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The Day God Kept His Promise
Acts 13:32-41
April 17, 2022

This morning is the time in which
We want to especially remember and focus on
The glorious reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

As you are well-aware it is the empty tomb
That totally distinguishes Christianity from every other religion.

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
Totally SOLIDIFIES and VERIFIES His atoning work on the cross.

Throughout His ministry Jesus offered forgiveness to countless sinners.
• We think of that paralytic on the mat whom Jesus forgave and then healed.
• We think of that woman who washed His feet with her tears and dried them
with her hair.
• We think of that woman at the well or the woman caught in adultery.

All throughout His ministry Jesus offered and declared people forgiven,
But simply saying it doesn’t make it go away.

Every time Jesus offered forgiveness
In all reality He was simply agreeing to assume their debt f.

He was in effect telling sinners, “I’ll take your sin, I’ll bear it before a Holy God. I’ll pay your debt. I’ll suffer your punishment. You are free to go.”

And this is what He did on the cross.
He bore God’s wrath.
He paid the actual sin debt of those whom He saved.

And it is the resurrection that proves that.
Had Jesus remained dead we would have no assurance that His offer worked.

• How would we know He wasn’t just paying for His own sin?
• How would we know He wasn’t just blowing smoke when He offered forgiveness?

Well, the resurrection proved He was sinless.
• The resurrection proved His death was not for His own sin.
• The resurrection proved His offer to God was accepted.
• The resurrection proves to us that the cross of Jesus was successful!

On the cross Jesus said, “It is finished!”
The resurrection solidifies that statement in stone.

And we rejoice in the resurrection because of that.

We also look at the resurrection as a testimony of God regarding His STANDARD FOR JUDGMENT.

Paul said to the Athenians:
Acts 17:31 “because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

When God raised Jesus from the dead it was a glaring accommodation.
JESUS WAS THE KIND OF HUMAN GOD ACCEPTS.

And because Jesus is the only Man God ever did that for (only one to never die again) Jesus becomes the standard for judgment.

If you ever wondered
How holy or how perfect a man must be to earn God’s favor?

THEN YOU LOOK TO JESUS
Because He’s the only man whom God released from death.

So the resurrection is an IMPORTANT AFFIRMATION of Jesus
And REMINDER to us of God’s holy standard of judgment.

And those are realities that we have talked about and discussed before.

THIS MORNING I want us to consider
Another aspect of the significance of the resurrection.

That the resurrection signifies the day that God kept His promise.

Certainly God has made many promises,
And we would say that they are in one way or another fulfilled in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”

Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God’s promises.

BUT THIS MORNING we want to be a little MORE SPECIFIC.

If I say to you that, “The resurrection signifies the day that God kept His promise.”
You might be tempted to ask, “Which promise?”

But not Israel.
For Israel, there was one promise
That dominated their thinking more than any other.

There were promises and then there was “The Promise”.
It’s the one you hear them ask about all the time.
It’s the one they were constantly looking for.

And it is this:
2 Samuel 7:16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’”

That of course is referred to as “The Davidic Covenant”
• It was God’s promise that one of his descendants would reign forever.

Psalms 89:19-29 “Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. “I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him, With whom My hand will be established; My arm also will strengthen him. “The enemy will not deceive him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. “But I shall crush his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him. “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, And in My name his horn will be exalted. “I shall also set his hand on the sea And his right hand on the rivers. “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ “I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. “My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. “So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven.”

Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

And this was the promise that Israel was most consumed with.
• They waited for the King.
• They eagerly sought the kingdom.

You know this from the number of times you hear the disciples ask Jesus questions like, “Is it now that You are restoring the kingdom?”

• They were looking for the Christ.
• They were looking for the Messiah.
• They were looking for the descendant of David who would return the glory of the kingdom.

And of course you know that Jesus arrived.
• He was born in Bethlehem as the prophets said.
• He was worshiped by shepherds and wise men at His birth.
• Simeon recognized Him in the temple immediately.
• John the Baptist then came announcing Him to the world. (READ 23-26)
• The disciples followed Him believing that He was the One.
• And the people loved Him. (In John 6 they even tried to crown Him King.)

EVERYTHING WAS LOOKING POSITIVE.
It looked like Israel had found her long awaited King.

But those who held all the power in Israel answered with a resounding, “NO!”
• They did not view this Jesus as worthy.
• They had Him arrested.
• They put Him on trial.
• They had Him crucified.

So it appeared that the wait for a King would continue.

You even see this REMORSE and DESPAIR among some in Israel.

Those two men on the road to Emmaus:
Luke 24:21 “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.”

Whatever they thought about Jesus…
Whatever they hoped about Jesus…
It was over now because He was dead

The search for the King would continue.
The wait for God to fulfill His promise would drag on.

And then we read:
(30) “But God raised Him from the dead;”

The religious elite rejected Him and said, “This one cannot be our king.”
God responded to their decision and effectively said, “Too bad! He is the One I have chosen!”

That is what Acts 13 is about.

• In Acts 13 the apostle Paul is on his first missionary journey.
• And he has come to the city called Pisidian Antioch.
• He has entered the synagogue and he has been asked to speak.

And Paul has An Important Announcement for the congregation there.

(32-33a) “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children”

What promise? – THE PROMISE!
• God has given us a King!
• God has restored the kingdom!

And God fulfilled this promise “in that He raised up Jesus”

The resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise
To give us a King and a Kingdom.

This morning let’s listen to a portion of Paul’s sermon
Where he reminds of the promise and shows us how the resurrection is the fulfillment of that promise.

There’s 3 points I want you to see.
You’ll notice them because Paul quotes 3 times from the Old Testament.

#1 THE PROMISE OF A CORONATED SON
Acts 13:32-33

“And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to your children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’”

TURN TO: PSALMS 2

Psalms 2 is of course a Psalm all about Jesus.

It starts with the REJECTION OF JESUS in verses 1-3

(1-3) “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”

• They want no part of a King ruling over them.
• He is despised and rejected.
• God sent the King and the world said, “Send someone else!”

But God would not be deterred.

(4-6) “He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

• You may not want this King, but He is the King I have chosen.
• I have already picked Him.

And then we read God’s decree to this King. This is part of the coronation service.

(7-9) “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ”

God promised a coming King.
But here we find something very interesting.
God calls this King His “Son”

And God says to His “Son”,
• I’m giving it all to You.
• You are the King!
• The world may not want You, but I have chosen You and I’ve given everything to You.

And so the Psalm ends with A WARNING to the nations that they had better get over themselves and bow the knee to God’s King.

(10-12) “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

The whole world had better submit themselves to God’s King
Because God has declared that
“the very ends of the earth” will be His possession.

Certainly Israel loved that Psalm!
(They had no idea they would first participate in the King’s rejection)

They loved this promise of God that one day
God would coronate a Son whom the world had first rejected.

They loved this promise of God that one day God would
Install His King upon the throne whether the world liked it or not.

It would be easy to look forward to that day!
It would be easy to wait with great anticipation for this King to come!

And Paul says here in Acts 13:33 – FULFILLED!

“God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’”

God took Jesus, first rejected,
And then coronated Him in spite of the world’s hatred.

And THAT CORONATION Paul says WAS HIS RESURRECTION.
That was God putting His seal of approval
On the One whom the world had rejected.

Have you been waiting for the promise of Psalms 2?
Well it is fulfilled.

Jesus is that Coronated Son you’ve been waiting for.

The Promise of a Coronated Son
#2 THE PROMISE OF A REDEEMING KING
Acts 13:34

“As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.’”

• Paul clearly doesn’t stop with Psalms 2.
• There is another promise that he wants to examine.
• This one comes from Isaiah 55:3

But to grasp its significance we have to back up a little.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 53

• You are familiar with Isaiah 53 as that great chapter on the suffering servant.
• Again, it is this One who is despised and rejected and forsaken and not esteemed.

(1-3) “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

No different than the opening stanza of Psalms 2,
Here again we have this servant of God rejected by the world.

Now, Psalms 2 went directly from His rejection to His coronation
But Isaiah 53 takes a different approach.

Isaiah 53 explains why God allowed Him to be rejected.

(4-6) “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

God allowed this chosen to King to suffer and die
Because He wasn’t just here to rule, but also to redeem.

ISRAEL WAS A WAYWARD PEOPLE.
• They were unfit for the kingdom they longed for.
• Even if their King had arrived there’s no way He would have allowed them in.
• They were sinful and their sin had to be atoned for.

HIS REJECTION ALLOWED FOR THEIR ATONEMENT.

This King would come and bear their sin and bear their punishment.

The RESULT of this redeeming act would FULL RESTORATION AND JOY.
And that is what Isaiah 54 is all about.

• It speaks of the joys of being redeemed.
• It actually speaks of it by way of analogy.

In Isaiah 54 Israel is compared to 4 different women.

In verses 1-3 redemption is compared to THE JOY OF WHEN A BARREN WOMAN HAS A CHILD.

(1) “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;”
(3) “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities.”

Those are the joyful kingdom realities Israel wanted.
They wanted to again be a fertile and prosperous nation that spread abroad.

In verses 4-8 redemption is compared to when THE RESTORED DIGNITY OF A WOMAN WHO HAS BEEN FORSAKEN.

(4) “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced…”
(8) “In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the LORD your Redeemer.”

Israel had been severely disciplined by God and they longed for the day
When they were once again welcomed back into God’s favor.

REDEMPTION WOULD MEAN RECONCILIATION WITH GOD.

In verses 9-10 redemption is compared to THE RESTORED PEACE OF A WOMAN WHO HAS GROWN SKEPTICAL.

(9b) “I have sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you.”

Just in case the above promises seemed to good to be true, God interposes with an oath.
• I will do it.
• And Israel longed for this peace and assurance.

And finally in verses 11-17 redemption is compared to THE RESTORED SECURITY OF A WOMAN WHO HAS BEEN AFFLICTED.

(11-12) “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, And your foundations I will lay in sapphires. “Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, And your gates of crystal, And your entire wall of precious stones.”

You’ve had a hard time but I’m going to restore you and make you secure.

And in the last verse of chapter 54 God says:
(17) “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.”

So God had spoken of this coming Redeemer
Who would bear Israel’s punishment and actually Redeem her.

There was a coming King who would be rejected,
But in His rejection He would actually redeem
And restore Israel back to a joyful state.

That was a promise that God had made.
And it would come through this King from David’s line.

You can see why they anticipated him so much.
They wanted joy, they wanted dignity,
They wanted peace, they wanted security.

Well then you come to chapter 55
And God extends the offer to Israel.

The first 3 verses are significant here.
(1-3) “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.”

Those last lines are actually the promise that Paul quoted in Acts 13.
“I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.”

When Paul quoted it, he said, “I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.”

This was the promise Paul was referencing.

It was the promise that
• If you thirsted for the blessings of redemption.
• If you hungered to be forgiven and restored before God.

Then you should come.
• You should quit seeking the world and things that don’t satisfy.
• You should come to God and to His king.

He would be the King whom God would make
An everlasting covenant with like he spoke of to David.

And in Acts 13 Paul quotes verse 3 as if to say: JESUS IS THAT KING!

When God raised Him from the dead
It was God honoring that promise of an everlasting kingdom.

God was fulfilling His promise.

Jesus is that King God was talking about.
• He is the One who would bear your sin.
• He is the One who will redeem you.
• He is the One who will restore you to joy and dignity and peace and security.

And if you want that, then you should run to Him.
In Jesus are those “holy and sure blessings of David.”

YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR GOD TO FULFILL THAT PROMISE.
He just did!
He raised Jesus from the dead and made Him the eternal King!

The Promise of A Coronated Son The Promise of A Redeeming King
#3 THE PROMISE OF AN ETERNAL SAVIOR
Acts 13:35-37

And here Paul continues with one more promise.

(35) “Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’”

This is a promise found in Psalms 16.
TURN TO: PSALMS 16

We studied this one a few years ago on Easter and again recently as we are studying through Psalms so it should not be totally unfamiliar to you.

In this Psalm we have David
Obviously praying a prayer for preservation and deliverance.

But it is the end of the Psalm which grabs our attention
For there this marvelous promise is recorded.

(10) “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”

Now clearly the first part of that verse is A REFERENCE TO DAVID.
• David is placing his hope in the fact that when he dies God will not abandon him in death.

However, the second part of that verse CANNOT BE ABOUT DAVID.
• “Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”

That can’t be about David, and Paul will tell you why.

Back in Acts 13
(36-37) “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.”

The last half of that verse can’t be about David.
His body most certainly decomposed.

BUT DAVID EXPECTED THAT.
He expected his body to decay, it was his soul that God would save.

And David knew that the way God would save his soul
Would be through a coming Savior whose body would not decay.

David uttered God’s promise that there was coming a Savior; a Holy One;
Who would never decay in death, but who would live eternally.

And this Savior would not only live, but would also be
The means through which David’s soul would be saved.

And again Paul says: FULFILLED!

Israel was looking for an eternal savior and Paul says,
God fulfilled that promise when He raised Jesus from the dead.

Now, I know that’s a lot of Scripture to cover in a short period of time,
But it is merely to point out to you that

The resurrection of Jesus WAS THE FULFILLMENT of God’s promises.

• In Psalms 2 God promised A CORONATED SON
• In Isaiah 55 God promised A REDEEMING KING
• In Psalms 16 God promised AN ETERNAL SAVIOR

And on the day when God raised Jesus from the dead,
He satisfied every one of those promises.

God had promised
• A King who would reign forever on David’s throne.
• He would be rejected by the world and yet coronated by God.
• He would come and redeem Israel and restore her kingdom.
• And He would save them forever.

Paul says that King has arrived!
God testified to that when He raised Jesus from the dead!

JUST CHECK OFF THE BOXES
• Was He rejected? Yes
• In His rejection did He redeem? Yes
• Did God select Him in spite of the world’s rejection? Yes
• Will He now reign forever? Yes

And the resurrection settled all of that.

Easter Sunday was the day when God fulfilled His promise.

The resurrection proves that Jesus is God’s Messiah; God’s King.
He does reign and He will reign.
He has saved and He will save.

THE SEARCH IS OVER!

However, THE RESPONSIBILITY on your part remains.

In Isaiah 55 Isaiah reminded his readers that their obligation would be
To come to this King if they thirsted for redemption.

Notice that Paul’s message is the same.

(38-39) “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.”

In Jesus you get forgiveness and freedom.

He can forgive you of your sins because He bore the wrath of God.
• (Isaiah 53 taught us that)

He can free you from the penalty of sin as well
• (Psalms 16) taught us that.

Jesus alone can save.
Jesus alone can forgive.
Jesus alone can set you free.

Why Jesus alone?
Because He’s the only One whom God ever raised from the dead to be an eternal King!

Isaiah 55 would continue on beyond what we read a moment ago.

Isaiah would go on to say:
Isaiah 55:4-7 “Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples. “Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.” Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

This One whom God would raise is “a witness”.
He is “a leader and commander”

He is also the savior of the world for He calls even Gentiles to Himself.
God has glorified Him as the only King.

And Isaiah’s advice is very similar to Paul’s
“Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He wil have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

Do you want forgiveness?
Do you want freedom?
Do you want redemption? (joy, dignity, peace, security)

Then forsake your sinful ways and run to God’s king!
You seek Him while the offer is available.
You seek Him while you have time.

And we know who He is.
It is Jesus! The One whom God raised from the dead.

But Paul also has A WARNING for his congregation and us.

(40-41) “Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: ‘BEHOLD, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’ ”

If you don’t recognize that passage, it comes from Habakkuk 1:5
• Habakkuk grieved over his sinful culture
• And he asked God why He had forced him to live among such evil.

What Paul quotes is the answer God gave to Habakkuk.
“I am accomplish a work in your days, a work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you”

What was God talking about?
What was this great work?

Habakkuk 1:6 “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.”

God was sending the Babylonians to destroy Israel.

Now do you understand Paul’s sermon?
• God has made it very clear who His King is!
• God has raised Jesus from the dead
• God has set an undeniable seal on Him that He is the Promised Son, Redeemer, and King.

You should run to Him, trust in Him, and call on His name
So that you will be forgiven and set free from your sin.

But if you don’t then you should know.
That those who hear the truth of Christ and then reject Him,
You can’t even imagine the judgment which God has in store.

IT IS NOT OK WITH GOD FOR THE WORLD TO REJECT HIS KING.

Psalms 2:10-12 “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

AND THAT IS WHERE WE SIT THIS MORNING.
• God has fulfilled His promise!
• He has sent us His glorious King!
• Jesus reigns today in heaven and He will one day soon reign upon the earth!
• The resurrection fulfilled that promise.

This morning God has seen fit to ask you to trust in Him.
God has seen fit to call you to submit to Him.

If you do, there is forgiveness and freedom and redemption.
If you don’t, then you cannot even imagine the judgment that will come.

AND SO THIS MORNING
• I invite you to believe in Jesus.
• I invite you to forsake your ways and run to Him.
• I invite you to submit to God’s King and call upon His name.

And He will abundantly pardon.

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Anticipating Worship: A Secure Journey
Psalms 121
April 10, 2022

That song we just sang is a new release by Sovereign Grace Music
And as you might have noticed, it was inspired by Psalms 121.
https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/he-will-keep-you-psalm-121/

Psalm 121 is a Psalm that focuses on the power of God
To keep His own from all evil and to bring them safely home.

And we also notice that it was a Psalm which was sovereignly included in this group of Psalms known as “A Song of Ascents”

As I told you last time,
Psalms 120-134 all come with the same subheading: “A Song of Ascents”
• They were not all written together,
• Nor were they all written by the same author.
• But God saw fit, in His divine providence, to have them grouped together
• As a sort of hymn book for the children of Israel as they made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem 3 times a year.

• Every Jewish male was required to travel to Jerusalem for the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), and The Feast of Booths.

And these 15 Psalms became the songs they sang on the way.

We study them as a picture of what it means to ANTICIPATE WORSHIP

In a day where corporate worship has become less than a priority,
It is wonderful to us to have a segment of Scripture
Which focuses primarily on the joy and blessing and benefit
Of gathering with the saints to worship God.

Last time we studied Psalms 120 and pondered the fact that the corporate gathering serves as “A Sanctuary From Evil”
• We may live among liars in the world…
• We may live among those who hate peace…
• But when we gather with the saints we dwell in a place of truth, love, joy, and peace.
• It is a respite from the toil and struggle of living in an evil world and around evil men.

Well tonight we move on and we are taking a look at Psalms 121.

Now, immediately we notice that even though this is “A Song of Ascents”
There is nothing really mentioned regarding the blessing of worship.

Psalms 120 didn’t either, we just realized based upon his lament of living among liars why the corporate gathering was such a blessing.

Psalms 121 doesn’t mention the gathering either.

In fact, the blessing of the gathering doesn’t show up until Psalms 122
Psalms 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

But here we don’t get a mention of it yet.

The focus of this Psalm is not the joys of the corporate gathering,
But rather it focuses on arriving to that worship safely.

Even from the New Testament we are made aware that
THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM COULD BE A DANGEROUS ONE.

In particular if you were a Jew who lived in the northern regions
And had to travel south to Jerusalem through Samaria.

Perhaps you remember the disciples traveling through with Jesus,
• But the Samaritans would not welcome them in or lodge them.
• It infuriated James and John so much that they wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans.

Or perhaps you remember Jesus’ parable of “The Good Samaritan”
• Where highlighted for us was that dangerous road from Jericho to Jerusalem
• Where a man fell among robbers and thieves.

Travel wasn’t always safe.

And the terrain wasn’t easy.
Take the trip simply from Jericho to Jerusalem.
• Jerusalem is about 2500’ above sea level.
• Jericho is about 850’ below sea level (3350’ difference)
• And the distance is only 15 ½ miles.

Regardless of the safety of the journey,
The physical terrain alone would make it a very difficult one.

And that’s just one aspect of the journey.

THE POINT is, even though you were commanded
To attend corporate worship in Jerusalem,
That did not make the journey easy.

TODAY I think about people around the world who face similar difficulties.

When our family went skiing over spring break.
Each day we would leave the cabin early so we could park, but we would have time to kill once we arrived, so each morning we listened to R.C. Sproul talk about the book of Acts while we waited.

One day he spoke of a missionary friend in the Sudan.
And how he had lunch with that friend.

“As we were eating he showed me a picture of his family; his wife, four, five, or six kids… And there’s this picture of all these kids carrying guns. The adults AK-47’s, and the younger kids with different kinds of rifles, shotguns and everything. I asked “What’s that, a militia?” He said, “No, they’re going to church.” [I responded] “They’re going to church? What are they doing going to church? Why are they carrying guns?” He said, “Because the church has been bombed ten times by Muslims and we have to have our guns or they won’t stop shooting us.”

We live in a place where people skip church if
It’s too cold, too wet, or if a football game is on.

Imagine living in a land where you have to put a shotgun in the hand of your child to deter hostiles from shooting you.

Several here went to Malawi a few years back.
• You remember Pastor Felix and that group of women who rode bicycles 8 hours over a mountain just so they could come and hear the word of God.
• You remember them sleeping in a concrete slab
• And actually risking the danger of traveling at night just because they wanted to stay for one more session.

I point that out, not to shame you or make you feel bad.
I only want you to understand that
For some the journey just to worship can be a perilous one.

I simply want you to understand
• What it must’ve been like for these Jews to travel to Jerusalem for corporate
worship.
• What many in our day must endure to travel to a place of corporate worship.

Though nothing is mentioned here about the worship itself,
I should think it is obvious that their worship had value.

If you’ll travel for weeks on foot through dangerous country and up rugged terrain to worship there is clearly value and blessing there.

And that value and blessing will be discussed many times
Throughout our study of these 15 songs of ascents.

BUT TONIGHT, and it is fitting that this would be early on in the study,
• We DON’T discuss the joy of participating in corporate worship.
• We study the faith it took to get there
• And the sovereign protection of God to bring them there.

So let’s just listen in a real practical sense to what our Psalmist is saying
And see if we can’t get a practical understanding of the song.

Certainly, after we do that, we’ll read it again with spiritual eyes
And find why God has preserved this song for us.

But let’s begin by simply thinking about the things
That were going to make this journey difficult.

There’s 4 here.
#1 ENCUMBERMENT
Psalms 121: 1-3a

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth…”

Ever since my doctor told me I was too fat and inactive I’ve been on a diet and my wife has done her best to keep me exercising.
• So several mornings a week we gone a walk from our house, up the hill behind
Allsups, around the bottom, back up by the football stadium and back home.

And every time we make that journey we both dread that second hill.
(It’s nothing like the hill from Jericho to Jerusalem)

But could you imagine a journey to Jerusalem?
• And you knew that before you arrived
• You were going to have to make that 15 mile climb
• That rose over 3300 feet in elevation

As you stood in Jericho and YOU LOOKED UPWARD at the mountainous climb before you DO YOU UNDERSTAND why this song was sung?

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?”

When I look at that climb I don’t know how I’m going to get up there.

I think of those women from Pastor Felix’s church riding those bicycles over the mountain, and many of them hauling someone else.

We are here only discussing the difficulty of the terrain.
• High hills…
• Deep valleys…
• Unlevel paths…
• Holes and crags and steep hills…

You understand why one of the first songs in this group
Focuses on help in the journey.

“From where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”

• The hills I must climb are God’s hills.
• The weather I must endure is God’s weather.
• He is the Master of it all.

“And the God who commands me to gather
Is the God who also commands the earth upon which I travel.”

Our Helper is the Author of creation.

And then the beautiful promise.
“He will not allow your foot to slip;”

In every encumbrance that you will face,
God will strengthen and help you on this journey.

We think of how He cared for the children of Israel in the wilderness.
• How they ate bread from heaven…
• How they drank water from a rock…
• How their clothes and shoes never wore out…

These pilgrims set out for Jerusalem and sang this song of faith
That God would sustain them over rugged terrain.

Encumberment
#2 EXHAUSTION
Psalms 121:3-4

“He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.”

Here we get our first occurrence of the word which dominates the song.
“keeps”

All throughout the song the focus is on God who keeps His children.

And here the focus seems to be against PHYSICAL EXHAUSTION.
• When traveling we all know what it is to make a travel plan.
• How far we need to get, how far we want to travel.
• Stopping to rest or sleep is not always a good thing when traveling.
• Sometimes it’s not even safe.

Beyond that we think even of the night.
• Who is to keep watch?
• Who is to stay awake to make sure no one steals supplies?
• Who is to watch for wild beasts?

Sleeping on the trip was not the safest thing to do.

AND HERE THAT IS ADDRESSED.

Those who understand Hebrew can give us better insight here.

They will tell you that the word “not” in verse 3
Is a word that is TYPICALLY RESERVED FOR REQUESTS.

What you actually have here is a part of the song where
One part sings the question and the other part sings the answer.

Group one sings: “May He not let your feet slip, may He not slumber.”
And then the second group would sing: “Look! He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!”

It was a song to remind those who traveled that
Even when we reach a point of exhaustion and rest must occur
That our God never slumbers or sleeps.

He who is the perpetual night watchman.
He is a constant guard over us.

What a comfort to sing such a song to one who is traveling
Through hostile and dangerous lands.

Encumberment, Exhaustion
#3 ELEMENTS
Psalms 121:5-6

Again we are reminded that “The LORD is your keeper;”

But that doesn’t simply reference to a guard around the camp.
There are other aspects that make the journey difficult.

Earlier we discussed the unlevel and treacherous terrain,
BUT THINK ABOUT THE WEATHER.

Passover occurs in the month of Nisan
• And the temperature is around 70 degrees without much variation,
• But it was month with heavy winds and could have heavy rains.

But the Feast of Weeks occurs in Sivan
• Where temperatures can be over 100.

The Feast of Booths occurs in Tishri
• With hot winds and potential rains.

That means that at least two of the mandated journeys
Could be taken in extremely high heat with blistering winds.

“The LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day”

We think of the glory cloud that hovered over the children of Israel
As they traveled through the desert.

And here the pilgrims bank on it again.

But not only the heat of the day, but even the terrors of the night.
“Nor the moon by night”

The moon doesn’t burn you, but it can expose you.

But still, as they journeyed through all the elements
We see a faith that God would care for them and shield them.

Encumberment, Exhaustion, Elements
#4 EVIL
Psalms 121:7-8

“The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.”

Then there was the basic evils of wicked men.
• The man going down from Jerusalem fell among robbers.
• Certainly not everyone was happy about the children of Israel traveling to Jerusalem to worship.
• There was always the risk of evil men seeking to do harm.

And so as they traveled they sang of how God was a protector from evil,
And how God would guard them in front and behind forever.

The song makes perfect sense to us.
It is very practical.

Any father or mother, especially if traveling with their family
Would understand the importance of teaching such a song to the children

What a source of peace and comfort
As you faced the hardships of a journey in order to make it to Jerusalem
For the blessing of corporate worship.

BUT CERTAINLY THIS SONG IS MORE THAN JUST PRACTICAL.
This song was preserved by God that you and I might sing it and rejoice in it.

CERTAINLY THERE IS A SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE.

Granted those in Sudan or Malawi might even sing it in that same practical sense that the Israelites did,

But we find the physical journey to church to be much easier.
• We load up in a climate controlled car with cushioned seats and travel over paved roads at 70+ mph to get here.
• Most of the time we probably don’t give any thought to the physical journey we take to gather with the saints.

But what if we look at this song a little deeper and with a spiritual eye?

For we are all on a journey.
We are all on a pilgrimage.

I told you last week that the closest thing we get to a taste of heaven is when the saints gather together on Sundays for worship.

But even at that, we realize there is likely no real comparison.
“For now we see in a mirror dimly”.

In a very real sense we are also headed
To that great gathering of the saints for the true worship
That will occur in the new Jerusalem.

And you are certainly aware that our journey can be difficult.

WE ALSO FACE ENCUMBERMENT.

Maybe not literal mountains or hills,
But you are aware that in Scripture mountains often typify OBSTACLES.

• We think of Jesus telling us to believe and the mountains will move.
• We think of the promise to Zechariah that his mountain (the temple project) would become a plain (be completed).

In short, we face things that make our journey difficult.

Scripture often refers to them as “stumbling blocks”
• Things that might cause our foot to slip.
• Things that might cause us to trip.
• Things that would seemingly threaten to keep us from arriving at our destination.

Paul lists a few
Romans 8:35-39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 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. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul just listed several encumberments that might cause us to trip,
But he reminded that “in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

In short, “He will not allow your foot to slip”

Jude 1:24 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,”

Romans 16:25a “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…”

It is the promise that our God will keep us from stumbling
Even if life is fraught with rough terrain and terrible snares.

I told you we recently listened to “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom on our trip.
• This woman who was arrested for helping the Jews in WWII and endured such hardship at the hands of the enemy.

Or perhaps we think of some other story of great suffering
That children of God have faced in their lives.

Joni Eareckson Tada is the Christian author who is quadriplegic.
• I remember hearing her speak at “The Strange Fire Conference” several years ago where she shared about the hardships of having cancer.

Or we think of men like Horatio Spafford
• Who wrote “It is Well With My Soul”
• And how his only son died,
• His business burned in the great Chicago fire,
• And then his wife and daughters were shipwrecked and only his wife survived.

We think of such lives and such difficult terrain that they traveled
And we wonder why they never fell away from God.

We wonder why they never broke out in anger
And cursed God and departed.

And the answer is because God would not allow their foot to slip.
• He held them.
• He kept them.
• And they never stumbled.

That is a hope we sing of as we travel this journey as well.

WE ALSO FACE EXHAUSTION

• We grow tired and weary.
• We at times want to stop.
• We wonder who will guard us through the long dark night.

But we read truths:
2 Corinthians 1:8-11 “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.”

Paul spoke of a day of exhaustion; spiritual exhaustion.
AND YET, GOD DELIVERED
And Paul said, “And He will yet deliver us…”

He understood that when his strength was gone, God’s remained.

He understood that GREAT PROMISE given through Isaiah:
Isaiah 40:28-31 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

We will go on because God strengthens us to go on.
We will endure because God comforts us in our affliction.

We know the journey will be difficult.
We knew that when it began.
But we sing of a God who “will neither slumber nor sleep.”

Our God keeps the constant night watch
Even when we are too tired to endure.

WE ALSO FACE THE ELEMENTS

Oh, it may not be literal physical weather…

But the bad weather Israel faced came from the same source
As our daily hardships. It is all a result of THE SIN CURSE.

Life is hard.
Suffering is real.

This would be a good time to insert the book of Ecclesiastes
That reminded us that toil is real and death is certain.

Jesus said that in this life we would face tribulation.

We know what it is to suffer the effects of living in a sin-cursed world.
• Now there is sickness and pain and disease and death.
• Now there is evil and wickedness and cruelty and deception.
• This is not how it was originally created, but sin has corrupted our world.
• We live in the elements of a fallen creation.

Sometimes even literal elements.
Paul wrote:
2 Corinthians 11:26-27 “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.”

Sometimes life brings real physical hardships.

Sometimes those elements are of A SPIRITUAL VARIETY
Like grief or pain or regret or guilt or shame.

And any one of those things might be more than we could bear.

But “The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand.”

Everyone in here has at one point or another
Faced a tragedy or hardship in your life.

And yet, if we are honest, we can all give the testimony that
“His grace is sufficient”

The sun did in fact beat down for a season,
But His shade made it bearable.

And many, after deliverance, can look back at such times
And wonder how they ever survived it.

It is because God “is your shade on your right hand.”
• Those encumberments…
• Your exhaustion…
• The cruel elements of life…

None of those things can keep you from arriving
At the destination of worship because “The LORD is your keeper”

John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

AND WE ALSO FACE EVIL

We understand promises of persecution.
• We understand the analogy of being outcasts and aliens on earth.
• We understand that this world is starting to hate us and that this rage will only grow stronger.

We see the corruption of our culture…
We hear what is being promoted in our society as good…

Our world is antichrist.
Evil abounds.

And yet, “The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.”

As Martin Luther wrote:
“A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the Right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing. Dost ask who That may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth, His name, from age to age the same, and He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us. The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.

That Word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth; the Spirit and the gifts are ours, thru Him who with us sideth. Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still; His kingdom is forever.

God keeps our soul.

Listen to Isaiah:
Isaiah 43:1-7 “But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. “For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. “Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. “Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, And gather you from the west. “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth, Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

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

Again:
2 Timothy 3:10-11 “Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me!”

Listen to Peter:
1 Peter 5:8-11 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

That is a very comforting passage to me.

The God who called you and commanded you to come to this new Jerusalem
Is the God who will Himself “perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

If you’ve never looked up those 4 words and their Greek definition they make a wonderful progression.

“perfect” is a word that is used of mending nets.
• When you are broken and torn and God has to sew you back together.

“confirm” is a word that means “to prop”.
• After God sews you back together he props you up on your feet.

“strengthen” is a word that means exactly that.
• God puts strength into those feeble legs so that they can stand on their own.

“establish” is a like to set it in concrete so that it never falls again.
• God is the one who helps us in the midst of all evil.
• God is the one who sustains us in the face of the roaring lion.

I want to give you one more passage tonight in closing.
I would call this passage the New Testament equivalent of Psalms 121

The Jews of old sang this song as they physically traveled to Jerusalem
To worship with the saints.
We also are on a journey to join the saints in glory.

Here is our version of this glorious Psalm.

1 Peter 1:3-9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 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, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

We are also traveling to a place of glory and worship.
• And right now we are “distressed by various trial”
• Encumberment – Exhaustion – Elements – Evil

But all it will do is prove our faith
• Because we “are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

And as a result, we sing this song
• And we “greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory”

We are promised a secure journey.
That means we will each arrive at our destination!
God has promised.

HE WILL KEEP YOU!

Download Here:

Obvious Christianity – Part 1
1 John 3:1-10 (1a)
April 10, 2022

As I studied the book of 1 John in preparation for our study through it together
It became clear to me that John’s work was one of extreme clarity.

In fact, I decided to name the study of this book “Obvious Christianity”

I came to that conclusion based primarily on VERSE 10.

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

What becomes abundantly clear as you study this book
Is that John brings TWO BASIC ELEMENTS of the Christian life
To the forefront as absolute NON-NEGOTIABLES.

Those two elements are of course: Righteous Living & Brotherly Love
From John’s perspective there is no scenario
In which someone can claim Christianity
If he is void of either of those foundational aspects.

And anyone who would be void of righteous living or brother love and yet still claim to be a Christian…well, John would simply call them a liar.

• These two realities are basic Christianity.
• They are what it means to be a Christian in this world.
• They are the most obvious and necessary fruits of the Christian life.

And that is why John continually circles back to each of them.
In fact, we’ve already studied these ideas before in this book.

1 John 1:5-6 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;”

1 John 2:4 “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;”

1 John 2:9-10 “The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”

But clearly John is not finished.
These truths are so important, John is back on them again.

As seems to be common with John’s writing style, he makes a comment to conclude a thought,
But that comment at the same time seems to open up a whole new train of thought for him.

LAST WEEK, we concluded the segment about living in the last hour.
• It concluded with John’s encouragement to obey the word of God.

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

That was advice for how to live here in the last hour
As we anticipate the return of Christ.

But it is also clear that the statement there
Catapulted John into another pointed dialogue.

John said, “you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.”

And now, it is evident that JOHN SETS OUT TO PROVE THAT.

So the first 10 verses of chapter 3 are all about
Why righteous living is not only important,
But is in fact a fruit of genuine salvation.

What has become abundantly clear to anyone watching today is that
Our culture is most certainly not concerned about righteousness.

By righteousness I mean God’s righteous standards

Our culture is greatly concerned about their own standards of woke goodness and political correctness, but very few of those ideologies are rooted in the Law of God.

We hear it in the language of the world.
• Profanity is common place.
• People don’t even seem to be able to speak without the proverbial “4 letter word”

We see it in the sexual immorality of the world.
• The sanctity of marriage has all but been obliterated.
• Living together has become commonplace.
• Homosexuality is celebrated

We see it in the materialism of the world.
• Lottery tickets and gambling
• Basic greed and overindulgence

There is today very little concern for what God has to say.

People don’t care if their behavior is offensive to God.
Pursuing righteousness is not even on the radar for most people.

Even though Jesus plainly taught us to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” that seems to be the last thing on the mind of the world.

Obeying God’s commands just isn’t important.
People would rather do what makes them feel good and what pleases them.

It’s just the world in which we live.

BUT THE CHRISTIAN IS COMMANDED TO BE SET APART.

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.”

Christians are not sensual people they are sanctified people.
• Christians are those who crucify the flesh with its passions and desires.
• Christians are those who demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit.
• Christians are those who walk in obedience.

The simple point is that,
With a culture that is moving so rapidly toward sin,
It ought to make Christians stick out like a sore thumb.

And this is part of John’s point.
Even if the world is sinful, Christians are known by their righteousness.

And if you think that you can be a Christian while living like the world,
Then according to John, YOU HAVE BEEN DECEIVED.

(7-8a) “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices in is of the devil;”

If you are living in sin but claiming Christianity you have been deceived.

Now, it is important to state at the beginning that
WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT SINLESS PERFECTION.

Clearly John did not have that in mind either, for he wrote in chapter 1:
1 John 1:8-10 “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

• Clearly John understood that even Christians still fall into sin.
• Clearly John understood that Christians must confess their sin for forgiveness and cleansing.

We are also aware of the well-documented sin of believers even in the Bible.

The Bible doesn’t whitewash the characters it reveals.
• We are aware of Peter’s denial and his momentary legalism at Antioch.
• We are aware of Paul cursing the high priest after being struck.
• We are aware of the church at Corinth and their many shortcomings.
• We know the Galatians were foolish.

The Bible doesn’t teach that Christians never sin.
And that is not what John is saying.

The key is found in the often-used word of John “practices”.

John is not talking about momentary or random mistakes.
John is talking about habitual practice.

I would go so far as to say that
John ISN’T even talking about brief periods of backsliddenness in a life.

I’ve always liked the statement found in the Westminster Confession.

In the segment on the perseverance of the saints and how the true saints of God will endure to the end, the Westiminster Confession goes on to say:

“Nevertheless they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and for a time continue therein: whereby they incur God’s displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit; come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts; have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.”

The Westminster Confession

And in the footnotes their statement is defended by citing stories like David’s brief affair with Bathsheba or Peter’s 3 fold denial of Christ.

Those were horrible lapses into sin.
In David’s case it must have lasted at least a few weeks.

But in neither case was it the ongoing practice of their life.
• They were brought to repentance.
• They were brought to sanctification.

And this is what John no doubt has in mind.

While believers may in fact struggle with sin and even lapse into it,
A true believer’s life is not characterized by the practice of sin
But by the practice of righteousness.

We might say it like this:
While the presence of sin may be a reality for believers,
The practice of sin most certainly is not.

TRUE BELIEVERS PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS
And this is how they are distinguished in the world.

And, as we said a moment ago, in a world as sinful as ours true believers ought to stick out like a sore thumb.

Well here in verses 1-10 John is confronting a deception
Which apparently downplayed the importance of righteous living.

And so here John will boldly explain to us:
WHY TRUE CHRISTIANS PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS

As you might expect this will take us several weeks to get through, but what an important passage for us to learn and take to heart in this wicked world.

What we are going to see are
3 reasons why believers practice righteousness.
3 reasons why righteousness is
One of the chief defining characteristics of the true believer.

I’ll even give them to you now and we’ll work through them in the coming weeks.

1) The Hope Producing Love of God
• The effect of the love of God poured into a life produces a hope that in turn
produces righteous living.
• The absence of righteous living signifies the absence of hope
• The absence of hope signifies that one has not yet received the love of God.

2) The Sin Conquering Work of Christ
• John will be very clear when he reminds that Christ came to “take away sin”
and to “destroy the works of the devil”.
• If you are in Christ, then He has done that in your life.
• If that has not occurred in your life, then it is evident that you are not in Christ.

3) The Life Changing Presence of the Spirit
• When a person is “born of God” or born again, that person is made new.
• They are a new creation and the Spirit of God now in them is a Spirit that will
not allow them to dwell in sin.
• They may momentarily grieve Him and fall into sin, but He will not allow them to
stay there.

THOSE 3 REASONS ARE WHY CHRISTIANS LIVE RIGHTEOUS LIVES.

Well this morning, let’s start our journey of examining those truths.

Let’s start with the first point.
#1 THE HOPE PRODUCING LOVE OF GOD
1 John 3:1-3

This is one of the reasons why Christians practice righteousness.

John begins with a statement of awe and wonder.

(1a) “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.”

Let’s just stop there and process this for a moment.

The word “See” indicates that John would have us rest here a moment.
John would have us ponder this.

Namely that the “love” that “the Father has bestowed on us” is “GREAT”.

I think the first thing that you must recognize is
The distinction of WHAT KIND OF LOVE John is referring to.

If you’ve never pondered it or studied it, it is a fascinating study
And I think R.C. Sproul discusses it as profoundly and clearly as anyone.

He would tell you that when we discuss the love of God there are 3 types.

GOD’S LOVE OF BENEFICENCE

That God has good-will toward men.
• That God takes no delight in the death of the wicked.
• That God wants good for all humanity.
• It is bound up in commands like “Thou shalt not kill” since all men were “made in the image of God”.

God has a basic fondness and love for humanity in general.
He wants and desires good for all humanity.

GOD’S LOVE OF BENEVOLENCE

This moves beyond desire to action.
• God does good for men.
• “He sends rain on the just and the unjust”

John 3:16 settles here.
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.”

John 3:16 doesn’t say that God saved all men,
But clearly Jesus was sent and made salvation available to all men.

God has good-will and good action toward all men.

But then there is what Sproul called,
GOD’S LOVE OF COMPLACENCY

It is not a smugness, but rather a self-satisfaction.
• Namely that God sets His saving love on those whom it pleases Him to save.
• This is where we put our understanding of election.
• That God chooses to save some according to His own sovereign will.

And this is the love that John is referring to here in verse 1.

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us”

He is NOT REFERRING to beneficent love or even benevolent love.
This is not a statement of amazement that God sends rain on the just and the unjust.

NOR is he referring to God’s love for every human.
This is the love “the Father has bestowed on US”
John is blown away with the love of God
That He would take sinful people and choose to save them.

It is an amazement in adoption.
“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God”

John is amazed at the love which God has shown the redeemed.

And LET’S PROCESS that love a little more this morning.
It is worth examining.

It is good that we “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us”

Let’s consider that God’s love for us is A SOVEREIGN LOVE

I’ve told you many times before but the most common errors people make in regard to the gospel do not typically originate in their doctrine of God but actually in regard to their DOCTRINE OF MAN.

If you fail to grasp a biblical view of man
Then inevitably the gospel will be distorted.

Scripture is clear with regard to what man is.

Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

We are familiar with that gathering of Psalms
Which Paul quotes in Romans 3 where we are reminded that
“there is none righteous, not even one.”
“there is none who seeks for God”
“there is none who does good, there is not even one.”
“there is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Titus 3:3 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”

The reminder to us is that
We were all spiritually dead and spiritually depraved.

It is not just that sinful man WOULDN’T come to God,
It is also that they COULDN’T come to God.

We know of man’s stubbornness and willful disobedience.
• We know of the depravity of man’s thinking.
• Romans 1 lays this out for us extremely clearly.

But the issue of the gospel has NEVER BEEN ABOUT
Convincing sinful people to want salvation.

Preaching the gospel is not a debate.
You don’t educate people into the kingdom of heaven.

Consider the conversation with Jesus and Nicodemus:
John 3:1-3 “Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

• Nicodemus was well aware that Jesus was “a teacher”
• But Jesus straightened him out quickly pointing out that a person must be
“born again”

Nicodemus didn’t need to be educated, he needed to be regenerated.
He had to be born again.

THIS IS THE REALITY OF MAN.
Man is sinful and unwilling to come to Christ,
But even if he were willing, he is absolutely unable to do it.

When the Rich Young Ruler walked away the disciples asked Jesus:
“Then who can be saved?”

Matthew 19:26 “And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

No sooner could a corpse in the Spur cemetery
Decide to quit being dead and to come out of the grave
Than could a sinner decide to quit being spiritually dead
And to grab hold of life.

We think of Lazarus in the tomb.
• Before he could “make the decision” to leave the tomb, he first had to be granted life to even be able to hear the command.
• On his own, Lazarus was powerless to even hear the offer of salvation, let alone choose it.

What all that means is that
The first aspect of love which God had to show to the redeemed
Was a determination to love us even when we were dead.

We didn’t come to God bargaining for forgiveness,
The work of salvation began with the love of God.

It was not us who loved Him, it was Him who loved us.
We were unwilling to come to Him – He determined to save us.
We were dead and unable to come to Him – He determined to give us life.

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

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

When you ponder the greatness of God’s love
It must begin with an understanding that
GOD CHOSE TO SET HIS LOVE ON THOSE WHO WERE HIS ENEMIES.

God initiated it; God started it
God chose to love and save those who were dead in their sin.

AND LOVE IS THE ONLY WORD FOR IT.
• The cost was all God’s.
• The benefit was all ours.

He did it all and only because He apparently wanted to.
• He was not strong-armed…
• He was not manipulated…

God, of His own free will determined to love rebellious and spiritually dead humanity and to save them.

IN SHORT, He loved you in spite of the fact that you were not lovely.

We discussed this with the youth briefly on Wednesday night.

In Genesis 11 we get that famous tower of Babel incident
In which God separated one people into many peoples.

Why did God do that?

It is apparent that God separated them into many people
In order that from the many He might choose one.

Who did He choose? The pagan Abram
• Abram was not righteous
• Abram was not good
• But God determined to love him.

The love Abram received from God was most certainly greater
Than the love that any other man on earth had received.

• Who else did God offer a country to?
• Who else did God promise to bless?

It was a “great love” which God bestowed on undeserving Abram.
• It was a sovereign love.
• It was an electing love.

And this is the same great love that all of God’s children enjoy.

But more than just a sovereign love…
We also recognize that God’s love is A SACRIFICIAL LOVE

We understand that God chose to love those who were not lovely,
But we also understand that those He chose to love came with baggage.

• We were all sinful.
• We all deserved judgment.
• And a holy God must satisfy His holiness.

If God was ever going to be able
To bring these sinners that He had chosen near to Himself
Then something must be done about their sin.

And here we find the sacrificial love of God.

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

We contemplate the price God paid for our redemption.
We contemplate the price God paid for our adoption.

1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Acts 20:28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

Though God certainly has the sovereign authority
To choose to love whomever He will,
He is still bound by His own righteousness.

I was reading a post this week regarding the thief on the cross and his salvation there before his death.

One commentor explained it like this:
Namely that because God has sovereign authority He can do whatever He wants. And if He wanted to set aside the rules in order to save the thief on the cross, then He had the right to do that.

But that is NOT AT ALL what happened.
For God does have sovereign authority,
But God is still bound by His own holiness.

HIS HOLINESS DEMANDED THAT
The only way sin could be atoned for was with the shedding of blood.

If God was going to reconcile these sinners to Himself
Then a steep price must be paid.

And God’s love was so great, that He paid that price.
He crushed His Son.
He paid our debt.

On the cross Jesus Christ bore the full wrath
For every sin ever committed by those whom God chose to save.

It was costly.
• Consider what it cost to save you.
• Consider what it cost to love you.

We’ve often talked about the story of the Prodigal son and his sinful life.

What should never be overlooked is the ultimate shame
He would have brought upon his father.

The son totally disrespected the father by taking the inheritance
And then humiliated the father by squandering it on sinful living.
He asked the unthinkable by returning to the father and hoping for mercy.

For the father to take that son back was costly.

This is the sacrificial love of God.

Not only did He choose to love you when you were unlovable,
But He paid an enormous price for you to be His.

1 John 4:9-10 “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

And we should also discuss that God’s love is A SUSTAINING LOVE

It is not temporary, it is permanent.
He didn’t just redeem us and then send us away, HE ADOPTED US.
• He calls us His children.
• He has given us His name.
• He has made us partakers of His kingdom.
• We receive a share of the inheritance.

This is more than just a good-hearted Savior who rescues us from peril,
It is a TOTAL, FULL, and PERMANENT salvation.

We think of the parable of the Good Samaritan
• And how not only did the Samaritan save the man,
• But the Samaritan also arranged for lodging and agreed to cover any cost that might be accrued in the future.

It is a love that saves and sustains forever.
It is a love that makes sons out of enemies.

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

What a statement: “the right to become children of God”

We aren’t born with this right.
This is not some unalienable right like is mentioned in The Declaration of Independence.

John says this right is for those “who were born, not of blood”

You weren’t physically born into the kingdom of God.
It’s genetically passed down from your birth parents.

You also didn’t get in just because you wanted it.
“nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man”

Being a child of God is totally beyond our ability.
We don’t have the right and we don’t have the ability.
(Orphans don’t get to say who will adopt them)

But God did it for us.
• He CHOSE to love us when we were unlovable.
• He SACRIFICED a great deal to redeem us.
• And He ELEVATED us to the status of His children.

WE WERE ADOPTED.

Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

It is God not only loving
But taking His enemies and welcoming them to His table.

And this is the love of God
Which is enjoyed and experienced by all believers.

This far more than just God’s “good will toward men”
This is far more than the benevolence of sending “rain on the just an the unjust”.

It is the love which God has poured upon the redeemed.

And do not fall into the human free-will trap.

You know where you say, “God loves all men like this, it’s just that while others rejected it, we accepted it.”

Why did you accept it?
• Because you were smarter?
• Because you were more noble and wanted out of sin?
• Because you had more ability?

OF COURSE NOT!

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

Your being a recipient of this love had nothing to do with
Your effort or intellect or nobility or power.

The only reason you are a recipient of this great love
Is because God chose to make you a recipient of this love.

To that you have to ask:
WHY DID GOD CHOOSE ME?

There is no logical or rational explanation.
All we can do is marvel with John.

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God;”

It is remarkable.

And then John says: “and such we are.”

It is NOT a hypothetical love, it IS a real genuine love.

As the redeemed of Christ, we ARE God’s children.
We bear His name.
We have His inheritance.

And in this may you marvel for a while.
That even when you were a sinful rebel steeped in spiritual death and depravity, that God chose to set His love on you.

• He made you alive and called you to Himself.
• He sent His Son to die in your stead that He might appease the judgment you deserved.
• He then welcomed you to His table and made you His child and a coheir of His kingdom.

It is a great and marvelous love.

Now, we’ll see in the coming weeks
• How this love produces hope
• And that hope produces righteous living,

But this morning perhaps you can just bask in the fact
That God has chosen to love you.

Download Here:

Anticipating Worship: A Sanctuary From Evil
Psalms 120
April 3, 2022

Tonight we begin a new segment in the book of Psalms
And it is one of great interest to us.

If you notice the heading of the next 14 Psalms (120-134) They are all referred to as
“A Song of Ascents”

What we have here is a compilation of Psalms
Which were specifically arranged and grouped together.

These were NOT all written at the same time,
Or perhaps even for the same initial purpose.

For example
• 4 of these Psalms are written by David.
• One of them is written by Solomon.
• And they other 9 have no specific author attributed to them.

These were 14 various Psalms written out of the specific trials and circumstances of various Psalmists as they walked through life.

But what happened, even under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
Is that these 14 were compiled and grouped together and each labeled as “A Song of Ascents”

Those specific authors may not have realized at the time
How the Lord would use their Psalm,
But this was what the Lord had in mind when He inspired them to write.

“A Song of Ascents” refers to songs that were sung by Jewish travelers as they were headed up to Jerusalem.

There were 3 feasts in Israel where all men were commanded to go to Jerusalem for celebration.
• The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover)
• The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
• The Feast of Booths

Some may have been traveling IN CARAVANS,
Some may have been traveling ALONE.

These 14 songs were those grouped as the hymn book
For those who were headed to worship.

• They are songs of anticipation.
• They are songs that focus primarily on the joy of gathering with the saints to worship God.

For us, they provide a tremendous time of analyzing
The joys and benefits and blessings of corporate worship.

There are many things in our wicked culture
That cause the church to have to hold fast and stand her ground.

• We think of the rise of false prophets…
• We think of social immorality like gay marriage…
• We think of doctrinal purity like the incarnation or substitutionary atonement…

These are places where the church must drive her stake in the ground
And stand without compromise in the world.

But another battleground area that has sort of sneaked in
IS THE ISSUE OF CORPORATE WORSHIP.

It used to be that our culture sought a certainly LEVEL OF MORALITY.
• And so it was a “good” or “right” thing to do for a person to “go to church”.
• Slowly that sort of weaned out to just going on Easter or Christmas.
• It didn’t hurt that the culture generally stayed away from scheduling things on Sundays and Wednesdays.
• People also weren’t so easily united by internet and social media and church was, if nothing else, a good place just to see people and know what was going on.

But of course our culture has shifted.
• Church attendance is no longer socially expected.
• There is very little culture peer pressure to go to church.
• There is plenty of competing busyness or entertainment to help justify not gathering with the saints.

And even in our day we are still learning the extent of the damage that the recent COVID lockdowns did to physical church attendance in our land.

(I’m thankful that you were undeterred through such times and that our physical church attendance remained practically unaffected)

But, the point is that in general church attendance
Is not on the upswing, but on the decline.

Now, we know that this is a sin.

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.”

• We know that assembling together IS A COMMAND for the mutual benefit of the church

And yet it is a command that is WIDELY OVERLOOKED in our world today.

I’m even reminded of the recent interview done by Andy Stanley when he emphatically stated the Bible does not command us to physically gather together.

And so now as much as ever, God’s people need to be reminded,
Not only of the mandate to gather, but also of the benefit.

It should be enough to say that God commands us to gather.

But it is a blessing to us to know that we are also given
A group of Psalms like this which spell out for us the benefit.

Over the next 14 Psalms we will see various blessings and benefits of taking that journey up to the temple of God where we gather with the saints in corporate worship of our great God.

So we’re going to talk about anticipating worship.
I’m excited to learn and I hope you are too.

TONIGHT We meet an unknown Psalmist who by his own admonition
Sojourns “in Mesheck” and dwells “among the tents of Kedar”

• “Mesheck” was in Asia Minor
• “tents of Kedar” references a nomadic Arab tribe.

A Jew who lived in a foreign land among a nomadic tribe of pagans.

His struggle there is real, but on this day his relief is found
In the fact that he is headed to Jerusalem to worship.

So let’s work our way through this Psalm together tonight.

I would start by just having you look at verse 1
“In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And He answered me.”

One of the things that immediately jumps out to us is that
VERSE 1 IS IN THE PAST TENSE.

He is telling you of an event that occurred at some point in his past.
• He is telling you of a time when he was in “trouble”
• And he “cried to the LORD” and God “answered” him.

You’ll see his trouble in a moment,
But first let’s still marvel at the fact that
The God of the universe heard him and “answered” him.

Hearing is a miracle.
Psalms 135:15-17 “The idols of the nations are but silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; They have eyes, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear, Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.”

The true and living God is a God who hears.

But perhaps even more miraculous
Is the fact that this great GOD ANSWERS.

What manner of an eternal and omniscient God
Would feel even the slightest bit compelled to answer
The cry of but one speck of the dirt of His creation?

It just doesn’t make sense that God would answer us.
And yet He does.
Here He did.
That is remarkable.

Our Psalmist was in trouble and our God cared.

Psalms 118:5 “From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place.”

And how often have we benefited from such compassion from God.
• That even though He might not immediately pull us out of our trouble,
• Yet even still He manages to send a peace or a comfort in the midst of it that more than satisfies us.

It is a remarkable reality.

Our Psalmist is sharing testimony of when this happened for him.

Verses 2-7 tell that story.
He recounts as he walked through it in the present.

Let’s look at that moment that drove him to call on the LORD
And examine the answer the Lord gave him on that day.

3 points
#1 HIS TROUBLE
Psalms 120:2-4

The trouble of our Psalmist
Is quickly REVEALED IN THE REQUEST he made to God.

“Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, From a deceitful tongue.”

There are a couple of ways to look at this,
And both of them are troublesome to the Christian.

One is simply that he lives in a culture that has lost its sense of truth.
It’s just a society where truth is no longer valued.

Romans 3:13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

It is simply the fallen human condition.

Psalms 116:11 “I said in my alarm, “All men are liars.”

Jeremiah lamented such a society.
Jeremiah 9:1-6 “Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers’ lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. “They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares the LORD. “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. “Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity. “Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.”

I think we can understand that type of grief today.
• We lost that whole “my word is my bond” mentality years ago.
• Politicians and lawyers have been joked about for years as liars.

But in the last couple of years we’ve even added occupations
Like journalist or even doctor to the list of people
That we no longer easily believe.

• We’ve realized that there are agendas behind everything
• And big money people who are calling the shots.
• And people all over our culture will gladly distort the truth if it means lining their
pockets.

It is a hard culture to live in
When you don’t know if you can believe anything you hear.

Even in our technological day of photoshop and CGI
We don’t even know if we can believe what our eyes see anymore.

Everything is a deception.
Everything is a distortion.

And the Psalmist is simply grieved to live in such a culture.
He wants relief for his soul.

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

It could simply be the grief of a man forced to live in a society
Where there is no truth and there is no justice.

That alone is enough to make the man of God cry out for deliverance.

But it could be even more than that.

The other option is that he himself has become a victim of their slander.

It could be that he is suffering under their slander and personally feeling the sting of their faulty accusations.
• Joseph was certainly falsely accused by his brothers and Potiphar’s wife…
• Daniel was certainly falsely accused by the other wise men of Persia…
• The entire book of 2 Corinthians is written from Paul’s perspective of being slandered…

And of course this makes sense to us as well
Since we know that Satan is “the god of this world”.

We know him to be the “accuser of the brethren”.

Sometimes his accusations are true, as was the case with Joshua the high priest in the book of Zechariah, who was indeed wearying the filthy garments Satan accused him of.

Sometimes his accusations are false, as was the case with Job, when Satan said Job only served God because God was good to him.

But if Satan is a liar and the father of lies
Then it only stands to reason that his offspring in the world
Would be chips off the old block.

It could be that our Psalmist has felt this specific sting.

Even more than just the weight of living in a lying culture,
He may be feeling the personal sting of being lied about.

Either way, it has driven him to cry out to God
That his soul might be delivered.

“Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, From a deceitful tongue.”

His frustration is further seen
In his sort of rhetorical question to his lying contemporaries.

(3) “What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, You deceitful tongue?”

In other words: HAVE YOU GIVEN ANY THOUGHT TO WHERE YOUR LYING WILL TAKE YOU?

• Have you given any thought to the consequences of your deception?

I’ll tell you what you’re going to get:
(4) “Sharp arrows of the warrior, With the burning coals of the broom tree.”

Psalms 7:12-13 “If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.”

In other words, if you are a liar,
God is going to shoot you with His arrow and burn you in His fire!

When we were kids we used to sing it: “Liar, liar, pants on fire”
It sounds mocking, but it’s actually biblical.

Revelation 21:7-8 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Revelation 21:25-27 “In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 22:14-15 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”

And certainly this will be the fate for the father of lies.

First the father of lies will be bound:
Revelation 20:1-3 “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.”

And then the father of lies will be burned
Revelation 20:10 “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Those who lie will one day pay for their deception.

And our Psalmist knows this.
That may have even been part of the answer which God gave him when he cried.

But you and I still know that simply knowing the future fate of liars
Doesn’t make them any easier to stomach today.

This Psalmist’s soul is troubled by them.
And he is asking God to deliver his soul
“from lying lips, From a deceitful tongue.”

That is his trouble.
#2 HIS TRAUMA
Psalms 120:5-7

Here his cry for deliverance has turned into a full force groan.
“Woe is me”

That incidentally was the same thing Isaiah said when he realized his own unclean lips, and the unclean lips of his culture before the LORD.

The Psalmist is crying the same.
“Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech, For I dwell among the tents of Kedar!”

• No doubt these are liars.
• No doubt these traveling gypsies are such that you cannot believe them.
• He is sick of it and he groans because of it.

The church is certainly not immune from living among such men.

When Paul wrote to Titus who had been left at Crete
That he might establish a church there, Paul wrote to him:

Titus 1:12-16 “One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

We are not of the world, but we are most certainly still in it.
And it may very well be that we live among “liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons”

Certainly that was the SENTIMENT OF OUR PSALMIST as he lived in “Meshech…among the tents of Kedar!”

And his lament continues.
(6-7) “Too long has my soul had its dwelling With those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, They are for war.”

We remember the groaning of our Lord:
Matthew 17:17 “And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”

Mark 3:5 “After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.”

And we remember the groaning of those whom He has redeemed.
2 Peter 2:7-8 “and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),”

Romans 8:23 “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”

In fact, this GROANING is one of the FRUITS OF REDEMPTION.

When God was going to destroy Jerusalem He first set out to seal the righteous from the judgment.

Ezekiel 9:4 “The LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”

And so you understand the grief.

At least I hope you understand the grief.
• I sincerely hope that the state of this world is a grievous evil to you.
• I sincerely hope that our culture makes your soul squirm.
• I sincerely hope that our society grieves your soul to its very core.

If it does not, you may have a greater problem than living among liars.

This man of God GROANS.
This man of God GRIEVES.
This man of God is traumatized as he lives in such a deceptive culture.

All he really wants is “peace”

“I am for peace” he says.

The best understanding there would be peace with God.
I just want my culture to stop being an offense to God.

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

That would be the desire of our Psalmist, to be a “peacemaker”.

However, he lives “with those who hate peace.”

“I am for peace, but when I speak, They are for war.”
• They hate his rebuke.
• They hate his correction.
• They hate his preaching.
• This culture loves deception and they want to live in it.

And he is so traumatized his only request is:
GOD GET ME OUT OF HERE.

“Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, From a deceitful tongue.”

AND YET, WHERE IS THE ANSWER?
And yet, where do we find where God delivered?

The answer is behind the scenes.
The solution is found in the subheading of this Psalm.

This is “A Song of Ascents”

That means that as the saints of God made their pilgrimage
To worship God in His temple, they sang this song.

So what is the point?

Clearly, those who journeyed to Jerusalem
Saw their fellowship with the saints during these feasts
As a brief respite from a culture that loved lying.

So that’s the third point:
His Trouble, His Trauma
#3 HIS TRIUMPH
Psalms 120:1

“In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And He answered me.”

THAT ANSWER,
At least to the pilgrims who would sing this song years later
Was found in the fact that God had preserved a sanctuary of worship.

Do you want to know one of the true blessings of corporate worship?

It is that when we leave the world behind to gather with the saints
We get a brief reprieve from the deception of the world.

While we are still in the process of being sanctified…
And while we are all still far from perfect…
And while we may have our moments of worldliness…

It is still true that the closest glimpse we get of heaven on earth.
And the closest we get to the sinless perfection that that place represents is when we gather with the saints.

Our assembling together for the worship of God
Should be the most honest and the most Godly
And the most holy gathering that we ever get.

And you can likely feel the relief of this pilgrim as he journeys.
• I live in a land of liars.
• I live among slanderers.
• I dwell with dishonest men.
• My soul is grieved.
• My heart is tired.

But today I journey to a gathering where truth is proclaimed.
Today I journey to a gathering where holiness is esteemed.
Today I journey to dwell among those who love peace.

Isn’t that one of the true blessings of gathering to worship?
• We gather in a place where the conversation we hear is true.
• We gather in a place where the message proclaimed is true.
• We gather in a place of peace to dwell in peace with one another.

Where else do you find that on earth?

There is a GREAT EXCITEMENT then to worship.
There is a GREAT ANTICIPATION to come and worship.

We long for this and we look forward to it.
It refuels our soul for a week in the world.

And of course, to make sure we don’t lose sight of the glory here,
IT IS ONLY POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF OUR GOD.

• All men are liars.
• The poison of asps is under every tongue.
• AND THAT INCLUDED US.

But our great God, by His own sovereign choice,
Reached down in redemption to pull a few liars out of the fire
And to cleanse them for a people of His own possession.

We are not a gathering of sinners who just don’t like to lie.
We are a gathering of those whom God has saved from their lying.

The church is God’s creation.

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.”

1 Corinthians 3:9 “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

And we are an organization which is
Being washed and sanctified by the Lord.

Ephesians 5:25-26 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,”

We are those whom God has assembled.
We are a sanctuary which He has created.

And now we fellowship in truth and joy and peace.

Ephesians 4:11-16 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

Virtually every other organization and gathering is susceptible
And even dominated by trickery, craftiness and deceitful scheming.

But God has set the church apart as different.

He has equipped men to proclaim and teach and explain the truth.
He has filled believers with His Spirit to discern what is true.
He is growing us up into a body that builds itself up in love.

YOU CAN’T FIND THAT ANYWHERE ELSE.

No wonder we will read in a future song of ascents:
Psalms 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

Even the trip that is taken on the road to church should be
A joyful occasion filled with anticipation and excitement.

For on this day and at this time
You are going to fellowship in a place where truth and peace reign.

On this day and at this time
You are going to dwell among those who have been redeemed from their deceitful tongue.

On this day and at this time
You are going to dwell among those who now want to edify and build up in love, not spew the words of war and destruction.

THAT IS A SANCTUARY.
THAT IS REST.

And it is one of the true blessings of physically attending worship.

• YOU CAN watch a preacher on TV or on the internet.
• YOU CAN pray in your closet.
• YOU CAN study in solitude.

And certainly all of those things have their own individual value.

But none of those things provide the joy and sanctuary
Of true fellowship among the saints.

Years ago my parents used to watch a sitcom.
The opening lyrics to the song they played to start the show went like this:

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you’ve got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name
And they’re always glad you came
You want to be where you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You want to be where everybody knows your name

That show was about a bar named Cheers.
• And that is what the world chases.
• Some secular place where they think they can escape and find camaraderie.

And you know and I know that this is AN ILLUSION.
No bar ever provided genuine sanctuary from the troubles of the world.

The bar is nothing more than the world’s attempt
At the genuine sanctuary of the church.

THEY’LL NEVER HAVE WHAT WE HAVE.

We are a fellowship of the redeemed!
And to gather among the saints
Is a sheer joy of rest and peace and truth and love.

Of course a Sunday night crowd already knows this, and that’s one of the reasons you are here.

So take this truth and share it with someone who has FALLEN OUT OF THE HABIT of worship and remind them of the soul rest they are missing.

Download Here:

Living In The Last Hour – Part 3
1 John 2:18-29 (24-29)
April 3, 2022

This morning we return to our familiar text in 1 John 2.
We have been looking at it for the last two sermons and this morning we finish it.

You know there was an occurrence in the church
Which had the congregation confused.

There were some who were Defecting from the church,
Denying Christ, and were seeking to Deceive the rest of the church
With their false doctrines.

And it seems that the church was having difficulty
Understanding what was going on.

However, to John the explanation was obvious.
“Children, it is the last hour”

Again, “the last hour” refers to the time period between Christ’s first and second coming.
• No one knows how long that is.
• Only the Father knows when He will send Christ again.
• It could be today, it could be years from now.

But the time period is called “the last hour” because
It is the final chapter of God’s redemptive plan.

There’s only one thing left to occur and it could occur at any time.

And coupled with this unique time in history is also the promise that
In those days there are some who will fall away.

Matthew 24:9-11 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.”

This type of activity just sort of comes with the territory.
It shouldn’t shock you, it shouldn’t be confusing.

But John has set out to speak regarding this exodus from the church.

#1 SATAN’S SINISTER AGENDA
1 John 2:18-19

We aren’t the only ones who realize “it is the last hour”

Satan knows it too.
At any moment Christ could return and crush his head.
HIS TIME IS SHORT.
So Satan is running his hurry up offense (he has been for 2,000 years).

• He’s at work to sow tares among the wheat and to try to deceive and destroy the church from within.
• He plants men in the church who will ultimately deny Christ and seek to deceive the church.

But John says God has ordained that some of them leave the church
“so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

But THE SIMPLE POINT you need to understand is that
THERE ARE ANTICHRISTS AMONG US.

We live in a world that is absolutely antichrist
And even in the church some antichrists have come to deceive.

And that is the explanation as to why you see some leaving.

(19) “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

Now, that is the reality, but it should not cause anyone to despair.

While it is concerning that Satan is so actively at work to infiltrate and deceive even the church, there is no cause for alarm.

And that is where John went next.
#2 YOUR SPIRITUAL ADVANTAGE
1 John 2:20-23

It is true that Satan is at work in non-believers to attack the church.

“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.”

They may have the god of this world working in them,
But we have “the Holy One” working in us.

And as John will say later, “greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world.”

“the anointing” is nothing less than the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our lives.
• It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us.
• It is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us.
• It is the Holy Spirit who seals us.

We are certainly in a battle, but we are not on the losing side.

And we do not fear their lies
Because the Holy Spirit has taught us the truth.

As John said, these liars have come in with preposterous deception.

(22) “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.”

• That is their great lie.
• They leave the church and they deny Christ.
• They say Jesus is not the Messiah.

And we know better.
We know the truth about Jesus.

But the reason we know that is NOT BECAUSE
We are somehow smarter or more intelligent than the world.

The reason we know is because we have the Holy Spirit who has come to teach us all things and to testify to us regarding Christ.

• The reason THEY leave the church is because they don’t really know Christ.
• The reason WE stay is because we do.
• And the reason WE know Christ is because of the Holy Spirit.

It is encouraging to us to know that God is at work in us and for us.
We are thankful that He did not leave us to our own intellect…
We are thankful that He did not leave us to our own ability to understand…

He poured the Holy Spirit upon us and through Him He gave us the truth regarding Christ.
• Because of this we are not deceived.
• Because of this we do not defect with them.

Just as their lying and leaving proves them false,
Our understanding and endurance proves us true.

AND THAT IS WHAT JOHN HAS SHOWN US SO FAR.
• Satan is desperately working to deceive us.
• The Holy Spirit is in us exposing his lies.

Satan has a Sinister Agenda, but we have a Spiritual Advantage.

THAT’S GOOD NEWS.

But there is still ONE MORE POINT to be made in this regard.

THIS MORNING we come to the APPLICATION.
All we’ve really seen so far is a spiritual reality.
• We see Satan at work behind the scenes…
• We see the Holy Spirit at work behind the scenes…

But it still comes to the point of application.

Since we are living in the last hour, John, WHAT SHALL WE DO?

Now that we know what’s going on,
It is time we understand our course of action.

There is a real responsibility that now falls to us.

Satan’s Sinister Agenda, Your Spiritual Advantage
#3 JOHN’S SIMPLE ADMONITION
1 John 2:24-29

We notice the phrase in verse 24, and again in verse 27, “As for you…”

• John spent 6 verses explaining “them”
• John spent 6 verses helping us understand who “they” are and what “they” do.

But now, “As for you…”

And if you were paying attention when you read those 6 verses
THE COMMAND IS OBVIOUS.

John uses the same word 7 times.
“Abide”

It is the word MENO in the Greek and it simply means “to remain”.

Matthew 10:11 “And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city.”

Matthew 26:38 “Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

You get it, it’s simple.
Stay here. Remain here. Don’t leave.

THAT IS THE COMMAND.
You see these people denying Christ and leaving the church and you don’t know how to respond.

It’s simple: DON’T GO WITH THEM
You stay here.
You cling to Christ.

And to this we come across a very important truth
That we need to understand.

IN ORDER TO BE SAVED,
YOU MUST PERSEVERE UNTIL THE END.

If you do not persevere until the end, you will not be saved.

And this should be obvious to us based on what John just said up in verse 19, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”

I mean there was really only one distinguishing mark in that verse.
Those were saved remained, those who were lost departed.

In order to be saved, you must persevere until the end.

And let’s just solidify that real quick.

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.”

Matthew 24:11-13 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

That’s pretty clear from our Lord isn’t it?
If you want to be saved then you must persevere until the end.
• You must not leave.
• You must not defect.
• You must not deny.
• You must remain.

Listen to the writer of Hebrews who was dealing with a group of professing Christians who were sort of debating leaving because the persecution was so intense.

Hebrews 3:14 “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,”

Hebrews 10:36-39 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. 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.”

There it is again:
If you shrink back, if you depart, there is no salvation.

Listen to James:
James 1:12 “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

Listen to Jesus again as He addresses those churches in the Revelation.
Specifically the church at Thyatira:

Revelation 2:25-29 “‘Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. ‘He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

It’s unmistakable.
To be saved you must hold fast your faith until the end.

Now at this point someone might say, “Preacher, I thought you believed in the sovereignty of God! I thought you believed in the security of the believer. I thought you believed in ‘once saved always saved’.”

• I absolutely do.
• I absolutely believe that those who are saved will never lose that salvation.
• I absolutely believe that the life which Christ gave His own is eternal life.

John even reiterates that in verse 25, “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.”

I absolutely believe that those who are saved are secure.

Then you how can you also say that in order to be saved you must persevere?
Because that is also what the Bible says.

AND THAT IS WHERE THE DEBATE COMES IN.
That is where the confusion lies.

Are we saved because God has secured us in our salvation OR are we saved because we endure to the end?

And the answer is: YES

In order to be saved you must endure to the end
And if God has saved you, you will endure until the end.

But if you do not endure until the end,
• That does not mean you that you somehow lost your salvation,
• It only means you were never really saved.

See, endurance DOES NOT EARN your salvation,
But it DOES PROVE that your faith is real.

1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

There is certainly the aspect of God’s sovereignty
In which God foreknows, predestines, chooses, regenerates, saves, and secures His elect.

But there is also the aspect of man’s responsibility
In which that man must repent, believe, and persevere until the end.

We know that this man cannot do those things apart from God,
For God must make him alive, God must grant him repentance,
God must grant him faith, and God must grant him the strength to endure.

MAN CANNOT fulfill his responsibility apart from the work of God,
But at the same time GOD WILL NOT save those
Who do not fulfill the requirements that He set forth.

No man, for instance, could say:
“I don’t believe in Jesus, but I’m going to heaven because I’m one of God’s elect.”
“I won’t repent of my sin, but I’ll be saved, because I was chosen.”

We would balk at such foolish statements.

Just as God requires His elect to repent (and those who are elect will)
Just as God requires His elect to believe (and those who are elect will)
God also requires His elect to persevere (and those who are elect will)

SO TO ASSUME THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO ENDURE
Would be just as foolish as telling me
You don’t have to repent or you don’t have to believe.

Do you understand that?

SO I’LL SAY IT AGAIN:
IN ORDER TO BE SAVED, YOU MUST ENDURE TO THE END.

Think about it similar to how we discuss sanctification.
On one hand God does it, but on the other hand we are also called to strive for it.

Philippians 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

Do you see how both realities are present?
• On one hand you work hard for it.
• On the other hand God is working in you for it.

You should view endurance exactly the same way.
Yes God is saving you, but you should be working hard to endure.

For if you don’t endure you will not be saved.
(In fact, you’ve never actually been saved)

Now, all of that is just to point out to you the command of John.
Our command is simple, “Abide” (remain)

Certainly it brings up memories in our mind of that great analogy Christ gave in the upper room.

John 15:5-6 “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. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

John is giving the same requirement here.

WHAT IS YOUR CHIEF OBJECTIVE WHILE LIVING IN THE LAST HOUR?
“Abide”
YOU STICK WITH JESUS!

Now, let’s ask the next question: HOW?
How do I do that John?

Well, in these 6 verses John gives some real simple and practical advice
And we’ll break it down into 3 quick points.

This is how you endure. This is how you abide. This is how you remain.

1) RECEIVE THE WORD (24-25)

Look at how clear this is.
“As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning.”

What are we talking about there?
• The gospel
• This is the word of Christ.

John says, “You need to let the word remain in you.”

Paul said it like this:
Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

James said it like this:
James 1:21 “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

This is step one.
• You need to receive the word.
• You need to be devoted to the gospel.
• You need to put God’s word in you.
• You need to let the word of Christ dwell within you.

WHY?
Because the message of the gospel is powerful to cause you to endure.

Let’s look at it like this.
Let’s discuss a lost man, someone who does not know Christ.

If you want that man to be saved, what are you going to give him?

You’re going to go give him the gospel.
You’re going to try to get the word into his heart.

Why?
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Very simply put, “faith comes from hearing”
Faith is produced when a lost man hears God’s word.

Now we understand all the work which God must do to awaken that lost man’s ears to hear, but the reality still is, when that man hears God’s word, it produces faith.

DO YOU SUPPOSE THAT REALITY CHANGES AFTER SALVATION?
• Do you suppose that God’s word only produces faith in lost people?
• Do you suppose that God’s word won’t help the faith of the redeemed?

OF COURSE NOT!
God’s word produces faith and God’s word strengthens faith.

If you want to endure to the end, you must receive the word of God.
Read it; meditate on it; study it; wrestle with it;

“let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning”

WHY?
“If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.”

That’s biblical algebra right there.
• Put the gospel in your mind!
• Let Christ’s words richly dwell within you.
• Receive the word!
• AND YOU WILL ABIDE

And it’s a good word!
(25) “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.”

• That’s encouraging is it not?
• That’s motivating is it not?

It makes no sense that a redeemed child of God
Would neglect God’s word.

And I can tell you this,
No one ever defected from Christ who humbly received the word of God.

IT IS A SAFE HAVEN!

So what steps do you take to endure to the end?
Well first, receive the word.

2) BELIEVE THE WORD (26-27)

Now you will notice again that there is a very real presence of deception.
• You are going to face it.
• People are going to lie to you.
• Satan is the father of lies and he is going to lie to you.

You are going to hear many things in your life which are not true…

“These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.”

It is an active deception. They are “trying” to do it.

And then we see the phrase again: “As for you…”
As for one who is a target of the deceiver…

“the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”

So again John reminds us of the Holy Spirit.
He is that great teacher.

Again, this does not nullify the benefit of teachers and preachers
But it does nullify the absolute necessity of them.

The Holy Spirit is the great teacher.
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.”

SO UNDERSTAND THE REALITY.
AS A BELIEVER, ON ONE HAND
You have Satan who is actively lying to you and trying to deceive you.

ON THE OTHER HAND
You have the Holy Spirit who is actively teaching you what is true.

Do you see that?

SO WHAT IS JOHN’S POINT?
Don’t believe Satan, believe the Holy Spirit.

“but as His anointing teaches you about all things…you abide in Him.”

Don’t listen to Satan, listen to the Spirit.

And I would remind again how you do that.
Read the Bible!
• The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
• This is His message.
First you should receive it, but then you should believe it.

And look at how trustworthy it is!

IT IS FROM HIM – “the anointing which you received from Him…”
• The Bible comes from God, that makes it believable since God cannot lie.

IT IS PERSONAL – “abides in you”
• Your ability to understand the Scriptures is because the author of the Scriptures has taken up residence in you. That is remarkable!

IT IS SUFFICIENT – “His anointing teaches you about all things”
• Everything pertaining to life and godliness is found here.
• So far as eternal life is concerned, you’ll never need another book.

IT IS TRUE – “it is true and not a lie”
• What else can make that claim in the world today?

When God speaks (God speaks through the Bible) you can believe it!
And you should believe it.

So if you want to stand firm until the end:
Receive the word – Believe the word

3) OBEY THE WORD (28-29)

And this really gets clear here now doesn’t it.

John told us early on that “it is the last hour”
Any moment now Christ could return.

How do you want to feel on that moment when you see Him split the sky?
• Do you want to be terrified or do you want to be excited to see Him?
• Do you want to have been faithful, or do you want Him to find you a deserter?

Well, again THE COMMAND IS CLEAR:
“Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.”

It’s the same point.
• I want to have been faithful.
• I want to have endured.
• I want to be excited.

HOW?
(29) “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.”

What is the key phrase there?
“practices righteousness”

WE ARE TALKING ABOUT OBEDIENCE.
We are talking about doing what His word says.

See when we talk about endurance
We DON’T MEAN simply having a faithful church attendance record.

Certainly that is part of it.

But even think about the SECULAR SCHOOL SYSTEM.
• Just because a kid has a perfect attendance record at school doesn’t mean
they automatically get to graduate.
• There is a little something in there about grades and requirements.

When we talk about endurance
We are talking about endurance in obedience.
We are talking about the one who obeys Christ until the end.

And John here says, if you do that
You won’t have any fear of the return of Christ.

The analogy holds true.
When our kids were little if they did something wrong, Carrie would say, “Wait until your dad gets home.”

• A few hours later, I’d walk in the door, and whichever kid was the perpetrator would immediately turn white and burst into tears.
• They had not endured in obedience and my appearance was not a pleasant thing.

But what about the day when the kid did something good?
• Maybe they got a good report card or cleaned their room or baked a dessert.
• They couldn’t wait for me to get home because they knew I’d be proud.

That’s simple, but it’s true.

Obedience is necessary.
James 1:21-25 “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

In John Bunyan’s famed “Pilgrim’s Progress”
There is a moment when CHRISTIAN and FAITHFUL come across a man named TALKATIVE. It isn’t long before FAITHFUL begins to challenge this man who boasts of great Bible knowledge by asking him about the evidences of grace upon the heart.

In other words, “What are some evidences of salvation?”

The second thing TALKATIVE lists is: “Great knowledge of Gospel mysteries.”

To which FAITHFUL responds:
“This sign should have been first; but first or last, it is also false: for knowledge, great knowledge, may be obtained in the mysteries of the Gospel, and yet no work of grace in the soul.

“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2

Yea, if a man have all knowledge, he may yet be nothing; and so consequently be no child of God. When Christ said, Do you know all these things? and the disciples had answered, Yes: he added, Blessed are ye if ye do them! He doth not lay the blessing in the knowing of them; but in the doing of them. For there is a knowledge that is not attended with doing: “he that knows his Master’s will, and does it not.” A man may know like an angel, and yet be no Christian; therefore your sign of it is not true. Indeed, to know is a thing that pleases talkers and boasters; but to do is that which pleases God. Not that the heart can be good without knowledge; for without that the heart is naught: there is, therefore, knowledge and knowledge. Knowledge that rests in the bare speculation of things; and knowledge that is accompanied with the grace of faith and love, which puts a man upon doing even the will of God from the heart: the first of these will serve the talker; but without the other the true Christian is not content. “Give me understanding, and I shall keep Thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart”.
http://www.covenantofgrace.com/pilgrims_progress_talkative_and_faithful.htm

We must receive the word and we must believe the word,
But it also must accompany obeying the word.

This is John’s directive to those who are living in the last hour
And surrounded by many who fall away and would deceive us.

• Do you want to endure?
• Do you want to be found faithful at the return of Christ?
• Do you want to smile at the future?

Then receive the word, believe the word, and obey the word.

This will put you squarely on the path of endurance
That you may anticipate the return of the Lord
And not shrink away from Him when He comes.

This is how you live in the last hour.