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A Prayer Of David – Part 2
Psalms 86 (8-17)
October 18, 2020

Last week we began our study of this remarkable Psalm.
It is simply called “A Prayer Of David”

And we noted that this can seem like sort of an uninspiring title.

But when we factor in
• That David was a man after God’s own heart.
• That David was an inspiring man of faith.
• That David saw answered prayer after answered prayer.
• That David was blessed with the kingly line.
• That God never turned away from David despite his sinful descendants

It is intriguing that we have the ability to read a prayer of David.

We said that perhaps we should call this “A Routine Prayer of David”
Since it doesn’t come with any known context or situation.
It is simply the routine way in which this man of God prayed.

As we began to study it last week
We saw that the very things we are taught about prayer in the N. T.
Seem to have already been implemented by David here in the O. T.

We started looking at the first point of the Psalm last time.
#1 HIS EXPLANATION FOR APPROACHING
Psalms 86:1-10

We said, that in these ten verses David is answering two basic questions.
1) Why God should answer his prayer.
2) Why he comes to God and no one else.

We looked at those reasons David gave
For why God should answer his prayer
And what we realized is that David’s explanation
Is clearly echoed in the New Testament.

For example, David gave 4 reasons why God should answer him, and they all had to do with his attitude.

In short, David didn’t believe God should answer him
Based upon his ability to pray, or his many words, or anything like that.
It wasn’t his posture, or his eloquence,
Or his strict adherence to some orthodox code.

No, David knew that it was because of his heart before God
That God should answer.

That alone echoed what Jesus taught:
Matthew 6:7-8 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

David knew that.

Instead, David expected God to answer his prayer
Based upon the attitude with which he approached God.

Things like:
HUMILITY
(1) “Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy.”

• Isaiah taught us that the Lord dwells with the broken and contrite heart.
• The New Testament reminds that God gives grace to the humble.
• Jesus said that the poor in spirit are blessed and receive the kingdom of heaven.

David understood that.
He expected God to answer because he approached God in humility.

GODLINESS
(2) “Preserve my soul, for I am a godly man; O You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You.”

• What David was revealing here is that his desire was to serve and please God.
• He was NOT CLAIMING sinless perfection, but rather a desire to see God’s will done in everything.

And we are clearly taught in the New Testament that when
“we ask anything according to His will that He hears us”.

Jesus reminded over and over that He will answer prayers in His name
(or according to His will)

David knew that and so he expected God to answer.

PERSISTENCE
(3) “Be gracious to me, O Lord, For to You I cry all day long.”

David understood that God honors this type of faithfulness.
• We certainly remember Jesus’ teaching on the persistent widow who refused to leave the unrighteous judge without justice.
• And Jesus promised that God, who is righteous, would respond quickly to those who persist as she did.

David knew that.
He wasn’t going anywhere; he expected God to answer.

TRUST
(4) “Make glad the soul of Your servant, For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.”

• David was a saved man.
• He had surrendered his soul to the Lord.
• And thus he was justified; declared righteous; clothed in Christ.

And we are promised that “the effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.

David knew that.
And so he expected God to answer him.

But that was only half of David’s explanation for appearing before God.

The other question David answered was
Why he chose to come before God and not someone else.

We saw his first 3 reasons last time.
BECAUSE GOD IS GOOD
(5a) “For You, Lord, are good”

• Good is not a word that should be thrown around lightly.
• “Good” in the Bible means perfect, unable to be improved upon, in no need of renovation.
• God alone fits the description.
• And David says this is why he prays to God alone.

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

This is exactly why David approached God.

BECAUSE GOD IS MERCIFUL
(5b) “and ready to forgive”

• It is absolutely futile and pointless for us to approach God if He is not merciful.
• Since we are sinful, and continue to sin, we can never expect to be heard if God does not show mercy.

But David knew he could approach God
Because God forgives and hears sinners when they repent.

BECAUSE GOD IS LOYAL
(5c) “And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.”

• David went to God because he was in a covenant relationship with God.
• He had called upon the name of the Lord.
• As a result, he was saved and in a relationship with God.

And God is fiercely loyal to those He is in covenant with.

Jesus asked:
Luke 18:7 “will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?”

Certainly God will answer the prayer of those He is loyal to.
And this is why David comes to God.

David wasn’t even done giving his reasons for approaching God,
But just at those 3 he had to stop and make a statement of confidence.

(6-7) “Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; And give heed to the voice of my supplications! In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You, For You will answer me.”

Just the recognition that God is good, God is merciful, and God is loyal
Was enough to cause David to pause
And confidently state that God would answer.

Well, that’s where we left off last Sunday night.
TONIGHT WE CONTINUE.

David is not yet finished explaining
Why he goes to God and God alone in prayer.

There are 3 more reasons which David will give.
You see them in verses 8,9, &10

(8) “There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, Nor are there any works like Yours.”

David’s reasoning for approaching God here is clear.
GOD IS UNIQUE.

David comes to God frankly because no other god can do what God does.
• Has any other ever brought plagues those on Egypt?
• Has any other god ever rained manna from heaven or parted the sea?
• Has any other god been able to save?

Isaiah 44:6-8 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. ‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming And the events that are going to take place. ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.'”

Immediately following that passage you may remember that God goes on to give a scenario of a foolish man
• Who cuts down a tree,
• Chops up the firewood,
• Starts a fire and cooks his food
• And then looks at a spare chunk of wood and carves it into an idle.

It is foolishness.
No other can do what God does.
No other has His skill set.

So why would David take his request anywhere else?
GOD IS UNIQUE.

But there’s more reason why David appears before God.
(9) “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And they shall glorify Your name.”

We might say here that GOD IS INEVITABLE

We’ve read the promise.
Isaiah 45:23 “I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.”

Philippians 2:9-11 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The point David would make here is:
• Why would he spurn God in order to go to another god?
• Why would David risk offending God by crying out to some other deity?
• Why would David risk offending God by seeking deliverance from men?

David knows that sooner or later
Everything and everyone is coming to God.

Certainly when we pray, we are told to “Hallow God’s Name”
But we also understand that prayer
Just in and of itself is a form of worship.

We are submitting ourselves before One more wise
And One more power in order that He might deliver.

That is another reason David is here.
DAVID WON’T GIVE THAT GLORY TO ANOTHER.

And there is one more that David lists.
(10) “For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God.”

How else can you say it?
David comes here because GOD IS THE ONLY GOD.
• We are not in the business of praying to humans.
• We are not in the business of praying to sticks or stones or phantoms of the imagination.

Only God hears prayer.
Only God answers prayer.
So we pray only to God.

Isaiah 43:8-13 “Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, And the deaf, even though they have ears. All the nations have gathered together So that the peoples may be assembled. Who among them can declare this And proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified, Or let them hear and say, “It is true.” “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. “I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me. “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And I am God. “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

Would you really then go and pray to one who is not God?

Of course we see the foolishness in that.
• We remember those foolish prophets of Baal, leaping on the altar, cutting themselves, and babbling constantly to be heard.

But you see at the outset of this prayer,
David is giving an explanation as to his appearing.

He’s revealing why God should answer.
• Humility
• Godliness
• Persistence
• Faith

He’s revealing why he has come to God.
• You are Good
• You are Merciful
• You are Loyal
• You are Unique
• You are Inevitable
• You are God

That is David’s Explanation for appearing.
And we learn so much there regarding confidence in prayer.

When we pray, we are praying to the real, true, and powerful God
Who mercifully hears sinners and who has promised to answer
The prayer of those who approach Him the right way.

And that is David’s Explanation for Approaching.
#2 HIS SUBMISSION TO GOD’S WILL
Psalms 86:11-13

I love this prayer.
• This is the type of passage that should be painted on walls.
• This is the type of prayer that really captures the heart of Christian devotion.

Now FIRST let me just point out to you that
We are now 10 verses in and David still hasn’t listed any request.

WE STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT DAVID WANTS.
• He was first simply captivated with praise and exaltation of the God who
answers prayer.
• And now he moves to a statement of his own submission.

This is the “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” part.
This is the “Not My will but Yours be done” part.

This is where David comes to God
And reminds God what is NOT ON THE TABLE here.

Even if God doesn’t grant the request it doesn’t change these things.

(11) “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

Before he gives the request he first reminds God that
HE IS DEVOTED TO GOD REGARDLESS OF THE ANSWER.

When you present a request to God…
When you have a desire for Him to fulfill…
IT IS TRUE THAT HE MAY GRANT THAT REQUEST.
But we also know that He may have
A more sovereign and glorious purpose in denying the request.

And David leaves that on the table.

Perhaps God will give David what he asks for.
Or perhaps this will be a teaching moment for David.

Either way, David is all in.
“I will walk in Your truth”

And the acknowledgement is that
David wants his heart to be totally committed to God regardless of the circumstances.

“Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

• Those who are not devoted…
• Those who not trust…
• Those who doubt and vacillate…
James said they can’t expect to receive anything from God.

That isn’t David.
He longs to be resolute in his faithfulness to God.

He is not half-hearted.
He wants all weeds removed.
Matthew 13:22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

David wanted an undivided heart.
He wanted sincere commitment.
And he offers that to God regardless of the answer to his request.

It’s no wonder God took pleasure in answering the prayers of David.

And that’s not all.
“I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And will glorify Your name forever.”

We have often noted that the great sin of the wicked is that
They do not honor God as God or give thanks.

David certainly doesn’t want to be in their camp.
• No matter the circumstance…
• No matter the struggle…
• No matter the duration…
• No matter the answer…

David wants to be known for two things.
Gratitude and Worship.

That is a submissive heart isn’t it?
• Can you give thanks in all circumstances?
• Can you glorify God regardless of what happens?

David does.

No matter the answer:
• He’s not leaving
• He’s not growing bitter
• He’s not failing to worship

And then we see why.
(13) “For your lovingkindness toward me is great, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”

• Do you know why David will trust and be devoted no matter what?
• Do you know why David will give thanks no matter what?
• Do you know why David will worship no matter what?

Because David marvels in the value of his salvation.
God had saved him!

And if God never did another good thing for him, that’s ok,
God has already earned obedience, gratitude, and worship.

It is the sentiment of Job
Job 2:9-10 “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

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

Paul DOESN’T tell us to present ourselves to God
In hopes of what God might do.
Paul tells us to present ourselves to God
In gratitude for what God has already done.

• How much does it mean to you that God saved your soul from hell?
• How much does it mean to you that God has clothed you in the righteousness of His Son?
• How much does it mean to you that God declared you innocent?
• How much does it mean to you that you have an eternal home in heaven?

It means the world to David.
It is so important to him that he’s not going anywhere
Regardless of how God answers.

This is the submissive heart of David.

• David wasn’t seeking to manipulate or strong arm God.
• There were no ultimatums there.
• There was also no ingratitude.

You get the feeling that more important to David
Than God answering his request
Was that God knew his devotion.

David has a request for God, but…
But it was more important to David
To worship God and declare his allegiance
Even than it was to have his request heard.

Isn’t that remarkable?
• God was no genie in a bottle to be used by David.
• God was the Sovereign to be worshiped and trusted and obeyed.

David simply wanted God to know that he was devoted.
Remember that in your prayer life as well.

David’s Explanation for Approaching
David’s Submission to God’s Will
#3 HIS OFFICIAL REQUEST
Psalms 86:14-17

Well now we finally are getting to the part of the prayer
Where David actually petitions this God he loves and serves.

The request doesn’t actually come until verse 17.
“Show me a sign for good…”

That’s the request.

According to verse 14, “O God, arrogant men have risen up against me, And a band of violent men have sought my life, And they have not set You before them.”

As we mentioned, it’s impossible to pinpoint when this might have been in David’s life since he seemed to always be in this predicament.

But because these men have risen up and now surround him
David’s request is that God would “Show me a sign for good…”

• David wants God to show up.
• David wants God to interject into the situation.
• David wants God to make His will known.

But even in the request
We can’t help but pick up still on David’s WORSHIP and HUMILITY.

(15-16) “But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth. Turn to me, and be gracious to me; Oh grant Your strength to Your servant, And save the son of Your handmaid.”

Lest it ever be assumed that David views prayer
As some sort of human command to a holy God,
David is clear where he stands.

We live in a day where the word of faith movement has taught people to basically demand to God what He will and won’t do.
We are told to “speak it” or declare it or claim it.

Now look, David clearly had confidence in God,
But it is also clear that David knew who was God and who was not.

And David is still in worship and awe of God.

And then finally the request.
“Show me a sign for good, That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, because You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.”

• David wants a sign.
• David wants God to do something marvelous.

But I thought a wicked and evil generation craved a sign?

Well look again.
• David doesn’t want the sign to influence his faith. David already believes.
• David wants the sign for the sake of his enemies.

Remember this story?
2 Kings 6:15-17 “Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

When Elisha asked for God to move it was that his servant might see.
It wasn’t a sign to get God to prove himself to me,
It was for God to defend Himself before the world.

Remember Elijah’s prayer on Mt. Carmel?
1 Kings 18:36-37 “At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. “Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.”

• The request for God to lite that fire wasn’t so God could prove Himself to Elijah.
Elijah already believed.
• That request was so that God’s doubters could see and know the truth about
God.

This is where David is coming from.

Before David are evil men whom David said,
(14) “have not set You before them.”

So David asks that God would set Himself before them.

Partly so that David would be vindicated
And partly so that God would be glorified.

This was simply a prayer of David.
It was the type of prayer David prayed all the time.

And we learn so much about prayer from it.

That we can expect God to answer prayer because
• He promised to answer the prayer of the humble, the godly, the persistent, and the elect.

We can expect God to answer prayer because
• He is good, and He is merciful, and He is loyal, and He is unique, and He is inevitable, and because He is God.

We learn that prayer is not a negotiating tactic
• Where we tell God, “If You’ll do this, then I’ll do this.” No, when we pray we come before God in humility, in gratitude, in worship, and in full submission.

And we learn that the requests we present to God may certainly be for our good, but they are also for His glory.
• Asking God to do something for you that does not glorify Him is to miss the point of prayer altogether.

Hopefully then, by looking one prayer of this great man of faith,
You are encouraged now
As you approach God in your own prayer life.

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Betraying Jesus – Part 2
Luke 21:37 – 22:13 (4-13)
October 18, 2020

Well if you’ve followed along with us in Luke’s gospel
You know that last week, after two chapters explaining Jesus’ preaching, Luke has returned to his order of events.

Jesus announced
Luke 18:31-33 “Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. “For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.”

• When then saw Him approach Jericho where He gave sight to a blind man.
• We saw Him save Zaccheus and stay at his house.
• Then He traveled to Bethany where sat on a donkey’s colt and fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah that the King could come in such a way.
• And Jesus paraded into Jerusalem at the Triumphal Entry.
• He would then enter the temple and clear it.
• He then commandeered the temple to preach His own gospel there.

What we said was that Jesus was securing a crucifixion.
He had entered that city to die there.

At the end of Luke 19 we saw a frustrating tension that had emerged.

Luke 19:47-48 “And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said.”

• Jesus was teaching…
• The people were mesmerized…
• The chief priests wanted to kill Him…
• But they were powerless to do so because of the people…

From there Luke took 2 chapters to explain what Jesus was preaching.

And to show us the disdain that the religious elite had for Jesus
And the disdain that Jesus had for them.

But having concluded that section,
Luke has now returned to the chronological flow.

(21:37-2) “Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet. And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him. Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people.”

We are now right back to where we were at the end of chapter 19.
• Jesus is in Jerusalem.
• He is teaching the people.
• They are mesmerized.
• The chief priests want to kill Him.
• But they are powerless to do so because of the people.

It all reiterates that Jesus ISN’T going to die because they
Overpowered Him or Outsmarted Him or even Legally Condemned Him.

Jesus is going to die because of His own sovereign plan,
He will lay down His life for sinners.

John 10:18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

So while the religious leaders are at A TOTAL LOSS as to how they might kill Jesus, God already has a plan of exactly how it will be done.

And the plan is that Jesus will be BETRAYED

It was prophesied in Psalms 55
Psalms 55:12-14 “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together Walked in the house of God in the throng.”

It was prophesied in Psalms 41
Psalms 41:9 “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.”

And it was prophesied in Zechariah 11
Where we even saw the price of the betrayal as thirty pieces of silver.

And we asked the question: WHY DID HE HAVE TO BE BETRAYED?

There are many prophecies about the Christ in the O.T.
• Virgin Birth
• Bethlehem Birth
• Donkey’s Colt
• Crucifixion
• Resurrection

And on one hand they are all important for the simple reason that
Their fulfillment assures us that Jesus is the prophesied Christ.

But they are important for more reasons than just as proofs or indicators.
• Virgin Birth – Son of God
• Bethlehem – City of David & Humble origin
• Donkey’s Colt – the coming King
• Crucifixion- to pay for sinners
• Resurrection – to vindicate holiness

They certainly all provide prophetic proof,
But they weren’t just random events God ordained to help us spot the Christ. They all had a purpose for why God ordained them.

SO WHY A BETRAYAL?
• Why not just let Him get captured, handed over to Rome and crucified?
• Why was a betrayal part of the divine plan?

The reason is because this betrayal was a small picture of a greater reality
AND PART OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE PLAN FOR THE GENTILES

Jesus would not be captured by His enemies,
Jesus would be rejected by those He came to save (Jews).

John 1:9-13 “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 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.”

This is where the betrayal becomes significant.

We are familiar with the sovereign plan of God regarding
Not only the salvation of Israel, BUT ALSO the salvation of the Gentiles.

Isaiah 49:6 “He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

• It was never the plan of God that Jesus would save only Jews.
• He was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

But why was it that the gospel was taken to Gentiles?
It was because the Jews rejected it.

Romans 11:19-20 “You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;”

Because of Jewish unbelief (even betrayal),
They were broken off, and Gentiles were grafted in.
You see this reality continually in Paul’s ministry.

His death couldn’t just be the result of an uprising of His enemies,
Jesus had to be totally rejected by those He came to save.
Jesus had to be betrayed.

It had to be treason, treachery, and a rejection of God’s own Son.

AND LISTEN, ALL OF ISRAEL DID THAT.
Israel as a nation betrayed Him.
Israel as a nation rejected Him.
Judas is merely a picture of the nation as a whole.

He is a picture of one who Jesus CALLED, who HEARD the preaching, who SAW the miracles, and who BETRAYED and rejected Him anyway.

What Judas does on Thursday, all of Israel will do on Friday.
And this betrayal will open the door for Gentiles to be saved.

This betrayal will ALSO BE THE REASON that God will raise up for them a foolish shepherd (the Anti-Christ) to afflict them.

We looked at Zechariah 11 last week where they betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

But if you read on, their betrayal brings a consequence.
Zechariah 11:15-17 “The LORD said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd. “For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs. “Woe to the worthless shepherd Who leaves the flock! A sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His arm will be totally withered And his right eye will be blind.”

Because of Israel’s rejection of Jesus,
They receive a foolish shepherd who will afflict them during the tribulation
Until they finally turn and look on Him whom they have pierced
And are saved.

THIS IS ALL PART OF THE DIVINE PLAN
The betrayal is an integral part of God’s redemptive story.
And Judas is the embodiment of that betrayal.

So, as we said, understanding Judas is very important.
• He gives us great insight into those who are religious, but lost.
• He also gives us great insight into how God fulfills His sovereign plan through wicked men.

Understanding Judas is very important.
And that is what we began to do last week.

SO,
1. We are now back in the chronological flow.
2. We understand Jesus came to die.
3. He came to die through betrayal of the nation He came to save.
4. So that they would be temporarily broken off
5. So that Gentiles might hear the gospel
6. And Judas is the picture of that betrayal

And we are learning about Judas and why he betrayed Christ.

We saw the first point about him last week.
#1 THE CAUSE
Luke 22:3a

“And Satan entered Judas who was called Iscariot,”

I told you that in recent years Judas has started to receive sympathy among liberal theologians.
• There is the heretical “Gospel of Judas” which says he did what he did at the request of Jesus.
• There are people who now preach that he was saved in the end, primarily because he felt remorse and gave the money back.
• There are those who simply say that a loving Jesus would have saved Judas anyway.

NONE OF THOSE THINGS ARE TRUE.

Luke was very clear why Judas did what he did.
• He was not a victim
• He was not a pawn
• He was not merely misguided
• HE WAS LOST.

Like all lost people, he was a child of Satan and therefore a slave of Satan,
And therefore he did whatever Satan wanted him to do.

Judas WASN’T a saved man who fell victim to the scheme of the enemy.
• We saw that Jesus called Judas a devil back in John 6.
• We saw in John 12 that Judas was planning a betrayal before they ever even
entered Jerusalem or before Satan entered him.
• We saw that Judas was a thief even before he was a traitor.

Satan didn’t make Judas do anything he didn’t already want to do.
The will of Judas was captive to Satan as is true of all lost men.
And Judas merely became the chess piece Satan chose to use.

HE BETRAYED JESUS BECAUSE HE WAS LOST.

And it is a sobering reminder to all who PRETEND ALLEGIANCE to Jesus,
Who conspicuously hide amongst the redeemed,
That though the church may not easily identify you, Christ does.

It is NOT ENOUGH to associate with Jesus,
You MUST deny yourself and trust in Him.

“Hanging out with Jesus for 3 years did not save Judas,
And associating with the church will not save you.”

Judas is a tragic warning that even the religious
Can still be slaves and children of Satan strategically placed to do his will.

We saw that last week.

#2 HIS CRIME
Luke 22:3b-4a

“belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away…”

When we think of the crime of Judas we think of the actual betrayal.
But before there was betrayal there was apostasy.

JUDAS LEFT.

1 John 2:18-19 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. 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.”

That is exactly what Judas did.
• In Acts 1:25 Peter told the 120 that Judas “turned aside” from “this ministry and apostleship…to go to his own place.”

Judas was an apostate.
• For a time he was an incognito slave of Satan masquerading as a disciple.
• For a time he was an imperceptible imposter among the 12.
• But when the time came, he showed his true colors as an apostate.

Do you want to know how legitimate Judas appeared?

Look at the moment when Jesus exposed him as the traitor.

John 13:21-24 “When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.”

When Jesus announced that one of them would betray Him
Notice that NO ONE suspected Judas.

They didn’t say, “We knew it! Judas, we knew something wasn’t right about you.”

John 13:25-30 “He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we have need of for the feast”; or else, that he should give something to the poor. So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.”

No sooner did Jesus unmask Judas and send him out,
Than did the disciples fail to get it.

They just thought he was going to buy some groceries.

He blended didn’t he?

They had been on missionary trips with him.
Remember, Jesus earlier on had sent them out IN TWO’S.
We don’t know which disciple was paired with Judas on those journeys, but it’s obvious even that disciple didn’t see anything alarming.
• That means Judas preached
• That means Judas cast out demons
• That means Judas worked miracles
• They all were doing those things

He was an apostate imposter just waiting for his opportunity.

AND SCRIPTURE WARNS OF THESE PEOPLE.
Jude 4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Later Jude will describe them.
Jude 11-13 “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

Does that sound like Judas?

2 Peter 2:17-22 “These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

There is another fitting description.
• A man preaching freedom through Jesus while enslaved by the devil.
• A man who temporarily escaped the world to follow Jesus.
• But a man who like a dog returned to his vomit.

These are apostates and the Bible repeatedly warns of them in the church

I think John MacArthur gave the most fitting description of them
When he called them “Spiritual Terrorists”.

Like a modern day suicide bomber.
They dress like us, they act like us, they blend in with us,
Until the day they unleash their true colors and bring destruction on the church.

THE CHURCH AT PERGAMUM was rebuked by Jesus because they had apostates among them and they did nothing about it.
Revelation 2:14-16 “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.”

• Judas influenced the other disciples to complain about Mary’s act of worship when she poured the perfume on Jesus.
• These at Pergamum were also spreading their evil influence to participate in idolatry and sexual immorality.
• Jesus said, you had better do something about it or I will.

THE CHURCH AT THYATIRA was a church further down the road that revealed the devastating effects of what apostates could do to the church..
Revelation 2:20 “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”

APOSTATES ARE DANGEROUS.
• And they are not there by accident.
• They are servants of Satan, planted in the fellowship, for the purpose of
defiling and destroying the body from within.

Their crime is that they confess for a while
But eventually show their true colors by denying their Lord and Master
And bringing as many casualties as they can with them.

That is why things like CHURCH DISCIPLINE are so important.

But perhaps this helps you understand Judas.
• He WASN’T some good ole boy who just got confused for a little while.
• Judas WAS a child and slave of Satan, purposely planted among the 12 so that he might deny and betray the Son of God.

THAT WAS HIS CRIME.

His Cause, His Crime
#3 HIS CONSPIRACY
Luke 22:4b-6a

“and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money. So he consented…”

We point out again what a shocking opportunity
This must have seemed like the chief priests.

For the life of them, they couldn’t figure out how to catch Jesus,
And now HERE COMES JUDAS.
• They didn’t have to approach him…
• They didn’t have to threaten him…
• They didn’t have to torture him…

He just showed up and volunteered and agreed to do it for money.
IT WAS ALL HIS IDEA.
And we also pointed out that the thirty pieces of silver was a pathetic price.

JUDAS WOULD HAVE DONE IT FOR NOTHING.
He hated Christ.
Because he was a child and slave of Satan.
He looked for the opportunity to fulfill the passions of his own evil heart.

And so it is fitting here to ANSWER THE QUESTION
As it relates to GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY ON THIS ISSUE.

There have been many over the years who have tried to pin this back on God.

That God was somehow unjust in punishing Judas,
Since after all God ordained that the Son of Man would be betrayed.

And they would blasphemously ask, “How can you ordain for Jesus to be betrayed, and then punish the one who does what You ordained?”

So let’s examine for a moment this question.

There are actually TWO CHARACTERS in the Bible who fit this dilemma.
One is JUDAS, the other is PHARAOH.
• God, in a sense, needed both of them.
• God, in a sense, ordained both of them.

Remember Pharaoh?
• God used his stubbornness,
• And even hardened his heart for a time to make him stubborn,
• As a means of being able to demonstrate His great wrath and power through the plagues.

Romans 9:17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.”

If Pharaoh isn’t stubborn…
If Pharaoh consents to release the people…
Then we never get see God’s power in the plagues.
We never get to witness the first Passover.
We never get the story of the parting of the Red Sea.

Pharaoh’s rebellion was ordained by God
As the means through which God demonstrate His power
And glorify Himself for the salvation of Israel.

Now Judas, in many ways, fits the same mold as Pharaoh.

• Without Judas, Jesus is not betrayed.
• Without Judas, the chief priests don’t catch Him.

Judas’ betrayal was ordained by God
As the means through which God would send Jesus to the cross,
Save sinners, and glorify Himself as the Savior of mankind.

And people shout, “That’s not fair!”
“Poor Judas!”

What do we do with that?

Well, I mention Pharaoh because
UNDERSTANDING PHARAOH WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND JUDAS.

Romans 9:17-24 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”

First of all, the Scripture says that God “raised…up” Pharaoh.

What does that mean?
It means God brought this man to power.

God took a man
• Who did not believe in Him,
• Who did not trust Him,
• Who did not love Him,
• And who did not love His people,
And yet God brought that wicked man to power.

God could have simply destroyed Pharaoh
Before he ever got a chance to afflict His people,
But God had a greater purpose in store.

God would use that wicked man, to demonstrate His saving power.

God “endured with much patience” that “vessel of wrath prepared for destruction” So that He might “make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy.”

In other words, God tolerated that wicked man and let him stay alive, even bringing him to power for the purpose of showing the redeemed His glory.

And incidentally, Paul warned all of us about arguing about it.
“Who are you, O man, who answers back to God?”

And if you’ll realize it, Jesus did the same with Judas.
• He took a wicked man, a child of Satan, a slave of sin,
• But instead of destroying him, Jesus chose him to be one of the twelve,
• And endured him with great patience
• So that He might use him for a great purpose.

But even in that, there are
TWO THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BOTH JUDAS AND PHARAOH.

1. Neither of them did anything they didn’t want to do.
2. Both of them had more than enough evidence to convince them to
do otherwise.

Isn’t that true?
• God didn’t make Pharaoh hate His people, Pharaoh did that on his own.
• God didn’t make Judas hate Christ, Judas did that on his own.

• God showed Pharaoh more miracles than anyone on earth had ever seen up to that point, and still Pharaoh ignored them.
• Jesus showed Judas more miracles than anyone on earth has ever seen since, and still Judas ignored them.

Their conspiracy was used by God for His glorious purpose,
BUT IT WAS STILL THEIR CONSPIRACY.

Judas did what he clearly wanted to do
With absolutely no pressure from anyone other than his master Satan.

His Cause, His Crime, His Conspiracy
#4 HIS COMPLICITY
Luke 22:6b

“and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd.”

You see the plan.
• Judas is going to give up the itinerary of Jesus.
• Judas is going to give the map of the motorcade so to speak
• Judas is going to tell these men where they can catch Jesus and do away with Him without having to worry about the crowd revolting.

Now, by the way, that is what makes the next verses so interesting.
(READ 7-13)

You may have wondered why Jesus instituted such a bizarre and even mystical way of selecting the Upper Room.

• It was to keep Judas in the dark.
• No one, not even Judas, knew where the room was.

The reason?
Jesus wasn’t going to let Himself be arrested until after He took the Passover with His disciples.

He’s in total control isn’t He?
He won’t be arrested until He lets Judas leave
And until He goes to the well-known garden.

Don’t fail to see who is in control and sovereign in this.

But THE FINAL POINT we are making here is that
JUDAS WAS TOTALLY COMPLICIT IN ALL THAT OCCURRED.

Judas followed through.
John 18:1-3 “When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples. Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples. Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.”

How much did he hate Jesus?

And you should know that JUDAS HATED JESUS
For the same reason all lost people hate Jesus.

John 3:19-20 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”

And in this sense, though the crime of Judas is heinous,
IT IS NOT UNIQUE.

There have been thousands upon thousands of Judas’ sense that day.

Hebrews 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”

Those are people, who like Judas get every opportunity to believe.
• They get “enlightened”
• They get “a taste of the heavenly gift”
• They get to be a partial “partaker of the Holy Spirit”
• They get “a taste of the good word of God”
• They get “a taste…of the power of the age to come”

But still they fall away and choose to
“crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”

Every conceivable benefit.
Like Pharaoh
Like Judas
Like Israel.

Romans 9:4-5 “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”

But it’s not enough.

And in the end they reveal what JESUS KNEW ALL ALONG.

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

For those people, like Judas,
It would be better that they had never been born.

CHURCH THE WARNING IS SO INTENSE.
• Don’t be an imposter.
• Don’t just be a casual associate of the church.
• Don’t be a phony follower of Jesus.

Repent of your sin, beg Christ for forgiveness,
Trust in His righteousness and in His sufficient sacrifice,
And fully yield your life to Him.

There have always been imposters.
There have always been apostates.
But don’t let them be you.

Luke 22:21-22 “But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table. “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”

Download Here:

A Prayer Of David – Part 1
Psalms 86 (1-7)
October 11, 2020

To title this Psalm simply “A Prayer of David”
Makes it sound a little insignificant.
I nearly called it “The Prayer of David” to make it seem a little more important.

Yet, since the Holy Spirit inspired the heading, I decided to leave it alone.

But to allow the heading to lull you to sleep
Regarding the magnificence of this Psalm would be a mistake.

I remember the first time I heard the story of George Mueller
• Who was an evangelist in the 19th century.
• I was most impressed by the fact that Mueller decided to never ask men for
anything, but to only ask God for the things he needed.

Story after story after story is told of times
When God remarkably answered Mueller’s prayers.

The most famous is of a time when the lady running his orphanage told him there was no food for the 300 orphans. He directed the lady to seat the children at the table, he prayed and they waited. As the story is told, in a moment there was a knock on the door from the local baker who said God had woken him up in the middle of the night and urged him to bake bread for the orphanage and he was there to deliver three batches. A moment later another knock was from a milkman whose cart had suffered a broken wheel and he needed to unload the mild since it would only spoil and he gave it to the orphanage.
https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/church-history-for-kids/george-mueller-orphanages-built-by-prayer-11634869.html

I realize that over time stories can be dramatized a little,
But more than anything I was amazed by a man
Who saw no need in telling men his problems,
But simply told them to God and saw God provide for him his entire life.

Through prayer for God’s provision
• He was able to provide for over 10,000 orphans,
• Pay for their education
• And was even eventually looked down upon in society for raising the poor
above their proper status in England.
• He established 117 schools where he offered education to over 120,000 kids,
• And he never asked another human for anything.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_M%C3%BCller

Now, having told you the story of George Mueller,
If I said to you, “I have here a prayer of George Mueller”
Would you be interested in hearing how a man such as him prayed?

Of course you would.

So when I say, we have here “A Prayer Of David”
THINK THE SAME WAY.

• This is a man who is after God’s own heart.
• This is a man whom God selected to rule the nation.
• This is a man who conquered lions, bears, giants, kings, and kingdoms.
• This is a man who was the first in the kingly line of Jesus.

God never stopped blessing that line, despite the wickedness of some,
Simply because God was so committed to blessing David.

2 Kings 8:16-19 “Now in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king. He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab became his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. However, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, since He had promised him to give a lamp to him through his sons always.”

God was clearly devoted to this man who was after His own heart.

So when I tell you here we have “A Prayer Of David”
Perhaps now it brings a little more weight.

One might even consider calling this Psalm,
“The Model Prayer Of David”

Namely because this prayer DOESN’T COME WITH MANY SPECIFICS
That help us identify the context or the setting.

It is true that David recognizes arrogant opponents in verse 14,
But let’s be honest, I can’t think of many times in David’s life
When he didn’t have arrogant opponents who sought his life.

Rather than seeing this as a specific prayer to a specific problem,
I think it is better to see this as a model prayer
Which guided his prayer life in general.

Sort of like when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray.

Matthew 6:9-13 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]”

That prayer has formed a great model for our prayers.
• We see in it adoration of God,
• Submission to God,
• Petition to God,
• A request for mercy from God,
• Devotion to walk in the forgiveness that is requested,
• A prayer to be delivered from evil,
• And a desire to see God glorified in everything.

That prayer has offered us a tremendous model to follow.

Tonight, I think we are looking at David’s model prayer
And since he was a man after God’s own heart,
It comes to us with great interest.

This is how a man of God prays.

We could really outline this Psalm out nearly to every individual line.
I’m going to spare you that just so that it doesn’t get confusing.

So let’s simply break it into 3 main points and you’ll likely pick up on some of the more intricate sub points as we go along.

#1 HIS EXPLANATION FOR APPROACHING
Psalms 85:1-10

When you read those first 10 verses,
There are really two main points that David is making
As he seemingly explains to God why he has appeared before Him.

Imagine if you will,
David breaking into the heavenly throne room and God asking, “Why are you here?”

That is sort of what David is answering here in these first 10 verses.
He is explaining 1) Why he has approached God
And 2) Why God should listen to him.

And before we even get into the text,
I want you just to consider this for a moment.

Before David ever even bowed his head in prayer,
He obviously gave thought to who he was approaching.
He obviously gave thought to who it was, he was petitioning.

If you were given the right to go to the Governor’s mansion and petition the Texas Governor for something would you give any thought to the conversation ahead of time?
• Would you contemplate protocols?
• Would you formulate your argument?
• Would you explain your desires and why they should be considered?
• Would you have a plan at all?

What if you were granted to go before the President of the United States?
What if you were asked to make petition to the Supreme Court?
• Would you give thought to it ahead of time?
• Would you be able to explain why you were approaching them?
• Would you be able to explain why they should listen to you?

That is obviously a contemplation that David has already had.

Our Sunday school class saw this very thing this morning with Daniel.

Daniel 9:1-4 “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans — in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,”

Before Daniel every addressed God, he first “gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.”

He first gave thought to exactly what he was about to do,
Who he was about to approach, how he wanted to approach him,
And what he would say when he got there.

This same reality is implied in Jesus’ model prayer when he tells us to say, “Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”

He’s reminding us to give thought to who we are addressing.

David has done the same.

And having done that, David now approaches God.
• And in the first 4 verses David actually gives 4 reasons why God should be willing to listen to him.
• They are easy to spot, just look at every time David says, “for” which is another way of saying “because”

AND THIS IS REMARKABLE.
After all, it was David who penned the famous 15th Psalm where he asked:

Psalms 15 “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”

DAVID IS AWARE of the expectations that accompany approaching God,
So it is very interesting to us here
As David explains to God why God should hear his prayer.

(1) “Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy.”

He tells God why God should listen and answer and the reason David gives is that he is “afflicted and needy”.

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

Isaiah 66:2 “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

• We know that “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6)
• We heard Jesus say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)
• Peter reminded us to “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.” (1 Peter 5:6)

It is obvious that David is aware of that.
He comes to God, not with head held high, but with humility.
He comes in need.

According to this David believes that God should hear and answer him.

(2a) “Preserve my soul, for I am a godly man; O You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You.”

Some would read this and say, “So much for the humility part. If David is claiming to be godly, he obviously isn’t humble.”

That is to misunderstand what he is saying.
By calling himself “a godly man” David is NOT claiming perfection.

In a moment he will actually praise God for grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
What David IS INDICATING is that he is a “man of God” or a “man for God”.

Paul told Timothy:
1 Timothy 6:11 “But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”

Obviously Paul was not insinuating that Timothy was sinless or perfect.
Paul was reminding Timothy of the purpose of his life.

Timothy was not a man of this world, he was a man of God.
Therefore Timothy should not walk in worldliness, but godliness.

When you read 1 and 2 Timothy
You see Paul reference this concept of godliness continually.

And that is what David means.
God, you should answer me because the purpose of my life is to live for you.

Can you echo David there?
Can you come before God and say,
“You should answer me because I live for you”?

This, by the way was a criteria
By which Jesus promised our prayers would be answered.

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

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

1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

• Those whose life is devoted to God…
• Those who pray according to the will of God…
• They are told to expect that their prayers will be answered.

David certainly expects his prayers to be answered
Because of his devotion to God.

That’s why he REPEATS THAT SAME POINT twice in verse 2, the second time saying, “O You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You.”

It is the same reason stated two different ways.
• You should answer me because I live for You, I am Your servant.
• You are my Master.

• David doesn’t honor God with his lips but keep his heart far away.
• David doesn’t say things and not do them.
• David is devoted to the Lord and His will.

And because of that, he expects that his Master will be for him
And will answer his request.
Very important.

(3) “Be gracious to me, O Lord, For to You I cry all day long.”

David knows what Jesus taught in Luke 18.
Luke 18:1-8 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

You should answer me because I’m not going anywhere.
It is the faith that GOD CAN and GOD WILL.

He doesn’t go to God to see IF God can help
And then get frustrated because it has taken too long
And move on to another would-be savior.

No, David has faith, and he’s not leaving.
And because of this GOD SHOULD ANSWER,
Just as Jesus promised He would.

“will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly.”

David was banking on that reality.

(4) “Make glad the soul of Your servant, For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.”

Simply here we see David’s extreme trust for God.
God, you should answer me in this request
Because I have already entrusted to You my greatest treasure, my soul.

You remember the blind man that Jesus healed.
Under interrogation he told the Sanhedrin:
John 9:31 “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.”

The point the blind man was making was that
If a man won’t entrust his soul to God
Can he really expect God to be interested in less important things?

You WON’T trust your soul to God
But you WILL ask him to help you with money
Or with your sickness or you rebellious teenager.

It is hypocritical if you think about it.

David was no such hypocrite.
God I have entrusted all that is dear to me to You, and so I expect that You will answer me now.

James 5:16 “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

So this is David’s explanation as to why God should listen to him.
• “I am afflicted and need” (humble)
• “I am a godly man…Your servant” (submissive)
• “I cry all day long” (devoted)
• “I lift up my soul” (faith)

Now if you’ll think about it,
You see all those same attitudes in the Beatitudes.
• “I am afflicted and needy” – “blessed are the poor in spirit”
• “I am a godly man…Your servant” – “blessed are the meek”
• “I cry all day long” – “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”
• “I lift up my soul” – “blessed are the pure in heart”

So you understand why David expects God to answer.
David has approached God in a manner which God has demanded.

NOW WE FOLLOW THAT EXAMPLE AS WELL.
We are taught those very truths throughout the New Testament.
• We are told God exalts the humble.
• We are told answers the prayer according to His will.
• We are told God responds to His elect who cry day and night.
• We are told the prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.

And so we not only know how to approach God,
But also know why we can expect God to respond.

But for the New Testament believer, we have an even GREATER REASON
Why we can expect God to respond.

Because we don’t approach God clothed in our own righteousness,
But we approach Him clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

Christ is our High Priest through whom we draw near to God.

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

• The writer of Hebrews says we go with confidence.
• We go boldly.
• Because we go in Christ.

Hebrews 6:19 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,”

Christ is our anchor, and through Him, not only do we confidently approach the throne, but WE ARE ANCHORED THERE.

Through Christ we ALWAYS have access to the Father.
• Christ is seated at His right hand.
• Christ is inside the veil.
• We confidently approach God through Him.

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

Because we go through Christ,
We go with a sincere heart and in full assurance.

Do you see that assurance in David? You do.
Was that the kind of assurance George Mueller had? Yes it was.

• Men who knew God
• Men who knew the promises of God
• Men who knew the requirements of God
• Men who knew the perfection of the Savior through whom they approach

And therefore men who had no problem explaining to God
Why He should incline His ear, answer them, preserve their soul,
Be gracious, and make them glad.

DAVID IS EXPLAINING WHY GOD SHOULD HEAR HIM.
• That is remarkable.
• That is the model for how David prayed.

This is “A Prayer Of David”
Perhaps we should call it “A Routine Prayer Of David”

It gives great direction to our prayer life.

AND YET, WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED.

Because after David explains why God should listen to Him,
David moves on to his second explanation,
Which is: WHY HE CRIES ONLY TO GOD.

So supposing David entered the throne room and God said,
“Why are you here?”

Well David is going to explain
Why I keep coming to You with all my needs.

This, no doubt, is why George Mueller took his requests to God and not men.

And David is going to reveal 6 REASONS why he comes to God in prayer.
He gives 3 in verse 5 alone.

(5) “For You, Lord, are good”

There’s a word that gets WAY OVER USED TODAY.
It is the word God used when He finished creation.

Before sin stained this world:
Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

If you need a barometer by which to measure what God meant by declaring creation “good” then we only need to read the next two verses.

Genesis 2:1-2 “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.”

When God proclaimed it “good”
• He meant that it could not be improved upon.
• There was nothing left undone.
• There was nothing that needed to be tweaked or renovated or updated.

It was “good”

Jesus uses that same definition when He is approached by the Rich Young Ruler.
Matthew 19:16-17 “And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

When we are talking about “good” we are talking about complete,
Without flaw, unable to be improved, perfect, needing nothing

Often on Sunday night I’ll ask Carrie, “How were the sermons today?” Often times she says, “Good” and that usually bums me out. But now, I’m going to take it that she means they were flawless. And knowing Carrie, I’ll never get that assessment again.

But you understand here what David means
When he says “For You, Lord, are good”

I come to You because no one else is “good”.
• There is no other place to go like when I go to You.
• No one else is complete, flawless, perfect.

• Every other “savior” has a weakness…
• Every other “judge” has corruption…
• Every other “provider” has limitations…
• Every other “defender” has incompetency’s…

David gives there perhaps the best answer
Why going to God in prayer is always the best option
Over any other petition to any other person.

That’s the first reason David goes to God.

(5b) “and ready to forgive”

And David’s wording is glorious.
Not “willing to forgive” but “ready to forgive”

• God is merciful.
• God is long-suffering (patient)
• God is slow to anger.

I might add that if He weren’t we could never approach Him.
Every time we go before Him we go in need of mercy.

I love that song by Sovereign Grace Music called “Jesus Your Mercy”.
I love the line where the song says, “Jesus Your mercy is all my boast; the goodness I claim, the grounds of my hope. Whatever I lack, it’s still what I need most. Jesus Your mercy is all my boast.”
https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/jesus-your-mercy/

What a statement!
I don’t know what you think you need in life, but you should know that
YOU DON’T NEED ANYTHING MORE THAN YOU NEED MERCY.

If we believe what the Bible says when it claims:
• “There is none righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10)
• “There is none who seeks for God” (Romans 3:11)
• “There is none who does good, there is not even one” (Romans 3:12)
• “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18)
• “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
• “we too all formerly lived in the lusts of the flesh” (Ephesians 2:3)
• “we also once were foolish…disobedient, deceived, enslaved…in malice
and envy, hateful, hating one another” (Titus 3:3)

And if you believe what we read earlier in Psalms 15
That no one who is unrighteous can dwell with God.

Then you understand that
You don’t need anything worse than you need mercy.

Think about that the next time you go to God in prayer.
• What is it that drove you to your knees?
• What is your primary request on this day?

• Did you want provision?
• Did you want safety?
• Did you want your kids to make good decisions?

All of those are fine requests,
But did your request include repentance and a cry for mercy?

Even Jesus taught us to pray, “and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

You need it.
David knows that.

But he also knows that God is “ready to forgive”.
• He’s not about to approach a deliverer who has no mercy.
• He’s not about to approach a savior who holds a grudge.

I’m coming to You God
Because You are good and you are ready to forgive.

(5c) “And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.”

By now you are familiar with the word “lovingkindness”.
It is that beautiful CHECED – God’s loyal covenantal love.

IT IS NOT simply universal unconditional love for the world
As many today like to assume.
As we told the youth a few weeks ago, and as RC Sproul has so faithfully explained.

• God does have a sort of Benevolent love for all man in that He wishes “good
will” for all men.
• And God does have a sort of Beneficent love for all men in which “He sends
rain on the just and the unjust”
• But His CHECED, His loyal covenantal love, His self-satisfying love (which
Sproul calls His love of complacency) that is only for those who “call
upon” Him.

God doesn’t save all men,
But He does save all those who call upon His name.

Those who call upon Him are saved by Him
And they enter a covenant relationship with Him
Like that of a marriage.

And God is fiercely loyal to all those He is covenanted to.
We see that clearly throughout history.

God seems to go the extra mile for Israel like He does for no one else.
IT’S because of His CHECED toward them.

Well David understands that.
He knows that God is loyal to Him.
• So why wouldn’t David go to God?

SO DAVID IS SAYING:
• I’m here because You are good like no one else is good.
• I’m here because You are merciful like no one else is merciful.
• I’m here because You are loyal like no one else is loyal.

That is why he is approaching God.

And when you put it like that, it causes us to wonder
Why any of us would ever approach anyone else.

A truth like that, no longer makes George Mueller extreme,
It makes him seem like the only guy who truly gets it.

Why would you take your needs to someone who isn’t good?
Why would you take your needs to someone who isn’t merciful?
Why would you take your needs to someone who isn’t loyal to you?

This just makes sense.

Now, there are 3 more reasons why David goes to God,
And he will list them in verses 8-10.

But first David reiterates His request.
(6-7) “Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; And give heed to the voice of my supplications! In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You, For You will answer me.”

He again is asking God to answer, but do you notice the confidence there?
“For You will answer me.”

This is great!
Where do you think that confidence all of a sudden came from?
• Why, all of a sudden, in the middle of his explanation, does David bust out in this confident assertion?
• He’s going to return to listing why he only prays to God, but why pause that list to belt out this confident statement?

Can you see what listing the attributes of God
Has done for David’s confidence?

Jesus told us when we pray to begin by saying, “Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”
• Certainly we understand the necessity of praise.
• Certainly we understand the importance of honoring God as God and giving thanks.
• We get that.

But have you ever stopped to wonder the effect
That hallowing God’s name might have on you?

As you pray, when you begin to praise God
• For His goodness,
• Or His mercy,
• Or His loyalty,
• Or His provision,
• Or His grace,
• Or His care,
• Or His holiness,
• Or His justice…

As you begin to praise God for how good He is at all those things,
Does it not embolden your heart?
That you are precisely where you should be
Regarding whatever your current issue is?

Of course it does!

Why do you think Doctor’s hang their diploma or show you all the letters behind their names?
• Some may do it certainly for glory,
• But it is also meant to give you confidence that this guy knows what he is doing.

When you go to God, praise Him because He deserves it,
But you will also find that in praising Him
Your confidence in Him will soar and peace will abound.

That is what happened to David.
He hasn’t even finished listing all the great attributes of God as to why he prays to God and already David is filled with confidence that God is going to help him.

That is how you pray.

Well obviously we’re not going to get through this whole prayer tonight, we’ll pick it back up next time.
But I hope you are already encouraged by “A Prayer of David”

Download Here:

Betraying Jesus – Part 1
Luke 21:37 – 22:13 (21:37 – 22:3)
October 11, 2020

This morning we transition into another new segment in Luke’s gospel.
Or you might say we transition back to a previous one.

Having finished His sermon on the end and the coming war,
Luke now returns to the flow of the story.

In a chronological sense,
The text actually backtracks all the way back to chapter 19.

At the end of Luke 19 we read:
Luke 19:47-48 “And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said.”

In chapter 20 Luke began to chronicle that reality.
• We saw Jesus preaching the gospel in the temple.
• We saw attack after attack.
• And Jesus silenced every argument they had for Him.

• The chief priests tried to nail Him.
• The Pharisees tried to nail Him.
• The Sadducees tried to nail Him.
• No one was successful.

And then Luke related Jesus’ answer to the disciple’s question
Regarding the day He will destroy all their false religion.

But now Luke returns to the flow of events and you’ll notice that
The final verses of chapter 21 pick right back up where chapter 19 ended.

(21:37 – 22:2) “Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet. And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him. Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people.”

That’s pretty much how he ended chapter 19.
• Jesus is preaching daily.
• The people are hanging on His every word.
• The chief priests want to kill Him.
• But they don’t know what to do.

So after two chapters of explanation as to what Jesus was preaching
Luke has returned to the flow.
YOU’LL REMEMBER THAT JESUS HAS COME TO JERUSALEM
TO SECURE A CRUCIFIXION.

We have also noted that He will lay down His life ON HIS OWN TERMS,
Not the terms of the religious elite.

We’ve talked about before how the Jews often times tried to kill Jesus,
But were UNSUCCESSFUL.

Luke 4:28-30 “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way.”

John 5:18 “For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”

John 7:25 “So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill?”

John 7:30 “So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.”

John 8:20 “These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.”

John 10:39 “Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.”

We have learned throughout history that really no man is untouchable.
• We’ve seen brazen terrorists who thought themselves invincible be taken out, men like Saddam Hussein or Osama Ben Laden
• American history teaches of assassinated presidents like Lincoln or Kennedy.
• Roman history teaches of the assassination of Julius Caesar.
• The Bible recognizes the untimely deaths of men like Belshazzar, Alexander the Great, and Herod

History has seen some of the greatest and most powerful men taken out by their opponents, BUT JESUS IS ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT.

He is too much for man to handle.

John 10:17-18 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

The death of Jesus is according to the prerogative of the Father.
No man has the ability to take His life unless He lays it down.

When it happens, it will be according to HIS TIMING,
According to HIS PLAN, and for HIS PURPOSE.

So you understand the frustration of the religious leaders.

This Man has challenged them and offended them for 3 years.
• He has healed on the Sabbath
• He has exposed their hypocrisy
• He has claimed to be the Son of God
• He has now entered Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt claiming to be King
• He has cleared their temple
• He has commandeered it and is preaching His gospel in it daily
• He has escaped every death plot
• He has silenced every argument
• The people are enamored with Him

And there is nothing they can do about it.

John 11:47-48 “Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

John 12:19 “So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.”

They were stuck.
They were frustrated.

And that is the reality that Luke has now brought back to the forefront.
The religious elite want Him dead but they can’t kill Him.

Their biggest problem today is the crowd.
(2) “The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people.”

If you’ll remember this was also why they couldn’t answer Jesus regarding their rejection of John the Baptist.

Luke 20:5-6 “They reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ “But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

But it wasn’t just being killed by the crowd that concerned them.
As we read in John 11, they were afraid of starting a riot which would bring Rome into play, and they feared losing their power.

SO THEY WERE STUCK.
And they “were seeking how they might put Him to death;”

And quite honestly they didn’t know what to do.

But God had already determined how Jesus would be captured and killed.

And God’s predetermined and for-ordained plan was: BETRAYAL

TURN TO: ACTS 1:15-19

After the ascension of Jesus, Peter preached to the faithful and reminded them that “the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.”

Peter is either speaking about PSALMS 55, or PSALMS 41 or both.

Psalms 55 is a prophetic complaint by David.
• It was during the revolt of Absalom in which David had to flee.
• David’s former military strategist Ahithophel was now working for David’s son.
• Incidentally, Ahithophel would betray David and end up hanging himself

And David grieved not only the revolt, but the betrayal.

But more than just the story of David,
It was a prophetic announcement of the betrayal of Jesus.
Psalms 55:12-14 “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together Walked in the house of God in the throng.”

There was a prophetic picture of betrayal that was coming.

Psalms 41 was also a prophetic announcement of David.
Jesus Himself would reference this one during the Last Supper.

John 13:18 “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’”

Jesus referenced a different Psalm of David, He referenced Psalms 41:9

Psalms 41:9 “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.”

THE POINT IS THAT IT WAS GOD’S PLAN ALL ALONG.
He announced in the Old Testament and fulfilled it in the New Testament.

• He must be betrayed by one who ate His bread.
• He must be betrayed by one who fellowshipped with Him.
• He must be betrayed by one who was called a friend.

Jesus must identify with unjust betrayal.
Jesus must identify with the undeserved suffering of David.

Certainly we see this as part of Jesus’ preparation to be a faithful and merciful high priest.
• He knows David’s pain in betrayal.
• He knows Job’s pain in betrayal.

Job 19:19 “All my associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me.”

Jesus could identify with all who have been betrayed.
But it is EVEN MORE THAN Jesus sympathizing with us.

The betrayal of Judas symbolized the total rejection of Jesus
By those He came to save.

John 1:11 “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”

There is another prophecy which spoke to the betrayal of Jesus.
TURN TO: ZECHARIAH 11:4-14

(4-6) is a Preincarnate conversation between the Father and the Son.
• The sheep are afflicted.
• Their false shepherds are the enemy
• Jesus is to go and deliver them

(7-8) shows the ultimate defeat of the false shepherds
• Jesus humiliated them
• Jesus exposed them
• Jesus defeated them

We see that frustration right now in Luke’s gospel.

But then the story turns dark.
(9-14) reveals that the sheep He came to save also turned on Him
• He was betrayed and the price was 30 pieces of silver.
• And upon that betrayal Israel would be broken

The betrayal of Judas was symbolic of the entire nation.
• He was one who heard the preaching and teaching of Jesus.
• He was one who witnessed the miracles of Jesus.
• He was one who benefited from the blessings of Jesus.
• He was one whom Jesus came to save.

But he, like the rest of Israel, would reject this sovereign Shepherd
And betray Him on behalf of the former evil shepherds.
(Judas today, the entire crowd tomorrow)

And so Jesus is captured and killed
Not because He was evil, or outsmarted, or overpowered, or snared.
IT IS BECAUSE HE WAS BETRAYED

AND THAT IS PRECISELY WHAT OCCURS IN THE NARRATIVE.

(3-6) “And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money. So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd.”

WOW! What a turn of events!
The religious leaders must have been blown away.

This was just too good to be true.
• One of His own was actually willing to sell Him out.
• One of His own would set Him up.
• One of His own would help us capture Him when no one was around to cause a disturbance.

They must have felt like the providence of God
Was finally showing up on their behalf.

I imagine Judas walking out of the room and they all just look at each with their mouths open in disbelief that they were finally going to get what they wanted.

They would finally be able to kill Jesus.
A desire that had eluded them for 3 years.

What they no doubt had failed to realize was that
This was all a part of God’s sovereign plan.

Later in the chapter Jesus will actually say:
Luke 22:22 “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”

This betrayal “has been determined”

This is all part of God’s plan to bring Jesus to His atoning death.
He will be handed over and offered up as a sacrifice for sinners.

SO JUDAS BECOMES A REPRESENTATIVE PICTURE
OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL WHICH WOULD REJECT JESUS.

This makes understanding Judas very important.
• For in understanding him, we also understand Israel.
• In understanding him, we also understand the religious unredeemed today.

SO WE ARE LEFT WITH THE MYSTERY OF JUDAS.
Why would Judas betray Jesus?
And how do we handle such a character?

In the years immediately following the death of Christ,
• Judas received immense hatred in the historical record.
• He could not be spoken of with enough scorn for what he did.
• He was described as hideous looking and awful.
• He was painted as a man filled with maggots.
• He was seen as the ultimate of vile and detestable humanity.

His name became synonymous with treachery.
To call someone a Judas is to refer to them in undignified and treacherous terms.

In recent years, liberal theology has tried to sort of give Judas a pass.

Some of you have heard of the “Gospel of Judas”
Which the history channel tried to feature.
• It is a heretical and false gospel account,
• In it Judas is betrayed as the most beloved and faithful disciple.
• It is said that Jesus asked Judas to betray Him so that He could be killed and escape this earthly body and fulfill His role as Savior.

I read an article shared on Facebook the other day
• Where a modern day evangelical claimed to have been convicted by God for condemning Judas saying “Whom am I to say?” if he was saved or lost.

Was Judas Saved?

I saw another group of posts going around
• About a guy who got a tattoo on his arm that read “Judas ate too” indicating not only the compassion of Jesus, but also the acceptance of Judas.

Point being there has been a push to sort of minimize what Judas did.
And I understand why. By declaring Judas saved and accepted
Then really any and everyone is getting in.

The life of Judas has also been the subject of debate regarding the sovereignty of God.

For instance:
If God preordained that Jesus would be betrayed and if betrayal was necessary, can God really condemn Judas for simply doing what God foreordained him to do?

And it sparked a heretical debate.

It is a common debate regarding God’s sovereignty over salvation.
People today even see God’s sovereignty as unfair and would use it to blame lostness on God instead of sinners who reject Christ.

Since Judas is a picture of one fulfilling the foreordained purpose of God in betrayal he becomes and important discussion regarding where sovereignty fits with those who reject Christ.

SO YOU SEE WHY UNDERSTANDING JUDAS IS SO IMPORTANT.
• We have a man here who lived among the 12
• A man who preached the gospel and worked miracles
• A man who kept the money bags for the ministry
• A man who lived with Jesus for 3 years as an intimate follower
• A man totally unrecognized as a traitor by his contemporaries

And this man betrayed the Lord and though he felt obvious sorrow,
Never returned to the Lord and ultimately hanged himself.

There is an obvious thread of HYPOCRISY and DECEPTION
That must be addressed.

And I want us to do that this morning, and likely some more next week.

In verses 3-6 there are 4 points to be made about Judas as he fulfills the ghastly role as the one who will betray Jesus and bring His death into reality.

#1 THE CAUSE
Luke 22:3a

“And Satan entered Judas who was called Iscariot,”

Luke is very careful to make sure you and I
Are aware of the spiritual reality behind all of this.

• On one hand we certainly have a sovereign God who is fulfilling His word regarding the betrayal of Christ.

• But we also have the god of this world and his enmity working with all of his might to satisfy his hatred and desire to destroy Jesus.

Luke makes sure you see “Satan” here.

And here we read that “Satan entered into Judas”

It is the most terrifying demonic possession we have ever read about.
• This isn’t just a demon, it isn’t even a legion of demons.
• This is the prince of darkness.
• This is the god of this world.

Satan himself entered Judas.
Judas at this point becomes a puppet.

It brings to our mind a sobering reality that we should never forget.
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

NOW, WHAT I DON’T WANT YOU TO DO
Is to read this and all of a sudden give Judas a pass.

“Well, it wasn’t Judas’ fault, Satan entered him and did that”

Satan entering Judas was not an act against his will,
But rather in perfect harmony with his will.

Back up and see who Judas was BEFORE Satan entered him.

John 6:70 “Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?”

Jesus had pegged Judas long before Satan ever entered him.

We read
John 12:1-6 “Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.”

There we read that BEFORE Jesus and the twelve even arrived in Jerusalem Judas had ALREADY had the intention of betraying Jesus.

What you have to understand about Judas is that
He wasn’t just possessed by Satan at the end.
Judas was a child of Satan his entire life.

JUDAS WAS A SLAVE OF SATAN.

And listen, this may be hard to hear, but
EVERY LOST PERSON IN THE WORLD IS IN THAT SAME BOAT.

Those who are not redeemed (a term that means “bought back”)
Are born as children of Satan and are currently slaves of Satan.

(Don’t we remember the fall of Adam and how he sold himself to the enemy and now, in Adam we are all born in sin and death?)

All the unredeemed are children of the devil.
Romans 6:16 “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”

• You were born in Adam with a nature bent toward sin.
• And when you sinned, when you took the bait.
• You became a slave to sin.
• You became a prisoner of sin and of Satan.

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

And if you’ll remember, the crowd didn’t like the insinuation that they were slaves.
John 8:33 “They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

But Jesus was very clear.
John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”

And COINCIDING with your slavery to sin is the reality that you are of the devil.
John 8:38-47 “I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. “You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

Jesus revealed it even to these Jews.
• They were certain that God was their father and Jesus said no.
• You are of your father the devil.

They were children of Satan.
• John the Baptist called them a “Brood of Vipers” literally “sons of snakes”.

You are not born a child of God.
You must be born again to become a child of God.

Remember:
John 1:11-13 “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 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.”

Unredeemed man is not just neutral.
If you are not a redeemed child of God
Then you are still a child of the devil.

John’s epistle lays this distinction out further.
1 John 3:4-10 “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”

John gives two camps.
• Those who are redeemed by Christ.
• And those who are still owned by Satan.
• There is no third category.

And some lost man might say, “Well I don’t believe in Jesus, but I’m not a child of the devil.”

The answer is that they are and don’t know it.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Very simply put, they are deceived.

Paul’s very ministry was to rescue those who were enslaved to Satan.

When Paul gives his testimony, he recounts:
Acts 26:15-18 “And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ‘But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’”

Paul’s job was to turn men “from the dominion of Satan to God”

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

THIS IS CERTAINLY TRUE OF JUDAS,
And in reality it is true of all unbelievers.

It is not as though Judas was some devout follower of Jesus
Who just got unluckily chosen to be used by the Devil.

No, Judas always belonged to him, as do all unbelievers,
And as a slave of the evil one he became the chosen vessel
Through which Satan would work.

THE POINT IS THIS.
• No amount of fellowship with Jesus…
• No amount of listening to Jesus preach…
• No amount of witnessing Jesus’ miracles…
• No amount of being involved in the ministry of Jesus…

Could change what Judas was.

The only thing that could change Judas
Was if he would repent and place His faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Judas never did that.
Jesus called him a devil long ago.

Judas did what he did because he was a lost man.
(And all lost men serve Satan in one way or another, even religious lost men)

Did Judas love money?
• Yes, we read about him pilfering the money bag.
• We know he’ll betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

Was Judas a liar?
• Yes, he spent 3 years pretending to love Jesus, when he didn’t.
• He told people to believe a gospel that he had rejected.

Judas was a phony and a fraud.
And he was a slave of the evil one.

As to this notion of Judas being a victim?
No, he wanted to betray Jesus.

As to this notion of Judas being the favored disciple?
No, Jesus called him a devil.

As to this notion that Judas might have been saved?

No
John 17:12 “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”

Jesus called him “the son of perdition”
That is an idiom which means “one devoted to destruction”

Matthew 26:24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

John 19:11 “Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

Acts 1:24-25 “And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

Judas was lost, and Judas went to hell.

If you’re looking for the reason why Judas did what he did,
It’s because even though he pretended to be a follower of Christ, he was actually a son of the devil.

There is much more to discuss regarding Judas,
But first let’s just make the obvious point that must be made.

Judas was the primary picture of Israel.
• He was exposed to truth and rejected it.
• He was religious but lost.
• He claimed to be a child of God, but was in fact a child of the devil.

And so Judas also becomes a picture
Of those who associate with the church today,
But who do not know the Lord.

AND THE WARNING IS CLEAR.

DO NOT ASSUME THAT RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION WILL SAVE YOU.
If living with Jesus for 3 years didn’t save Judas
Then growing up in a Christian home won’t save you.

As a sinner you are slave to sin,
You are a child of the devil,
And he will use you for his own evil purposes.

The only freedom for you personally is to repent of your sin and place your faith in Christ that you might be set free and born again.

John 1:11-13 “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

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Revival: That Your People May Rejoice In You
Psalms 85
October 4, 2020

The conversation of revival is never too far from the lips of the church.
• Sometimes we talk of revivals of old and how God moved in history.
• There was a time when revivals were routinely scheduled and planned.
• Often times events that appear successful are credited with having brought revival

And then there are times like in our day today
Where the culture is shifting so quickly into depravity
That the need for revival is often spoken of.
I hear it quite often today, that America needs revival.

And I certainly agree with that.

I would point out, what is often times missed in the fact.

Revival comes from the Latin word REVIVERE (ree-vee-ve-ree)
It is “RE” which means “back”
And “VIVERE” (vee-ve-ree) which means “to live” or “life”

The word means “back to life”

So obviously before a person can be “RE-vived”
They must have first been “vived” to begin with.

I point that out primarily to make sure that everyone here understands
That it is NOT a fitting prayer to pray for America to have revival.
It IS however fitting to pray for the American church to have revival.

The unredeemed in our nation need salvation.
It is the church that needs revival.

Far too often our prayers for revival
Have more to do with the stopping of an evil culture,
But the call for revival is for the church to be brought back to life.

For example:
Revelation 3:1-6 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. ‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. ‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. ‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

That is an example of a church in need of revival.
• They were in effect dead.
• They lived on past accomplishments.
• There were only a few who weren’t soiled with the sin of the world.

• They needed revival.
• They needed to wake up.
• They needed to repent.

This is the purist form of revival.
When the church recognizes that she is the one who needs to repent.

Psalms 85 is a tremendous song about revival.
It is a great picture of the attitude and desire of true revival.

And in a day where revival is sorely needed, it is a very fitting Psalm.

We’re just going to break it down into 3 points tonight.
#1 THE CONCEPT OF REVIVAL
Psalms 85:1-3

What we read of here in these first 3 verses is merely
The Psalmists recognition of the unchanging character of God.

The Psalmist has read His history.
• He is well aware of what God has done in the past.
• And certainly it is what he is going to pray for later in the Psalm.

But before he asks for revival,
He first sets the foundation for exactly what he means.

• By revival, he DOESN’T mean economic prosperity…
• By revival, he DOESN’T mean cultural peace…
• By revival, he DOESN’T mean physical health…

Those are NOT the things the Psalmist has in mind.

He mentions things like
“restoration” “forgiveness” “atonement” “propitiation”

Rather, by revival what the Psalmist is talking about
IS A RECONCILIATION WITH GOD.

He knows that is the problem.
• God is angry.
• God has been offended.
• God’s wrath abides.

And until that situation is settled, none of the others will either.

Fortunately the Psalmist knows
THAT GOD HAS FIXED SUCH PROBLEMS IN THE PAST.

“O LORD, You showed favor to Your land;”

What do we call that; when God shows favor that is undeserved or unmerited?
• We call that grace don’t we?
• Some even define it as “God’s unmerited favor”.
• It is when God does something for you that you do not deserve.

Ephesians 2:1-6 “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), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”

God’s favor given to those who did not deserve it.
And the Psalmist says we know You have done this in the past.

Not only that:
“You restored the captivity of Jacob.”

That would be a deliverance from calamity or from consequences.

• Many here see this verse and assume the Psalmist speaks of the return from Babylonian exile, but that is unlikely.
• If that were in view, he would have referred to them as Judah, not Jacob.
• But the reality is that God has “restored the captivity of Jacob” countless times.

Go read the book of Judges.
Judges 3:12-15 “Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and defeated Israel, and they possessed the city of the palm trees. The sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. But when the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.”

• Ehud was the “James Bond” type judge who snuck into the upper room chamber and stabbed the king and escaped out the window.

Judges 6:7 “Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the LORD on account of Midian,”

• And then God raised up Gideon

Judges 10:10 “Then the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.”

• And then God raised up Jephthah

There is story after story after story of times when God
“restored the captivity of Jacob” and saved them from their calamity.

They didn’t deserve deliverance.
They had rightly brought this hardship on themselves.
But God in His grace, restored them anyway.

“You forgave the iniquity of Your people;”
• Forgiveness is often spoken of us “refusing the right to punish”.
• My how many times God has done that.

Psalms 103:10 “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”

God had the right from the fall to condemn the entire human race,
But He is instead forgiving.

Instead, God treated someone else as they deserved to be treated.
“You covered all their sin.”

That speaks of atonement.
• It is where God poured out His wrath, which they deserved, on an object of sacrifice.
• Certainly it is a picture of Christ and what He did on the cross.

Time after time Israel sinned and deserved condemnation,
But God in His grace forgave them
And accepted a substitute on their behalf.

Romans 3:25 “Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;”

All the wrath for the sins of Israel, God poured out on Christ.

He took sinful people, who deserved condemnation
• And instead showed them grace,
• Delivered them from their consequences,
• Chose not to punish them for their sin,
• And poured out His wrath on a substitute instead.

This is a very fitting place to insert the “Selah”
Since such a deed must be pondered.

This is where you would ordinarily stop the song
And partake of the Lord’s Supper.

And one has to marvel just for a moment in the statement, “all their sin”
For if God had only covered most of it, they’d still be in trouble.

It was simply a marvelous gift of grace that God time after time
Poured out upon His people.

And the result:
(3) “You withdrew all Your fury; You turned away from Your burning anger.”

Was God angry? Yes
Was God furious? Yes

But He satisfied that anger, by pouring out His wrath on a substitute,
Thus forgiving His people, restoring their captivity,
And showing them undeserved grace.

We call that propitiation.
• It is appeasement.
• It is placation.
• It is satisfaction.

His anger was gone.
We understand that.

Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

We love everything about those first 3 verses.
They are a perfect description of the grace of salvation
Which God’s people have received.

And the Psalmist is recognizing that God did that very thing many times over for the children of Israel.
• We saw God do it for Abraham, for Isaac, for Jacob
• We saw God do it for Moses and the children in Egypt
• We saw God do it for Joshua and the armies of conquest
• We saw God do it often throughout the period of the Judges

It is just who God has been for Israel.
He has been a gracious God
Who restores, forgives, atones, and turns away from anger.

But for the Psalmist IT IS MORE
Than just a verse of praise for what God has done.
These 3 verses represent the hope of the Psalmist.

Certainly he is rejoicing in what God has done, but more than that,
The Psalmist wants God to do it again.

What God has done before, may He do again.

These 3 verses are the Psalmists concept of what revival looks like.
• Revival for him is when God shows grace that is undeserved.
• Revival for him is when God restores His people from their calamity.
• Revival for him is when God forgives the iniquity of His people.
• Revival for him is when God atones for the sin of His people.
• Revival for him is when God turns away from His burning anger.

That is his concept of revival.

When he asks for revival, it’s not just about
God stopping the wicked or God restoring peace and blessing.

When asks for revival, he means reconciliation with God.

And based upon that, he now moves forward.
#2 THE CRY FOR REVIVAL
Psalms 85:4-7

The first two words tell the story.
“Restore US”

What You’ve done before, do again.
• “Restore US, O God of our salvation.”
• “And cause Your indignation toward US to cease.”

What You did for them so many times in the past, now do for us.
• We are a people in need of grace.
• We are a people in need of restoration.
• We are a people in need of forgiveness.
• We are a people in need of atonement.
• We are a people in need of peace with You.

Not only is it a humble plea to God, but it is also
A tremendous recognition that ONLY GOD CAN PROVIDE IT.

There is no other means of restoration.
There is no other means of deliverance.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, there is no hope at all
That America will be delivered through political means.

There is no hope whatsoever that the government can fix anything.
• Donald Trump cannot save America.
• Joe Biden cannot save America.

Perhaps one of them can save the economy,
But they cannot produce peace with God.
There is but one hope, that has always been God.

And let me point out something else that is often overlooked.
The Psalmist prays, “And cause YOUR indignation toward us to cease.”

I hear mentioned often in our day that God will judge America.
(I think by that people mean that God will take away or comfortable lifestyle)

TURN TO: ROMANS 1:18

(18) “The wrath of God IS revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

And it’s because
“even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God.”
You know that.

But what does it look like when God’s anger breaks out against a people?
What does it look like when God’s judgment falls on a people?

• Poverty?
• Nuclear attack?
• Natural Disaster?

How would we recognize if we were under the wrath of God?

Well Paul said God’s wrath “is revealed”.
How?

(24) “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity…”

He speaks of idolatry where people worship the creature over the Creator.

If idolatry exists, it does so because
God has allowed it to exist to the detriment of those who practice it.

What else would God’s wrath look like?
(26) “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions;”

You know he is referring to homosexuality.
That which produces the due penalty of their error.

What else would God’s wrath on a land look like?
(28) “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind…”

Ultimately to do improper things.

God’s wrath is not only revealed in what He does to a nation,
But at times also by what He allows.
He allows people to have their sin and the consequence of that sin.

God IS judging America.

BUT THIS IS ALSO BIGGER THAN AMERICA.
We are talking about God’s displeasure with His people (the church)

What would some signs of that be?
How about:
Amos 8:11-12 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. “People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.”
How about:
2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

Our Sunday school class this morning
• Studied Daniel 8 and how the apathy had grown so great in Israel as to the burden of worship that God allowed them to lose public worship for 6 ½ years.

I see in America where
• To so many Christians attending corporate worship is such a hassle and burden and think it would be fitting if God allowed for us to lose the freedom of it.
• To so many Christians Bible preaching is not preferred.

THE PSALMIST COULD SEE THAT – GOD WAS ANGRY WITH THEM.

So the Psalmist asked:
(5) “Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?”

That isn’t an accusation against God as though He has been angry too long.
• No, the Psalmist is merely pointing out that God has the right to be angry as long as He wants, but the Psalmist hopes He won’t.

God has been merciful in the past, the Psalmist hopes He will now too.
That God will allow His anger to subside.

And then here comes the million dollar cry.
(6) “Will You not Yourself revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?”

I want you to see the result or consequence of revival.
• He doesn’t want revival so that we can return to our preferred level of comfort.
• He doesn’t want revival so that we can enjoy life in peace and safety again.

WHAT IS THE REQUEST?
“That Your people may rejoice in You”

Revival is NOT for the purpose of producing comfort.
Revival is for the purpose of rejoicing in God.

I see in our world today a church that is grieved by society.
• We see homosexuality
• We see abortion
• We see rioting and protesting
• We see media deception
• We see political corruption

So we hear a lot about praying for revival.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

That is prayed over and over.
God heal our land!

But often times I fear that the request is SIMPLY A CRY
For God to let us get back to our American way of life that we miss.

THAT IS NOT A CRY FOR REVIVAL

A prayer for revival is a prayer for satisfaction in God.

Even in that famous 2 Chronicles 7:14 did you notice what they were told to seek?

“seek My face”
(not seek a better land)

And incidentally, let me point this out as well.
We think of God healing our land as God healing America.

That is not a proper application.
Israel was the covenant people of God, so in a sense to heal their land was to heal where God’s people dwelled.

If you want a more appropriate understanding,
TODAY IT WOULD BE FOR GOD TO HEAL HIS CHURCH.

This is the prayer for revival.

Until the church wants God more than stuff or comfort
There will be no revival.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”

Remember Asaph?
• He was grieved because he didn’t have “stuff” like the wicked did.
• When God finally brought him to repentance, his entire prayer changed.

Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”

He isn’t looking for the world anymore, he only wants God.

You are familiar with Paul’s great statement in Philippians 3.
• Remember, how he lost all things in order to gain Christ.
• I count them but rubbish Paul said in order to gain Christ.
• I just want Christ.

Do you remember how he ended the chapter?
Philippians 3:17-21 “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

Paul told the Philippians to follow his example because there were many,
Even those who associated with the church, who did not.

• They were people who didn’t want Christ, they just wanted the world.
• They wanted full bellies and earthly things.
• And Paul said they were enemies of Christ.

This is what it means to seek revival.
IT IS TO SEEK REJOICING IN GOD.

We’ve been reading the ending of Ezekiel
In our Sunday night scripture readings,
And I know to you it is incredibly boring as we read the intricate measurements of the temple.

You want me to tell you why it was a big deal to them?
• Because they had just witnessed God leaving their temple.
• And they had just witnessed Babylon burning their temple to the ground.
• These people lost God and their access to God and it was catastrophic.

But God gave Ezekiel a great vision of a rebuilt temple, and the real joy is coming in the last verse of the book.
Ezekiel 48:35 “The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘The LORD is there.'”

That is what it means to cry for revival.
• Until that happens…
• Until the church wants Christ…
• Until the church just wants God and not the world…

THERE WILL BE NO REVIVAL.
The Psalmist wants God.
(7) “Show us Your lovingkindness, O LORD, And grant us Your salvation.”

I’m quite certain the American church wants the wicked to stop,
But I’m not sure the American church wants God more than anything else.
Until we do, there is no revival.

The Concept of Revival, The Cry of Revival
#3 THE CONDITIONS OF REVIVAL
Psalms 85:8-13

We love how the Psalmist begins this segment WITH CONFIDENCE.
“I will hear what God the LORD will say; For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones.”

Where does He get this confidence?
• Namely that God is unchanging, and who He was, He still is.

But notice the Psalmist, as he waits for God,
Has very pointed instruction to the people.

“But let them not turn back to folly”

The word for “folly” there is KICLAH (kiss-lah)
It literally means “stupidity”

Don’t let the church back to doing stupid things,
Like operating without a desire for God,
Or seeking the world more than seeking God.

We don’t ask for revival just so we can get back to life as we wanted it.

“let them not turn back to folly”

(9) “Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him”
It is that reverential awe.

Those who fear God…
Those who respect God…
Those who honor God…
His salvation is near to them.

HE GIVES REVIVAL TO THEM.

And again, we see the great benefit of revival
“That glory may dwell in our land.”

THAT GOD MAY RETURN!
(And again, when you see “land” think church)

That God may return to our church!
We are talking about an atmosphere
Were God is desired, respected, and welcomed.

Ephesians 3:17 “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,”

He wasn’t talking about Christ moving into their hearts as in salvation, but rather that Christ would “settle in” in their hearts; that Christ was welcomed there; that Christ was honored there.

Remember, this was the problem of Laodicea:
Revelation 3:17-20 “’Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

• They didn’t desire Christ.
• They didn’t even think they needed Christ.
• He was outside knocking to come in.

THAT IS THE ISSUE HERE.
• That Christ is sought, adored, loved, desired, respected.
• That He is the chief aim of the church.
• That His glory and His good pleasure matter more than anything else.
• That our chief concern in all things and every time we gather is that Christ is pleased.

That is the idea of revival.
• You matter more than anything.
• I was stupid to think my will or my desires were important.
• I was stupid to think the world could satisfy.
• You matter more
• We desire You, we honor You
• Please be satisfied in us.

And the Psalmist goes on.

(10) “Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”

• “lovingkindness” (CHECED) and “truth” are linked.
• “Righteousness and Peace” are linked.

You don’t get one without the other.

The notion of praying for peace without seeking righteousness
Is ridiculous.

He continues, explaining this
(11) “Truth springs from the earth, And righteousness looks down from heaven.”

The word “truth” there can also be translated “faithfulness”
Which is a better fit here.

And notice the two times the word “from” is used.

According to the Psalmist where should “truth” or “faithfulness” come from? “earth” (us)

WE GIVE TO GOD FAITHFULNESS.

And where should righteousness come from? “heaven”

GOD GRANTS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

And then he says it a 3rd time to make sure you get it.
(12) “Indeed, the LORD will give what is good, And our land will yield its produce.”

When you read “produce” there, think fruit; as in righteousness.
It comes from God.
We produce it, when God gives it.

And so what is the point of the Psalmist?
We want peace.
We want God’s favor.

But it only comes when we are righteous.
And righteousness only comes from God.

And He only gives it to those who sincerely seek Him and fear Him and desire Him.

(13) “Righteousness will go before Him And will make His footsteps into a way.”

Again, He is the giver of righteousness.
He makes the way.

I hope you see the point,
We had run through these last verses sort of quickly.

But you have here a great point by the Psalmist.
• The cry of revival is a cry for God.
• The conditions of that cry are that we desire Him and we are devoted to Him.
• And when He comes the righteousness which produces peace comes with Him.

Does that make sense?
If you want revival, get your mind off of all the ways you want America to change.

And look into your own heart and ask yourself
If you want Christ more than anything else?

To pray for revival but to only want better circumstances
To go back to a life of apathy is not a prayer God is going to grant.