PONDERING... Have You Been Rescued? (Psalm 15)

VIDEO

Have You Been Rescued? (AM Sermon Notes)

VBS FAMILY DAY 2018

GIST: You need rescued, and then you need to live like you’re rescued.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 15

Today is an exciting day for me; it’s our VBS Family Day. For the past three days, we’ve had kiddos out here learning about Jesus and His plan to rescue us. Today, we’re celebrating all they have learned together during the service, and will continue to do so in our block-party immediately following.

Given that context, I’m once again blown away by the passage we’re coming to again this morning. For those of you who are visiting, we have been doing a summer study in the book of Psalms. I didn’t plan for the passage to fall on this particular date. We just started at chapter one and have been moving forward. Nonetheless, not only does this passage directly connect to the VBS theme for this year, but it is also mercifully short ☺️!

"1 O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; 3 who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved."

I don’t want to muddy the waters here by over explaining. This psalm addresses the qualifications for being saved, for entering God’s presence. And when you read them, it should be clear that...you don’t meet the requirements. And that’s the gist for today: You need rescued, and then you need to live like you’re rescued. Let’s dive straight in.

I. YOU NEED RESCUED

The psalm opens with→ The Central Question Of Life."1 O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” This is another example of emphasizing parallelism where both questions are really the same: “Who can come into Your presence, God?” We should be asking this question because we were made for this purpose.

The answer follows immediately, but it really seems like→ An Impossible Standard.  And this standard covers the major aspects of life: conduct, speech, relationships, values, commitments, and finances. Truthly, we could spend an entire message camping out on each of these. However, I promised this would be brief, so let’s take the big picture.

Conduct. “2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right” This addresses how we...act, what we do. The standard is purity. Both clauses mean the same thing. If you walk free of blame it can only be because you’re doing...what is right.

Speech. “and speaks truth in his heart; 3 who does not slander with his tongue” There are two things here. 1) The words that come out of our mouths are uplifting. We don’t slander. Which means gossip--which is a vile and contagious disease--doesn’t drip from our lips. We don’t waste our words with complaints and bitter criticism. Instead, we use our words to build others up and point them to Christ!

I love this because not only does it talk about having wholesome speech, but it addresses the key to wholesome speech which is a wholesome heart. That’s the second thing I want to point out. 2) Not only does this person say good and uplifting things, but they mean them. These uplifting words come from the heart.

Relationships. “and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;” I feel like this one is connected to the speech criteria, as well. It deals with our interactions with people. The word used here for “reproach” implies a very serious kind of shaming. This is stripping someone of reputation. So, this person, doesn’t do things that will deliberately hurt the people around them, be that physically or emotionally, and they look to build others up instead of tearing them down...or believing the worst about a person.

Values. “4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD;” This alludes to what or who we look up to, the characteristics we value. What is it about a person that gains our admiration? Is it their popularity, or their walk with God? Regardless of what kind of influence a person may or may not have, we should honor those who love God, not those who live trapped in sin. If you want a real-world application here, think about the kinds of lives many of our “celebrities” live.

Commitments. “who swears to his own hurt and does not change;” This one is a strong statement too. It means this person keeps his or her promises...even when it’s inconvenient...even when it hurts. If you’ve made a promise, but something “better” comes along, or you realize keeping this commitment will put you out, or eat up time you’d rather use doing something else, you still keep the promise.

Then, the last set of clauses deals with→

Finances. “5 who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent.” In the Old Testament these both were references to not taking advantage of people. This isn’t an anti-banking statement. Loans at this time were only given as a means of helping someone out, so taking interest against them was contrary to that purpose. So the implication here is that this person doesn’t just look out for themselves with their financial endeavors, but seeks to use their money to serve the Lord and help others.

So, that’s the standard. How do you measure up? How honoring to God are your conduct, speech, relationships, values, commitments, and finances? We don’t meet this standard. So, what is this saying? Can no one ever enter into God’s presence? →

Enter: The Rescuer! That is why Jesus came, right? We are sinful people in need of a Savior, and Jesus is just that! This week, we talked about this with the kids. One night, we took a walk down the “Romans Road”. At one of the stops, we read Romans 5:8, which is one of my favorite verses, “8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We deserve Hell, but Jesus came, God in the flesh, and lived a perfect, sinless life. He met this standard. Still, He died in our place, and took our punish, enduring Hell for us, so that anyone who calls on His name and gives Him control will be saved! His purity then covers us!

II. AND THEN YOU NEED TO LIVE LIKE YOU’RE RESCUED

So, we see that we need to be rescued, but that’s not the only thing we see here. Just saying that this standard is high and leaving it at that would do this passage a disservice. It would also do all of us a disservice because it would leave us with the mentality, which is sadly very common, that sin is just something we’re stuck with, so as long as we’ve said we’ve given Jesus control and then maybe go to church fairly often, we’re good. But that’s not where this passage leaves us.

This might seem like an impossible standard, but it’s also→ A High Expectation.  “He who does these things shall never be moved." (emphasis added). We’re expected to do these things. This might seem like an impossible mission, but look at what Jesus told His disciples when they came to the same conclusion: “26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”(Mark 10:26-27) God does the saving. He stands in our place, and He changes our hearts. Though we will never perfectly meet this standard this side of Heaven, there will be a change! I think this is so important to point out because there are many people who say a prayer or have some kind of emotional experience and then live the rest of their lives exactly like they did before. They aren’t more like Jesus. They aren’t producing any kind of fruit, but they think they’re fine. They’ve got that base cover, that box checked. But if there is no change, there is no salvation. Remember what James said in James 3? “17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” It’s not real faith if it does not result in a heart transformation! There should be a difference made in your conduct, speech, relationships, values, commitments, and finances.

The verse says doing these things will result in→ Not Being Moved. Why? Because you have entered the holy hill! You’ve been rescued and are protected by Him!

TAKEAWAYS

1. You cannot be “good enough” to be saved. You need to be rescued. And→

2. Jesus died and rose again to save you! He died to rescue you.

3. When you give Him control of your life, there should be a change. If you’re rescued, you should live like it!

PONDERING... Created For God (Romans 11:36)

Created For God

Charles H. Spurgeon said the following concerning this verse: “Our great God alone can expound this verse for He only knows Himself and He only can worthily set forth His own perfections. Yet I am comforted by this reflection that maybe, in answer to our prayers, God Himself may preach from this text this morning in our hearts. If not through the words of the speaker, yet by that still small voice to which the Believer’s ear is so well accustomed. If thus He shall condescend to favor us, our hearts shall be lifted up in His ways.” I pray the same.

GIST: The Church believes and has been changed by these truths about Jesus: everything is from, through, and to Him.

SCRIPTURE: Romans 11:36 (But, let’s read back to verse 33 just for a little immediate context.)

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,

   or who has been his counselor?”

35 “Or who has given a gift to him

   that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

This weekend at Vacation Bible School, we’ve been focusing on how we are “made by God and built for a purpose”. As I prayed about what to talk about this morning, this verse popped into my mind. Not only is it an awesome picture of who God is--which happens to fit perfectly into the theme of our Maker Fun Factor VBS--but it also connects to the conversations we’ve been having on Sundays about what the Church is supposed to be like. The Church believes and has been changed by these truths about Jesus: everything is from, through, and to Him.

This verse is packed. I don’t feel like I can even begin to scratch the surface of all that is expressed in this one line of Scripture, but pray even this brief discussion will spur us to love Jesus more fully.

1. BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THESE TRUTHS

In The Context Of Salvation. Leading into this doxology, Paul has been talking about salvation. Specifically, he has been discussing how all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, can be saved only through Jesus. He emphasizes this with this marvelous statement about the depth of His riches and wisdom and knowledge (which I wish we had time to break down a bit, but do not), pointing out His majesty and our need (we don’t have these qualities). That’s the context of this passage, and it’s the context of our lives. I’ve said this a million times, and hope to say it millions more; we are all sinners deserving of Hell and in need of a Savior. Jesus chose to come and die for us to provide that salvation. “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).  If you’ve been a Christian for 50 years or are only hearing this for the first time, this is the most important truth I can tell you, and it’s echoed in these three prepositional phrases.

From Him Are All Things. He is the source of… everything. Genesis 1:1 starts with these four words: “In the beginning, God…” Then, we’re given the account of all creation. Before this world was made, there was only God. Without Him, there is nothing. Oh, how contentious this claim can sound in our world today! Yet, this truth is central to who God is, and understanding it is central to understanding our place as His creations.

Through Him Are All Things. Now, this phrase might just seem like a subtle restatement of the previous, but this is a key point. Everything is from God; He is the source. Everything is through God; He is the cause. This is both deliberate and continual. If we stopped with from, it would be easy to distance ourselves from God. He is not simply the starting point or substance everything sprang from; He made it happen...on purpose. I am not a super chef, but my wife is, and I attempt to assist her in the kitchen. Now, if she’s making a cake, she’ll put her wet and dry ingredients in a bowl and mix them, then bake them...etc. When the cake is finished, you could say that it came from those ingredients. But the ingredients themselves had no intentions of making a cake; Melissa did. They were the substance. She was the cause.

Jesus is not only the substance of all we see, but Himself the cause. He made this world on purpose; He made you on purpose; and He chose to die for you to save you from your sin...on purpose. This is love. This is grace. This is why we’re here. God, without whom there is no life, deliberately made you. And though you are a sinner--and we are; we cannot even live up to our own standards, let alone God’s--He died to save you. “8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Furthermore, Jesus is not only the original source and cause, but the continual. Spurgeon puts it like this “all things are through Him. Let but God withdraw the emanations of His Divine power and everything would melt away as the foam upon the sea melts into the wave which bore it! Nothing could stand an instant if the Divine foundation were removed.” Creation cannot continue without God’s hand. This is true of us spiritually, as well. Jonathan Edwards famously explained this in his often misrepresented sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”: “"You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but don’t see the hand of God in it, but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it." It is by the grace of Jesus alone that we are not all in Hell at this very moment.

To Him Are All Things. There is so much energy spent in this world trying to determine our purpose. Why are we here? What should we be doing? How can our lives have meaning. And until we embrace this truth, all of our energy will be spent in vain. Jesus is the meaning of life. King Solomon was one of the wealthiest and most prosperous kings in antiquity. He had everything life could offer. Yet, when he wrote his reflections on life in Ecclesiastes, he clearly proclaimed: everything this world has to offer is meaningless. Then, he closed with these thoughts: “13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Everything is from Him, everything is through Him… where else are you going to find meaning? We are made for Him. Period. If we’re looking for meaning in anything else, it simply will not be found. I’ve put it this way before: nothing in this world can carry the weight of your worth and purpose. Define yourself by position, or family, or friends, or wealth, or abilities… and you will be let down. These are all transient and unfaithful. The God who died to save your soul is not.

2. WE’LL BE CHANGED IN THIS WAY

These truths are fundamental, and as a Church, we should embrace them. When we do, our lives will be changed. And we see that change reflected in this closing statement: “To him be glory forever. Amen.”

We Will Give Him Glory. I know glory is a word that can have negative connotations. A lot of times, when we think of someone getting glory, we associate it with being praised for something done well. If someone wants glory, we view that as arrogance. Therefore, it’s really hard for us to hear statements like “we’re meant to give God glory” and not assume pride is somehow at play. Here’s the deal. In a human context, glory is almost always circumstantial. Think about classic knight tales--quests in search of glory. The knight wants his fame to be known across the land, so he rescues a princess, wins a tournament, or slays a dragon in pursuit of this cause. And that is exactly how man's glory works. There is some deed, or title, or reputation for which we receive honor or praise. Some of these acts are truly worthy ones (an upright reputation or a deed of valor). Others are not (family names, financial standing, popularity). Either way, this standard is fickle.

In God, however, there is a difference. Men receive glory when the they do something deemed worthy of praise. God by nature is always worthy of ultimate praise. God's glory, therefore, is a full revealing of His character. (See notes on John 13). So when we say we’re living to give Him glory, we aren’t making Him something He’s not, or ignoring His faults and praising the good He sometimes does; we are living to make Him known. In fact, this is where Paul goes next in the letter. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). Everything about our lives should point people to the God who is the entire point of our lives and theirs.

Forever. And we will do this every day of our lives here and for all eternity. I think sometimes we hear statements like this and, if we’re a Christian, try to fight the urge to consider them boring, and if we’re not...well we just call them boring straight up. But, if God really is who His Word tells us He is, then we will never get tired of living like this. “22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Amen. We say this word a lot. It means “it is true”, or “let it be so”. And so should this be of our lives if we are truly saved. We cannot say we are believers and not embrace these truths and live for Jesus anymore than Chris Myers can claim to be vegan and continue to live on his all-meat diet. There will be a change. “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

TAKEAWAYS

1. You were made by God...on purpose. This was the whole point of night one of VBS: You were created for a relationship with God. There are so many hurting in this world. They need to know this truth. We need to know this truth.

2. You were made for God...that’s your purpose. One of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes is from Mere Christianity where he says, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I  was made for  another world.” You will find your worth in no one and nothing else. For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things.

3. Do you know these truths? You need Him. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

4. Have they changed your life? Having information in your head that does not penetrate your heart, will not save you.  Have you let God make the difference?

RESOURCES:

1. I am indebted to this sermon by Dr. Steve Lawson for expanding my understanding of these verses. If my outline in any way resembles his, it is because his was better. I want to give credit where credit is due here: Check out the message by clicking this link!
2. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Sermons: 1, 2, 3
3. Spurgeon on Romans 11:36 I did not stumble upon this message until Saturday, but benefited from its reading.