ht: God’s Way Works
Days of trouble come. To all of us. Maybe you’ve experienced a day of trouble or a night of restlessness recently and can painfully relate to Asaph’s personal anguish in Psalm 77. Here’s a sampling:
- In the night my hand is stretched out without wearying (77.2)
- My soul refuses to be comforted (77.2)
- I moan (77.3)
- My spirit faints (77.3)
- My eyelids are open (77.4)
- I am so troubled that I cannot speak (77.4)
- “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?” (77.7)
- “Has God’s steadfast love forever ceased?” (77.8)
- “Are his promises at an end for all time?” (77.8)
- “Has God forgotten to be gracious?” (77.9)
- “Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” (77.9)
Days of trouble come. To all of us. But here’s the question: where do you turn in days of trouble? On what do you meditate during nights of extreme restlessness? Asaph encourages us to remember. Listen to his battle plan when he found himself in the grip of doubt and despair:
_______________Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
____________________to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
_______________I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
____________________yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
_______________I will ponder all your work,
____________________and meditate on your mighty deeds.
_______________Your way, O God, is holy.
____________________What god is great like our God?
_______________You are the God who works wonders;
____________________you have made known your might among the peoples.
_______________You with your arm redeemed your people,
____________________the children of Jacob and Joseph.
_______________When the waters saw you, O God,
____________________when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
____________________indeed, the deep trembled.
_______________The clouds poured out water;
____________________the skies gave forth thunder;
____________________your arrows flashed on every side.
_______________The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
____________________your lightnings lighted up the world;
____________________the earth trembled and shook.
_______________Your way was through the sea,
____________________your path through the great waters;
____________________yet your footprints were unseen.
_______________You led your people like a flock
____________________by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Days of trouble come. To all of us. The next time you experience a day of trouble or a night of weary restlessness, think of Asaph. Read Psalm 77. And remember. The God who worked wonders in the lives of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Deborah, Gideon, Samson, Samuel, David, Nehemiah, Esther and Daniel continues to reign. His right hand is still mighty. He is everlastingly faithful and holy.
In the day of trouble and night of restlessness, turn off the television, log off of the Internet, and use your Old Testament to appeal to the years of the right hand of the Most High. Remember his wonders of old. Meditate on his mighty deeds. He can use those ancient accounts of deliverance, conquest and victory to break the grip of doubt and despair in your life, if you will remember, meditate and appeal.
A thought-provoking question from Ray Ortlund:
Congratulations to the entitled, for they grab what they want.
Congratulations to the carefree, for they shall be comfortable.
Congratulations to the pushy, for they shall win.
Congratulations to the greedy, for they shall climb the food chain.
Congratulations to the vengeful, for they shall be feared.
Congratulations to those who don’t get caught, for they shall look good.
Congratulations to the argumentative, for they shall get in the last word.
Congratulations to the popular, for this world lies at their feet.
The gospel of Jesus is more than a few handy tips for improving our lives this week. It is a new outlook on everything, with a glorious future, through his death and resurrection. But Jesus is not the only one making us promises. The world has its own version of events, its own eschatology, its own promises of reward. We must choose. And either way, we will be living by faith.
But have you ever met one person who believed this world’s unBeatitudes and came to the end a satisfied, radiant, wise person? Even one?
It’s not uncommon to hear people say things like, “I want Jesus, but not the church.” “I’m spiritual, but not religious.” “I’m interested in the Bible, but not in organized religion.”
One of the goals of this sermon is to help you grow in your love for and commitment to the local church. Why is this difficult? Because sometimes, the church doesn’t meet our expectations. Sometimes, our brothers and sisters in Christ disappoint us.
The church and her leaders should be willing to ask the tough, honest, revealing questions that are raised when criticism is leveled about being unloving and unconcerned:
- Do we personally know “the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made us overseers”? (Acts 20:28)
- How are we doing when it comes to recognizing and responding when a member of the flock is showing signs of weakness or has wandered away altogether? (Matthew 18:12)
- How can we confront and dispel cliquishness within the local church? (James 2:9)
- Have we communicated to the shy, the non-go-getters, the more reserved that we value them and want them to get involved? (1 Corinthians 12:21-22)
- Is it possible that we are more at fault than we think? (James 1:19)
So also, the hurting and the disappointed, before they criticize, should ask themselves some tough, honest, revealing questions.
- Am I adorning the gospel by my manner of life? (Titus 2:10)
- Am I nurturing the familial aspect of congregational life? (Ephesians 2:19)
- Have I yet to ask for help? (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)
- Have I overlooked opportunities to become more connected? (Proverbs 18:24)
- If I really want to be loved and noticed, is creating distance between myself and my brethren the wisest course of action? (Hebrews 10:24-25)
- Could I be more at fault than I realize? (James 1:22-24)
Disappointment in the church is bound to happen from time to time because every single member of the church is a justified sinner. And yet, the church is an indispensable part of God’s eternal plan for mankind. This study is about how we, as justified sinners, can continue to grow closer together and closer to God’s ideal, for God’s glory.
For more interactive outlines and mp3 recordings, be sure to visit the Sermons archive.
NOTE: Advertisements on the above player are randomly generated by the service provider and do not necessarily imply endorsement of the material advertised. Readers are always encouraged to apply the “Berean test” (Acts 17:11) to all that they see and hear.
An excellent thought from Stephen Altrogge:
According to a recent infographic in Newsweek, in 2010 there are / will be:
- 141 million active blogs
- 2 billion daily Google searches
- 1,052,803 books published
- 247 billion daily emails sent
- 4.5 billion text messages sent
- 10 billion songs downloaded on iTunes
Or consider this incredible claim from David Kirkpatrick: “We create as much information in two days now as we did from the dawn of man through 2003.”
In the midst of this avalanche of information, I can’t help but think of Jesus’ words to Martha:
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)
We can be troubled, and distracted, and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data available to us. But when you get down to it, only one thing really matters. If all the blogs were gone, and Google went down, and teens suddenly stopped texting, it wouldn’t really matter that much.
There’s only one Word that really matters: God’s Word. We have it. Let’s never let the mass of information available push us away from the only information of eternal significance.
A good thought from Kevin DeYoung:
The word “to marvel” or “to stand amazed” (thaumazo) is pretty common in the gospels. But it’s almost always used in connection with the crowd’s response to Jesus. They are usually the ones amazed or marveling, not Jesus. In fact, there are only two times in the New Testament where Jesus is said to marvel. One is in Mark 6:6 where Jesus marvels at the unbelief in Nazareth. The other occasion is in Luke 7:9 where Jesus marvels at the Centurion and his great faith. These are the only two times we have record of Jesus marveling.
It seems, then, there are two things that make Jesus step back and say “Wow!” 1) Those who believe when it’s not expected they would. 2) Those who disbelieve when there’s every reason they should.
Does Jesus ever marvel at you or me? I think when he sees his people trusting in the midst of extreme suffering, he marvels. When he sees people from the roughest backgrounds come to him with brokenhearted humility, he marvels. When he sees you give up comfort and security for the sake of his kingdom, he marvels.
But on the other hand, I fear he may marvel at us for the wrong reasons sometimes. If I were a teenager or twentysomething I’d hate for Jesus to look at me and think, “Here’s a kid with loving parents, Bible reading at the dinner table, prayers from his whole family, faithful teaching at church, a comfortable home with lots of opportunities and encouragements, and yet this young person wants nothing to do with me. Amazing!” That’s not the amazement you want from Jesus.
I think Jesus marvels at some of us who sit under the preaching of the word and enjoy the fellowship of the saints and know all the Bible stories and still there’s no zeal for Christ, no desire to grow in him, no effort to put him first.
Nazareth is a warning to us. Familiarity can breed spectacular unbelief. The Centurion is a ray of hope: even the unlikeliest among us sometimes believe. In both cases, Jesus marvels.
I’m sure Jesus stands amazed as he looks at the church in North America. I wonder what makes him marvel the most.
Randy Alcorn, on the danger of unrestricted, unmonitored Internet access:
Good thoughts from Tyler Kenney below:
As Bible-believing Christians, we are known for our convictions against sexual immorality. But are we known equally as well for our contempt for religious arrogance?
Scripture clearly states that sexual immorality is sin (Matthew 15:19; Romans 13:13; 1 Corinthians 6:18; Galatians 5:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:3, etc.). We must also remember, however, that this is only one bad fruit of our rebellion against God, one among a list of many others, including idolatry, theft, greed, drunkenness, reviling and swindling (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). And all of these, God says, are just spin-offs of a more deep-seated trouble.
Speaking to a disobedient Israel, the prophet Ezekiel declares,
Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it. (Ezekiel 16:49-50)
In the context surrounding this passage, Ezekiel is charging Israel for having done worse than Sodom. And what does he say was Sodom’s sin? The prophet doesn’t focus on any single outward behavior. Sexual immorality was an issue, as we know from Genesis, and so was her lack of concern for the poor and needy, as we see mentioned here. But Ezekiel doesn’t target either of those primarily. Rather, he says that the real issue with Sodom was her haughty heart—she was proud.
There’s a warning in this for us: We must beware in our opposition to sexual immorality that we do not merely take on a different expression of the same sin. We must beware lest we think that the issue is simply an external one and that we are “good with God” just because we maintain a high moral code.
Any outcry among Christians against sexual immorality should be outdone by our protests against pride. We should be most aggressively opposed to arrogance—especially as we find it in ourselves and in our churches. Only then will we be in a right position to speak humbly, wisely and brokenheartedly about the evils of sexual immorality and the greater love of Jesus Christ.
Helpful thoughts on the difference between worldly grief and godly grief by Kevin DeYoung:
For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. (2 Corinthians 7:8-11)
The seventh chapter of 2 Corinthians is one of the most important passages when it comes to counseling ourselves and others. For in it we are introduced to the distinction between worldly grief and godly grief.
I’m convinced all of us feel grief. Even the most brazen, self-confident hypocrite usually feels bad about something they’ve done. But not all grief is the same.
Some grief is worldly. Most of us assume that feeling sorry for something is morally neutral. There isn’t a right and wrong way to feel bad, you just feel it. In fact, if anything, we consider grief over some action we’ve taken to be an automatic good. “I may have screwed up and made a mistake, but now I feel really rotten about the whole thing. At least I have my grief over the situation to show for myself.”
But according to the Bible, it is possible to feel sorry in a worldly way. Worldly grief is an expression of regret over opportunities lost, painful present circumstances, or personal embarrassment. We regret getting drunk on the weekend and blowing the test on Monday. We are sorry for having gambled away $10,000 at the casino. We feel terrible that our unflattering email got forwarded to the wrong person. Though we feel bad in all three situations, the regret may not have any spiritual dimension to it. We may just regret getting caught, hurting ourselves, or looking bad.
Worldly grief is owing to one of two causes: losing something dear to us (money, opportunity, recognition) or the negative opinion of others. Worldly grief has to do with pride, ego, and humiliation. It cares about man’s opinion instead of God’s. We feel terrible because people around us think we are silly or stupid. We feel sorry for the past because people no longer think highly of us like they once did. We feel deep distress because we love the praise of man, not because we have the fear of God.
Worldly grief is not good grief. It leads to death. Because worldly grief does not allow us to see our offensiveness to God, we don’t deal with our sin in a vertical direction. And therefore, we don’t get forgiveness from God, the lack of which leads to spiritual death. Worldly grief deals with symptoms not with the disease. Worldly grief produces despair, bitterness, and depression because it focuses on regret for the past (which can’t be changed) or the present consequences (which we can’t fully avoid) instead of personal sinfulness (which can always be forgiven).
Ironically, if we say “I can’t forgive myself” it’s probably a sign of worldly grief—either unbelief in God’s promises and the sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross, or regret that is merely focused on my loss and what other people think of me and not on my sin before a holy God.
We hate to look at our sin, but when we refuse to deal with our sin, we are only hurting ourselves. Sorrow over loss of money does not bring it back. Sorrow over personal failure does not make it all better. Sorrow over negative reactions from others does not make them like us again. But sorrow over sin can lead to repentance and repentance leads to mercy and mercy means a fresh start.
So, yes, God wants us to feel guilty when we are guilty. But he doesn’t want us to feel guilty when we are not. And when we are, he doesn’t want us to wallow in our sin. He wants us to run to the cross, confess it, be cleansed, and enjoy a clean conscience.
My 2-year-old daughter is terrified, absolutely terrified of lawnmowers. She doesn’t want to be within sight of one. She doesn’t even like the sound of a running lawnmower from somewhere else in the neighborhood.
Yesterday, our girls were playing in the backyard, and everything was right with the world—sunshine, hot weather, a Slip ‘n Slide—until I came around the corner with the lawnmower. Emma immediately squealed, waddled into the house, and didn’t reemerge until the lawnmower was back in the garage. I just shook my head and went on with my monotonous mowing.
But then I tried to put myself in her tiny shoes. The handle of the lawnmower is taller than Emma. Its roar just might be the loudest noise she’s ever heard. And here’s the key—she has no idea that I am the guiding force behind the mower. In her 2-year-old mind (as far as I can tell), the lawnmower has a mind of its own. It’s unpredictable. It’s dangerous. She has not yet learned that the mower moves only when her father makes it move.
Aren’t we the same way as adults? How frequently we forget that in the darkest, scariest, most threatening moments of life, we—our circumstances, well-being, and ultimate outcome—are under the guiding hand of our heavenly Father!
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)
Temptations are everywhere. They are strong, alluring, and hard to resist. But listen to God’s book:
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Cancer. Hurricanes. Persecution. Floods. Divorce. Famine. Miscarriages. Are they daunting? Yes. Can they lead to despair? Most certainly. But in the grand scheme of the universe, are they comparable to runaway lawnmowers? Is God desperately trying to accomplish his purposes while heartlessly neglecting his children? Hardly.
We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
There is a loving, guiding, wise, powerful influence behind this world. Yes, there are terrible hardships and unspeakable heartaches. But our Father reigns supreme. Not one tear falls that he does not notice (Psalm 56:8). And when we remember that truth and anchor ourselves to it, there is nothing that can separate us from his love.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
Even death is subject to his will. It will mow each one of us down, yes; but even death serves his purposes and will be abolished when he determines. For God’s child, informed with God’s perspective, death will have no victory and very little sting (1 Corinthians 15:53-57).
One day, Emma will figure out that the lawnmower only moves under the guiding hand of her father. The mower will still roar, but she will realize that there is no reason to be afraid. She will come to trust the watchful eye and the tender care of her father, even in the midst of the terrifying.
I hope to live and die with that sort of perspective as well.
