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The Testimony of Jesus’ Deity
1 John 5:6-12
September 4, 2022

Edward Gross wrote:
“No Christianity can be any greater than the Christ in whom it believes. It cannot be any more attractive, useful, or viable than the one on whom it is established. As a mountain cannot rise any higher than the mass of rock that constitutes it, so Christianity cannot ascend an inch beyond the substance of its Rock—Jesus Christ. No Christianity can offer more nourishment and hope to the world than what can actually be found in its Christ.”
https://opc.org/new_horizons/NH00/0003d.html

So who is the Christ of Christianity?

The issue before us today is that of His deity.
IS JESUS GOD?
That is the question.

The reason is stands before us this morning is because
The Gnostics of John’s day said, “NO”.
• To the Gnostics, Jesus was merely a man
• Upon whom the “Christ Spirit” settled on Him at His baptism
• And then departed before His crucifixion.

According to them, He was born a man and He died as a man.
He merely had the Christ Spirit on Him during His ministry
Allowing Him to do extraordinary things.

Is that the Christ of Christianity?
Was Jesus a mere man or is He eternal God?

Edward Gross continues:
“Was Jesus simply a man, or was he God incarnate in human nature, the God-man? If any study deserves your best effort, it is this one. For if Jesus was merely a man, then he cannot offer us any more than any other special person. And to follow him, hoping that he will be able to deliver what only God can deliver, would be a delusion. But if Jesus Christ is God, and all his claims are truth, then to follow him is to choose the wisest path—the one leading to life now and forever. And not to follow him is to oppose our Creator, Preserver, and Judge—a rather risky and foolish position to take.”
(ibid)

He makes a very important point there.
If you’ve ever wondered why it is necessary that Jesus is God.

Because if Jesus is nothing more than a man then
It is impossible for Him to do for you things that only God can do.

LIKE WHAT?
• How about forgiveness…
• How about new life…
• How about resurrection…

Those are things that only God can do.
If Jesus is not God and you have run to Him for those things
Then you are in a world of hurt.

It matters that Jesus is God.

What about His role as MEDIATOR?
Do we not say that He is the reconciler between God and man?
• If He is not God then this is not possible for Him.
• What man could sit at the right hand of God and daily intercede for us?

And what about the ATONEMENT we say He purchased?
We say that Jesus bore all the wrath for all the sin for all the elect for all time.
• And yet we know that 1 man pay for his own sin won’t be able to satisfy that debt even in hell for all eternity.
• So how is a man supposed to be able to pay an eternal amount of sin-debt for a multitude of people unless He is more than a man?

IT MATTERS THAT JESUS IS GOD.
If He is not God then we are certainly barking up the wrong tree
Expecting any kind of salvation from Him.

Well good news for us, JESUS IS GOD.

BUT, as we said, the Gnostics didn’t believe so.

SO
How do we know that Jesus is God?
How do we know that the Christ of Christianity is more than just a man?

We said last week that believing Jesus is God is one of the marks of a genuine believer.

1 John 5:5 “Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

We are those who believe “that Jesus is the Son of God”.

So how do we know that?
Why do we believe that?

We will certainly get into our text in just a minute,
But I want to see if I can’t get your mind going a little here first.

Let me start with this verse as a good jumping off point:
John 5:31 “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.”

• Jesus was not implying there that His word was not sufficient.
• Certainly every word Jesus spoke was true and His self-testimony is enough for us.
• What Jesus is doing there is submitting to the Old Testament which required 2 or 3 witnesses for every fact to be confirmed.

But I do want to point out that JESUS DID testify about Himself.
And this is a good place to begin.

Jesus did declare that He was God.
He did this both directly and indirectly.

Consider His INDIRECT CLAIMS.

Every time Jesus referred to God as His Father it was an indirect claim at deity.

And don’t think the Jewish leaders didn’t pick upon that.
John 5:17-18 “But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”

John 10:33 “The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”

And to further solidify their speculation
When they accused Him of making Himself equal with God
JESUS DID NOT RETREAT.

You may remember when Paul and Silas went to Lystra and they healed that crippled man that the people started calling them gods.

Paul and Silas adamantly rejected such an observation.
Acts 14:15 “and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM.”

You may remember in the book of the Revelation when John bowed down before the angel who gave him the revelation.

Revelation 22:8-9 “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.”

The point is that when men and angels were mistaken for God,
They quickly retreated and set the matter straight.

But when the religious leaders said that
Jesus made Himself out to be God He didn’t retreat at all.

Instead:
John 5:19-23 “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”

Jesus simply said:
• I share the same passions as the Father
• I see the same plan as the Father
• I show the same power as the Father
• I share the same praise as the Father

That’s not a retreat, that’s an acknowledgement that
They accurately picked upon on what He was saying.

We could go on from there even more and talk about how He received worship.
Matthew 28:16-17 “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.”

No rebuke from Jesus.

John 20:27-29 “Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

Far from rebuking, Jesus affirmed his declaration.

In neither case does it record Jesus backing up
And telling them to worship God only.

We could talk about how He said He would receive prayer.
John 14:14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

Or how about that story when the opened the roof and lowered the paralytic down in front of Jesus and Jesus declared that man forgiven.

The religious elite again picked up on the insinuation:
Luke 5:20-21 “Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

But again Jesus did not retreat.
Instead He healed the man to prove He had authority to forgive.

And there are many more such claims.

But there are also DIRECT CLAIMS.
John 14:8-10 “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.”

John 10:34-37 “Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;”

Luke 22:70-71 “And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.” Then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”

So clearly Jesus testified of Himself.
He did it over and over and over.

He testified that He is in fact the Son of God.
He is equal with God.
He is God.

But as Jesus said in that text we read a moment ago:
John 5:31-32 “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. “There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.”

• We could also say that The Apostles testified to His deity.
• We remember The Demons testifying to His deity.

But Jesus would go on to say:
John 5:37 “And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.”

Jesus said that God the Father testified to His deity.

And this is the witness John is most interested in
John wants you to know that God testified of Jesus.

To silence the Gnostic argument,
John calls God Himself to the witness stand.

John reveals that God has given 3 key witnesses to the deity of Jesus.

And that is what we want to look at THIS MORNING.
Let’s start with reading (VERSES 6-9)

I know that these verses represent
The most questioned verses in the entire epistle.

Inevitably if someone is reading through or studying 1 John I’ll know it
Because I’ll get a phone call when they get to 1 John 5:6-8

And we’re going to answer your questions there this morning,
But first let’s simply point out a few obvious things in these 4 verses.

Look first at verse 9,
“If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.”

Now let’s just take a clear point there.
John says that God “has testified concerning His Son”

God has not been silent on the issue.
• Some men say Jesus is God.
• The Gnostics said Jesus is not God.

And John says, “Well men’s testimonies are all well and good, but why don’t we let God weigh in on this, for He most certainly has.”

John says that God has given a 3-fold testimony
Regarding the deity of His Son.

(7-8) “For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

Now if you’re putting all of this together then you are realizing that
God has testified concerning who Jesus is.

And God’s testimony consisted of 3 parts.
“the Spirit and the water and the blood”

And John says that “the three are in agreement”
Meaning that they all 3 say the same thing.

God has made 3 testimonies concerning His Son
And all 3 times He said the same thing.

For a SUMMATION now go to verse 6.
(6) “This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. The Spirit testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.”

OK, there’s the verse that really twists people’s head around.
What in the world is John talking about?

Well if you were a youth at REGEN
• You heard Austin Duncan preach from John 19 about the crucifixion of Jesus.
• And you heard Austin read about how they pierced Jesus’ side and water and
blood came out.
• And Austin alluded that these two passages were somehow connected.

I love Austin Duncan, but he’s wrong about that one.
This passage is NOT referring to the fact that
When Jesus’ side was pierced water and blood came out.

The water and blood in John 19
Was John’s way of proving to his audience that Jesus was in fact dead on the cross.
• He didn’t simply faint…
• He didn’t pass out…
• He didn’t just go into some sort of coma that He later awakened from…
• Jesus was dead, the water and the blood proved that.

But when John writes this epistle,
He’s not trying to prove that Jesus really died,
He’s writing to prove that Jesus is God.

They are two very separate things.

FURTHERMORE if you try to link this passage to that one
We have another problem because here John mentions a third witness
“the Spirit” who is not mentioned in John 19.

I understand the temptation to link the two, but don’t,
That’s not what John is talking about.

BEYOND THAT, if he were, then one statement really makes no sense.
For John says, “not with water only, but with the water and with the blood”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
That wouldn’t make sense if you were talking about the piercing of Jesus’ side
For everyone would expect blood if you stabbed Him.

NO, what John is talking about is:

The 3 ways in which the Father very clearly testified that Jesus is God.
• God testified through the water
• God testified through the blood
• God testified through the Spirit

AND I’LL SHOW YOU THOSE.
I know that’s a long introduction,
But let’s look at these 3 ways God testified concerning His Son.

#1 VERBALLY AT HIS BAPTISM
1 John 5:6a

“This is the One who came by water…”

This one is the most obvious of the 3.

Matthew 3:16-17 “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

You remember that story.
God from heaven made that solemn announcement that Jesus is in fact His “beloved Son”

John referenced it in his gospel as well.
John 1:29-34 “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

John the Baptist said, I saw it too!
God made it abundantly clear that Jesus is in fact the Son of God.

So the baptism was obvious.
That was “the water”

God actually spoke audibly from heaven two more times about Jesus.
• But the 2nd time He did it (Matthew 17) only Peter, James, and John heard it.
• And the 3rd time He did it (John 12) the people thought it thundered.

But at the baptism God verbally testified from heaven
That Jesus is His Son.

And this also explains that cryptic statement of John:
“not with water only, but with the water and with the blood”

See the Gnostics were aware of that baptismal announcement,
But they claimed that was the only one.

They claimed that at Jesus’ baptism the “Christ Spirit” came upon Him
But departed before His death.
JESUS WAS JUST A MAN BEING ANOINTED BY GOD.

John is out to show they were wrong.
What you saw at His baptism was not Jesus merely being anointed,
It was Jesus being introduced.

And the baptism was just the first. God also did it at His death.
And God did it continually throughout His ministry.

But the water one is obvious and clear.

But John says God did it “not with water only, but with the water and with the blood.”

But you say: “I don’t remember God audibly speaking from heaven at the death of Jesus.”
He didn’t.
But God still testified there.

Verbally at His Baptism
#2 EMPHATICALLY AT HIS CRUCIFIXION
1 John 5:6

“not with the water only but with the water and with the blood.”

How did God testify that Jesus was His Son at His death?

Matthew 27:50-54 “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Do you remember the scene?
At the moment Jesus died God made some emphatic demonstrations.

“the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”

What was that?
• The veil was that which separated God from the people.
• That veil portioned off the Holy of Holies.
• That veil was a daily reminder that you did not have access to God.

The writer of Hebrews told us that
• It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
• The yearly repetition of those sacrifices only managed to remind us of sin and that true forgiveness had not actually occurred.

Millions of animals had been sacrificed upon that altar
And still man could not get to God;
Still God held Himself away from the people.

But when Jesus died that veil was torn.
• Men didn’t tear it. It wasn’t torn from bottom to top.
• God tore it. It was torn from top to bottom.

We see that as: ACCESS GRANTED
• Jesus death was sufficient!
• God accepted Jesus death as payment!
• God was satisfied!
• Sin was atoned for!
• His people were justified!

That veil was no longer needed.

But that wasn’t the only thing that happened when Jesus died.
“The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised”

• At the moment Jesus died God raised many from the dead.
• He opened the tombs and dead people all around Jerusalem started coming out of the grave.

WHY?
Just as the veil ripping was symbolic, so was this.
• The veil taught us that access was granted.
• This taught us that DEATH WAS DEFEATED

The wages of sin is death, but Jesus died
And He died in the stead of all His children.

His tasted death for us.
He died that we might live.

And that was put on display by God at the death of Jesus as well.

But the overwhelming testimony of the event
Didn’t come from a word spoken from heaven.

The testimony of that event came from a much more unlikely source.

It came from the man who crucified Him.
“Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

The water wasn’t the only time that God testified to the deity of His Son.
GOD ALSO DID IT AT HIS DEATH.

It wasn’t verbal, but it was emphatic.
God ripped the veil and opened the tombs
To testify to the saving power of His Son.

Verbally at His Baptism, Emphatically at His Crucifixion
#3 CONTINUALLY IN HIS MINISTRY
1 John 5:6c

“It is the Spirit who testifies because the Spirit is the truth.”

Before John can move on, he is reminded that there is also a 3rd testimony.
“It is the Spirit”

Now this one you’ll likely see pretty easily as well.
FOR EXAMPLE, we remember Jesus saying in the Upper Room:
John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,”

John 16:13-14 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

Or we remember that at Pentecost the Spirit came and filled those who believed and Peter said:
Acts 2:33-36 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.” ’ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

And so we realize that the Spirit testifies to who Jesus is.

But that is NOT what John has in mind here.
John is talking about the miraculous works
That God granted Jesus to do in the power of the Spirit.

We go back now to that passage we read to open our discussion.

TURN TO: JOHN 5:31
• There again you see that statement from Jesus that He does not testify alone about Himself.

Now first Jesus mentions John the Baptist.
(READ: 32-35)

But John’s testimony is NOT the other testimony Jesus is talking about.

(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.”

The works of Jesus were a testimony of God that Jesus is His divine Son.

Think about His creative power
• Restoring withered limbs
• Turning water to wine
• Multiplying the fish and the loaves

Think about His power over nature
• Calming the storm
• Causing the fig tree to whither

Think about His power over sin and its consequences
• Healing all manner of sickness
• Casting out demons
• Pronouncing forgiveness

Now someone might say, “No, wait! There were plenty of prophets in the Old Testament who worked miracles. Even the apostles in the New Testament worked miracles but we don’t any of them were God.”

True.

But when Jesus worked miracles, He worked them in His own name.
And when Jesus sent out His apostles to work miracles
They were commanded to do it in His name.

And can I remind you of a very important truth:
Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

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.”

The testimony of God is seen in the reality that
God gave Jesus the ability to work miracles in His own name.

This doesn’t happen if Jesus is not God.
It was a testimony that Jesus is in fact His Son.

And this is the point of John.
We believe Jesus is God because God testified that He is.
• God did it verbally at His baptism.
• God did it emphatically at His crucifixion.
• God did it continually in His ministry.

And this testimony should be sufficient and must be believed.

(9) “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.”

God has declared that Jesus is His Son.
NOW JOHN TURNS TO YOU.

(10-12) “The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”

It is clear that God has declared Jesus to be His Son.
WILL YOU BELIEVE IT?

If you refuse to believe that Jesus is the Son of God,
You’re not just disbelieving John. You are calling God a liar.

God has verbally, emphatically, and continually stated
That Jesus is His Son.
If you say He’s not, then you are calling God a liar.

“the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because He has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.”

John just drew a line in the sand for us this morning.
When you walk out of here today you will walk out in one of two camps.
• You are either going to walk out as one who declares that God is speaking the
truth
• Or you are going to walk out as one who declares that God is a liar.

AND LET’S BE CLEAR AGAIN HERE.
We are NOT talking here about some intellectual agreement.

James 2:19 “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

• The demons know who God is.
• The demons know who Jesus is.
• The demons agree with the testimony.

We AREN’T talking about agreeing with a fact you can’t prove wrong.

What John is talking about is submission.
John is talking about belief that changes your life.

If you say, “I believe Jesus is God, BUT you don’t submit to Him as God then you don’t really believe.”

The testimony of God
Was not only to get you to recognize that Jesus is God,
But to submit to Jesus as God.

That’s why the Pharisees wouldn’t acknowledge that Jesus was God.
If they did, then they would have had to submit to Him.

There was a day when Peter, James, and John also received a verbal admonition from God.

Matthew 17:5-6 “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.”

Only 3 men heard that one, but they certainly understood the point.
“listen to Him!”

This is still what John means today.
The God of Heaven has clearly testified that Jesus Christ is His Son
And therefore He must be believed and trusted and obeyed.

You are either doing that or you aren’t.

For those who do believe that, the reward is eternal life.

(11-12) “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”

As we said last time.
• A believer is one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
• And those who believe that and who have entrusted their life to Christ receive eternal life.

And it’s not just me who is telling you that.
And it’s not just John who is telling you that.
It is God who testifies to that.

So this morning believe in Jesus.
Submit your life to Him, but do not reject Him and call God a liar.

Edward Gross also said:
“This, then, is the great question of the ages, the answer to which determines the destiny of our souls: is Jesus God? To truly believe and answer yes, is forever to set the course of your life in loving, worshiping, and following him. To answer no, or to remain uncertain, is to set your sails to the winds of human opinion and feeling. They can take you on travels far and wide—but not very high, as the sea of human experience is limited by how far the human mind has power to go. That ship can take you no farther. Its destiny is Despair, and there you will forever disembark. But the Captain, who is the God-man, promises to take you far beyond the scanty scope of man, up into his eternal home, where you can bask in the matchless light of his glory and truth forever. So, carefully consider the implications of this pivotal doctrine today.”
(ibid)

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The Source of David’s Boldness
Psalms 138
September 4, 2022

Tonight I want us to begin by considering
The boldness and courage of David.

• We think of this young man who literally begged to fight the giant.
• This man whose resume included killing both a bear and a lion.

When my dad was in his final days
We were talking about the glories of heaven and I asked him aside from Jesus and his grandfathers, who was he most eager to meet?

He said, “David, the way he smack-talked that giant!”

David was a picture of strength and boldness.

1 Samuel 17:45-47 “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”

• That is boldness.
• That is courage.
• That is strength.

This David goes on to earn a reputation.
“Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten-thousands”

• He battles Philistines.
• He handles the persecution of Saul.
• He handles the revolt of Absalom.

He is a tremendously bold and courageous man.

And many times we have the tendency to look at men like him
And just assume it’s because they are just wired differently.

BUT THAT IS A MISTAKE.

For I can also tell you about a time when David was anything but bold.
Do you remember when he fled to the Philistine city of Gath and had to fake insanity just to escape their grasp?

David’s boldness WAS NOT
Just some natural genetic predisposition that he had.

David’s boldness came from God.
More specifically: David’s confidence came from THE WORD OF GOD.

Consider a few stories from David’s life.

There was the time when David was on the run from Saul but he received word that the Philistines had attacked Israel:
1 Samuel 23:1-5 “Then they told David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering the threshing floors.” So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah.” But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?” Then David inquired of the LORD once more. And the LORD answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines; and he led away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. Thus David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.”

Why was David bold?
Why was David confident?
Because God had told him that he would win.

God’s word gave David confidence.

Then there was the time while David was exiled to the Philistines for 1 year and 4 months as he ran from Saul and David tried to go to war with the Philistine army.

• However many of the Philistines didn’t want David there so they sent him home.
• On the way home he found out that his Philistine city had been attacked and his wives had been kidnapped.

1 Samuel 30:1-8 “Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.”

There it is again.
David was confident because God had assured him that He would deliver his enemies into his hand.

Or how about the time after David became king that the Philistines attacked Israel?
2 Samuel 5:17-19 “When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek out David; and when David heard of it, he went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines came and spread themselves out in the valley of Rephaim. Then David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You give them into my hand?” And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.”

And there you see it yet again.
David is confident and bold
Because God has told him that He will grant him victory.

Any of those 3 scenarios
Could have been the backdrop for the Psalm we study tonight,
Or it could have been a completely different incident.

What we know however is that David is IN TROUBLE.
(7) “Though I walk in the midst of trouble…”
• Someone has threatened him.
• Perhaps it is one of those battles with the Philistines or perhaps it is a different incident,
• But either way, David is in trouble.

He is facing “wrath” from his “enemies” (8)

In the middle of that troublesome moment David has cried out to God.
(3) “On the day I called…”
• David sees the enemy.
• David sees the trouble.
• And David called on God for help.

And God has answered David.
(3) “On the day I called, You answered me;”
• There was no delay.
• God was quick to respond.

And in that response we find the secret to David’s boldness.
(3) “On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.”

So in the day of David’s trouble
His boldness and strength came from God.

Now that we might say is OBVIOUS.

We are well-acquainted with that famous verse in Philippians:
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

• We know that strength comes from God.
• We know that boldness comes from God.

BUT LET’S GET MORE SPECIFIC.

What was the means through which God conferred His strength upon David?
What was the means through which God made David bold?

That is found at the end of verse 2,
And it is the purpose for this song.

(1-2) “I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods. I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.”

David said that God had “magnified [His] word according to all Your name.”

That is to say that God had elevated the glory of His word
To the same status as the glory of His name.

Just as David had found grace and strength in who God was.
Now David has found grace and strength in what God said.

It is God’s word which had granted boldness and strength to David.

And this song is a testimony to that reality.

So let’s break this song down into 3 points as David pays tribute to the word of God which granted him boldness and strength.

#1 DAVID’S PUBLIC COMMITMENT
Psalms 138:1-3

We have already seen the reasoning behind the statement.
• We have seen that David was in trouble,
• That he called on the Lord,
• And God answered.

And we have God answered David
• Granting him the boldness and strength he needed to face his trouble.

INCIDENTALLY (and it is a good point to be made)

Often times we go to God in the midst of troublesome circumstances
And our prayer is that God will change the circumstances.

But it is not always God’s plan to change the circumstances.
Sometimes God’s plan is to change the man in the circumstances.

In David’s trouble God did not remove enemy.
God instead gave David the boldness and strength he would need
To face that enemy.

That is a good lesson for the church.
• It cannot be our prayer that God will always calm the waters for us.
• It cannot be our prayer that God will always remove every hurdle or obstacle.

• It must also be our prayer that God strengthen us to brave the crashing waves.
• It must also be our prayer that God embolden us to rise over every hurdle.

Paul told the Philippians:
Philippians 1:27-30 “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”

Just as we talked about last Sunday morning
When we took a quick look at those 7 churches of Revelation.

Jesus talked to churches like the church at Smyrna
Which faced intense persecution, but He did not remove it.
Instead He told the church at Smyrna to overcome it.

It’s not always about God changing the circumstances.
Sometimes it is the plan of God to change the man.

AND THAT IS WHAT GOD DID HERE.
He gave David boldness and strength through His word.

Whatever God said to David was all it took to make David bold.

And that boldness is on display in the first 1 ½ verses.
• And incidentally if you want to the best understanding of how this song goes
• Then you should put emphasis on the word “You” or “Your” every time it is used.

“I will give thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods. I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth.”

The idea here is that David is going to
Publicly put on a massive display of gratitude.

He isn’t just going to thank God in the silence of his bedroom,
He is going to put on a grand display.

He is going to “give thanks with all my heart”
It’s going to be a big deal.

And I should think that if we know anything of David it is that
He knows how to make a big deal of God.
I mean consider David dancing before the Ark.

David is going to make a scene as he gives thanks to God.

He’s going to do it by “sing[ing] praises to You before the gods.”
• I’m going to walk right in front of that pagan temple
• And I’m going to sing about Your greatness.
• I’m going to put on a display about the greatness of God
• And I want every pagan god and every pagan worshiper to see it.

And then, “I will bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name.”

With every pagan idolator watching
• I will announce my gratitude to God,
• I will sing to Him,
• Then I will turn my back on their temples and bow myself toward Jerusalem.

WHY?
“for your lovingkindness and Your truth”

• “lovingkindness” because You so quickly answered me.
• “truth” because of the words You spoke.

DO YOU SEE THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY
NO TIMIDITY IN DAVID’S WORSHIP?

David is not responding like a man who is afraid.
David is not responding like a man who is in hiding.

David is out in the open, publicly worshiping God,
And even making a mockery of the false gods.

ALL BECAUSE OF WHAT GOD HAS SAID TO HIM.

Whatever the message was which he received from God,
It made all the difference.

Can I just remind you that God’s word has this ability?

Consider:
Psalms 119:98 “Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine.”

There is something empowering that occurs
When you study God’s word and it becomes yours.

• When you open it and read it
• And realize that what God said, He said FOR you
• And what God said, He said TO you.

• When you face various circumstances
• And you cry out to God for direction and help
• And then you open His word
• And there you find a passage which speaks directly to your situation,
• THAT IS YOURS.

And it makes all the difference in a life.

I have seen this so many times in my life.

When I wanted to preach, but I didn’t know if God was calling me.

So I prayed and I turned to read the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3:
1 Timothy 3:1 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.”

That verse became mine.
It directly addressed the desire God had placed within me.

When I faced times of persecution, specifically slander very early on in my ministry at Crawford and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. I called on God and opened my Bible.

Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Perhaps of all the books the one that is the most personal to me is 2 Timothy.
• I’ve never preached through it.
• I think it’s because it’s mine.

But I read about this preacher and how Paul seeks to encourage him
To press on and endure and to preach the world faithfully.

And I hope you understand what I’m talking about.
When you face your burden or your dilemma and you run to God
And then God’s word speaks directly to you
It produces such strength and such boldness.

That is what David received from God.
And his immediate response was:
THERE’S NOT ANOTHER GOD IN THE UNIVERSE WHO CAN DO THAT.

• And so David turned his back on every so-called god.
• He held a worship service right outside their temple.
• And he gave all glory and honor and praise and thanksgiving
• To the God who speaks and to the God who gives strength and boldness.

I’m telling you friends, there is conviction to be found in God’s word.
There is BOLDNESS to be found in God’s word.

There is a direct correlation between weakness and neglect of Scripture.
There is a direct correlation between timidity and neglect of Scripture.

If you want boldness.
If you want confidence.
If you want strength.
Then read God’s word, let Him shape your convictions.

And you might find yourself publicly proclaiming God’s glory too.

David’s Public Commitment
#2 DAVID’S PROPHETIC CLAIM
Psalms 138:4-6

I picture David looking around at people
Who are sort of captivated by his public worship service.

• Perhaps he looks a little odd…
• Perhaps they think he’s a little over the top…

But David knows that the worship he is giving to God
Is but a taste of what is to come.

(4-5) “All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O LORD, When they have heard the words of Your mouth. And they will sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD.”

David speaks of that glorious day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

David’s worship isn’t strange.
That will one day be the behavior of the entire planet.
(Bold worship is the rule not the exception)

But aside from a prophetic announcement
David again GIVES TESTIMONY to the greatness of God’s word.

It is God’s word that filled David
With gratitude and praise and boldness and strength.

And notice what he says about God’s word here.
“All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O LORD, When they have heard the words of Your mouth.”

In other words, God’s word would have this same effect
On anyone who would listen to it.

The reason I worship is because I have heard the words of God.
And anyone who would hear the words of God would join right with me.

If every king of every nation would be listen to what God has to say,
They would shut these pagan temples down for good.

They would all join with me in my song.
“For great is the glory of the LORD.”

And then David takes the opportunity
Even to PREACH THE GOSPEL to those who stand around.

(6) “For though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar.”

You’ve heard that a time or two haven’t you?

Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Isaiah 66:2 “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

Proverbs 3:34 “Though He scoffs at the scoffers, Yet He gives grace to the afflicted.”

David proclaims to the world the greatness of the mercy of God.

He is “exalted”.

In fact, He is the highest and preeminent and only sovereign.

• The youth have seen it the last couple of weeks.
• “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”
• From the dawn of creation God has positioned Himself as the head and the
highest.
• Everything is made by Him and for Him and it’s all coming to Him.

He is “exalted”

None can stand before Him.
None is His equal.

Over and over in Scripture we read, “Who is like the LORD?”

He is above us in every conceivable way.

And yet, despite His perfection and glory and holiness and preeminence.

“Yet He regards the lowly”

• He hears and listens to and responds even to the lowest of men.
• He would take on human form and come to earth to walk among sinners.

And anyone who is broken and contrite in heart He will accept.
His mercy is beyond fathom.

And this is David’s prophetic announcement as he worships.

I am glorifying God for His word to me.
And if you would listen, you would glorify Him too.

For I found strength in trouble,
And YOU would find mercy in your low estate.
And then you would join in worshiping Him with me.

That is also the power of God’s word.
It gives boldness and strength to those who are in danger, and it even gives confidence even to those who are sinful and undeserving.

• How many of us have rejoiced to find that our God grants forgiveness to sinners who confess their sin?

• How many of us rejoice that we can now boldly come before God’s throne?

• How many of us have breathed a sigh of relief when we see Jesus save the woman at the well or the woman caught in adultery or the tax collector?

How many have found strength from passages like:
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

My wife would rejoice in:
Lamentations 3:22-23 “The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

David’s call here is not just to warriors who need strength in battle.
His call is also to sinners who need mercy in judgment.

And David reminds that you can find both in the word of God.

There’s a 3rd thing we see from David.

David’s Public Commitment, David’s Prophetic Claim
#3 DAVID’S PECULIAR CONFIDENCE
Psalms 138:7-8

Here we see that David is in trouble.
“Though I walk in the midst of trouble…”

Here we see that David has enemies.

And yet, in peculiar fashion
David doesn’t seem concerned about any of them.

• Where is his worry?
• Where is his anxiety?
• Where is his nervousness?

His enemies haven’t retreated.
His trouble is not gone.
And yet, David is filled with confidence.

(7) “You will revive me; You will stretch for Your hand against the wrath of m enemies, And Your right hand will save me. The LORD will accomplish what concerns me.”

How does he know that?

Now we see WHAT GOD SAID to David in His word.

When David spoke of God giving him boldness and strength,
It was because God had promised deliverance.

Indeed, we read those 3 accounts earlier.
God had said, “I will surely deliver them into your hand.”

And that was enough for David.
• No longer was he afraid of the battle.
• No longer did he need to hide from the enemy.
• He could boldly enter the streets for His God had promised to deliver.

He knew God would do what He says.
“Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting;”
• It is the phrase repeated over and over in the previous Psalm
• But somehow this time it feels different for it is personal.

God is not just loyal in general, God is loyal to me!

And that is the confidence that comes from
Reading God’s promises to you in His word.

STRENGTH COMES!

David closes with the request:
“Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”
• It is not a doubt or a lack of faith.
• It is merely a statement echoing what God has promised.
• David is confident because of God’s word.

He is not the only one in this boat.

Consider Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 1:17-19 “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. “Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”

Consider the apostle Paul:
Acts 18:9-10 “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

Acts 27:21-25 “When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. “Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.”

2 Timothy 4:16-18 “At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

And this is the encouragement to you.
In times of trouble.
When enemies rise.

It is not always that God desires to change the circumstance.
But God will change the man who listens to what He has to say.

His word produces strength.
His word produces confidence.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”

2 Thessalonians 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”

The secret to boldness is not your genetic disposition,
It is a consequence of hearing and believing the word of God.

• It gives strength to the weak.
• It gives mercy to sinners
• It gives hope to those in trouble.

Spend time in God’s word
And find the source of strength and boldness like David did.

Download Here:

Where Is The Passion?
Psalms 137
August 28, 2022

Tonight we come to the 137th Psalm.
As you likely noticed from the initial reading,
It is a very RAW and somewhat SHOCKING Psalm even.

Peggy was working on picking out songs for Tommy to lead tonight and she read Psalms 137 and then asked, “What songs go with that?”

You really have to wonder what to sing in response to a verse like:
(9) “How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock.”

It’s an intense Psalm.

Indeed some are quick to cast a skeptical view to such a Psalm,
As they do with all the imprecatory Psalms.

It never ceases to amaze me the people who will
Stand in judgment of such a Psalm as unbiblical
When the same God who wrote the N.T. wrote this Psalm as well.

I again stand by what we have said so many times.
God’s word does not contradict itself,
Nor does God’s word expire,
Nor does God regret anything He has said.

• This Psalm remains the word of God.
• This Psalm says exactly what God intended to say.
• This Psalm is just as authoritative and inspired today as it was when it was
written.

The New Testament does not nullify the message of this Psalm,
Instead the New Testament illumines it and explains it and reenforces it,
As it does with all the Old Testament passages.

We are not about to rip out this Psalm
Simply because it is filled with raw emotion.

Isaiah told us:
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

And Jesus said:
Matthew 5:18-19 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

We certainly don’t want to be guilty of that.
So, tonight, as with all the imprecatory Psalms, we study it.
• We also believe it.
• We meditate upon it.
• We apply it.
• We obey it.

Not only that, but we are EXTREMELY GRATEFUL for such Psalms.

I do actually appreciate a quote from Charles Spurgeon as he was making an observation about this Psalm:

“Let those find fault with it who have never seen their temple burned, their city ruined, their wives ravished, and their children slain; they might not, perhaps, be quite so velvet-mouthed if they had suffered after this fashion.”
(Spurgeon, Charles [The Treasury of David; Psalms CXXXVII; Hendrickson Publishers; Peabody MA] pg. 226)

The reality is that people in this sin-cursed world
Do face such unspeakable tragedies.

There have been plenty of people throughout history
Who have suffered fates such as these.

And our God has not left us without Scriptures
Which address us in our pain and grief.

God wrote this song for His people in their suffering,
And though we would genuinely hope to be spared from such a pain,
We are grateful God has met us in the midst of such pains with a song.

BUT LET’S BEGIN simply in understanding what is going on here
And then we’ll make some application for our lives.

The setting of the Psalm is apparent.
Clearly it is a Psalm written from those inside the Babylonian exile.

So let’s take a second and understand what it is that they witnessed.
TURN TO: 2 KINGS 25:1-11

And that is a really “G” rated version of what happened.
• Psalms 137 says a mouthful when it speaks of babies being seized and dashed against a rock.

Jeremiah spoke of the horror:
Lamentations 5:11-13 “They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah. Princes were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected. Young men worked at the grinding mill, And youths stumbled under loads of wood.”

It was a horrific day in Israel.

And Psalms 137 is written by the eyewitnesses of these events.
• They saw it
• They lived it
• They survived it

And now they are living as slaves in a foreign land.
• Their temple has been burned
• Their city has been destroyed
• Their families have been slaughtered
• Some of these women have been raped
• Some of these women have seen their babies smashed to death

AND NOW THEY ARE IN BABYLON.

Certainly we remember WHY all this happened.
Israel abandoned God and worshiped idols, and this was her punishment.
But it was terrible none the less.

Lamentations 4:11-13 “The LORD has accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations. The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem. Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous;”

This is God’s judgment for their sin.
But it is almost unthinkable that it has happened.

But what we find in this song is that the Babylonians
Took great pleasure in rubbing salt in the wound.

(3) “For there our captors demanded of us songs, And our tormentors mirth, saying “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

You COULD look at this
• As the Babylonians simply wanting some entertainment from their captives.
• Like they just wanted to hear some singing and harp playing.

AND THAT WOULD BE BAD ENOUGH.
It would certainly be cruel to expect people in such grief
To get up and perform a song of jubilation as though all was well.

But that is NOT what is going on here.

THIS IS A MOCKERY.
It is to say, “Why don’t you sing one of those great songs about your triumphant God now!”

Jeremiah spoke of this as well.
Lamentations 2:15-16 “All who pass along the way Clap their hands in derision at you; They hiss and shake their heads At the daughter of Jerusalem, “Is this the city of which they said, ‘The perfection of beauty, A joy to all the earth’?” All your enemies Have opened their mouths wide against you; They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up! Surely this is the day for which we waited; We have reached it, we have seen it.”

THEY ARE MOCKING.
• Sing us some great song about your great lasting city!
• Sing about how your God reigns forever!
• Sing about blessing and glory and splendor of His temple!
• Sing to us about Zion, David’s city, and how beautiful it is!

Those are the sort of things that are being demanded
Of these broken and grieving refugees.

For all intents and purposes they are in a concentration camp
And being told to boast about the greatness of their God.

And in response to this antagonistic evil
THESE JEWISH REFUGEES HAVE MADE A DECISION.

They have decided to go down to the river and get rid of their harps.

(1-2) “By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it We hung our harps.”

There were many rivers and aqueducts in Babylon
And here these refugees have retreated to one.

Having heard the mocking of the Babylonians,
It only brought their grief again to the surface.

And now, as they are alone they again break into weeping and groaning.
• It is a harsh and fresh wound.
• They grieve over what they have just experienced.

And it is there by the river that THEY MAKE A DECISION.
THEY WILL NOT SING!
And they begin to throw their harps into the cypress trees there by the river.

This isn’t to hide them, this is to get rid of them.
• This is a defiant stand against their tyrant captors.
• It is like the Colonials throwing tea into the harbor.
• They have been told to sing and they have refused and are throwing away their harps.
• As they fling their harps into the trees they explain their conviction.

(4-6) “How can we sing the LORD’S song In a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.”

They refuse to let God be mocked.
They refuse to let God or His city be the focus of scorn and derision.

They would rather give up the skill of harp playing.
They would rather their tongue go mute.

• They are going to remember Zion.
• They are going to remember God.
• They are going to focus on His promises.

And as they prepare to go back to the city,
(for they know their captivity has only just begun)
As they prepare to go back to the city they cry out with their imprecation.

(7) “Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, “Raze it, raze it To its very foundation.”

The book of Obadiah helps us understand why these refugees are so upset with Edom.
Obadiah 1:10-14 “Because of violence to your brother Jacob, You will be covered with shame, And you will be cut off forever. “On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem— You too were as one of them. “Do not gloat over your brother’s day, The day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah In the day of their destruction; Yes, do not boast In the day of their distress. “Do not enter the gate of My people In the day of their disaster. Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamity In the day of their disaster. And do not loot their wealth In the day of their disaster. “Do not stand at the fork of the road To cut down their fugitives; And do not imprison their survivors In the day of their distress.”

These people remember
• How the Edomites joined in with the Babylonians on the day of slaughter.
• How they might have escaped where it not for the Edomites who stood at the
fork in the road to cut down survivors.
• How the Edomites gloated as their temple was burned and they were led
away into exile.

They remember them chanting to the Babylonians,
“Raze it, raze it to its very foundation.”

And they cry out for God to remember what they did.
The implication is of course for judgment.

And then they cry out against Babylon.
(8-9) “O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, How blessed will be the one who repays you With the recompense with which you have repaid us. How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones Against the rock.”

This isn’t so much of a prayer as it is an expectation.

We have read even in the New Testament:
Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”

They know that our God will repay every man “according to his deeds”.

And they gladly proclaim that day here.

Their proclamation isn’t simply the cry of a bitter soul.
Their cry is a Scriptural one.

Jeremiah 51:56 “For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men will be captured, Their bows are shattered; For the LORD is a God of recompense, He will fully repay.”

And this is what these refugees are banking on.
• They loudly proclaim that it will be a blessed day when the Babylonians are no more.
• They loudly proclaim that it will be a blessed day when God’s justice is poured out on them as well.

So you understand now the song and its setting.

• It is a people who have suffered greatly.
• They are being mocked and told to sing.
• They defy their orders and throw away their harps.
• And the only declaration they are willing to give is a declaration of God’s word
regarding the coming judgment of those who afflicted them.

THAT IS THE SONG.

The question for us is:
WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM A PSALM LIKE THIS?

And the answer is: THE CONVICTION OF THE AFFLICTED

To put it another way, we learn something of passion and zeal
And what that looks like in a world where your values
And convictions are mocked and disrespected.

When you live in a culture
• That mocks God and relegates His people to nothing more than entertainment.
• Where the church has lowered herself to something far less than a sanctified place of worship and has instead become a cheap knock off of the world’s style of entertainment.
• Where hostility and animosity are growing toward God’s people.
• Were the day may soon come where we suffer great atrocities at the hands of godless men.

What will our conviction be on that day?
What will our passion be then?
What must our passion be now?

Looking at this Psalm let us learn from them a little about
The passion of God’s people in a sinful and mocking culture.

#1 THE PASSION THAT WEEPS
Psalms 137:1-3

We find here our captives fleeing to the river for some solace and quiet and we read, “There we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.”

Certainly the entire traumatic event is remembered.
• For they do mention the death of their children at the end of the song.

But the BIGGEST GRIEF of the song remains
Their grief over the loss of the holy city
And the reproach their God has now fallen under.

• They are grieved by a sinful world…
• They are grieved by a mocking world…
• They are grieved by a world which has no fear of God…

And they wish with all their heart that they could
Return to a place where such things were the norm.

And they weep for Zion.

Charles Spurgeon also said:
“Do not tell me of zeal that only moves the tongue, or the foot, or the hand; we must have a zeal which moves the whole heart…How can I see souls damned, without emotion? How can I hear Christ’s name blasphemed, without a shudder? How can I think of the multitudes who prefer ruin to salvation, without a pang? Believe me, brethren and sisters, if you never have sleepless hours, if you never have weeping eyes, if your hearts never swell as if they would burst, you need not anticipate that you will be called zealous. You do not know the beginning of true zeal, for the foundation of Christian zeal lies in the heart. The heart must be heavy with grief and yet must beat high with holy ardour. The heart must be vehement in desire, panting continually for God’s glory, or else we shall never attain to anything like the zeal which God would have us know.”
–Charles H. Spurgeon, “Zealots” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 11 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), 392–393. Spurgeon preached this sermon from Luke 6:15 on July 16, 1865.

And this may be one of the problems that we see in our day.
• Instead of weeping over the corruption of the church…
• Instead of weeping when men fall into sin…
• Instead of grieving over the lack of reverence…
• Instead of grieving over the lack of commitment to God…

It seems that far too many rejoice over it.
They laugh at it.
They even join it.

This is NOT the zeal or the passion of God’s people.

Listen to Habakkuk:
Habakkuk 1:1-4 “The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw. How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.”

Listen to Ezra as people returned to godless marriages:
Ezra 9:2-4 “For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.” When I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering.”

Listen to Jeremiah as he watched the sin of the people:
Jeremiah 9:1-2 “Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers’ lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men.”

Listen to Jesus as He stands over Jerusalem:
Luke 19:41-44 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Listen to Paul:
Romans 9:1-3 “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,”

• It is a reproach of the church when we are not grieved by sin.
• It is a reproach of the church when we are not grieved by sinners.
• It is a reproach of the church when we are not grieved over disrespect shown to God.

The church should have such a passion.
Isaiah 22:12-13 “Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”

There are times when celebration is in order.
And there are times when grief is called for.

These refugees saw God being mocked
And that was a time for grief and weeping, not singing and rejoicing.
This is a passion of God’s people.

It is a passion that weeps.
#2 THE PASSION THAT WITHSTANDS
Psalms 137:4-6

• These prisoners were told to sing and to sing songs of gladness and mirth.
• They instead refused and flung their harps into the trees.

There is a time when God’s people
Must say no to the expectations of the culture.

We live in a day when the culture would have the church accept sexual immorality in nearly every form.
• First we were to accept divorce
• Then we were to accept sexual immorality
• Then we were to accept living together outside of marriage
• Now they want us to accept homosexuality
• And that won’t be all

The culture supports RADICAL FEMINISM.
• Men are no longer to be men.
• The culture calls that toxic masculinity.
• Women are to be the new men.

And the church is supposed to accept it?
They are right now, this year, having discussions in the executive committees of the Southern Baptist Convention about whether or not women can be ordained as pastors.

Such a discussion did not come from reading Scripture.
Scripture is clear about that.
That discussion came from the culture.

2020 gave us a preview of what could be on the horizon
When the government for the first time since the founding of America
Decided to try its hand at closing church doors.

They used a pandemic as their excuse,
But don’t think for a second that Satan is satisfied.

The world has always been anti-christ
And that means that there are times
When we must boldly and unapologetically stand against them.

• There comes a time when we must say “No”
• There comes a time when we drive our stake in the ground and refuse to move.
• There comes a time when we take our harp and fling it into the tree and tell them that we will not take part in the blasphemy of our God.

And this has been the passion of God’s people throughout history.

Do you remember those 3 Hebrew boys?
Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Do you remember their friend Daniel?
Daniel 6:10 “Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.”

Do you remember the apostles?
Acts 4:18-20 “And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Do you remember Peter standing against Simon the Magician?
Acts 8:20-21 “But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.”

Do you remember Paul rebuking Peter?
Galatians 2:14 “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Or how about the Reformers?

When Luther was told to recant:
“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason – I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”
https://www.luther.de/en/worms.html

What about the martyrs throughout the centuries who have died because they refused to bow to the culture?

This is a passion that the church must soon rekindle.

And certainly what about the Passion of the Lord who stood toe to toe with Pharisees and Sadducee and Chief Priest and even Pilate and Herod but who did not back up for one second regarding who He was.

This is a passion of the church.
This is a passion of God’s people.
It is the passion that stands against the culture.

The Passion that Weeps, The Passion that Withstands
#3 THE PASSION THAT WARNS & WAITS
Psalms 137:7-9

I have told you many times
Regarding my usage of the imprecatory Psalms.

• When I am angered and even enraged, I take these Psalms and I pray them to God.
• I am grateful for God truly knows if my anger is selfish or righteous and He can correct me.

We do not take our own revenge.
• The Hebrew boys didn’t try to assassinate Nebuchadnezzar…
• Daniel didn’t try to overthrow Darius…
• The apostles didn’t lead a bloody crusade against the Sanhedrin…
• They did exactly what Paul said, they waited on God and left room for His wrath.

We do not take our own revenge.
• And indeed we even pray for our persecutors and we bless our enemies.
• We share the gospel with all men and instruct them to repent.

And in this world where we face hostility and rejection
We never throw in the towel or seek to enforce our vengeance.

We wait for the wrath of God.
• We wait for God to deal with those who persecute us.
• We wait for God to reward each man according to his deeds.

BUT LET ME ALSO SAY,
This does NOT mean we are weak and timid and refuse to correct men.

I read you earlier about Ezra’s response to the intermarriage of Israel.
His response was absolutely fitting.

But his response wasn’t the only one.
Nehemiah responded too:
Nehemiah 13:23-25 “In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people. So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.”

We certainly remember Jesus entering the temple:
Mark 11:15-18 “Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS’? But you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.”

We remember John the Baptist calling the religious leaders a “brood of vipers” and warning them about “the wrath to come”

Did JEREMIAH not have a fire in his bones that compelled him to stand and speak to the people again?

We remember STEPHEN boldly standing before the religious elite and declaring:
Acts 7:51-53 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

And we are called to be people of such passion.
And all the while we wait for God to bring about justice for His elect.
We trust God to make things right.

Our passion is to warn and to wait for God
To come and vindicate His people.

We are passionate about the return of Christ.
We are passionate about the day of judgment.

THAT IS WHAT THIS PSALM TEACHES US.

That God’s people have always been a passionate people,
And that is ok and even necessary.

• Weep for the blasphemy that occurs against God.
• Withstand the temptations and influences of the culture.
• Wait for Christ to return and bring justice to the earth.

This is Godly zeal.
This is the calling for God’s people.

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What Is A Believer?
1 John 5:1-5
August 28, 2022

Well, my records show that the last time we were in 1 John was July 24th,
So it’s been a little over a month.

But certainly you remember the purpose of our study.
We have called “Obvious Christianity”

1 John 3:10 “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”

John’s entire point of the letter is that
You can know if you are a child of God.

Knowing whether or not you are redeemed is NOT a complicated test.
It doesn’t require extensive lab work or years of observation.

There is such a distinct difference
Between the redeemed and the unredeemed
That it is possible for you to be absolutely certain
Regarding whether or not you are saved.

And the two key characteristics that give us this clarity?

Practical righteousness and Brotherly Love

1 John 2:3 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

1 John 2:29 “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.”

1 John 3:24 “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.”

It has been a continual point of emphasis with John.
You know a Christian by their practical righteousness.

And also by their love:
1 John 2:10-11 “The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

1 John 3:13-14 “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.”

1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”

1 John 4:12 “No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.”

1 John 4:20 “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

It has been clear hasn’t it?
You can know if you are a child of God
By your practical righteousness and your brotherly love.

And THIS MORNING we continue.
In many ways it is more of the same.

John is still handing out assurance.
We still come across that favorite phrase (2a) “By this we know…”

John is still helping us to identify the genuine marks of salvation
So that we might know for certain that we are children of God.

This morning I would introduce our text by simply asking this question:
WHAT IS A BELIEVER?

It is actually a fairly common question.
Even in evangelism it is not uncommon to ask someone if they are a believer.

WHAT IS THAT? WHO IS THAT?

The typical understanding is that it is someone who believes in Jesus.

But what does that mean?
AND is it possible to tell if someone’s claim to believe is genuine?

This morning we’ll let John answer that question for us.

WHAT WE NOTICE ABOUT OUR TEXT this morning is that
It begins and ends with the concept of believing in Jesus.

(1) “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ”
(5) “he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God”

Certainly not lost on us is THE SUBSTANCE of a person’s faith.
We certainly pay attention to exactly WHAT a person believes.

John lists two things.
First that “Jesus is the Christ” which of course is a reference to Him being God’s King.
• It is to believe that Jesus is the One God promised.
• It is to believe that Jesus is the One the prophets spoke of.
• It is to believe that Jesus is David’s son who ascended to the right hand of God.
• It is to believe that Jesus is the One who will one day reign upon the earth.

It is a reminder that Jesus Christ is Lord.
It is a submission to Christ as Lord of our lives.

We also see that “Jesus is the Son of God” which is a reference to His deity.
• He is the God of creation,
• Which means He is also the Judge of creation.
• He is the Savior of the world.
• He is the perfect mediator between God and man.

So we certainly see the theological aspect here.
It matters what a person believes about Jesus.

John is certainly speaking here
Of someone who believes the truth about Jesus.

• This already EXCLUDING Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses or Muslims
who do not believe Jesus is God.
• This is already EXCLUDING Jews who do not believe Jesus is the Christ.

SO WE CLEARLY SEE THAT.
When we talk about believers
Certainly we are talking about people who believe the truth.

But there is even MORE HERE that needs to be identified.

In verse 1 when John says, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ”,

You need to know that the VERB TENSE there is the PRESENT TENSE.

What John is referring to here is
NOT someone who used to believe or who believed one time in the past.

Literally John is saying, “Whoever is believing that Jesus is the Christ…”

• We are talking about people who believe the truth today.
• We are talking about people who always believe the truth about Jesus.
• We are talking about current, right now, present day BELIEVERS.

Obviously anyone who is not currently believing in Jesus is not saved.
Obviously anyone who once believed but doesn’t now is not redeemed.

John addressed them earlier in the letter.
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

People who “used to believe” but don’t any more are not believers.
They never were believers.
John calls them anti-christs.
If they had ever really believed they would still believe.

Their previous claim to belief was a false confession.

I think you understand that.

But back to the question.
HOW DO YOU SPOT A BELIEVER?
• What do you look for?
• What are their characteristics?
• How would you know if you are one?

It all begins with this statement:
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”

Again, literally:
“Whoever is believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”

In other words, the chief characteristic of a genuine believer
Is that they have been born again.

There is no such thing as a genuine believer
Who has not been born again.

John 1:12-13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

The gift of new birth is for “as many as received Him…those who believe in His name”

If someone has NOT been born of God…
If someone does NOT have God’s Holy Spirit…
If someone is NOT regenerated…
If someone is NOT born again…
THEY ARE NOT A BELIEVER

They may claim to be a believer.
They may even say they believe.

But GOD IS THE DETERMINER of who actually believes
And God testifies to those who believe
By causing them to receive the Holy Spirit and be children of God.

Remember when Peter was called to testify regarding Gentile salvation?
Acts 15:7-9 “After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.”

Who was the official testifier that Gentiles were in fact saved? (God was)
And how did God testify that they were true believers? (The Holy Spirit)

So in a simple sense we might say that you spot a genuine believer
By the fact that they have been “born of God”

But again, what does that look like?
How can you tell?

Well John gives you 5 characteristics.
If this is you, then you can know you are a believer
And that you have been born of God.

If this is not you, then you are not a believer,
Regardless of what you might think.

#1 LOVE FOR THE FATHER
1 John 5:1b

Very simply put John says, “whoever loves the Father”

Now certainly John is going beyond this to point out that
Love of the Father is accompanied by love for God’s other children.
We see that is where he is headed.

But not to be overlooked is the first reality that
Being born of God first shows up in a genuine love for God.

Paul explains the reality.
Romans 5:5 “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Paul is NOT there saying
That when the Holy Spirit moved into your life that God started loving you.

Listen, God loved you when you were still a sinner.
God loved you in your unredeemed state.

What Paul IS talking about is that
When God’s Spirit moved in to your life you were given a great love for God.

This is one of the great realities of salvation.

This is what the end of Romans 8 speaks of as well.
• This love you have for God is not from you.
• This love you have for God did not originate with your will.
• This love you have for God is nothing less than the supernatural love which Christ has for God.
• It is the love which was given to you by the Holy Spirit.

Paul pondered this love as he examined the reality of persecution.

Romans 8:35 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

He ISN’T asking if those things will cause Christ to stop loving you.
Of course not! He IS asking if those things can make you stop loving Christ?

That’s a real question isn’t it?

But what is the answer?
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Even those things cannot cause you to stop loving God.
Because the love that has been poured into you is the same love
“which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”

And this is reality for those who believe.
They have been given a love for God.

So there is the first sort of preliminary question.
DO YOU LOVE GOD?

The greatest commandment is:
Matthew 22:37-38 “And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment.”

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

DO YOU LOVE GOD?
Believers do.

Now, we don’t stop there because it might be that many could answer yes to that question without giving it much thought.

I could ask, “Do you love God?”
And you might say, “Oh sure.”

But let’s see what it looks like when someone genuinely loves God.

Love For the Father
#2 LOVE FOR GOD’S CHILDREN
1 John 5:1c

Here we complete the statement John was making.
“whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.”

This is the statement John just spent the end of chapter 4 defending.

We spent 3 weeks going through the passage
Where we learned all about brotherly love.

ATONEMENT DESERVES IT
1 John 4:11 “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

ASSURANCE DEPENDS ON IT
1 John 4:17 “By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.”

AUTHENTICITY DEMANDS IT
1 John 4:20 “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

And the point is brought back to our mind.
If someone says they love God but they don’t love God’s children
Then their love for God is not genuine.

Someone who does not love the children of God is not a real believer.
• They evidence that they have not been born again.
• They evidence that God’s Spirit has not been given to them.

When God’s Spirit moves in to a life, the fruit of God’s Spirit comes too.

And what is the very first fruit listed?
“The fruit of the Spirit is love…”

TRUE BELIEVERS LOVE OTHER BELIEVERS.

And let me just pause here to make a small PRACTICAL APPLICATION.
This is one of the areas where we talk about church attendance.

• No, you can’t save yourself by going to church…
• Yes, you can worship God anywhere (and you should)…

But what does it say about your love for God’s children if you have no desire to fellowship with them?

Do you remember the early church?
Do you remember what happened after they were saved
and the Holy Spirit moved in?

Acts 2:43-47 “Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

What do you call people like that?
• People who hang out “together”
• People who have “all things in common”
• People who meet each other’s “need”
• People who are of “one mind”
• People who break bread “from house to house”

You call people like that: FAMILY

So, do you love God’s people?
Do you love the church?
Is fellowship something you desire?

Love for the Father, Love for God’s children
#3 OBEDIENT LIVING
1 John 5:2-3a

You are seeing how none of these attributes
Operate independently of the others.
THEY ARE ALL INTERTWINED.

Love for God is evidenced by loving His children.

Here you see how OBEDIENCE is intertwined with loving God’s children.

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments;”

Now there is a statement we should ponder a moment.

How do you know if you REALLY love God’s people?
Is it just because you like to be around them?

That is NOT what John says.

John says there is a better way to tell
If you love God’s children or even if you love God.

HOW?
OBEDIENCE.

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.”

Did you know that your obedience to God is a reflection of your love for your brother?

Our Sunday school class just finished up the book of Malachi.
I think that’s where we are going next when 1 John is finished.

But let me go ahead and give you a little preview of it real quick.
Malachi 2:10-12 “Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers? “Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god. “As for the man who does this, may the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who presents an offering to the LORD of hosts.”

Now if you notice the indictment.
God says that they “deal treacherously each against his brother”

The issue of the passage is a lack of brotherly love.
WHAT WHERE THEY DOING?

“for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god”

LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT.
Some guy married a foreign woman and God said that this was a sin against his brother? (Yes)

That flies in the face of our culture doesn’t?
Our culture thinks sexual sin is none of your business.

• If I want have sex outside of marriage…
• If I want to live with someone I’m not married to…
• If I want to divorce and remarry outside of God’s permission…
• If I want to have an affair…

That’s none of your business.
Do not judge!

That’s what our world thinks isn’t it?

BUT GOD SAYS that sins like that are a sin against your brother.
How?

• Tell me why did God kick Israel out of the Promised Land? (idolatry)
• And who introduced idolatry? (Solomon and his foreign wives)

Something you need to know: SIN SPLATTERS

Remember that man at Corinth who was sleeping with his father’s wife and the Corinthians were laughing it off?

1 Corinthians 5:6 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?”

In other words – “It will spread!”

Go read what Jesus had to say about putting a stumbling block before one of these little ones…

And by the way it’s not just sexual sin that is a threat,
And any all disobedience is a sin against your brother.

For you are setting an example for your brother
That will make it easier for him to sin as well.

Walking in disobedience is a sin against our brother because we are actually leading him into sin by our example.
• Do you think your sin has no effect on people who are watching?
• Have you not seen your children or grandchildren imitate your dress or your speech?
• Do your kids not adopt your attendance habits to church?

LISTEN the purest love for your brother
Is for you to walk in obedience to the commands of God.

Certainly that is also love for God as John said:
“For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments”

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

But it’s not just about loving God.
It’s also about loving your brother.

SO don’t say you are a believer if you don’t love God.
AND don’t say you love God if you don’t love your brother.
AND don’t say you love your brother if you don’t walk in obedience.

Obedience is how we show love for our brother.

Love For God, Love For God’s Children, Obedient Living
#4 LOVE FOR GOD’S LAW
1 John 5:3b

It is a great statement.
“and His commandments are not burdensome.”

That is certainly true.
After all Jesus taught us that His “yoke is easy” and His “burden is light”

But more than just reality here, John speaks of a CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE.
• No genuine believer hates God’s Law.
• No genuine believer hates Christ’s commands.

After all, we already established that
We are believing that “Jesus is the Christ”

How can we say that we believe Jesus is the King
If we hate doing what He says?

Jesus looked at the crowds and said:
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

Jesus said that at the judgment this reality will become apparent.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

Those people could call Jesus Lord and say they believed
But their lawlessness proved that their confession was false.

Genuine believers don’t see obedience as a burden;
They love the Law of God.

Psalms 119:97 “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

Psalms 119:113 “I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Your law.”

Psalms 119:163 “I hate and despise falsehood, But I love Your law.”

This is typically one of the first ways
You begin to recognize when someone has been saved.

You’ve heard Chris Horn’s testimony about how he came in my office one day and after visiting I asked him if he’d been saved?

• I had talked to Chris many times and for many hours and never heard anything
about loving God’s word.
• But all of a sudden this guy sat down in my office and all he can talk about his
all that he is learning in the Bible.
• It’s not hard to tell.
• God had given him a love for His word.

God does this for those who are born again.
God does this for those who believe.
THEY RECEIVE A LOVE FOR GOD’S LAW.

This is the evidence of the New Covenant
Hebrews 8:10 “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”

When the Holy Spirit moves in so does a love for His word.

So, do you love God’s word?
Do you dread it or desire it?
Do you agree with it or resist it?

• How can you claim to believe if you don’t love God?
• How can you claim to love God if you don’t love His children?
• How can you claim to love His children if you don’t obey His word?
• How can you obey His word if you don’t love it?

You see that right?

One more attribute of true believers.
#5 OVERCOMES THE WORLD
1 John 5:4-5

True believers walk in victory.
True believers overcome the world.

WE ARE NOT SAYING that true believers never fall into sin.
WE ARE NOT SAYING that true believers never get sucked into worldly thinking.

WE ARE SIMPLY SAYING THAT CHRISTIANS DON’T STAY THERE.

When someone says they are stuck in sin and cannot stop it, that is NOT the testimony of a believer.

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

The very presence of the Holy Spirit in the life
Is to make righteousness and obedience possible.

Jesus said:
John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

John 8:36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

“Overcome” is the Greek word NIKAO.
It’s where we get our word for Nike.
It means “to conquer”

And Christians are conquerors.
In fact:
Romans 8:37 “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

Christians are overcomers.
We don’t have time to go study them all this morning but go read those 7 churches in Revelation and see how each church is expected to “overcome”.

THAT IS WHAT WE DO.
• And we do this because we have the Spirit of God.
• We do this because the Son has set us free.
• We do this because we have been “born of God”

We overcome the world.
• The world’s allurements…
• The world’s deceptions…
• The world’s ideologies…
• The world’s temptations…

WE OVERCOME THEM.
• We don’t walk in selfishness, we walk in love.
• We don’t walk in sin, we walk in practical righteousness.
• We don’t walk in rebellion, we walk in obedience.

We overcome the world.
“and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.”

WHY IS FAITH THE VICTORY?
Because of what John said in verse 1, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”

• When we exercise faith we are born again.
• When we give faith we get the Spirit of God and we overcome.

And that is why you get the summary verse at the end.
(5) “Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

IT IS BELIEVERS WHO OVERCOME.
WHAT IS A BELIEVER?

It is someone who has been born of God.
• And because they are born of God they love the Father.
• And because they love the Father they love God’s children.
• And because they love God’s children they obey God’s commands.
• And their obedience proves they love God’s Law.
• And because they love and obey God’s Law they overcome the world.

THIS IS A TRUE BELIEVER.

IS THAT YOU?
• Do you love God?
• Do you love God’s children?
• Do you walk in obedience?
• Do you love God’s word?
• Are you overcoming the world?

Then you are a child of God!
That is what a believer is.

If those things are NOT REALITY in your life,
Perhaps it is time to ask what you are believing?

Are you believing that Jesus is the Christ? (the Lord and King of your life)
Are you believing that Jesus is the Son of God? (Savior and ultimate authority)

If not, then this morning it is time for you to submit your life to Him
That you might be born of God as well.

John 1:12-13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

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God’s Loyal Love
Psalms 136
August 21, 2022

Tonight we run across a famous Psalm that continually refers to
The “lovingkindness” of God.

We have discussed this word various times as we’ve studied it,
But in case you have forgotten,
Let me give you a reminder of exactly what the word means.

In Hebrew it is the word:
“HESED” (pronounced “CHESED” – like you’re clearing your throat)

And it is kind of tough word to define.
It is actually one of those words that can sort of get lost in translation.
By that I mean, there is no English word that sufficiently explains it.

The word is used over 250 times and it is translated in a variety of ways.
• About 60% of the time it is translated “mercy”
• Sometimes translated “lovingkindness”
• Sometimes translated “kindness”
• Sometimes translated “goodness”
• Sometimes translated “steadfast love”

But obviously it is a word that
Is seeking to define a very important attribute of God.

The first time we see it is when God spares Lot from Sodom.
Remember, Lot was hesitant to leave and so
The angels physically removed Lot from the city for his own protection.

Lot responded by saying:
Genesis 19:19 “Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness [HESED], which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die;”

Lot obviously saw a favorable attribute from God
That caused God to act on his behalf, even when he himself was sluggish.
Lot referred to that attribute as HESED

We see it again in Genesis 20 as that which Sarah did for Abraham.
Genesis 20:13 “and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is the kindness [HESED] which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”‘”

So it was HESED that Sarah showed by putting herself in danger
To protect Abraham’s life.

We studied it first in Genesis 24 when Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac and that servant depended on the HESED of God toward Abraham.

Genesis 24:12 “He said, “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness [HESED] to my master Abraham.”

And when God brought Rebekah into the picture the servant realized just how much HESED that God had shown on Abraham’s behalf.

Genesis 24:27 “He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness [HESED] and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

It is a word used by Rahab the harlot as she bargained with the spies.
Joshua 2:12-14 “Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly [HESED] with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly [HESED] and faithfully with you.”

There Rahab offered HESED and wanted HESED in return.
Translated there as “kindly”

And just by examining some context,
You are seeing that receiving HESED is a good thing.

Now HESED is actually a word that God uses to describe Himself.
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 [HESED] and truth; who keeps lovingkindness [HESED] 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.”

God actually ABOUNDS in HESED, meaning He has a lot of it.
It is extended to His covenant people and results in their forgiveness

And whatever specifically God’s HESED is, it will NEVER GO AWAY.

Lamentations 3:22 “The LORD’S lovingkindnesses [HESED] indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.”

God’s HESED then is one of the attributes
That motivates our worship of Him.

So already you are seeing the variety of uses for the word.
• For Lot it was a type of mercy that delivered him from Sodom
• For Sarah it was a type of self-sacrifice that protected Abraham
• For Abraham’s servant is was God’s commitment to work for Abraham
• For Rahab it was an undeserved kindness that went beyond expectation
• And it is also the word used of God’s faithfulness to unfaithful people

AS WE PONDER IT IN OUR LIVES
• It is a word that describes God’s propensity to come to our rescue.
• It is a word that describes God’s willingness to sacrifice self on our behalf.
• It is a word that describes God’s mercy to save undeserving people.

You can call it “mercy”
You can call it “love”
You can call it “kindness”

But none of those words seems to fully do the trick of whatever this word means.

As we have said before, I would submit a different word for HESED
You may have figured out, but I’m going to call it “Loyalty”

And specifically – “God’s loyalty to His people”
RC Sproul calls it “God’s Loyal Covenantal Love”

• God was loyal to Lot and so He rescued him…
• Sarah was loyal to Abraham and so she put herself in harm’s way for him…
• God was loyal to Abraham so He provided a wife for Isaac…
• Rahab was loyal to the spies to protect them and expected loyalty in return…
• God is loyal to His people, even when they are not loyal to Him…

And it is so important for you to understand that God is loyal to you.

The passage in the New Testament
That probably best illustrates God’s HESED to us is:

Romans 8:28-31 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

In short, God is for you.
• God is loyal to you.
• He will not forsake you.
• He has set His love and kindness and mercy on you and that will never
change.

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

Paul knew God was loyal.
God would not quit on you.

And we take a moment to discuss that word TONIGHT
Because here we see perhaps
The most famous chapter in the Bible regarding God’s loyalty.

Psalms 136 uses the word 26 times.
It is a song about the loyalty of God.
It is a song about the covenantal love of God.

It is a song that forces the congregation to see God’s loyal love
Behind everything God does.

Everything from creation to redemption to providence.
It is all an expression of God’s loyal love which never ends.

And so that is the purpose of our study this evening.

It is for you to see that everything God does
Is an expression of His loyal love for His people.

And what a blessing for us to begin to
See God’s Works through such a brilliant light.

We start our look simply by examining the obvious point of this Psalm which is found in verses 1-3

(1-3) “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

Let’s start with the simple imperative “Give thanks”

It is (YA-DA) in the Hebrew and it is far more than just to say “Thank you”.
It is a word that has “a hands on” concept.

• It can speak of holding out your hands, or even extending them in worship.
• It can speak of throwing or casting something.
• It can speak of one wringing their hands.
• It can speak of shooting or pointing with the hands.

We might picture it in a game of charades
Where one is using their hands to get you
To acknowledge something or say a certain thing.

And so the idea is more than just saying thank you.
It has more to do with acknowledgment or confession.

It is a word that wants you to contemplate and acknowledge and confess.

What does the Psalmist want you to confess or acknowledge?
• “the LORD…is good”
• That God is “the God of gods”
• That He is “the Lord of lords”

What does that all mean?
It means there is no one like Him.

We have talked about this word “good” enough
That by now you ought to know that it applies to God and God alone.

Matthew 19:17 “And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good…”

Only God is complete.
Only God is perfect.
And He is the highest and best.

The Psalmist describes Him as “the God of gods” & “the Lord of lords”.

It’s as though the title “God” and “Lord” seemed to small.
Namely because others usurp those titles as well.

But in comparison there is none like our God.
There is none like our Lord.
There is none good like Him.

And to that declaration we have to ask: WHY?
• Why do you say He is good?
• Why do you say there is none like Him?

And it is that statement that is repeated throughout the song.
“For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

Literally it is: “His HECED has no end”

There is no end to His loyal love.
• There is no end in SUFFICIENCY; that is to say it is never lacking.
• There is no end in DURATION; that is to say it never stops.

God’s loyal love for His elect never fails to be enough
And it never stops working on their behalf.

We think about statements regarding Jesus.

John 13:1 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

John 10:14-15 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

The love of Christ is seen as the greatest of love.
• It is seen as a love that goes to the max.
• It is seen as a love that never stops, even into death.

And it is a love for:
“His own” – “His friends” – “His sheep”

This is NOT the sort of common love of God which the world knows.
• That love of beneficence – “good will”
• That love of benevolence – “providential care”

This is the love reserved only for the elect.
This is the love reserved for those whom He has redeemed.

The point of the Psalm is to get us to acknowledge this great love.
The point of the Psalm is to get us to confess this great love.

And in that confession to declare that God is good
And that there is none like Him.

So the point of the song is to put the great HESED of God on display.
The Psalmist wants you to see how greatly God has loved you.

And here perhaps in ways that you have not contemplated.

There are 4 areas here where the Psalmist wants you to acknowledge and confess and give thanks for God’s loyal love to you.

#1 CREATION IS A WORK OF GOD’S LOYAL LOVE
Psalms 136:4-9

We spot here the marvelous truths of God as the Creator of all things.
“To Him who alone does great wonders”

Like what?
“To Him who made the heavens with skill”

God created the heavens and He created them with skill.
• They endure.
• They run on a perfect schedule.
• Men can navigate by the stars.

“To Him who spread out the heart above the waters”

And we look at the earth which God made.
• We think of the majestic mountains
• We think of the roaring sea
• We think of the towering sequoias
• We think of the mysterious volcano
• We think of the glorious rivers and valleys

“To Him who made the great lights…the sun to rule by day…the moon and stars to rule by night.”

• And certainly we think for a moment of the majesty of the sun and the glory of the moon and the beauty of the stars.

And without a doubt the simple pondering of those things
Causes us to say that our God does what no other god can do.

What other god has ever created anything?
Our God made it all.

Now, typically when we think of creation
We do so with sort of a singular TUNNEL VISION.

Typically when we think of creation
We almost always solely attach it to the glory of God.

We “see the stars, we hear the rolling thunder, His power throughout the universe displayed…then sings my soul…How great Thou art!”

And of course this is NOT wrong or misapplied in the least.

Psalms 8:3 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;”

Psalms 19:1 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”

Isaiah 40:12 “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?”

Even Paul tells us in Romans 1:20
Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

Paul said that creation shows us God’s “invisible attributes”
And “eternal power” and “divine nature”

So we see that creation reveals the majesty and glory of God.

But that is NOT what the Psalmist points out here.
He says it and he says it over and over.

That creation proves:
“His lovingkindness is everlasting”

The Psalmist says that creation proves that
God’s loyal covenantal love for His own has no end.

Psalms 33:5 “He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.”

There he says that “the earth is full” of God’s loyal love.

And the question we have is:
HOW DOES CREATION TEACH US OF GOD’S LOVE FOR HIS OWN?

Consider this Psalm for a moment.
Psalms 147:15-20 “He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments; Who can stand before His cold? He sends forth His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow. He declares His words to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation; And as for His ordinances, they have not known them. Praise the LORD!”

We see all these realities about God’s sovereign rule over creation.
Things like:
• “He gives now like wool”
• “He scatters the frost like ashes”
• “He casts for the ice as fragments”
• “He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow”

And you might say, “Yes, but everyone enjoys that.”
I mean, “He sends His rain on the just and the unjust”
We know God does those things, but all men enjoy those things.

Except notice the difference of what God has done for His own
That He has not done for the whole world.

“He declares His words to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation; And as for His ordinances, they have not known them.”

What is the point?

While it is true that all men enjoy the beauty and glory of creation,
Only His chosen are given the capacity to know God through them.

TURN TO: PSALM 19
• Psalms 19 reminds us of the revelation of God.
• (Verses 1-6) show us GENERAL REVELATION

God’s creation is a form of general revelation.
Men see it and experience it and enjoy it.

The problem with unredeemed men is that they do not benefit from it.
• They see the mountains and they learn nothing.
• They see the ocean and they learn nothing.
• They stand at the foot of a giant sequoia…
• They stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon…
• They walk the path at Victoria Falls…

And all they see are colors and the mysteries of nature.
They learn nothing of the Creator.

God HAS ALLOWED them to enjoy creation,
But He has NOT ALLOWED them to know Him through creation.

THAT, GOD DID FOR YOU.

In that sense creation is actually for you and you alone.

It is true that the rest of the world lives in it,
But God has only truly given it to those who know Him through it.

DO YOU WANT AN EXAMPLE?
TURN TO: PSALMS 8

Men throughout history have witnessed the same things David saw there.
• They saw the stars…
• They saw the moon…
• They saw sheep and oxen and beasts and birds and fish…

BUT WHAT DID THEY NOT SEE?
GRACE

David saw grace!
“What is man that You take though of him, And the son of man that You care for him?”
• David saw man ruling creation.
• David saw man created in God’s image.
• David saw man in a privileged position.

David saw in creation what an unredeemed world could not see.

In that moment David must have felt like
The whole of creation was for him alone.

TURN TO: PSALMS 104

The first 30 verses of this Psalm are all about the GENERAL REALITIES OF GOD’S PROVIDENTIAL CARE over creation.

He created it, and He sustains it.
(READ 10-30)
• You see God’s general providence over all creation.
• It is echoed by Jesus when He speaks about God feeding the birds and clothing the fields and knowing when a sparrow falls.

So what is so special about creation for us?
(READ 31-35)

THIS PSALM ENDS WITH A STATEMENT OF JUDGMENT.

The Psalm ends with sinners being eradicated off of God’s earth.
It ends with tares being ripped up, thrown in a pile, and burned.

Why?
• Because all of these things used the earth
• And lived on the earth
• But never recognized “the glory of the LORD” on the earth.

They rebelled against Him, they offended Him, and they will be judged.
They missed the point of creation.

And you might be tempted to sit here and wonder:
“How could they not see God’s glory in creation?”

But that’s the wrong question.
The correct question is: “Why were you able to see it?”

The answer: HESED

God revealed Himself to you through creation.
He opened your eyes to see what the unredeemed world does not see.

Every time you are able to see the majesty of God in creation
It is a testimony to the love which God has shown you.

Let me give you one more.
Romans 8:22-23 “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”

Notice the “we know” there.
Not everyone knows this, but we do.

What do we know?
• That creation is suffering the pains of childbirth.
• Creation is desperately seeking to renew and recreate.
• Every spring creation fights to come to life and yet every fall it descends again
into death.

Why does creation keep trying?
• Why not just give up and say, “It’s no use.”

Because creation remembers.
Creation was here before the sin curse.
And every spring creation strives one more time to return to glory.

It is a testimony to us that one day redemption is coming.
One day it will be made new permanently.
One day the curse will be totally removed.

THE WORLD DOESN’T SEE THAT.
WE SEE THAT.
God’s creation is an ongoing work of love toward His redeemed.

Creation is a work of God’s loyal love
#2 DELIVERANCE IS A WORK OF GOD’S LOYAL LOVE
Psalms 136:10-15

Now this one is not as difficult for us to see.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

We have been trained to see deliverance as work of love on our behalf.

Micah 7:18-19 “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.”

We see God’s deliverance and redemption as an act of love pretty easily.

But here is why I really find this portion of the Psalm interesting.
You have to be a Calvinist to understand this Psalm.

The Psalmist here just sang about
An act of judgment performed by God and called it love.

You may be familiar with the popular contemporary Christian song inspired by this Psalm.

“Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King; His love endures forever. For He is good He is above all things, His love endures forever. Sing Praise! Sing Praise! With a mighty hand and outstretched arm, His love endures forever. For the life that’s been reborn, His love endures forever. Sing Praise! Sing Praise!”

And people sing that song boasting about the great love of God.

I wonder why they don’t sing the whole Psalm?
“Give thanks to the Lord who killed the Egyptian firstborn; His love endures forever. Who then drowned Pharaoh and His entire army; His love endures forever. Sing Praise! Sing Praise!”

If you try to make this song about the universal love of God
It falls apart in verse 10.

This song is NOT ABOUT God’s love for all humanity.
It IS ABOUT God’s love for His elect.

AND HERE IS THE FACT!
God crushed the Egyptians to demonstrate His love to Israel.

Romans 9:17 “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.”

Pharaoh was a sinner used by God
To demonstrate glory and love to Israel.

Romans 9:22-24 “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, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”

There God is seen as a God who lets sinners live simply so that
He can use them to show glory to those whom He has chosen.

I know, people everywhere BALK at that and CRY FOUL!
BUT IF YOU DO, you are failing to see God’s great love for you.

• God delivers His people from their enemies.
• God crushes those who afflict His people.
• God will crush the god of this world and all those who afflict His people.

What do you think the Second Coming will be about?

Have you heard the cries of the martyred?
Revelation 6:9-11 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”

And God will one day avenge them!
God’s deliverance is a testimony to His great love for His own.

He does for His own what He does not do for every man.
• Not every man is delivered from sin.
• Not every man is delivered from Satan.
• Not every man is delivered from judgment.

SOME spend their whole life in Egypt under Pharaoh’s thumb
And then they die and go to hell.

It’s a harsh reality, but it is reality none the less.
WHY HAVE WE BEEN DELIVERED?
HESED

Deliverance is a work of God’s loyal love.
#3 THE WILDERNESS IS A WORK OF GOD’S LOYAL LOVE
Psalms 136:16-22

Here we get a reminder of our time in the wilderness.
• You remember Israel there.
• It was a difficult time.

But it was also a time where God’s HESED was displayed.

Deuteronomy 8:2-5 “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. “Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. “Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.”

Did you catch how God let them get hungry?
• So He could show Himself as their provider.

Did you notice how God made them where the same shoes for 40 years?
• So He could show Himself as their caretaker.

God was showing His faithfulness to never leave them nor forsake them.
He was teaching them His HESED

BUT YOU ALSO REMEMBER THAT
During that wilderness God also continued to deliver His people.
• The Psalmist reminds of what God did to Sihon and Og
• And how God gave Israel their land.

THAT HARDLY SEEMS FAIR.
It’s not like the Israelites were more moral or less idolatrous
Than the Amorites or people of Bashan.

THEY WEREN’T.
But God had set His loyal love on them.
He was showing HESED to them.

He “slew mighty kings”
He “gave their land as a heritage…to Israel His servant”

Clearly God favored Israel over the Amorites.
Clearly God favored Israel over the people of Bashan.
IT WAS HIS LOYAL LOVE.

Why is there joy in your life?
Why is there peace in your life?
Why is there such favor in your life?

Because you’re just better than those sinners out there?

NO!
Because God has poured out His loyal covenantal love on you.

And He does it all the time.
#4 CONSTANT CARE IS A WORK OF GOD’S LOYAL LOVE
Psalms 136:23-25

Regardless of what you go through in life.
• God always remembers you.
• God rescues you from the enemy.
• God provides for you.

• It is daily bread.
• It is daily presence.
• It is daily comfort.
• It is new mercy every morning.
• He never leaves or forsakes.

God is constantly there showing you His loyal love to you.
Just as He did to Abraham, so has He done for you.

DO YOU SEE IT?
Can you recognize it in your life?

Well…
“Give thanks (acknowledge; confess) to the God of heaven, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

This is the call.
God’s love has no end for His redeemed.
• He never fails them.
• He never leaves them.
• He never forsakes them.

HE IS LOYAL TO THEM.
HE IS LOYAL TO US.

Follow the point of this Psalm this week
And meditate upon the loyal love of God toward you.

Acknowledge it!
Confess it!
Give Him thanks for it!