about when he taught Ag.
“I know that several of you in here are smarter than me, but not one of you knows more than me.”

It’s like a tell people all the time who are going to preach or who are going to start teaching in some fashion.
• The secret to preaching/teaching is learning.
• You cannot teach what you don’t know.
• One thing I’m supremely confident is that if I don’t know what I’m talking about, you won’t either.

But this pupil didn’t want to take the time to learn, he just wanted to teach

AND THAT IS SO DANGEROUS!

In fact, the false prophets in the Bible are described in this way:
Jeremiah 23:21-22 “I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied. “But if they had stood in My council, Then they would have announced My words to My people, And would have turned them back from their evil way And from the evil of their deeds.”

Those were people who offered knowledge they had never received
And so their advice was terrible.

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

There is no benefit in their preaching.
Jeremiah also revealed that God was against such prophets which echoes what James said about not being willing to teach and incurring that stricter judgment.

But you see the point of the parable.
In both cases we have people who are unqualified teachers,
Unqualified guides, and unqualified judges.

That’s the parable.
#2 THE PROBLEM
Luke 6:41-42

Here Jesus is about to explain where that parable
Fits in with this crowd He is addressing.

(41) “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”

It is a scenario that speaks of blind judgment.
• Here you have a guy walking around with a 2×4 sticking out of his eye and he has the audacity to walk over to his brother and say, “Hey, let me operate on that splinter in your eye.”

It’s so absurd it’s actually comical, and that may have been Jesus intent.

This is problematic on a number of levels.
1) Do you really want to trust the discernment of a man who says you have speck in your eye when he can’t even recognize the log in his?

The implication here is that you
May or may not even have a speck in your eye.
Whether you do or you don’t,
This guy is the last guy that would be qualified to identify it.

I think it’s clear he is extremely lacking in the discernment department.
He obviously doesn’t even know what a speck is.

This would be like a man who walks around accusing other people of sin who obviously have no clue what sin is at all.

When I was in high school (before I was saved) me and a buddy of mine used to love it when we’d catch other classmates with car trouble. Neither of us knew anything about cars, but we didn’t mind pretending.

We’d look under the hood, move stuff around and yell, “Alright, fire her up!” The second they’d try we’d scream, “Whoa! Whoa! Kill it! Kill it!” and of course they’d immediately stop. Then we’d do the whole thing again 3 or 4 times.

Eventually we’d just tell them, “We don’t know anything about cars, would you like a ride?”

We’d have made a good illustration for the point Jesus is making here.
Even if something was wrong with your brother, you wouldn’t know it
Because you don’t know anything about what does or doesn’t please God.

And yet, even though you are clueless about what God desires
And have no discernment whatsoever,
That hasn’t stopped you from addressing the issue head on.

It is a blatant case of spiritual malpractice.

And can I tell you, our world is full of this!
I cringe much of the time when I see the various forms of spiritual advice that are handed out on social media.

• Most of the time I just want to task the people who are rendering their
judgments, “Have you ever even read the Bible?”

Mark Twain once said “it only took two characteristics to be a preacher: ignorance and confidence.”

Unfortunately, that is the same type of person Jesus is addressing here.
Their ignorance has not affected their confidence.

That is what Jesus is addressing here.
People who offer judgments and they are totally unqualified to do so
Because they lack discernment.

But that’s not the only glaring problem here.
THE OTHER IS THEIR AUDACITY.

We tend to think they have no discernment.
But if they do have discernment, then they’ve got a lot of gall.

If they are able to recognize sin and yet are willing to overlook their enormous sin in order to address their brother’s small sin,
Then that’s pretty bold.

Jesus is shocked by it asking “Why” would you do that?
• Why would you offer judgment as a blind man?
• Why would you offer judgment as an arrogant man?

The second question Jesus asked here is:
“HOW”

(42a) “Or how can you can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?”

Here it’s not just a question of arrogance but a question of ABILITY.
I’d like to know how you think you’re gonna be able to perform that surgery
With that big old beam in your own eye?

IT AGAIN REEKS OF ARROGANCE.
Just like the blind guide and the arrogant pupil.

So Jesus addresses this crowd head on.
(42b) “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”

Now again we point out
• Jesus was NOT saying to leave the speck alone.
• If the brother had a speck it did indeed need to be removed.

But the priority is clear.
You must be willing to deal with your own sin before you can deal with the sin of your brother.
• And if you can’t see your own sin what makes you think you can see your brother’s sin?
• And if you can’t remove your own sin what makes you think you can remove your brothers?

NOW PUT IT IN CONTEXT.
We have here a people whom Jesus is asking
To show mercy and not judgment.

But these people prefer offering judgment instead of mercy and Jesus exposes them.
• FIRST by revealing that their lack of mercy is not a God-like
characteristic,
• SECOND by revealing that the judgment they love is not God-like
judgment either.

Their judgment isn’t even true.
• They are like blind men telling blind men how to walk.
• They are like pupils trying to teach a subject they obviously know nothing
about.

BUT PROVE you are a qualified teacher and then we’ll listen.
PROVE you are a qualified judge and then we’ll pay attention.

And prove it by showing us your ability to deal with your own sin.

Isn’t that what James said?
James 3:13 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.”

So you have the parable, and you have the problem
#3 THE POINT
Luke 6:43-45

Now if you read this passage in Matthew’s gospel
It is clear that Jesus is talking about FALSE TEACHERS.

• Jesus had just mentioned the truth about the wide and narrow gates.
• And how most people think they are headed to heaven but they aren’t.
• They actually just went through the wide gate, are traveling on the wide path with everyone else, and will end up in destruction.

• And then to explain why so many would so willingly go down the wrong path Jesus warns them about false teachers.

Matthew 7:15-19 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke references the same statement by Jesus,
Only Luke doesn’t limit the application just to false teachers.

Luke seems to spread the application to anyone in this crowd
Who is offering bad advice or judgment.

From Luke’s perspective, anyone who would give bad judgment
Is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Luke hears Jesus rebuke and applies it to the entire crowd.

He hears Jesus address their arrogant confidence and lack of discernment and propensity to offer bad judgment AND THEN HE SAYS:

“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.”

WHAT IS THE POINT?
You are here claiming to be a good discerning judge, but you are offering bad judgments.
Something has to give.

• If you were a good judge what kind of judgments would you give? Good ones.
• If you were a bad judge what kind of judgments would you give? Bad ones.

So the fact that you are rendering bad judgments
tells me what about you?
YOU ARE BAD

The only way to EVALUATE a tree is by the quality of the fruit it produces.
The only way to IDENTIFY a tree is by the type of fruit it produces.

So, if I were to look at you as a sort of spiritual tree.
And all I saw was bad judgments coupled with bad fruit,
WHAT TYPE OF TREE SHOULD I LABEL YOU AS?

You get the point?
• Their lack of mercy testifies against them
• And their lack of good judgment testifies against them

And that is the point Jesus makes next,
ONLY HE DROPS ALL THE ANALOGIES.

(45) “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

Jesus removes any and all doubt or confusion.

Understand the doctrinal principle that Jesus just revealed.

“for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

Adrian Rogers gave the best ever commentary on this verse when he said, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.”

YOUR TONGUE IS AN INDICATOR OF YOUR HEART.

What is more James reminds us that the tongue cannot be manipulated or coerced, it is ALWAYS AN ACCURATE INDICATOR.
James 3:7-8 “For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.”

The tongue is always accurate.
It reveals the heart.

If lying judgments come out of your mouth,
You have a lying heart.
If non-discerning judgments come out of your mouth,
You have a non-discerning heart.
If you have no mercy in your words,
Then you have no mercy in your heart.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Here have a people who don’t want to offer mercy to people.
• Instead when people want it all they offer is judgment.
• And to make matters worse their judgment is skewed and hypocritical and false.

And Jesus says, your fruit is your words,
And your words reveal your heart,
SO WHAT TYPE OF PEOPLE ARE YOU?

• If you were a “good man” then you’d bring “good treasure” out of your good “heart.”
• But since you bring nothing but “evil” out of your mouth all we can deduce is that you have an evil heart.

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

You may think you have a good heart.
You may think you have a merciful heart.
You may think you have a heart for God.
BUT WHAT COMES OUT OF YOUR MOUTH?

And again you see why we say that Jesus set out to condemn this crowd.
• His main objective was NOT TO convince them to be merciful
• His main objective was NOT TO convince them to stop judging
• His main objective WAS TO show them that their heart is in a pitiful condition because of their lack of mercy and because of the presence of their judgment.

His point was to show them that they needed Him.
When He called men to follow Him that they might receive forgiveness,
He also showed men why they so badly needed it.

AND THAT IS US.

And that is also what we remember this morning.

Oh friend,
• I would love to tell you that all that ever comes out of my mouth is mercy.
• I would love to tell you that I’m merciful like God is merciful.
• I would love to tell you that I never look at the speck in my brother’s eye while I have a beam in mine.
• I would love to tell you that you’ll never find a piece of rotten fruit on my tree.

But you already know, that’s just not true.

I NEED CHRIST
• I need Christ even if it costs me every possible worldly comfort.
• I need Christ even if following Him results in poverty
• I need Christ even if following Him results in hunger
• I need Christ even if following Him results in scorn and persecution

I need Him because I cannot stand before God with an evil heart like mine.

THAT IS THE POINT OF THE SERMON.

The celebration for us is, as we look at this Lord’s Supper we are about to take is that Jesus purchased our forgiveness.

• He bore the sin of my evil heart on the cross.
• God treated Him as if He judged people like I do.
• And now God treats me as if I judged people like He did.

And we partake of that sacrifice through faith.

This morning we also partake of this Lord’s Supper by faith.
• It’s not faith in this cracker, and it’s not faith in this juice.
• Those are the symbols, Christ is the substance.

We partake as an outward confession of our need for His sacrifice.
We partake as an outward acknowledgement
That my sinful heart needs this righteous sacrifice.

And therefore
• We don’t partake in arrogance
• We don’t partake in hypocrisy
• We partake in faith and in full submission to Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:23-32 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”

You had people there who were partaking in an unworthy manner.
That is to say they were not judging themselves rightly.

Paul said, “For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.”

That’s exactly what Jesus was talking about.
You have people here who want to partake of the Lord’s Supper and they are unwilling to admit that they have a beam in their eye.

To fail to acknowledge that
Only demonstrates a tremendous lack of discernment.

But for those who come in humility and confession and faith
Find here a communion with Christ and the blessing of assurance
As we once again focus on the Savior who bore my wrath.

That being the case, this morning, as we always do we are going to have a time of preparation.
• It is a time for you to sit and examine your own heart.
• It is a time for you to sit and examine your own fruit.
• It is a time for you to make confession before God.
• And then it is a time for us to partake in the Lord’s Supper and celebrate the atonement that comes only through Christ.

Pray

CURRENT TEAMS SIGNED UP

Holy Sox (Mosley), Smashers (Ortiz), GrandSlammers (Taylor), Psalm’s Beach (Hinson), LeftOvers (Frausto), Ralls (Clint Yokum) Mexicoons (Adam Beauchamp), Team Burton (Paul Burton)

2018 SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT RULES

We wish to STRESS that this tournament is purely for recreation and enjoyment. It was established to help raise money for the summer camps that the children and youth of First Baptist Church will be attending. These rules are given only to preserve a fair, even, timely, and fun experience for all participants. We appreciate you helping us keep it that way.

FIELDING
• Each team shall field an even number of men and women. There must be at least 5 men and 5 women in the field at all times (4 & 4 will be allowed, but there cannot be more women than men, or men than women.)
• There are no stipulations as to what positions your team members can play.
• We also keep rosters “open” throughout the weekend. Unfortunately injuries happen as well as people with prior commitments. You may “borrow” a player from another team to play your game should a member of your team have to leave and you need to field the required 10 players.

BATTING
• The batting order must alternate male and female, with no two members of the same sex batting next to each other.
• You may bat everyone on your team as “extra hitters” if you choose to do so, even if they do not play the field, but you must still maintain an even number of males and females.
• Each batter will come to the plate with a count of 1-1 (1 ball, 1 strike).
• If a male batter earns a walk, he will automatically take 2nd base. The female batter who follows will have the choice of automatically taking first base, or batting.
• If a female batter earns a walk, she will automatically take 1st base, and the following male batter must bat.
• We have a very short field, so there will be a Homerun Limit of 1 per game (with all additional homeruns posting as outs)
• There are no rules stipulating what bats may be used, but we supply all the softballs to be used. In the past we have always played with “Gold Dot” softballs, but we may even downgrade to “Gray Dot” softballs this year to keep any balls from being too hot off the bat and getting someone hurt.
• The Home Run limit will be lifted for the 7th inning.
• Pinch runners are allowed under the following stipulations. No player currently in the batting order or field may pinch run, only a player from the bench. The player who gets pinch run for must exit the game for at least 6 outs in the field and 1 at bat (1 time through the entire batting order). We don’t allow curtesy runners. I mean seriously, the fact that we’re all old and slow is part of the competition!

GAME LENGTH
• We will play a 7 run rule with runs accumulating each inning. For example if Team A only scores 3 runs in the first inning, they can still score 11 runs in the second inning, bringing their total to 14.
• Game length will be 1 hr. 15 min. or 7 innings. No new innings can be started after 70 min.
• Maintaining the schedule is essential for fun play, so all teams must be ready to play at their scheduled start time. If one team is missing players and cannot start on time, that team will automatically be the “visiting” team, will forfeit their first at bat, and the game clock will begin on schedule, with play starting when players arrive, and ending on schedule.
• If both teams are tied going into the last inning (of regulation or time limit) AND both have reached the maximum runs scored, the run rule will be removed for the final inning in order to establish a clear winner. If both teams are tied going into the last inning and have not reached the maximum runs scored limit, the game will end in a tie with the tie being broken in the following manner. The team scoring the most 1st inning runs wins, if still tied, it will move to the 2nd, then 3rd etc. If a tie still remains the winning team will be decided by coin toss.
• Tie breakers for pool play are determined by head to head outcomes. If this still results in a 3 team tie in the pool, the tie breaker is determined by points. The team which allowed the fewest points during their 3 pool games will be awarded 1st place in the pool. The team which allowed the second fewest points will be awarded second place in the pool.
• If we do not have 8 teams we cannot do pool play and will return to the previous double elimination format with a 3 game minimum.

COURTESY RULES
• This is a fun and family friendly atmosphere, so we ask all players and spectators to follow these guidelines. Blatant offenses are grounds to be removed from the park and/or tournament with a forfeiture of all fees paid.
• All umpires will be on a volunteer basis and will do the best they can, please do not harass them. (After each game the winning team is required to supply 2 umpires for the next game and the losing team is required to supply two score keepers. 1 for the book, 1 for the scoreboard.)
• This will be an alcohol free event
• Profanity while playing or watching will not be tolerated
• Above all remember, “There is no crying in baseball”
• In the event that weather cancels games, the first course of action will be to skip games 13-15 and simply let the 1st place teams from each pool play 1 championship game. The second course of action will be to reschedule the tournament for a later date.

Because Mercy Glorifies God
Romans 11:30-32
April 22, 2018

Ok, last time we met we tackled (or attempted to tackle)
A very huge and difficult issue.

We looked back at the fall of man
And asked what God’s role in all of that was.

I want to briefly recap it to make sure we are back in the train of thought.

1) We agreed that God cannot fully glorify Himself apart from redemption.
• Obviously if God never reveals mercy or grace or redeeming love or patience
then there is a whole side of God we never know.
• If God is to be glorified for those things, then He must be afforded the
opportunity to save sinners.

2) We agreed that God is sovereign over all things and that He works all things after the counsel of His will.

Ephesians 1:11 “[God] works all things after the counsel of His will”

• So we choose not to limit His sovereign prerogative in any way or in any area.
• We recognized that He is sovereign even when a sparrow falls and even over
our very number of days and habitations.

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

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

So we get that God is in total sovereign control of all things.

Well, SINCE God can’t fully glorify Himself apart from redemption
And SINCE God is sovereign over all things
And SINCE works all things after the counsel of His will,
WE NEXT LOOKED AT THE FALL.

And as we said,
• This is such a difficult issue for us to swallow that
• Most of the time, in order to try and help God save face,
• People end up dumbing down God’s role in the fall and all of the suffering that now happens as a result.

We hear things like,
• “God doesn’t ordain suffering, it is sin that causes it.”
• “Sin did this, not God. God never wanted this to happen.”

I remember watching “Love Comes Softly”.
It is a story about a young woman who is tragically widowed very young
And ends up having to marry another man just to survive.

In the story, her new husband is trying to explain the presence of tragedy in our lives. Speaking about his daughter he says,
“Missy can fall down and get hurt with me standing right next to her, but that doesn’t mean I allowed it to happen. The truth of God’s love is not that He allows bad things to happen to us, but that He’s right here with us when they do.”

But again as we said, there is enormous problem found there.

To say that bad things happen to us which God did not allow
Is to strip God either of His omniscience or of His omnipotence.

The little girl walking beside her daddy may indeed fall,
• But that’s because the dad doesn’t know it’s about to happen. The dad is not omniscient.
• He is also not omnipotent and may not have had the ability to stop it.

But we say that God is both omniscient and omnipotent
So to use such logic regarding His role in our suffering doesn’t wash.

And that’s what we said it is commonly argued by antagonists.
God either can’t be all good or He can’t be all powerful
Because a good God with the power to stop evil certainly would.

That’s the logical conclusion that is reached
If you try to separate God from the fall.

Armenians who seek to absolve God of any role in the fall of man or human suffering find themselves in a theological dilemma.

This incidentally, as I was telling someone after the sermon, is where “OPEN THEISM” came from.

Open Theism is basically the belief that God does not know the future,
Nor does He ordain it. It is open.

• He’s just really good at watching trends,
• He has an uncanny ability to read and react like the greatest of super heroes to
run around and deliver us from peril.

Well the problem with Open Theism is obvious.
• There was no way to know with any kind of certainty that the cross would
occur.
• And there is no way to know with any kind of certainty that Christ will return.
• In fact, all of God’s prophecies are nothing better than educated guesses that
may or may not happen since He isn’t sovereignly causing anything.

Open Theism is obvious heresy, but at least it’s consistent.
Armenians aren’t consistent. They want an all-knowing, all-powerful God, but then want to absolve Him of any part when tragedy comes.

It’s a real dilemma, unless you understand
That God is sovereign even over the fall.

HE DIDN’T JUST ALLOW IT, HE ORDAINED IT.
And He did so that He might make His redemption,
And ultimately His glory, known.

And as we said last time,
• Not only are we now able to glorify God because of His mercy,
• But even beyond that, we as humans are even now in a more secure
condition after redemption than Adam ever was before it.

Adam was not secure in the garden, but we are secure in Christ.

Now, that is where we stopped last time. That’s a quick recap.
And now that we have a little more time tonight
I want to process a little bit more.

BECAUSE LET’S BE HONEST.
Look around the room.
• Everyone in here has a story of suffering.
• Everyone in here has a story of tragedy.
• Everyone in here has a story of some unexplained hardship that pushed you
beyond the limits of reason.

Loved ones lost, unexplained illnesses, tragically broken relationships, financial struggles.

If we took time tonight we could move this entire place to tears
If we just let everyone get up and tell their story
Of what was the hardest day of their life.

When we are talking about the fall and the suffering that has come as a result
• We aren’t talking about some small amount of suffering.
• We are talking about things harder than we could have ever imagined
• We are talking about scars that we carry to this day.

And so, to say that God not only allowed that,
But that He also ordained is A TOUGH PILL TO SWALLOW.

It’s a tough pill for me to swallow,
And I’m confident that many of you have suffered far greater than I have.

And so before we move on from this concept I do think it’s important
To BRING A LITTLE MORE PERSPECTIVE to the situation.
• We certainly believe God ordains all things.
• So we must believe that God even ordained the fall.
• And therefore we even have to believe that God ordained the suffering we walk through.

WHERE IS THE GOOD IN THAT?

Well let me tell you this one thing:

God’s sovereignty over affliction is the only reason you and I
Can have any hope at all that anything good will come from it.

Isn’t that what we bank on?

Do we not quote?
Romans 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”

Or:
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

How many times have we run to Hebrews 12 in our suffering?
Hebrews 12:11 “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

All of those passages SPEAK OF A PROMISED GOOD
That will come out of our suffering.
But none of those promises are valid
If God is not sovereign over our suffering.

If God is not in control then we have no guarantee
That anything good will ever come from our tragedy.

Now think again about that hard day in your life.
• If God is not sovereign over that, if God did not ordain it, if it happened outside of God’s will,
• Then there is no hope whatsoever that anything good will come from it.
• It represents a day when God lost and who’s to say He won’t lose again?

• However, if God is sovereign, and if He did ordain it,
• Then we may not know why He did it,
• But we can rest assured that it will be for our good.
• BECAUSE the same God that ordained it is the same God that ordained good to come from it.

As children of God we do walk through some extremely hard days,
But we don’t walk through them without hope
Because we know God is sovereign over all things.

And we know that He ordains all things for our good and His glory.
Even in your tragedies I can’t tell you the number of times
I’ve heard even the people in this room speak of their hardships.

AND I NEVER HEAR YOU SPEAK ABOUT GOD’S CRUELTY.
What I continually hear is how faithful and how good
And how comforting He was during your trial.

EVEN IN YOUR TRIAL GOD WAS ABLE TO GLORIFY HIMSELF
BY REVEALING HIS GREAT COMFORT TO YOU.

Understanding God’s sovereign position
Over the fall and over human tragedy is a good thing
And a necessary thing for that is where hope comes from.

BUT, IF WE WANTED TO KEEP ARGUING
• Once could still say, “Yes, I see that God has been good to me in my affliction, but why bring affliction at all? Why introduce suffering at all?”
• After all, “If God never permits the fall then there is no need for hope in suffering because suffering would not exist.”

THAT WOULD BE THE ARGUMENT.

To which we answer.
That’s true,
• If God had stopped the fall,
• If God had never put the tree in the garden,
• If God had not allowed the serpent to enter
• It is true that we would be in a much more comfortable place right now.

But we would not be in a better place.
For we know more of the glory of God now
Than they ever did in the garden.

We now know God as a redeemer.
And as we said, “Redemption is more glorious than creation”

• I now sing about Amazing Grace that saved a wretch like me.
• I now sing Great is They faithfulness O God my Father
• I now sing Love lifted me
• I now sing mercy there was great and grace was free

And I couldn’t sing any of that if the fall had never occurred.
• Thanks to the fall I now know God as a redeemer.
• Thanks to the fall I know of God’s comfort in affliction.
• Thanks to the fall I know of God’s grace in trials.

In short, I know more of God’s glory now than Adam did.

And let me tell you why that is so good.

BECAUSE THE GREATEST THING GOD CAN EVER GIVE YOU
IS A REVELATION OF HIMSELF.

God is our glory
God is our desire
And to know Him fully is the greatest satisfaction we can ever have.

It is true that God indeed ordains hardship in our lives,
And some of those hardships are almost unexplainable,
But because God is sovereign they never come without hope,
And they always come with a greater understanding of who God is.

GOD GLORIFIES HIMSELF IN ALL THINGS.

Well, that hopefully gives a little more insight into the question of last week, but TONIGHT WE WANT TO MOVE FORWARD.

We are still discussing how God glorifies Himself in Redemption.

We saw how this made the fall necessary.
Now let’s look at how this REDEMPTION
That came in as a result DOES IN FACT GLORIFY GOD ALONE.

We are looking at Romans 11:30-32

Now the backdrop to this passage is extremely important.
• It follows the section which reveals that Israel, despite enormous spiritual blessing, has been broken off by God.
• We found out that they all are not Israel who descended from Israel.
• And we learned that God broke them off and hardened their heart.

Romans 11:7-10 “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.” And David says, “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. “LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.”

• Now, following that we learned that although Israel has been broken off, that God has a plan to graft them back in again.
• Even though they are currently in a state of rejection, God is going to once again save Israel because of the promises He made to the Fathers.

Romans 11:25-29 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

So Paul has been talking about this great mystery of
How God HAS dealt and IS dealing and WILL deal with Israel.

And then in verses 30-32 Paul gives some added insight to the situation
And more importantly for our study,
PAUL REVEALS THE MOTIVE behind it all.

READ: Romans 11:30-32

There are 3 things we see here:
#1 THE SALVATION OF THE GENTILES
Romans 11:30

You will see clearly that Paul is making an analogy here.

We recognize the “just as” in verse 30
Directly corresponds to the “so…also” in verse 31.

Paul is making an analogy.
• In this case, Paul uses a previous event to explain a future one.
• Paul uses something God did in the past to explain what God is doing in the present.

And the first thing we do is look at THE PAST EVENT,
And from Paul’s perspective that is THE SALVATION OF THE GENTILES.

Now what we know is that
• Gentiles by in large were not always saved,
• Nor were they among God’s people.
• Certainly there are a few examples of proselytes or even those known as God-fearers,
• But the main point is that Gentiles by in large were not saved.

We were categorized as those who “once were disobedient to God”

Paul says it like this in his letter to the Ephesians.
Ephesians 2:11-12 “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands — remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

The past state of Gentiles is obvious, we were lost.

And you cannot overlook the sovereign prerogative of God in this.

It’s not that God caused Gentiles to be disobedient,
But again, God used their disobedience as a means of glorifying Himself.

Consider Pharaoh.
Romans 9:17-18 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”

There is that compatibilism on display again.
• God didn’t make Pharaoh sin, but God didn’t soften his heart either.
• Pharaoh did exactly what he wanted in oppressing God’s people and in ignoring God’s miracles.
• God used that disobedient man to glorify Himself through the plagues and through the Red Sea.

And that is really where Gentiles settled throughout the Old Testament.
• We are seen in those foreign nations whom God overthrew.
• We are seen in those pagan idol worshipers whom God destroyed.
• We are seen in those cruel peoples whom God used to discipline His people, and then punished for their cruelty.

• We were without God and without hope.
• We were disobedient and we were objects of wrath.

And then God opened the door for Gentiles to be saved.

Paul says in verse 20, “but now [Gentiles] have been shown mercy”

That is to say that God determined to be merciful to a people
Who had previously been destined for destruction.

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

GOD, BY HIS OWN SOVEREIGN DESIGN,
Chose to be merciful and to save pagan Gentiles who did not deserve it.

Paul even speaks of the catalyst God used to bring this salvation about.

He said that we “have been shown mercy because of their disobedience.”

What was the catalyst God used to save Gentiles?
JEWISH UNBELIEF.

Remember how it happened throughout the book of Acts?

At the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch:
Acts 13:46 “Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”

At the synagogue in Corinth:
Acts 18:5-6 “But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

In Ephesus:
Acts 19:8-9 “And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.”

When Paul was imprisoned in Rome:
Acts 28:23-28 “When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING,BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.”‘ “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.”

It was Jewish unbelief that opened the door
For the Gentiles to hear the gospel.

Every time Paul preached to Jews, they blasphemed and rejected and every time he preached to Gentiles they overwhelmingly responded in faith.
You’d of preached to Gentiles too.

What we find is that God ordained all of that.
• He is the One who hardened the eyes and minds and hearts of the Jews,
• He is the One that softened and opened the eyes and hearts of the Gentiles.

He used the stubborn rebellion of Jews to show mercy to Gentiles.

Now that is the previous situation Paul first draws reference to.
And he uses it to reveal what God is going to do in the future.

So first: The Salvation of Gentiles
#2 THE SALVATION OF JEWS
Romans 11:31

Paul uses the connecting phrase “so these also”
Which is to say, “just like God did then, He will also do again”

“so these also now have been disobedient”

Paul now is describing why God would be willing to harden Israel
And to break them off and to put them in a place of wrath.

And according to Paul, He did it so that
They would understand the mercy that you and I understand.

It is easy for Gentiles to understand mercy.
• We were pagans
• We were idolaters
• We never kept the Law, we never had the Law
• We never attended the feasts, we never saw the need

• We were outcasts in every sense of the word and yet God did the unthinkable for us, He showed us mercy by drawing us to Himself.

Gentiles understand mercy.

JEWS DID NOT. (they should have, but they didn’t)
They worked for everything they had.
• They felt as though they had earned God’s favor and deserved God’s blessing
• Because they had kept the Law and kept the ordinances and kept the feasts.

They could glorify God but very few of them glorified God for His mercy.
Perhaps they glorified Him for His justice, but not His mercy.
They felt as though they deserved all the blessing they received.

But God deserves glory for His mercy, so what did He do?
He hardened them.
• He ordained their current state of rebellion and disobedience and blindness
and rejection.

Why did He do it?
So that “they also may now be shown mercy.”

God ordained their rebellion
So that He could also give them a taste of mercy.

What will the catalyst be that draws them back?
Paul says it is “because of the mercy shown to you”

God is going to use Gentile salvation
As the catalyst to draw the Jews home.

Paul said it like this earlier in the chapter.
Romans 11:11 “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.”

Romans 11:13-14 “But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.”

God is going use Gentile salvation to make Israel jealous,
And to cause them to see that they are not deserving of salvation,
But rather that they are under God’s wrath.

I tend to think the rapture will be the event that will do this,
But that’s just a speculative guess.

Regardless of the event,
What it will do is open Jewish eyes to the fact that they killed God’s Son
And therefore DO NOT DESERVE His salvation.

Their heart is revealed in the Old Testament.
Isaiah 64:3-6 “When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence. For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved? For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

At one moment Israel will come to realize just how sinful they have been,
And what will God do then?

He will show them “mercy”.

So you have Paul saying essentially,
What God first did with Gentiles, He is now doing with Jews.

God ordained for them to walk in disobedience
That He might eventually show them mercy.

Now the question here that we are interested in is, WHY?

Because if you’re willing to see it,
It’s really no different than the issue regarding the fall.

Why even allow a period of disobedience?
Why even ordain a time of rebellion?
Because if there is no disobedience; if there is no rebellion,
THERE CAN BE NO MERCY.

So let’s look at the final point Paul makes as he explains this all.
#3 THE SOVEREIGN PURPOSE
Romans 11:32

There it is.
WHY WERE THEY IN DISOBEDIENCE?
“God has shut up all in disobedience”

WHY WOULD GOD DO SUCH A THING?
“so that He may show mercy to all.”

God did all of that so that He could make His tremendous mercy known.

• If Gentiles had never been disobedient…
• If Jews had never been disobedient…
• If Adam had never been disobedient…
THEN WE WOULD NEVER KNOW THE GLORY OF GOD’S MERCY

God has chosen to ordain even the difficult things in this world
That He might make His great mercy known.

Romans 9:22-23 “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,”

Did you catch that?
“He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy”

God is revealing who He is to us.
You couldn’t know Him otherwise.

Now the FIRST THING we must realize about this whole concept is this:
GOD IS BRILLIANT!

Notice the doxology that Paul pens after he comes to this inspired revelation:
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

When Paul realized that God ordained the disobedience of every human so that He could demonstrated His great mercy to humanity, Paul just had to sit back and say, “Wow! God, there is no one like You!”

He was overwhelmed at the wisdom of God.

And let me just be emphatic here for a moment.
THIS MUST BE OUR RESPONSE AS WELL

Anyone who comes to a revelation of God’s sovereign control over all things,
And that He does all things that He might reveal His glory
Must first and foremost submit that God’s wisdom is far beyond ours.

We would have never devised a plan like that.
Only the wisdom of God could devise such a thing.

And let me tell you furthermore.
That painful tragedy in your life which you may not to this day understand.

The Bible says one day we will know fully just as we are fully known.
One day, we will stand in God’s presence and these things will be explained to us.

Currently we accept our tragedies by faith that God is good.
But one day our faith will become sight and you’ll know exactly
Why God ordained that horrible day of suffering in your life.

And I promise you as boldly
As I’ve ever promised anything in my life.
On that day when God reveals His purpose to you,
I ALREADY KNOW WHAT YOU WILL SAY.

You will say:
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

You will cry at the top of your lungs, “Oh God that was brilliant! Oh God thank you for doing that! Oh God I am so amazed at You!”

Some day when we see the full effect of why God ordained the fall,
We will praise God for the fall
As surely as we praise Him for the cross.

Of that I am supremely confident.

BUT THAT’S NOT THE ONLY THING WE MUST REALIZE.
Certainly grasping God’s wisdom is important.

But Paul goes on to say there is another thing that should occur
When we come to a realization
That God did what He did to make His mercy known.

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

WHY DID GOD ORDAIN A PERIOD OF DISOBEDIENCE?
So that He could reveal His mercy

WHY DID GOD FEEL THE NEED TO REVEAL HIS MERCY?
So that He could be glorified because of it.
• So that you and I would not only be overwhelmed at the wisdom of His sovereign prerogative,
• But also so that you and I could gather before Him and praise Him for His mercy,
• And so that you and I could submit our bodies before Him in service because of His mercy.

Last week I told you that God ordained the fall
“Because redemption is more glorious than creation.”

Tonight I tell you that God ordained disobedience
“Because mercy is more glorious than justice.”

What did Jesus teach us about the proportion of our love for God?

TURN TO: Luke 7:36-47

• I feel certain there were days when you experienced the justice of God and
you felt compelled to honor Him for being just.
• But I am also certain that there were days when you experienced the mercy
of God and I don’t even have to ask which day resulted in greater praise.

Do you see what we are saying?
GOD ORDAINS ALL THINGS FOR HIS GLORY

And this is why things like even the fall or the Jewish rejection of Christ
Or even your great tragedies make so much sense.

Because God is not at work just seeking to make your life comfortable and happy.
GOD IS SEEKING TO REVEAL HIS GLORY TO YOU.

He ordained disobedience that He might show mercy.
And He shows mercy that He might be glorified.

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

And by the way, nothing makes us happier than a revelation of God.

Consider these passages in closing:
Psalms 16:11 “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

Psalms 21:6 “For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence.”

Psalms 43:4 “Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.”

Psalms 84:1-2, 10 “How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God…For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

I bring all this up to make one main point to you.
• There are events in this world…
• There are tragedies in this life…
• WHICH HAVE NO OTHER EXPLANATION

The ONLY POSSIBLE REASON they can occur
Is because God is ordaining them to reveal the glory of who He is to you.

And what God knows is that
There is no level of loss which you can face in this life
That the resulting presence of His glory
Will not fully and overwhelmingly satisfy.

This whole thing is about SOLI DEO GLORIA
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Discipleship According to Jesus – Part 4
Luke 6:37-38
April 22, 2018

If you’ve been with us recently you know that
We are currently listening to Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”.

He is confronting the massive crowd that has gathered to listen to Him.

We already listened as He addressed the first two groups.
#1 TO THE COMMITTED
Luke 6:20-23

• Here Jesus reminded those who had left everything to follow Him that they should not mourn because they are blessed.

• And if they could only see what their true treasure is for trusting in Him they would be leaping for joy.

#2 TO THE COMFORTABLE
Luke 6:24-26

Jesus next turned to the crowd who had not forsaken all to follow Jesus.
• They were only here because Jesus could make their lives more comfortable via His ability to heal their diseases.

• But they weren’t interested in giving up their money or their comfort or their reputations to follow Jesus.

• Jesus told them that this was a foolish decision for rejecting Jesus for comfort in this life would mean certain weeping in the next.

It was a foolish decision.

And then Jesus turned to the 3rd group in the crowd.
#3 TO THE CURIOUS
Luke 6:27-49

These are the people who are basically still on the fence.
• They are feeling Jesus out.
• They are here to be healed.
• They are here to listen.

And Jesus now addresses them.

And as we said last week, His main objective here
Is to crush them under the weight of their own guilt
And to condemn their self-sufficiency.

As we said,
Many times when preaching the gospel to our world we find it necessary to first get a person lost before we can see them saved.

That’s NOT TO SAY that they aren’t lost already, it’s just that they don’t realize it.
• They are content in their own goodness
• They are content in their own morality
• They have compared themselves to their culture and figured that they’re fine.

Just go to a funeral some time.
The worst theology in the world is spewed at funerals.
Everyone goes to heaven at funerals.
All you have to do is love your kids, love your momma, and love your dog.

The point is people are notorious for self-justification.
• We hear it all the time, “I’m a good person”, “I have a good heart”
• Some can even list their good deeds, “I go to church”, “I donate my time”, “I give to charity”

As humans we are masters of self-justification.
And that is precisely what Jesus has set out to expose and to destroy.

In this sermon He is kicking the crutch right out from under them.
He is showing them that their goodness isn’t nearly good enough,
And if they judged themselves rightly they would not be so confident.

He started last week by CONFRONTING THEIR MERCY.

Mercy is vitally important because it is a chief characteristic of God.
• God first showed mercy in the Garden of Eden when He clothed Adam and Eve instead of killing them.
• And God showed mercy continually since then.
• Even His altar is known as the “Mercy Seat”

When God introduced Himself to Moses, He did so like this:
Exodus 34:6-7 “Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

David spoke of God’s mercy:
Psalms 103:6-14 “The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”

The point is that God is clearly merciful,
And if you are one who considers yourself a child of God
Then you’d better be able to demonstrate your mercy.

And so Jesus was clear.
Demonstrate your mercy like this:
“love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

He went on to reveal
If your love or your goodness or your generosity is only given to those who deserve it and can give it back to you then your mercy isn’t really mercy at all.

God’s mercy is defined by the fact that
He does good to those who don’t deserve it.

SO if you want treasure in heaven and if you want to be considered as a child of God then Jesus said, (36) “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

And we noted last week, that that is a condemning statement.
I might think I’m more merciful than someone else,
But who can say they are merciful like God is merciful?

And that’s the point.
No one. We need Christ.
• We need forgiveness.
• We need to be clothed in His righteousness.

So you can see that Jesus is driving these people to desperation.

Well THIS MORNING Jesus continues beating the drum regarding mercy.
We approach an often quoted, but rarely understood passage.

(37-39) “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Now before we dive into it,
It is important that we set the record straight here.
THIS VERSE IS NOT A MANDATE TO JUST LEAVE SIN ALONE.

This verse is about offering mercy,
Not eliminating the message of repentance.

Mercy and tolerance are not the same thing.

Consider Jesus confrontation with the religious elite and that story commonly known as “The woman caught in adultery”

• You know the story recorded in John 8 where the woman is brought to Jesus
who has been caught in the very act.

• Her accusers have the Law on their side and they ask Jesus if they should
stone the woman as Moses commanded?

• Jesus of course writes in the sand, but then says, “Let him who is without
sin cast the first stone at her.”

• Of course they leave.

And then Jesus looks at the woman and says:
John 8:10-11 “Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

THE POINT IS CLEARLY SEEN THERE.
Tolerating sin and offering mercy are NOT the same thing.
We are not commanded to tolerate sin,
But we are commanded to offer mercy.

Now that’s important because our world wants to use this verse
As a command to never confront anyone else’s sin.

But this verse is NOT saying that
If you’ll just refrain from ever disapproving of other people’s actions
Then God will never disapprove of yours.

Jesus’ statement, “For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

DOES NOT mean that in the judgment
You will only be judged by the same standard that you lifted up.

Obviously that is not the message of the Bible.

The Bible reminds us that in judgment, we are judged according to God’s perfect and holy standard.

He says in Isaiah:
Isaiah 28:17 “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place.”

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

The Bible promises that
The standard of judgment will be God’s perfect righteousness.
It will be the righteousness of Christ,
Not the standard you choose to adopt.

NOR is Jesus saying that no one should ever confront the sin of anyone else.

That is perhaps when this verse is quoted the most.
You tell someone in sin that they ought not do such things
And they immediately fire back with “Judge Not!”

But that is not Jesus point either.
In fact, later in the passage when speaking of having a plank in your eye Jesus says that after you remove it “you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

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

It was Jesus in Matthew 18 who taught us that
• When we see our brother in sin, we are to confront him,
• And if he doesn’t listen to take a brother with us,
• And if he still doesn’t listen to tell it to the church,
• And if he still won’t repent to pronounce judgment on him.
• He is to be treated as a Gentile or a tax collector.

This was also what Paul had in mind concerning the immoral brother when he wrote:
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.”

And we could go on and on here.
The message of the Bible is not to just leave sinners alone
And so long as you don’t confront anyone
Then no one will confront you either.

That is NOT what Jesus is saying here.

Jesus is here addressing people who are steeped in their own goodness
And who see no need for mercy at all.

They don’t care if their enemy repents or not.
They don’t care if a person is in need or not.
THEY DON’T WANT TO OFFER MERCY.
• Remember this is the group who didn’t want to love those who hated them or to pray for those who mistreated them.

• They only wanted to love people who loved them and to give to people who would give back to them.

• These people saw no need for mercy in their way of life.

WELL JESUS IS CONFRONTING THAT MINDSET HEAD ON.

And I think I can ask a question that will sum up His point.
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO ELIMINATE THE REALITY OF MERCY?

Now that’s a question to ponder.
Do you want to just throw out the standard of mercy altogether?

Now, this is not the only time we see such an argument in Scripture.

TURN TO: MATTHEW 18:15-35
This is such an important passage on this concept.

It begins with the passage we alluded to a moment ago about church discipline.
(READ 15-20)

Now some read that as cold and harsh
And I’ve been told numerous times by people that they just don’t see how a church could ever adopt such a policy.

Well, we adopt it because Jesus commanded it.

But what you must understand about this passage is that
It is not a passage about judgment, it is a passage about mercy.

This passage drips with mercy.
• It is filled with chance after chance after chance for a brother to repent and be brought back to full fellowship.

• In fact, the only way a person ever reaches the point of discipline is if they are extremely stubborn and strong willed about keeping their sin.

• And even then it’s not permanent. If at any time they are willing to repent they get to come back.

This passage drips of mercy.
And we know that because Peter picks up on it.

(21) “Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Peter DIDN’T say, “Lord I just don’t think we can be so harsh with people.”

That wasn’t the point.

• Peter saw Jesus’ teaching as a loop-hole for too much mercy.
• Peter saw a system which he thought could be abused.
• He was fine with mercy but he still saw the need for a limit.

But Jesus blew the limit off the hinges.
(22) “Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

And the point obviously is that if you do the math you’ve missed the point.

And then Jesus gave a striking parable.
(READ 23-35)

We covered this recently with our youth, but it is such a vivid picture.

We have a man who is in debt over his head.
The Scripture says he owes 10,000 talents.
• 1 talent = 15 years wages.
• So if $40,000 is an average yearly salary, 1 talent = $600,000
• And 10,000 talents = 6 billion dollars

And that makes his case absurd.
He’s never gonna pay that back. His talk is cheap.
He’s just hoping for a long shot of mercy.

But, to the glory of the king, HE RECEIVES IT.
(27) “and the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.”

It’s the next part that is shocking and which makes Jesus’ point.

This slave then goes out and finds one who owes him money.
• A man owes 100 denarii.
• 1 denarii = 1 days wages
• To earn $40,000 a year you need to bring home around $19 and hour.
• That’s $152 a day.
• 100 denarii = $15,200

Now, that’s not nothing, but it’s certainly not insurmountable.
People take out car loans or mortgages that far exceed that.
This man really might have repaid.

But the first slave was unwilling and started choking him
And threw him in prison where he’d never be able to repay.

When the other slaves told the king, the king was enraged.
(32-35) “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Now we chase that rabbit to look at that passage
Because the point there is the same as the point here.

Peter asked how many times he should forgive his brother
Jesus basically answers, “Well, I guess that depends on how many times you want to be forgiven.”

Isn’t that what Jesus taught us about mercy last week?
Luke 6:31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.”

That is the point of the two verses we see here.

The passage starts with 4 commands, 2 are negative and 2 are positive.

(37) “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned;”

“judge” translates KRINO and it means “to judge or to decide”
“condemn” translates KATADIKAZO and it means “to pass sentence upon”

And Jesus says “Don’t do it”

Now again, this is NOT a message regarding the confrontation of sin.
Jesus said this in the context of talking about mercy.

And the point is that when someone approaches you
And wants mercy then don’t judge and don’t condemn.

When they want your coat…
When they need your help…
When they desire a pardon…
“Do not judge…and do not condemn”

In other words, when they desire mercy, give it to them!

Which explains the two positive commands as well.
“pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you.”

• When someone comes wanting to be forgiven, give it to them.
• When someone comes wanting a pardon, give it to them.
• If your brother comes 70 times asking for forgiveness then give him forgiveness 70 times.

AND THE REASONING IS CLEAR.

If you don’t judge “you will not be judged”
If you don’t condemn “you will not be condemned”
If you pardon “you will be pardoned”
If you give mercy “it will be given to you.”

WHAT IS JESUS SAYING?
He is merely asking you what kind of standard you desire to live under.

Several years ago we had a young lady get pregnant out of wedlock.
By all accounts she was a very good and moral young lady, she just made a mistake. (She certainly was not alone)

I just happened to walk upon a conversation of some other young girls who were saying, “She got what she deserved.”

Well, that’s true.
That’s what we call justice.
Justice is when you get what you deserve.

And when you make the mistake this girl made, then pregnancy is what you deserve.
And that’s what I told those girls.

And then I asked them, “It’s true she is getting what she deserved, but is that the way we want to play the game?”

Is that the way we want it; where everyone just gets what they deserve?

I don’t think so.
If I read in my Bible correctly, I’m in pretty big need of mercy.

Ephesians 2:1-5 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),”

Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

I’m one who desperately needs mercy to be a reality.
If mercy isn’t available then I am sunk.

AND THAT’S THE POINT JESUS IS MAKING.

PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO DESIRE TO OFFER MERCY
ARE PEOPLE WHO DON’T UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN NEED OF IT.

Those who have been broken before God under the weight of their own sin and guilt, are definitely those who love mercy.

People who are unwilling to give mercy
• Are those who have never understood the value of it.
• And that is only because they have never understood the measure of their own guilt before God.

TURN TO: JAMES 2
• Starting in James 1:26 and running through James 2, James is making the point about the importance of mercy.
• In particular he is bothered by the presence of favoritism in the church and the lack of mercy that the poor man and the widows and orphans are receiving.
• He sees a church that doesn’t understand the value of mercy.
• And James sets out to show them how important it is.

He actually uses the 2nd greatest commandment as a jumping off point,
Since that is a command they were breaking
By not loving the poor man as much as they loved themselves.

(READ 2:8-11)

I hope you see what James just said.
You are those who don’t want to offer mercy, but you are those who desperately need it.

WHY?

Well it is true that you haven’t broken those “Big” commands
Like murder and adultery and such.
The only command you are guilty of is a failure to extend mercy to the poor.

But let me tell you the problem in that.
(11) “He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”

What is his point?
In regard to breaking the Law,
It’s not about THE command you break,
It’s about WHOSE command you break.

We’ve been covering this with our youth and I shared with them the story of our popular UPS driver Graylon.

“Oh, you’re going to do the dishes…”

It wasn’t about that little command regarding dishes, it was about the fact that Graylon had offended the chief authority of his house.

Now do you understand why breaking even the little commands lands you in just as much hot water as breaking the big ones?

They are all an offense to God, and thus we all need mercy.

And after James reveals that he says:
(12-13) “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged bythe law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Which is again the same point Jesus is making here.
• If I were you, I wouldn’t be so quick to eliminate mercy.
• If I were you, I’d hold on to mercy as tightly as I could.

“For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Jesus looks at this crowd that doesn’t want to offer mercy.
And Jesus is merely asking, “Ok, but is that the way we want to play this game?”

Do you really want Jesus treating you the way you treat others?

And that is the problem with this crowd.

One more object lesson and we’ll wrap this thing up.
TURN TO: JONAH

Everyone remembers the story of Jonah and how God told him to go to Nineveh, but Jonah didn’t want to go.

And we know why he didn’t want to go.
• Nineveh was the Assyrians, they had done awful things to the Jews and Jonah didn’t even want to warn them of their sin for fear that they would repent and God would forgive them.
• Jonah didn’t want them to be forgiven.
• In fact, after Jonah does preach and they do repent and God was merciful Jonah was livid!

(READ 4:1-4)

• So Jonah is mad, and the Bible says next he sat down outside of the city and waited for God to incinerate them.

To comfort Jonah, he received an object lesson.
• God caused a plant to grow and shade Jonah and then God caused a worm to come and kill the plant, and Jonah was mad again.

And God’s answer is profound.
(READ 4:9-11)

It’s the only book in the Bible that ends with a question.

It’s there for you to ponder.
And the question is this:
SHOULD GOD BE MERCIFUL?

Be careful how you answer because “by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

In fact, Jesus even speaks of THE DEGREE OF THE MEASUREMENT. It will be “pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”

SO DO YOU WANT HIM TO BE MERCIFUL OR NOT?

Well we’ll look into the expected answer of this crowd next time,
But this morning I think it’s a question we should answer.

HOW MUCH MERCY SHOULD I BE EXPECTED TO GIVE?
Well, I don’t know, how much mercy would you like to receive?

HOW MANY TIMES CAN I BE EXPECTED TO FORGIVE?
Well, I don’t know, how many times would you like to be forgiven?

HOW MUCH OF A PARDON SHOULD I BE EXPECTED TO OFFER?
Well, I don’t know, how much of a pardon would you like to receive?

Jesus is addressing a group of people here who don’t offer mercy,
But all it actually reveals is that
They have never contemplated how badly they need it.

And that is true for us.
• Do you know how badly you need mercy?
• Do you understand your offence of God?
• Do you grasp what James said that ever sin is an offence to God even if you just think it is a little insignificant one?

Let me ask you,
What great immoral thing did Adam and Eve do which brought about their removal from the garden and the curse of this whole world?

They ate a piece of fruit.

It wasn’t about the fruit, it was about their defiance against God.
And God cursed this whole world.

Do you really suppose that you don’t need mercy?
Do you really suppose your sins to be so small?

Jesus is driving this crowd to understand that
They need Him for forgiveness and that mercy is a good thing.

I would say the same to you.
Friend, you need the mercy of Christ.

And if your life is characterized by bitterness and a lack of forgiveness and holding grudges and refusing mercy
Then how is it that you can expect to receive the mercy of Christ?

Only a self-righteous person would have a disdain for mercy.
And that is the point here.

This morning let me encourage you to see the value of mercy
And run to Jesus that you may receive it.