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Simplified Christianity
1 John 3:23-24
June 26, 2022

This morning we return to our study of 1 John and we do so right in the middle of a conversation about confidence and assurance.

Last week we pondered that remarkable statement by John (19) “We will know by this that we are of the truth…”

• John spoke of having assurance.
• John spoke of obtaining confidence before God.
• Even if “our heart condemns us”, “God is greater than our heart”.
• We take the truth and convince our heart and receive assurance.

Today John gives us another promise of assurance.
(24b) “We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

It is again a picture of confident assurance.
“We know by this”

It is another one of those forensic truths.
It is not emotional, it is not mystical.

It is verifiable criteria that we can look at
And come to a rational conclusion
Regarding whether or not we are a child of God.

And John’s answer here is: “by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

We’ve discussed recently how practical purity is a proof of salvation.
We’ve discussed recently how brotherly love is a proof of salvation.

But really those are merely the effect of a different reality.

There is a reason why believers walk in purity.
There is a reason why believers love their brother.

There is a ROOT CAUSE for both of those things,
And that root cause is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

It is the Holy Spirit
• Who sanctifies and causes believers to walk in righteousness.
• Who pours the love of God into the believer’s heart.

THERE IS NO GREATER OR MORE DEFINITIVE PROOF OF SALVATION THAN THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

There is no such thing as a lost man who is indwelt by God’s Spirit
And no such thing as a saved man who does not have God’s Spirit.

Peter made the promise clear.
Acts 2:38-39 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a promise God gives to those who believe.

And it is the presence of the Holy Spirit which became
The sole indication of whether or not a person was saved.

Remember when Cornelius was saved?
Acts 10:47-48 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.”

Later when the church debated the necessity of Gentile circumcision Peter again spoke up and referenced the day Cornelius was saved.
Acts 15:8 “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;”

There Peter called the presence of the Holy Spirit
“A testimony to their justified heart.”

The point is that, at the core, there is really only 1
Definitive evidence of salvation and that is God’s Spirit.

Romans 8:14-17 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

The Holy Spirit is the One who testifies that we are children of God.

And John knows this because of what Jesus taught in the upper room
The night before He died.

John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

John 15:26-27 “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, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

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.”

You see now where John gets it.
• The Holy Spirit was expressly promised to those who belong to Christ.
• He was being sent to believers.
• The world couldn’t receive Him, but believers in Christ will.

His presence in your life is the definitive proof of your salvation.

BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Satan distorts this today.
• Is it the “initial evidence” that charismatics have talked about by speaking in
tongues?
• Is it the ability to work miracles and cast out demons and such?
• Is it a new feeling?

HOW DO YOU KNOW?

Can I suggest again that it is not mystical?

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus He said:
John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

It’s not something you see, but you do see the effects in your life.

Like what?
Galatians 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

In short, when God’s Spirit abides in a person you see
The crucifixion of the flesh and the expression of Godliness.

Things like “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” begin to dominate a person’s life.

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

There are new passions and desires.
When God’s Spirit abides in you, there is a measurable
And verifiable difference in the behavior of a person’s life.

This is HOW YOU KNOW you have the Spirit of God
And this is HOW YOU KNOW you are saved.

And that is what John is discussing here in our text this morning.

I simply refer to these 3 verses as “SIMPLIFIED CHRISTIANITY”

We spent some time a few weeks ago talking about “Obvious Christianity”,
Now let’s talk about “Simplified Christianity”.

John simply answers the question for us,
“What is a Christian and how do you know if you are one?”

Well, let’s just look at 4 realities here that will help you answer that question.
#1 CHRISTIANS BELIEVE CHRIST
1 John 3:23a

Last week, up in verse 22, John defined Christians as those who “keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”

John said that is who Christians are.

Here he gets a little more specific in that regard.

“This is His commandment…”

John is telling you specifically what he meant.
“This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ…”

CHRISTIANS BELIEVE CHRIST.

Now, there is a subtle Greek nuance here
That isn’t immediately recognizable to us,
But language scholars help us see it.

And that is that the word “in” is NOT actually in the Greek text.

For example, when you read popular verses like:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

We see that John is clear that a man must believe “in Him”

That word “in” is EIS (ice)
And it is more than just a directional word,
It is a word that speaks of a point reached or entered.

For example you could also translate the phrase,
“that whoever believes into Him shall not perish”

The point there being is that the faith we give
Is not just some intellectual assent we give to Christ,
But rather faith is the means by which we are justified.

Our faith doesn’t only acknowledge Christ as the Son of God,
But it is our faith by which God unites us with Christ.

It is faith by which we are crucified with Christ and raised with Him.
Faith is the means by which we are counted to be “in Him”

Faith is how we are clothed in His righteousness.
Faith is how our sins are reckoned to Him.

And that is commonly how we think of this command to believe.
Namely that it is a command for lost people
In order that they might be saved.

John 1:12 “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,”

John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

And we commonly remind those who are lost that you cannot get salvation any other way.
• You cannot work your way into Christ.
• You cannot earn your way into Christ.
• The only way to be justified in Christ is by believing; through faith.

And we rightly preach that message to a lost world.
You must believe into Jesus.

And WE COULD make the statement that Christians believe in Jesus.

But really in truly it would be more accurate for us to say that
Christians HAVE believed in Jesus.

• Christians are already justified.
• Christians are already in Him.
• Christians are already clothed in His righteousness.

But when talking about the fruit of Christianity
John doesn’t actually include that word “in” in his statement.

John actually says, “This is His commandment, that we believe the name of His Son Jesus Christ.”

THE POINT IS THIS.
Christians don’t just believe in Jesus, Christians believe Jesus.

We are NOT talking about a one-time decision in the past,
We ARE talking about a continual present lifestyle.

There have been FAR TOO MANY today who have tried
To give people assurance of their salvation by asking,
“Was there ever a time in your life when you believed in Jesus?”

And if someone can say, “Yes, when I was 8 I did.”
And far too often then the answer to them is, “Then you’re saved.”

You understand how foolish that is.
If you ask me if you are alive I’m not going to say, “Can you ever remember a time in the past when you were alive?”

Christians certainly believed in Jesus in the past,
That’s how they became Christians,
But the measurable fruit of their life is that they still believe Him.

They “believe the name of His Son Jesus Christ”

“the name” there indicates His fullness of person and ability.
It is the culmination of all that He is.

That is to say that Christians don’t just believe He is real,
• They believe He is God,
• They believe He is Savior,
• They believe He is Lord,
• They believe He is King,
• They believe He is sufficient,
• They believe He is alive,
• They believe He is returning.
• AND THEY LIVE THEIR LIVES LIKE THEY BELIEVE THOSE THINGS

The faith they gave at salvation
Is the same faith they continue to give the rest of their lives.

If you don’t believe Jesus today then there is no salvation,
I don’t care what happened at some event in the past.

Christians are marked by their current and unyielding faith.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

1 Peter 1:8 “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,”

We are not those who shrink away from Christ during difficult moments,
We run to Him, we trust Him more.

Hebrews 10:38-39 “BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

In the upper room Jesus emphasized this.
John 14:1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”

And so this is a great place to start and a great indicator of salvation.

Do you believe Jesus?

• How about when your world is crashing in around you?
• How about when the future is uncertain?
• How about when grief overwhelms?

DO YOU BELIEVE JESUS?

If you do believe Him, do you know why you do?
It’s not because you are just stronger minded than other people.

The reason you believe Jesus regardless of life’s circumstances
Is because you have the Holy Spirit who is causing you to believe.

Do you realize that true saving faith is a gift to you from the Holy Spirit?

There is a basic sort of human faith that is prevalent today.
• You have faith when you push the brake in your car that the car will stop.
• You have faith that when you turn on the faucet water will come out.
• That’s natural faith, everyone has that.

What we are talking about is saving faith or supernatural faith.
We are talking about faith that endures even when understanding fails.

That faith does not originate in you.
If you have that faith it is because the Holy Spirit is in you providing it.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

There we read that faith “is the gift of God”

2 Peter 1:1 “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:”

Faith is something that is “received”

So we say: CHRISTIANS BELIEVE CHRIST
• They trust Him
• They follow Him
• They obey Him

It is not a one-time belief that expires later in life.
It is continual and ongoing.

#2 CHRISTIANS LOVE THEIR BROTHER
1 John 3:23b

Here is a point John is certainly driving home.
He just keeps circling back here and he is unwilling to let you forget it.

“and love one another, just as He commanded us.”

This is obviously also something Jesus emphasized in the upper room.

John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 15:12-13 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

John 15:17 “This I command you, that you love one another.”

Jesus drove this point home to them the night before He died
And John has echoed that sentiment.

This is a mark of genuine salvation.
This is a fruit of salvation.

This is what allows us to “assure our heart before Him”

When you lay down your life for your brother.
When you sacrifice yourself for your brother.
That is Christ-like-ness.

THAT IS WHAT JESUS DID.

We read them all earlier in the chapter
When studying brotherly love about how Jesus became poor for our sake.

• How Jesus humbled Himself to leave heaven
• How Jesus was born under the Law.
• How Jesus gave up His riches and comfort and schedule
• How Jesus laid down His life.
• How Jesus now intercedes on our behalf.

And certainly this is the command to believers.

But more than that, it is a fruit of genuine Christianity.

WHY?
Because love is also a supernatural expression of the Holy Spirit.

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.”

And again, not just a fond affection,
But when you love “just as He commanded us.”

That is to say,
When you love like Jesus loved, that is a love that is absolutely alien and foreign to the world.

Love is not natural to the unredeemed.
Self is natural to the unredeemed.

What is typically referred to as “love” by the world
Is really nothing more than selfish affirmation.

It is a willingness to give someone what they want
But for a selfish motive.

But genuine life-sacrificing love comes only through the Holy Spirit.
He gives it.

Love is a fruit of the Spirit and so love is a proof of Christianity.

Christians believe Christ Christians love their brother
#3 CHRISTIANS ABIDE THROUGH OBEDIENCE
1 John 3:24a

John says, “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him…”

John loves that word “abide”
MENO in the Greek.
It means “to remain” or “stay”

And certainly John received this directly from Jesus.
John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

We understand that a Christian is one who remains with Christ.
• A Christian is one who endures with Christ.
• A Christian is one who does not deny or apostasize or fall away.

Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

Just as faith is a mark of saving faith, so is endurance.

Christians stick with Jesus.
Christians cling to Him and do not defect.

But here John is talking about MORE THAN
Just the fact that Christians stick with Jesus.

John is discussing HOW they stick with Him.
Or what abiding looks like

“The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him…”

In other words John is explaining
Exactly what kind of abiding we are looking for.

If I ask you,
Do you stick with Jesus? Do you remain in Jesus?

And you say, “yes”

And then I ask you,
• “How do you abide in Him?”
• “How do you remain with Him?”
• “What does remaining with Jesus look like in your life?”

• Well, I put a fish on my car back in 1988 and it’s still there.
• Well, I go to church pretty regular.
• Well, I make sure to like posts on Facebook about Jesus.

John clarifies what abiding in Jesus really means.
It means keeping “His commandments”

John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

John IS NOT simply endorsing
Anyone who maintains association with Jesus.
John IS talking about the one who maintains submission to Jesus.

The type of abiding that John is talking about
Is the person who endures in obedience to Christ.

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

That is how Christians abide in Christ.

Christians are those who endure,
Not just by maintaining that Jesus is real,
But by continually obeying Him in this world.

When you understand it like that,
All of a sudden the problem of apostasy and defection in our culture gets all the more real doesn’t it?

• People who say they are Christians but who continually refuse to obey Christ.
• People who maintain they are Christians but who continually obey the pressure of the culture instead of the words of Christ.

Those who abide in Christ are those who obey Christ, not the culture.

I’ve always loved the VIVID IMAGERY that is afforded to us
Near the end of the book of HEBREWS.

• You know those Hebrews were facing enormous pressure to leave Christ and
return to Judaism.
• Some had already been imprisoned and had their property seized.

But one of the most devastating consequences of sticking with Jesus
Is that they were going to be ostracized from the temple
And would lose access to the sacrifices.

That was the Jewish understanding of atonement.

If you leave those feasts behind
(which has been Israel’s symbol of forgiveness for thousands of years)
And Jesus isn’t real, then you have just made the greatest mistake of your life.

It was quite a dilemma.
I love what the writer of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 13:10-14 “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”

I especially love when the writer says,
“let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.”

What is he asking?
• Remain with Jesus.
• Stick with Jesus.

Even if it means you are ostracized in the world.
Even if it means you suffer reproach in the world.
You obey Christ, you stick with Christ.

Do you understand that in our world today?

To follow Christ and to obey Christ and to stick with Christ
Will put you at odds with the world and may bring down on you reproach.

CHRISTIANS EMBRACE THAT.
If given the choice between obeying the culture or obeying Christ,
They choose Christ.

That is what a Christian is.
It is certainly NOT someone who says they are a Christian while actually following the world.

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?
• A Christian is one who believes Christ.
• A Christian is one who loves his brother.
• A Christian is one who abides through obedience.

#4 CHRISTIANS ARE INDWELT BY GOD
1 John 3:24b

John noted that Christians abide in Him.
And then John says, “and He in him”

Not only do we abide in Christ, but Christ abides in us.

John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

As you see there, this is NOT the case for the world.
“the world cannot receive” Him.

The Holy Spirit only abides in believers.
• He is the promise given only to those who believe.
• He is the promise given only to those who are saved.

And He is given to everyone who is saved.
And He is the definitive proof of salvation.

As we said at the beginning,
The Holy Spirit is the total evidence of salvation.

Take for example the men of Ephesus.
Acts 19:1-7 “It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. There were in all about twelve men.”

So Paul comes to Ephesus and he comes across some men who were “disciples”.
• They were religious men.
• They were certainly moral men.
• They were repentant men for they were baptized “Into John’s baptism.”

But Paul wanted to know if they were saved.
Paul wanted to know if they were Christians.

But notice what he DIDN’T ask.
• “Do you guys go to church anywhere?”
• “Have you guys been baptized?”

What did he ask?
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

Why ask that?
Because that is the only definitive mark of salvation.

And when Paul learned that they had not,
PAUL commenced to telling them about Jesus Christ.

When a person believes they receive the Holy Spirit.
He remains with a believer just like a believer remains with Christ.

And you know He is in you,
Not because of something mystical but because of the fruit He produces.
• Belief in Christ
• Love for the brethren
• Obedience to Christ

This is a Christian.
One who has the Holy Spirit within them.

And then John concludes the thought with this statement.
“We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

We know we are in Christ
And Christ is in us because we have the Spirit.

THIS IS SIMPLIFIED CHRISTIANITY
And this is again a text meant to give you assurance.

It is not complicated.
• Do you believe Jesus?
• Do you love the brethren?
• Do you obey Christ?

The only reason you even want to do that is because of the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit is certainly the only reason you can do that.

If you see that in your life,
THEN REST IN ASSURANCE THAT YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD.

“We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

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Anticipating Worship: Crying For Justice
Psalms 129
June 19, 2022

As we have studied through the book of Psalms, we have several times come across those Psalms known as IMPRECATORY PSALMS.

These are the songs in which
The Psalmist calls down judgment on his enemies.

Psalms 5:10 “Hold them guilty, O God; By their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, For they are rebellious against You.”

Psalms 7:9 “O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.”

Psalms 10:15 “Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none.”

Psalms 58:6-11 “O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD. Let them flow away like water that runs off; When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts. Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along, Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun. Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike. The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”

• And believe me when I tell you that those are just the tip of the ice burg.
• The book of Psalms is filled with imprecatory requests.
• You could go back on our website and study through any one of those Psalms again if you want a refresher on the imprecatory Psalms.

But as we have studied them we have talked about
The apparent problem that they cause for our theology.

• In fact, to many, they seem like a contradiction.
• They seem down right unchristian.
• They are even often disregarded and even almost stricken from the Bible.

You hear statements like:
“That was an Old Testament Psalm, but in the New Testament we cannot pray like this.”

That is to say that this is a part of the Bible
That was apparently wrong until Jesus came and corrected it.

But I remind you again as I told you then.
• Either every word proceeds from the mouth of God or it doesn’t.
• Did the Holy Spirit not inspire the Psalms?

It is foolish to simply disregard them because they seem to us to be a contradiction to what we are taught in the New Testament.

However, we must answer the problem.

For clearly we are commanded by Jesus in the New Testament to
• “pray for those who persecute you”
• “turn the other cheek”

Paul taught us in Romans
Romans 12:14 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”

And we distinctly remember Jesus rebuking James and John for wanting to call down fire on the Samaritans saying,
• “I did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

So what do we do with these Psalms that ask God to judge the wicked?

Let me quickly remind you of some of the things we’ve learned over our study of Psalms about these Imprecatory Prayers.

IMPRECATORY PSALMS ARE ONLY TO BE SUNG TO GOD
• Imprecations are only meant for one recipient.
• Imprecations are meant to go to God and God alone.
• We do not address them to the world, we address them only to God.

We don’t go out and threaten the world with vengeance.
• We turn the other cheek,
• We return a curse with a blessing
• And we offer the gospel.

There is a place for imprecation,
But it is not for the personal vengeance of the Christian.

IMPRECATORY PSALMS ARE A BLESSING TO BELIEVERS

It is a blessing because it allows us
To have a release of our righteous indignation.

• On those days when we grieve and lament the sin of our culture.
• On those days when we are like Lot and feel our righteous soul tormented by the behavior of our society.
• On those days when the wicked ascend to power and it seems as though there is no one to stop them.

We don’t pick up a sword…
We don’t engage in physical violence…
We take our frustration and we lay it at the feet of the Righteous Judge.
We bring it only to Him.

And it is a blessing to have such a One who not only agrees,
But who also has the power to bring such evil to an end.

It is a blessing for us to have such Psalms.

WE TAKE THEM ONLY TO GOD AS A SAFEGUARD

It is also true that sometimes my indignation is not righteous indignation.
• Sometimes it is selfish indignation.
• Sometimes it is unjustified anger.
• And sometimes I can’t tell the difference.

But when I bring it to God, He is the One who knows my heart
And can rebuke me and correct me and transform me.
(much as Jesus did to James and John)

Luke 9:55-56 “But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.”

James and John thought they had righteous indignation.
The reality was that actually they were just selfish
And put out by the Samaritans.
And Jesus corrected them.

That is why we only bring such songs to the Lord.
1) Because He is the only one charged with delivering justice saying, “Vengeance is Mine!”

2) And because He always has true justice when I might wrongly dispense it on those who do not deserve it.

Now we’ve talked about those realities for the imprecatory Psalms.

TONIGHT let me give you a couple more reasons we sing such songs.
WORSHIP

When we sing such songs it is a verbal testimony
That we disapprove of the vile treatment
That our King receives in the world.

• We sing them and declare Him worthy or honor!
• We sing them and declare Him righteous to judge!
• We sing them and declare Him vindicated in His wrath!

By the way, you sing some of them perhaps without realizing it.
(Especially if you have sang some of the Sovereign Grace songs with us on Wed nights)

HOW GREAT
Forever without end, creation will rejoice
When works of wicked men, You finally destroy
Your power we’ll proclaim till Christ descends
And You will reign forever without end
https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/how-great-psalm-145/

HOW LONG O LORD?
You will conquer every evil thing
Every sorrow, pain, and wrong
They will cease with Your return, our King
How long, O Lord, how long?
https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/long-o-lord/

WE LOOK TO YOU
Deliver us from evil, Lord;
The devil’s seeking to devour
With trembling hearts we hear his roar,
But Your strong arm will crush his pow’r
We look to You, we look to You,
Come and end his earthly reign
We look to You, we look to You;
Lord, deliver us, we pray
https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/we-look-to-you/

Those are songs in which
God’s righteous judgment is brought to the forefront.

We sing those as songs of worship to God.
• We acknowledge His justice.
• We acknowledge His sovereignty.
• We acknowledge His worth of glory.

AND THESE ARE IMPORTANT SONGS.

We live in a day when God’s justice or righteousness or goodness is continually blasphemed by men.

• How many today have looked at the suffering in the world and immediately
sought to condemn God as one who is not good and righteous?

• How many today have taken such a dim view of God’s justice that they openly
and blatantly do what is offensive to Him right before His very eyes?

Carrie and I went to Oklahoma City last week to the Women’s College World Series. Two blocks from the house where we stayed was a Methodist church with a rainbow “Pride” banner hanging right on the side of the building.

It is obvious that God’s justice has come under attack.

Songs such as these must be sung as an act of worship!

THERE IS ALSO A 4TH REASON WHY THEY MUST BE SUNG
TO ENCOURAGE THE SAINTS

They must be sung as a reminder to the body of Christ
That their suffering is temporary and the reward is secure.

• We never want the church to fall into the deception that God will not vindicate them.
• We never want the church to assume that they will turn the other cheek forever.

We seek to remind the congregation that
• Though we are currently hated and mistreated,
• One day our God will come with vengeance
• And will deliver His own and crush the wicked.

This is truth and we sing it as a congregation
To worship God and encourage the saints.

AND THAT IS THE THRUST OF PSALMS 129

We are still looking at those “Songs of Ascents”
• It is still that group of songs that became the unofficial hymn book for the pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.
• They are the songs of the caravan as they anticipated gathering before God as His people in worship.

And it is certainly right and fitting that at least one of these hymns
Focused on the coming righteous judgment of God.

God’s people need this!
God certainly deserves it!

So tonight let’s examine this 129th Psalm.
4 points
#1 A SONG THAT REMEMBERS TROUBLE
Psalms 129:1-2a, 3

The song begins with a soloist of sort.
The choir leader here seems to stand and announce:

“Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up,”

He announces his plight to the caravan.

But very quickly, lest we assume this is merely a personal testimony,
The Psalmist gives instruction.

“Let Israel now say, “Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;”

And at this moment you hear the entire congregation
Cry out in remembrance of her lifelong trouble.

He even says in verse 3
“The plowers plowed upon my back; They lengthened their furrows.”

It is a vivid description of horrific persecution.
It is pictured like a man was laid in a field
• And had a plow drug over his back,
• And the plow was set deep,
• And the plow was drug the full length of his body.

It is a vivid picture of what was true for Israel from the beginning.
• We read of Abraham and how Abimelech did not fear God and even took Abraham’s wife in order to marry her.
• We read of Laban mistreated Jacob.
• We know of Pharaoh and the slavery which he inflicted upon the Israelites.
• We see the attacks of Balak
• We read about the Philistines and their giant
• We read about the Moabites
• We read about the Amonites

Men who continually attacked and persecuted Israel.
• We know of Tiglath-Pileser or Assyria and his slaughter of Israel.
• We know of Nebuchadnezzar and how he destroyed Jerusalem.
• We know of Antiochas Epiphenes and his rage against the Holy Land.
• We know of Rome and her slaughter of innocent Jews
• We know of Hitler and Stalin and the Palestinians

Certainly much of their persecution happened after this Psalm was written,
But it remains that it is none the less a relevant song.

Israel has been under attack since the day she was chosen of God.
Abraham was called “The Hebrew”
He was a stranger and an alien in the world.

AND THAT NEVER CHANGED.

BUT THIS IS ALSO TRUE FOR THE CHURCH.
The church enjoyed no “honeymoon” period where she had no hostility.

No sooner did the church explode on the scene than did persecution rise to attack it.
• Peter and John were arrested and flogged.
• Stephen was stoned to death.
• James was killed with the sword.
• Philip had to flee.

What is true is that God’s people
Have been in constant trouble in this world.

Paul borrowed from the Psalmist to explain the suffering of the church.
Romans 8:36 “Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

Paul even wrote to the Corinthians a sort of chronology of his suffering.
2 Corinthians 11:24-27 “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

God’s people have been in constant trouble.
And here the church is called to remember that.

“Let Israel now say, “Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;”

• They are NOT called to forget it.
• They are called to remember it.
• They are called to declare it to God.

• They are called to relive the plow upon the back for a moment.
• They are called to remember the horror of their ill-treatment.

This song begins by remembering trouble.

But there is a reason.

A Song that Remembers Trouble
#2 A SONG THAT REJOICES IN DELIVERANCE
Psalms 129:2b

“Yet they have not prevailed against me.”

The purpose of remembering their trouble
Was NOT so that they might grow bitter and angry.
NOR that they might fall into self-pity and despair.

The purpose of remembering their trouble is so that
They might see that God has been faithful to deliver them.

Israel survived!
The church has endured!

Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

And it hasn’t.

It has not mattered how many evil rulers have stepped onto the scene in order to eradicate God’s people, NONE HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL.

• Pharoah could not drown all the baby boys.
• Haman could not execute all the Jews.
• The Jews could not eradicate the church.

God’s people have survived

Romans 8:36-37 “Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”

There has been vicious enmity aimed directly at God’s people
Since the day God chose them, and yet they remain.

How remarkable is it that Israel remains a nation?
• Yes, they are temporarily under God’s judgment
• Yes, they temporarily have rejected Christ
• But they remain a people.

It is equally remarkable that the church remains.
• Started from nothing with uneducated and untrained men.
• No money, no leaders, no assets
• Constantly hated by the world around her
• She is still here.

So the beginning of this Psalm is really for the purpose of
Making sure that the congregation understands that
Though we are hated, we have survived.

That is a good reminder for us.
• When we live in a world that is hostile to the truth.
• When we live in an out of season kind of culture.

It is good for you to remember that the church has faced hatred since the beginning but that hatred has not been able to stop her yet.

AND IT NEVER WILL.
“Yet they have not prevailed against me.”

THIS IS HOW THE SONG BEGINS.
But even that is NOT the entire purpose of the song.

• It is NOT just to get you to pat yourself on the back for surviving hardship.
• It is certainly NOT meant to get you to be proud of yourself for enduring.

You know that.

There is a reason we are called to recognize
That despite our suffering we are still here.

#3 A SONG THAT RECOGNIZES THE DELIVERER
Psalms 129:4

Well that makes sense!

The choir leader wanted us to focus on our suffering and on the fact that though it was bad we have survived.

He did that because he wanted us to understand WHY we have survived.

“The LORD is righteous;”

This statement is the lynch pin of the Psalm.
This is the truth that the Psalmist is calling upon the congregation to recognize.

WHAT DOES HE MEAN?

He means that the reason the wicked have not been able to annihilate God’s people is because “The LORD is righteous”

AS WE SAID A MOMENT AGO,
This is quickly forgotten or overlooked or even scorned in our world.

Men repeatedly question God’s righteousness.
Sinners repeatedly ignore God’s righteousness.
Even brass “churches” spurn God’s righteousness.

BUT THE PURPOSE OF THIS SONG
IS TO KEEP THE FAITHFUL FROM FORGETTING IT.

Namely that: “He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.”

Earlier the wicked were portrayed as those who plowed upon the backs of the redeemed.

Here they are seen as captors who ensnare and enslave and who tie up God’s people with ropes.

Psalms 18:4-5 “The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.”

Psalms 119:61 “The cords of the wicked have encircled me, But I have not forgotten Your law.”

Psalms 140:5 “The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set snares for me. Selah.”

The wicked have persecuted the righteous.
And they most certainly would have prevailed.

BUT…
“The LORD is righteous; He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.”

GOD HAS JUDGED.
GOD IS JUDGING.

There are countless stories of persecution
In which the wicked oppressed the righteous,

But there are also countless stories of when God caused
The wickedness of sinners to descend upon their own head.

IT DOES HAPPEN.

Do we not remember Pharoah drowning in the Red Sea?
Do we not remember the King of Assyria being assassinated in his own land?
Do we not remember Haman hanged on his own gallows?
Do we not remember Herod being eaten with worms and dying?

God has rendered judgment many times for His people.

God has intervened many times and “cut in two the cords of the wicked”

We have seen His righteousness many many times.

Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”

And the POINT OF REMINDER here to the church is that
It is easy in a world of persecution to fall prey to the deception
That God is not doing anything about it.

That would be a lie from the enemy.

If God had totally forsaken His righteous judgment
Then God’s people would have already been eradicated.

God is still righteous.
God does still cut in two the cords of the wicked.
He does that even today.

Even today God acts and moves in a righteous manner for His people.

Yes persecution persists…
Yes suffering continues…
But God has not fully given us over to any of it.

And that is the reminder of the first half of this song.
SING THAT GOD IS RIGHTEOUS!

Recognize His deliverance.
Recognize that He is currently at work, even now, judging sinners.

BUT ALSO RECOGNIZE THIS
What today we see in part, someday we will see fully!

And that brings us to the final stanza of the song.
These final 4 verses are sung because “The LORD is righteous”

#4 A SONG THAT REQUESTS JUSTICE
Psalms 129:5-8

There is the imprecation.
There is the calling down of judgment.
“May all who hate Zion…”

It’s NOT JUST upon those who hate God.
It is called for upon those who hate God’s people.
(Indeed they are one and the same)

This is a song sung by the congregation
Regarding those who hate God’s church!

Did you know God had a song like that?
Did you know God wrote a song for you to sing when the world hates you?

It is a song
• That focuses on His deliverance and His righteousness.
• That ultimately tells you to focus on the day when He fully crushes His
enemies.

In fact, God even gives you the words to sing.

“Be put to shame” – NO HONOR
• In a world that loves to call evil good and good evil.
• In a world that celebrates the sin of pride and sexual immorality.
• In a world that throws parades for wickedness,

The church cries out that such rebellion will “Be put to shame”

And it’s not just things like pride month.
I was at a school fund raiser golf tournament a couple of weeks ago where I saw an entire group of adults boasting about the amount of alcohol they could drink!

That won’t happen forever.
Some day this world will no longer put sin on a pedestal.

Isaiah 66:24 “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

The Psalmist continues
“and turned backward” – NO SUCCESS
• We grieve today when the agenda of the wicked moves forward.
• We grieve when men fight for the right to murder the innocent.
• We grieve when cultures celebrate what God calls sin.

But they won’t forever.
There is coming a day in which God will stop sin in its tracks.
There is coming a day when an evil agenda will not advance another inch.

(6-7) “Let them be like grass upon the housetops, Which withers before it grows up; With which the reaper does not fill his hand, Or the binder of sheaves his bosom;” – NO ENDURANCE

Isaiah 40:6-8 “A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

It seems today that evil endures and wicked men prosper and thrive.

The Psalmist prays for just the opposite.
He compares them to grass, specifically the grass of a roof.
• It no longer grows…
• It no longer thrives…
• You can’t use it for anything…
• There’s not enough to gather or make into a bale of hay…

It’s withered and gone.
Someday this will occur.

Men will travel the globe and not a shred of wickedness will be found.

(8) “Nor do those who pass by say, “The blessing of the LORD be upon you; We bless you in the name of the LORD.” – NO BLESSING

• Today we see the world actually bless and applaud wicked men.

I told you a couple of weeks ago in our study of 1 John how it is grievous to me when even professing Christians will deliver a blessing upon sinful behavior.

There is coming a day when that will not happen.
• There is coming a day when sin will no longer be applauded or approved.
• There is coming a day when the evil enabler will be silent.
• And sinful behavior will not be blessed.

WHY IS THAT DAY COMING?
Because “The LORD is righteous”

And based upon that knowledge
The church is called to sing that God unleash His righteousness
And rid this world of sin and rebellion.

AND WE SING THIS!
We pray this!
We beg God for this!

Charles Spurgeon said:
“It is but justice that those who hate, harass, and hurt the good should be brought to naught. Those who confound right and wrong ought to be confounded, and those who turn back from God ought to be turned back. Loyal subjects wish ill to those who plot against their king. ‘Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks,’ is but a proper wish, and contains within it no trace of personal ill-will. We desire their welfare as men, their downfall as traitors. Let their conspiracies be confounded, their policies be turned back. How can we wish prosperity to those who would destroy that which is dearest to our hearts?”
(Spurgeon, Charles [The Treasury of David: Volume 3 – Part 2; Psalms 111-150; Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA] pg 110)

We agree!

And this is one of the reasons that the church gathers for worship.

• We gather to worship God for His righteousness.
• We gather to encourage the saints that God is righteous.

AND WE GATHER HERE AS A FORESHADOW
Of the coming worship that will one day occur in heaven.

Do you remember what that worship will look like?

Revelation 11:15-18 “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Revelation 19:1-6 “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”

That is the coming worship of heaven.
And when the saints gather today
In a foretaste of heaven we join in their worship.

We worship God for His righteousness.
We cry out that God’s righteousness
Would break forth over the whole world!

• That does not negate our desire that the wicked turn and be saved.
• That does not negate our hope that men will repent.
• But we are not willing to sacrifice God’s righteousness for the comfort of sinners.

We are not those who see God’s justice
As something He should conceal.

We love the righteousness of God!
We praise God for His righteousness!
We appeal to God to put His righteousness on display!

We cry with John at the end of the Revelation “Amen! Come Lord Jesus!”

Download Here:

Confidence Before God
1 John 3:19-22
June 19, 2022

In recent weeks, as we have studied this 3rd chapter of 1 John
We have been looking at A PATERNITY TEST.

We have looked at our two potential fathers; Jesus or Satan
And we have sought to deduce whose imprint we see in our lives.

We learned that Jesus never sinned but Satan has sinned from the beginning.

• So we looked at our own PRACTICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS to determine whose
DNA we are carrying.

And we learned that while Satan slew his brother, Jesus laid down His life to save His brother.

• So we looked at our BROTHERLY LOVE to determine whose child we are.

And the overarching question has been simple:
ARE YOU SAVED OR NOT?

• Have you been redeemed from your former life of sin or are you still living in it?
• Have you been transformed by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit or not?
• Is Christ in you or not?

It really has been sort of a FORENSIC EXAMINATION.

NOW YOU SHOULD KNOW THE PRIMARY REASON WHY
JOHN HAD US TAKE THE PATERNITY TEST.

John’s primary reason for this test was NOT evangelistic, it WAS pastoral.

Certainly if the truths of 1 John 3 exposed you as unredeemed
Then the call would be to salvation.

But what we see in our text this morning is that John DID NOT follow the first 18 verses of chapter 3 with an INVITATION TO SALVATION.

John concludes the chapter with a STATEMENT ON ASSURANCE.

John didn’t give us the paternity test to expose us,
John gave us the paternity test to confirm us.

John pictured us as confused children,
Uncertain as to whether or not we were in fact God’s children,
And John has set out to prove we are.

If you will recall, that is really the overarching theme of this book.

1 John 5:13 “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

And certainly we have seen that even in the previous chapters.

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

1 John 2:5 “but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:”

1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.”

John has certainly been direct, but his application has always been
That when you see these attributes in your life,
You should take heart and know that
These are evidence that you are a child of God.

Do you walk in obedience?
Do you keep His word?
Do you love the brethren?
You wouldn’t do those things if God had not redeemed you.
These are proofs that you are His.

YOU SEE THAT ASSURANCE IS THE GOAL.

I might also remind you that this is straight from the heart of Jesus.

We think of that magnificent Upper Room Discourse in John 13-17
(of which clearly John had in mind in writing 1 John)

And we see how important it was to Jesus
To instill assurance into the hearts of the 11 before He departed.

John 14:1-3 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

John 16:27 “for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.”

Even in His final prayer for them:
John 17:6-9 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. “Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;”

Jesus is not being evangelistic in the upper room.
He knows what they are about to face.
It is important to Him that they not be confused regarding their salvation.

That is John’s heart in this letter as well.

While John has clearly laid out for us
The distinctions between the lost and the redeemed,
It has also been very clear that John believes these people to be saved.

1 John 2:12-14 “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”

You don’t write like that to people you think are lost.

1 John 3:1 “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”

John is writing to those who are believers.
John believes them to be saved.
And the goal of John is that they know it too.

WHY?
Because clearly deceivers have come in.
• Those Gnostics have invaded the church
• And it has unsettled the souls of God’s children.
• They are doubting their salvation.

1 John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.”

1 John 2:26 “These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.”

The result of these deceivers is that the church has lost her assurance.

They don’t know if they are saved.
They don’t know if they are welcome to God.
They don’t know if they are His children.

AND A CHURCH IN SUCH A CONDITION IS PARALYZED
God wants those whom He has saved to know and enjoy their salvation.

BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW IT?
Not emotionally (what you feel)
But evidentially (what is fact)

That is why John wrote.
He’s giving FACTS.
He’s giving EVIDENCE.
He’s giving TESTS.

Things like practical purity and brotherly love.
• Abstract tests that have nothing to do with how you feel, but with how you live.

And he’s giving these tests, not to expose you,
But so that even if you don’t “feel” saved,
You can know that you are saved.

John wants you to be so certain that you are a child of God,
That you would walk right into His house even without knocking.

That’s the goal.

THIS IS THE OTHER SIDE OF A VERY IMPORTANT COIN

ON ONE HAND we know that we are welcome to God
Because of the WORK OF CHRIST.

Jesus accomplished everything necessary to reconcile us to God so that we may able to draw near to God.
• He fulfilled the Law
• He satisfied God’s wrath
• He imputed righteousness to us

Hebrews 9:13-14 “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

The key phrase there is that Christ cleansed our conscience.
That is to say He took away our guilt.

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

And Jesus intercedes for us to make sure that our access to God remains.
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

So we understand that it is the work of Jesus
Which gives us confidence to approach God.

But as I said, that is only one side of the assurance coin.

There have been times when I doubted whether or not I was saved.

My doubt was never in the sufficiency of Christ’s work.
(I always believed He was enough)

My doubt was rooted in the genuineness of my faith.
(Had I responded correctly)

In other words, as far as the work of Christ was concerned,
I had perfect assurance that salvation was real.
My doubt was in whether or not that work had touched me.

John is addressing that second aspect of assurance.
John is seeking to help believers see that they are in fact saved.

AND HE IS DOING THAT SO THAT
They will have confidence to approach God as His children.

So there’s the issue this morning.
• Do you have confidence to approach God?
• Do you have confidence that you have properly responded to Christ and have been saved?
• Do you have confidence that you are God’s child?

IT IS POSSIBLE to be saved and not know you have it,
Particularly if a deceiver has twisted the truth.

And as we said, that is paralyzing and crippling to a church.

So this morning let’s look at this assurance which John wants the redeemed to enjoy and even why he wants them to have it.

There’s 3 points to be made here this morning.
#1 LOVE PRODUCES ASSURANCE
1 John 3:19-20

We see at the beginning of verse 19
That familiar statement that John loves to use: “We know”

He is not speaking in hypotheticals.
He is speaking in absolutes.
“We know by this”

By what?
Our PRACTICAL PURITY and our BROTHERLY LOVE.

John already laid the foundation.
1 John 3:7 “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;”

1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.”

Those are genuine evidence of salvation
That totally transcend feelings.

If you have practical purity and brotherly love…
“We know by this that we are of the truth”

Assurance is a great feeling,
BUT IT IS NOT BASED ON FEELINGS

When you go into the doctor for a checkup, the doctor doesn’t ask,
• “Do you feel like you have cancer?”
• “Do you feel like you have high cholesterol?”
• “Do you feel like you are diabetic?”

They don’t examine your feelings to diagnose your body.
There are practical and physical tests they run to see if those things are so.

And often times people who have worked themselves up into a frenzy with fear and worry regarding what might be wrong with them are actually granted peace when the actual test reveals their problem was minor.

SO IT IS HERE.
Put your feelings aside for a moment.
I’m not asking if you feel saved.

“We know by this that we are of the truth”

Saved people walk in practical purity and brotherly love.
If you do that, then you are saved.
Don’t let your feelings have the final word.

For notice what John says here:
(19-20a) “We know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us…”

Now we see the problem.

These people have been condemned.
In fact they are in a constant state of condemnation.

But who is doing the condemning?
It’s not God
It may not even been the deceivers

IT IS THEIR OWN HEART

John is talking about when “our heart condemns us”

Certainly you are aware that every man is born with a conscience.
You are born with an instinctive moral compass
To help you navigate right and wrong.

This is true of all men, whether the grew up in a Christian home or not.

Romans 2:14-15 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,”

Every man is born with a conscience, an innate sense of right and wrong.

BUT…
You need to know that your conscience is not infallible.
You need to know that your heart is not always correct.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”

Your heart will lie to you.

See, your heart (really your mind or conscience)
IS SUBJECT TO EXTERNAL INFLUENCE.

Take our culture today.
• June has been designated by some as “Pride Month”
• It is a month when much or our culture celebrates homosexuality.

And while there are some who do this simply in fear or rebellion,
There are some who genuinely (in their heart)
Believe that homosexuality is a normal and good thing.

Why do they believe that?
Because their heart has been influenced by falsehood.
• Deceptive teachers…
• Sinful temptation…
• Immoral culture…
• Peer Pressure…

We see it in false religion.
We see men in false religion do all sorts of bizarre things.
• Their conscience has been corrupted.
• Their heart has been deceived.
• And now their heart lies to them about what is right and what is wrong.

The point is that you are born with a conscience
But that conscience is not infallible, it can be corrupted.

1 Timothy 4:1-2 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,”

Ephesians 4:17-19 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”

You see the work of a fallen conscience in the lives of the unredeemed.
• They actually sear their conscience.
• They become callous.
• They are no longer bothered by what should bother them.

HOWEVER
The conscience of a believer can also be corrupted.
• When they are fed deception and lies,
• Especially in the arena of legalism or a false gospel,
• Their consciences can also work against them.

Typically the conscience of a believer does not become calloused,
But rather through the conscience becoming OVERACTIVE.

These people are thrown under a hyper-standard
Which God has not ordained
And their conscience picks up on that and starts to condemn them.

Think about the Galatians
• Who had trusted Christ,
• But the Judaizers convinced them they were not saved because they had not
been circumcised.
• When their hearts believed that, their hearts started condemning them until
they complied.

That is an example of an undiscerning and overactive conscience.

AND THAT IS WHAT JOHN IS ADDRESSING HERE.
People who were saved, but deceivers had told them otherwise
And now their own heart was condemning them.

THAT IS A HORRIBLE PLACE TO BE!

What should a believer do in such a situation?
Exactly what John is doing.

FIRST, examine what is true.
(Facts about practical purity and brotherly love)

SECOND, pull your conscience back in line with that truth.

See what John says:
“We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him…”

“assure” is the Greek word PEITHO (pi-tho)
It means “to persuade”
It can even be translated “tranquilize”

THE PICTURE IS THAT
• You take the truth, and you win your heart over.
• You take the truth and you tell your conscience to settle down and be tranquil.

You do as Paul told the Corinthians,
You “take every thought captive in obedience to Christ”.

You take the evidence which John laid forth,
You present it to your conscience as that which is true,
And persuade your conscience to stop condemning you.

Do you see why constant exposure to the truth is so important?

AS A SIDE NOTE:
This is one of the reasons you need to be under constant preaching and teaching of God’s word.
This is one of the reasons why gathering with the saints is so important.

CORPORATE WORSHIP WILL PROTECT YOU CONSCIENCE

In those cases where your conscience has been deceived
And is working to condemn you,
Take the truth and persuade it back to what is right.

A man who is lost and has seared his conscience
Needs the truth to awaken his conscience so that he might repent.

A man who is saved and whose conscience is wrongly condemning him
Needs the truth of the gospel to grant him assurance.

That is what John means when he says:
“for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.”

JOHN HOLDS UP GOD AS A CONTRAST TO YOUR HEART.

Let me put it like this.
Who do you think is a more accurate authority on whether or not you are saved; God or your own heart?
Who do you think knows what is true; God or your own heart?

Clearly God.
Let God be the expert in regard to your salvation.
Let God be the expert in regard to your condemnation.

Stop listening to your feelings
And start accurately applying the word of God to your life.

I think it is the greatest tragedy of modern evangelism.

Namely that they appealed to men
To listen to their feelings regarding their salvation.

Invitations became an emotional circus.
Feelings became the chief target in order to solicit a response.

When all along it should not have been the feelings that we targeted,
BUT THE MIND.

It has left a generation who thinks they are saved
Not because of their practical purity or brotherly love but because they feel like they are.

And it leaves even saved people who think they are lost,
Not because they lack purity or love, but because they don’t feel like they are.

Throw that nonsense aside.
• Take John’s paternity test.
• See if you have practical purity and brotherly love.
• And then persuade your heart.

But you see John’s point.
LOVE PRODUCES ASSURANCE.

When you see that you love the brethren, that is concrete fact whether you feel it or not.

Look at your love and claim your assurance.
#2 ASSURANCE PRODUCES CONFIDENCE
1 John 3:21

Here we see one of the reasons
WHY ASSURANCE IS SO IMPORTANT FOR BELIEVERS.

Because look at what believers with assurance have.

“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;”

“confidence” is PARRESIA (par-rhay-SEE-ah)
It means “freedom in speaking; openly; frankly”

Acts 4:13 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”

And John says that this openness or frankness or freedom in speaking
Is something that WE CAN HAVE BEFORE GOD.

And this is really mind blowing!

We think about Job in God’s presence saying, “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know…I repent in dust and ashes.”

We think of Isaiah in God’s presence saying, “Woe is me, for I am ruined!”

We think of the children of Israel in God’s presence backing away and telling Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.”

We think of Peter on the boat after Jesus caught all the fish saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

The idea of having boldness in the presence of God
Is seemingly unheard of.

And yet John says here that it is a reality for the church today.
We can boldly go before Him.
We can openly speak to Him.
We don’t shrink away, we don’t run away, we aren’t afraid.

This is a benefit of assurance.
• When you are so convinced that you are God’s child
• And that He has set His love upon you,
• That instead of fear, there is confidence.

It is a horrible thing for a Christian to live in this world
And face all the tribulation which the world presents
And yet for that Christian to not feel like they can run to their Father.

It would be horrible to be caught in such a crossfire.
The world shooting at you from one direction
And to think that God is shooting at you from the other.

I LIVED THERE FOR A WHILE.
• I had an incomplete understanding of the gospel.
• My heart was engulfed in legalism,
• Trying to accomplish on my own what Christ had accomplished for me.
• I knew I was a stranger in the world,
• But in my conscience felt like God was angry at me too.

There is no peace there and it is a horrible place for a child of God to live.

John wants you to know that you can approach God.
YOU CAN BE CONFIDENT BEFORE HIM.

Hebrews 4:16 “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 10:19 “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,”

Believer it is God’s intent that you have this confidence.
• It is God’s design that you know you are welcome before Him.
• It is God’s design that you know you can speak openly to Him.

Remember how Paul described the relationship?
Romans 8:15 “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

John gives you that paternity test so that you will know He is your Father.
So that you can persuade your heart not to be afraid.
And so that you can confidently go before Him.

Love produces Assurance Assurance produces Confidence
#3 CONFIDENCE PRODUCES PRAYER
1 John 3:22

There may indeed be many benefits of having confidence before God,
But no benefit is greater than the benefit of effective prayer.

I told you earlier that in the Upper Room it was important to Jesus that His followers have assurance.

You will also notice that it was important to Him that they know
THEY COULD PRAY TO GOD AS THEIR FATHER.

John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

John 15:7-8 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

John 16:23-24 “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.”

John 16:26-27 “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.”

• Certainly we understand the implication of asking according to His will.
• Certainly implied is that we are not asking selfishly or with wrong motives.
• James taught us that won’t work.

But here is a child of God, walking according to the will of God,
And they need to have confidence before God
That He will answer their prayers.

“and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”

THIS DOESN’T MEAN THAT
You manipulate God to answer your prayers by obeying Him.

This is a relationship not a labor contract.

God’s children are those who “keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”

And God is He who answers the prayers of His children.

Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

Or we could go read about that widow who approached the unrighteous judge where Jesus taught us “at all times to pray and not to loose heart”

The simple point of John here is this.
God’s children need to know that God is for them
And that He answers their prayers.

Do you know that?
• Do you know that your Heavenly Father will answer your prayers?
• Do you know that He grants the requests of His children?

If you say, “No” I’m not sure of that.
Then follow John’s teaching here.

Take the paternity test he outlined in the chapter.
• Do you walk in practical purity?
• Do you love your brother in deed and truth?

If so, then you are God’s child.
• I don’t care if you feel it or not, you are His child and you should persuade your
heart.

And once you do that, you will gain confidence before God,
• Even confidence in prayer to approach Him and appeal to Him that He might
grant what you ask.

And let me just say in closing here.
THE CHURCH NEEDS THIS!

• We need a confident church today.
• We need a church not afraid to approach God in prayer today.
• We need a church who realizes God is on her side and will come to her aid.

There is power here and it is necessary power
If the church is to accomplish her mission in the world.

So take the paternity test.
• Find your assurance and the confidence that comes with it.
• And then boldly approach the throne of God as His child that He might come to our aid.

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Anticipating Worship: Motivating Obedience
Psalms 128
June 5, 2022

You know that we’ve been studying these Psalms
Which have the common distinction: “A Song of Ascents”

• As those songs which were sung by the caravan as they traveled to Jerusalem and anticipated the coming corporate worship of the saints.

• We are learning a lot about the blessings and benefits of those moments when we gather with the saints and worship the Lord together.

Without a doubt, the most popular verse in regard to attending worship
Is the one often quoted from the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 10:23-25 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

The writer of Hebrews was clear on a number of points.

1) Is that we were to be committed to our personal confession of hope in the Lord and were not to waiver.

• It was a call to personal faithfulness.
• That each of us should individually remain faithful to the Lord and not to abandon Christ.

2) Is that we were to be committed to pushing one another to that same end.

• The writer actually said, “let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds”

“stimulate” there is an interesting word choice.

It is PAROXYSMOS (pair-ox-oos-mos)

It comes from a root word that means “to sharpen”.
And it carries the ideas of being poked by a sharp stick.

In fact, the word can be translated “to irritate” or “to provoke”
(Which I think is why I really identify with this verse)

You see it used in:
Acts 17:16 “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.”

• It is also the word used when Paul and Barnabas had a “sharp disagreement” in Acts 15 regarding whether or not they should take Mark along on the second missionary journey.

The NIV actually translates it “consider how to spur one another on”

And perhaps the spur is a better analogy for our part of the world.
It’s not always pleasant, but it is effective.

It brings to mind:
Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.”

• The process of sharpening can be painful.
• There is friction.
• Metal is removed.

All of these sort of paint the same picture that
As we assemble part of the calling is to prod one another forward Even if our encouragement can seem a little irritating.

We are not to just allow one another to sit back comfortably,
But we are to goad one another on;
We are to grind away one another’s complacency;
We are to spur toward obedience.

THAT IS THE CALLING.

And of course the writer of Hebrews pointed out that
It is impossible to do that if we don’t assemble together.

3) So he wrote that we were to “not forsake our own assembling together…but encouraging one another”

In short we were to understand that
One of the reasons we are commanded to gather together
Is that we might be constantly evaluated by one another.

Our world loves to throw out their favorite verse:
“Judge not lest ye be judged”

BUT YOU DO REALIZE THAT
WE HAVE NO BUSINESS QUOTING THAT
TO ONE ANOTHER IN THE CHURCH.

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

Paul rhetorically asked there: “
Do you not judge those who are within the church?”
And the implied answer is “YES”.

Part of assembling together for corporate worship
Is for the process of judgment.

Certainly we DO NOT do it to condemn one another.
• We do it to sharpen one another.
• We do it to poke or goad or spur on one another.
• We examine one another and we push each other to love and good deeds.

And you can’t do this if you stay home,
And you can’t receive this if you stay home.

If you hide yourself away in your closet,
I don’t care how many tv preachers you watch,
It’s not the same as having a brother who knows you
Spur you in a personal and specific way.

IT IS IMPORTANT.

And, as I said, Hebrews 10 is undoubtedly
The most quoted in regard to corporate worship.

Well TONIGHT I bring it to your attention because
Psalms 128 deals with that very issue.

Now Psalms 128 DOES NOT come across like a sharp stick.
It hardly feels like one is being spurred or poked or irritated here.

However, the purpose behind it is very much
That of corporate exhortation, or to motivate obedience.

The entire purpose of the singing of this Psalm is
To push those around you to fear God and to walk in His ways.

It is the Old Testament equivalent to the hymn we sing today:
“When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way! Let us do His good will; He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.”

And that seems to also be the very motive of our Psalmist
Who is promising happiness to those around Him.

In fact you read in verse 1 “How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD”
And you read in verse 2 “You will be happy and it will be well with you.”

“blessed” (1) and “happy” (2) are the same Hebrew word.
And it means “happy”.

“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

That’s the corporate motivation here.
That’s the gentle spurring of this Psalm.

It takes the man who is not walking in obedience
And pokes him with a stick
And says, “Hey, that path will not lead to happiness. Come walk over here.”

So tonight we talk about motivating obedience
And we talk about the result of happiness.

And we see the role that corporate worship has in this process.

There’s two main points tonight.
#1 THE REALITY
Psalms 128:1-4

What the first 4 verses have in common is that
They speak of a basic reality.

They speak of what are spiritual realities for
“everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways.”

And you see that the reality for that person is blessing or happiness.
“How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD”

So the issue right out of the gate is
The promise of blessing or happiness.

Incidentally, Jesus preached this way as well.
Matthew 5:3-10 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The same is true there.
That word “blessed” can also be translated “happy”

It sort of changes your mindset about happiness, doesn’t it?

Our world is always seeking happiness and rarely finding it.
• They seek for it in sin and selfishness and it can’t be found there.

God is the author of happiness.
God is the distributor of happiness.
He determines when mankind can be happy and when they can’t.

Jesus said happiness is found through
• Understanding spiritual poverty,
• Grieving over sin,
• Being submissive,
• Pursuing righteousness,
• Being pure,
• Being merciful,
• Being peaceful,
• And even through being hated.

The world wouldn’t say that any of those were avenues to happiness.

But those avenues lead us to
• Enter the kingdom of heaven,
• Find comfort,
• Inherit the earth,
• Find satisfaction,
• Receive mercy,
• See God,
• And be called sons of God.

It is where true happiness is ultimately found.

Well the Psalmist is preaching the same.
“How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways.”

Do you want happiness?
Then “fear the LORD…walk in His ways”

INCIDENTALLY, you also learn there what it means to fear the LORD.
OBEDIENCE.

So the point is simple.
Do you want to be happy?
Do you want to understand blessing?

THEN DO WHAT GOD SAYS.
That’s a really simple premise.

The God who created you knows what happiness is
And how it is achieved.

If you want to be happy, it will NOT be found in rebellion or sin,
It will ONLY be found in obedience to God.

DON’T LISTEN to the SERPENT at the tree who’ll tell you that
Sin is delightful to the eyes and desirable to make one wise.

You’ll never find happiness outside of the will of God.
There is only SHAME and REMORSE and GRIEF
And SUFFERING and PAIN and TOIL and ENMITY.

Well, the Psalmist here starts by reminding of that simple reality.

“How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways.”

And then he begins to get even more specific
About the happiness he is talking about.

(2-3) “When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, You will be happy and it will be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine Within your house, Your children like olive plants Around your table.”

What he is speaking of there is very simply the happiness of life.
(It’s almost the flip-side of the message of Ecclesiastes)

You might be TEMPTED TO ASSUME he is saying:
That obedience to God only brings frustration in this life, but if you’ll just push through it, then in heaven you’ll finally be happy.

You know, obedience today is not fun at all,
You have to wait for heaven before obeying God will make you happy.

That’s the way Satan offers it.

No, the Psalmist talks about the happiness of this life.
He talks about the temporal blessings
That are ENJOYED TODAY by those who obey God.

And by the way, these are grounded in the word of God.
Let me show you real quick.

TURN TO: DEUTERONOMY 28:1-14

• You read there of the detailed blessings of obedience.
• And it ranges from your children to your crops, to your battles and so on.

God will bless and prosper your life.
In short, if you obey God, He’ll make you happy.

(I understand that suffering is also a part of this life and we are definitely anti-prosperity gospel, but don’t let that cause you to think that God is out to make life miserable)

God is not some sort of cosmic kill-joy.
He has “good will toward men”

IT’S SATAN WHO TELLS YOU THAT
God is trying to keep you from having any fun.

God’s way has always been the way of happiness.

Our Psalmist lists 3 of those happinesses!
1) FRUITFUL LABOR (2)

“When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, You will be happy and it will be well with you.”

It is the blessing of reaping the benefits of your labor.
It is the happiness of the harvest.
It is the satisfaction of the paycheck.

WHEN YOU work hard and plant your field
Or do your job

AND THEN YOU are given your reward which is the harvest
Or your pay

There is a deep satisfaction with what you’ve accomplished.

YOU KNOW THAT FEELING.

It’s NOT that we mind work.
In fact, if truth be told, we enjoy it.

WHAT MAKES WORK FRUSTRATING
Is when we work and our labor produces no fruit.

When you labor and get no crop.
When you work and the wages aren’t enough.

That is when frustration sets in.

But God promises if you walk in His ways then your labor will be fruitful.
• He is the provider.
• He is the one who makes plans succeed.
• So He is more than capable of making your labor succeed or fail.

I told you last week how it is apparent to me that
God won’t let me make money building furniture.

And that’s ok, I’ve always related to that story in John 21

• When Peter tries to go back to fishing, but Jesus re-routed all the fish in the sea of Galilee so that he caught nothing all night.
• The next day Jesus told him to cast on the other side and it nearly sunk his boat.
• When they got on shore Jesus told Peter 3 times, “Feed my sheep”
• “You’re not a fisherman anymore Peter, you’re a shepherd.”
• You may fish some for fun.
• You may catch a fish or two to eat.
• But you’ll never make a living fishing any more, I won’t allow it.

I SEE THAT IN MY LIFE.

But I’ve also seen the other side of that coin.
I’ve seen how God caused my family to sell furniture like crazy when we weren’t good at it at all.

• We used to build cedar beds and cedar furniture.
• I cringe to tell you how bad they were.
• We didn’t have tools, we didn’t know what we were doing.
• And we couldn’t keep from selling the stuff.

It’s because God had determined that we would
“eat the fruit of our hands, and we would be happy and it would be well with us.”

GOD CAN DO THAT.
• He can provide with 5 loaves and 2 fish.
• And He can make you starve to death on a 6 figure salary.

Happiness is up to Him.
And that includes the happiness of fruitful labor.

He gives fruitful labor.
2) FAITHFUL LOVE (3a)

“Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house,”

There’s a couple of ways to look at the analogy of your wife being a “fruitful vine”

On one hand it can be a reference to children.
• And based on Psalms 127 which reminded us that “children are a blessing of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward”
• We can certainly see how that can be true.

There’s also the Song of Solomon fruitful vine mentality.
• Who likens the beauty of his bride to the beauty of the vine
• And ponders the beauty and joys of intimacy with her.

The point there of course being that you will be satisfied
And even enamored with the beauty of your wife.

And not only that but he says she will be “within your house”

This is IN CONTRAST to the sinful woman of Proverbs.
Proverbs 7:11 “She is boisterous and rebellious, Her feet do not remain at home;”

There is no satisfaction in having a beautiful wife
If she is prone to wander.

BUT YOU GET THE PICTURE HERE AS WELL.
It’s the absolute satisfaction and joy of marriage.

Even in the glory of the garden
God saw that it was not good for man to be alone.

Even then
God determined to give him a suitable helpmate.

She certainly was not meant to be one who irritated him or whom he’d always want to get away from.
• She’d be one who would complete him.
• She’d be one he’d be willing to leave his father and mother for.
• She’d be one who would bring him joy and happiness.

Proverbs 31:10-12 “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.”

Proverbs 31:28-29 “Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, and he praises her, saying: “Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all.”

And so the picture here is the happiness of the marriage.

In a day when marriage is seen in a negative light.
When people would just as soon live together.
And when marriage is thrown aside at the drop of a hat.

I’ve got to say:
“I’M A SATISFIED CUSTOMER!”

I thank God that He tucked Carrie away in the middle of nowhere
So that I could marry her before she had a chance to see all the other fish in the sea!

“Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house”

We live in a culture that throws God’s commands behind their back
And then they can’t figure out
Why 50% of all marriages end in divorce.

Marriage was never meant to be the burden of your life.
IT WAS MEANT TO BRING YOU HAPPINESS.

And people know this.
• Weddings are happy affairs.
• People get married because they want to be “happily ever after”

And God delights in giving that.
You should enjoy your spouse.
You should delight in your spouse.

That is a happiness that God gives to
Those who fear Him and who walk in His ways.

• When husbands love their wives…
• When wives submit to their husbands…
• When the Lord builds the house…

It’s amazing how fun marriage can be!

Fruitful labor Faithful love
3) FUTURE LEGACY (3b)

“Your children like olive plants Around your table.”

The picture here is one of new life and legacy.
• It is not uncommon in an olive grove to see an old gnarly olive tree
• Surrounded by small saplings ready to grow and bear fruit of their own.

That is the picture.

A man gains children and not just children
But faithful children and enjoyable children.

Boy could our culture stand to learn this today.

The Bible says children are born with foolishness
And that foolishness must be extracted with the rod of discipline.

The Bible says children are born with ignorance
And so you must teach them and bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

And if you’ll do that you’ll find that children are a blessing,
In fact they are a tremendous happiness.

But today I see parents who WON’T DISCIPLINE their kids
And I see parents who WON’T INSTRUCT their kids.

It’s no wonder you also see parents
That don’t even appear to like their kids.

Their kids are no fun to be around.
They are wild and misbehaved and disrespectful.

That shouldn’t happen.
But it happens all the time when people fail to obey God or fear Him.

AND I MUST GIVE TESTIMONY HERE

I don’t work for a living – but God continually meets my needs.
• God even meets so many of my “wants”
• I’ve traveled the world, I’ve seen Victoria Falls, The Great Wall of China, The Giant Sequoias, and I’m about to see the College World Series!

I was never a heart throb, and I’m kind of a pain to be around.
• But I have a great wife whom I love and enjoy as much today as I ever have. And she loves Jesus so she’s stuck with me!

And even in the kid department.
• I’ve heard all these stories about how by the time your kids graduate you’ll be ready for them to go.
• I can tell you that wasn’t the case with Zek at all.
• We are proud of him and excited for what God will do in his life,
• But there was no eagerness on our part to push him out the door.

Now, that’s not because there’s something special in us.
It’s because God has granted happiness to our home.
We love to be at home with our family.

And the Psalmist says:
(4) “Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.”

That’s just a simple reality.
That’s just a theological truth.

And as these pilgrims travel toward Jerusalem
They sing about how there is happiness in obedience.

And then comes the second point.
#2 THE EXHORTATION
Psalms 128:5-6

Now the song moves from generic to personal.
Now, as you sing, you turn to the person walking on the right and you sing:

“The LORD bless you from Zion, And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Indeed, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!”

That is that spurring on!
That is the sharp stick poking each other.

That is to look at your neighbor and remind them that
• There is a blessing for them.
• They too can experience God’s happiness.

BUT IT ALL COMES FROM ONE SOURCE.

And it does not come from the world.
“The LORD bless you from Zion”

That is where the blessing comes from.
From God and from His temple.

It is God alone who grants prosperity (or at least the ability to enjoy it)
It is God alone who grants posterity (or at least the ability to enjoy it)

Only God can grant happiness and He grants it to those
Who fear Him and who walk in His ways.

And the song of the caravan is to spur each other on to it.

And this is one of the great realities of the corporate worship.
We “consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds”

We poke one another. We perhaps even irritate one another.
We spur one another on.
• We spur on one another to obey God.
• We spur husbands to love their wives.
• We spur wives to submit to their husbands
• We spur fathers to discipline and teach their children

WE DO SO BECAUSE
We know there is happiness found in obedience to God.

You push them toward obedience to God
So that God might bless their life and make them happy as well.

This is a genuine reality of corporate worship.
We push one another toward the blessing which God promises.

And not only do we spur one another on,
But we look at the happiness of one another
As a testimony and an encouragement.

This is one of the ways that the body operates.

You take a man and wife and their family.

And those who are in the church,
Their marriage should be fulfilling and their kids should be delightful.

And when you come, you should be able to see that God’s blessing is resting on their family and it should prompt you to say, “I want that too”

That is a basic encouragement of gathering together.

The promises of God are that He will allow you to eat the fruit of your hands.
If you are not able to then you should want to know why.

We see that all throughout the Old Testament.
We read it last week in Haggai where God told them
I’m withholding rain from you because you have neglected My temple.

The promises of God are that your wife shall be a fruitful vine within your house.
If she isn’t then you should want to know why.

Why is my marriage miserable?
Why do I not enjoy my spouse?

The promises of God are that your children will be like olive plants around your table.
If they aren’t you should want to know why.

And it is the church that helps you right that ship.
It is the church who spurs you back on the right path.

God has promised happiness to His people.

Now DON’T turn that into something greedy or sinful,
We AREN’T talking about the prosperity gospel here.

I’m not saying God promised you a Corvette or a swimming pool.

But God did promise that you wouldn’t have to worry about what you will eat or what you will wear.

And God did say that marriage should be a testimony to the world and satisfying to you.

And God did say that children are supposed to be a blessing.

And all of those things are true
When we fear the Lord and walk in His ways.

I can picture the congregation walking to Jerusalem
Singing this song and encouraging one another to obey God
So that they might find the blessing and happiness they seek.

“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”