If You Think Life Is Hopeless, It Is

Hebrews 11

I. Trust God

A. There is no way for people to get to God who refuse to believe He can be reached. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:12)

B. Psalm 78 rehearses the story of disaster flowing from Israel’s refusal to believe God would help. “And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?” (Psalm 78:18-19) “Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:” (Psalm 78:22)

C. Cain, who murdered his brother, is the patron of despair. “And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.” (Genesis 4:13)

D. Revelation vividly describes people who think their punishment is the problem, not the sin which prompted God’s wrath. “And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.” (Revelation 16:9-11)

II. Take the Medicine

A. Jeremiah traced the Babylonian disaster to Israel’s refusal to repent and its unwillingness to connect the problem to heaven’s punishment for sin. “O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.” (Jeremiah 5:3)

B. Ignorant obliviousness to cause and effect magnifies the problem and compounds the punishment God administers for sin. “Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.” (Isaiah 42:25)

C. Hardness of heart makes life brittle to the point of shattering. “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;” (Romans 2:5)

D. A serious believer will consider the possibility that sin lies at the heart of hard times and seek God’s direction to resolve the problem. “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.” (Psalm 19:13)

E. The Lord cannot be bluffed; God always knows who takes the medicine and who does not; people who refuse their medicine do not recover. “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.” (Psalm 11:5-7)

III. Avoid Self-Medicating

A. It is ridiculous to take problems to God and ignore His answers for them; no one cheats death for long. “Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.” (Jeremiah 13:15) “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:10)

B. Thinking punishment will go away ranks with thinking cancer will cure itself and is precisely what is taking place when people assume God is unconcerned with sin and righteousness. “And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.” (Zephaniah 1:12) “Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:” (Amos 9:2-3)

C. Psychological, social, cultural, and political solutions are all variations of God-avoiding self-help. “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5)

D. Jesus told believers not to take risks; stay with God’s solutions for sin and punishment. “Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” (Matthew 4:7)

Before You Save, Spend, or Store

Leviticus 27:26-34; Matthew 6:24-34 / Malachi 3:1-8

I. God Owns Everything

A. All human reality belongs to God. “A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Psalm 24::1)

B. By any measure, the world and everything in it are subordinate to God and subject to His terms of use. “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11)

C. Since the fall, nothing has come easily to people and there is no reason to expect that to change; Easy Street is a figment of the rebellious imagination. “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:16-19)

D. Job summarized life’s great truth; you can’t take it with you. “And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)

II. God’s Ownership Must Be Respected

A. God claims a tithe of each person’s increase; God’s tithe has no inherent connection with charity. “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.” (Leviticus 27:30-31) Charitable gifts do not count toward fulfilling this obligation.

B. Abraham, the father of the faithful, practiced tithing long before God revealed the law of Sinai to Moses. “And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.” (Genesis 14:20)

C. Failure to tithe cheats God; landlords do not view rent as a voluntary act of charity. “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” (Malachi 3:8)

D. God curses an entire culture when it fails to tithe; the matter is not entirely personal. “Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” (Malachi 3:9) Secular cultures beg for financial crises and God gives them what they demand.

E. Every problem traces back to sin; there no way to beat God. “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” (Haggai 1:6)

III. Consider the Up Side of Tithing

A. God promises to bless people who give Him what is His. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10)

B. Disaster will keep its distance from Heaven’s people; no secular or pagan society can keep such a promise. “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:11)

C. Neglecting God’s revelation tries His patience; do not call God a liar. “Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” (Malachi 3:13-15)

D. Jesus makes tithing much more personal. “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26)

E. What good can come from worrying? “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matthew 6:27)

F. God takes care of His own people; pay more attention to the God Who loves you than to pagan panic and private night terrors. “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” (Matthew 6:28-30)

G. Let tomorrow handle tomorrow’s own problems. “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:31-34)

The City of God

Psalm 48

I. The Great God Has a Great City

A. God [Jehovah] is great in His own city; city is the classical term for a state or civilization. “A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.” (Psalm 48:1)

1. The great triumph of God's city has begun; people who do not see it are looking for the wrong thing. “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2) “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

2. Scripture leads from Genesis to the vision of a magnificent city, the New Jerusalem. “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:10-14)

B. The beauty of Christian culture brings joy to everyone; all people benefit when Biblical law prevails over the best thinking of the godless. “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” (Psalm 48:2) “Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” (Isaiah 60:18-20)

C. God's city is a refuge unlike the dying cities of humanity. “God is known in her palaces for a refuge.” (Psalm 48:3) Augustine wrote a magnificent work in 22 books called The City of God to explain this doctrine for Christians watching the Roman civilization slump from the world stage into history.

D. Remember Luther's vision of the Holy City. “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.” (Psalm 46:5) A Mighty Fortress

II. The Enemies Have Been Instructed

A. Human kings have gathered against heaven's rule and learned the foolishness of their dreams. “For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. They saw it, and so they marveled; they were troubled, and hasted away.” (Psalm 48:4-5) “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.” (Psalm 2:2-5)

B. Picking a quarrel with Biblical government has long-term consequences which call to mind the way in which pregnancy is easier at the start than at the delivery of a child. “Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.” (Psalm 48:6)

C. God takes care of His own; the Holy City does not pass with the years as human empires come, go, and transform. “As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.” (Psalm 48:8)

III. Enjoy the City

A. Everything in the Holy City reflects the love of God. “We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.” (Psalm 48:9)

B. Righteousness has an appeal even for pagans who refuse to practice it. “According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.” (Psalm 48:10)

C. Believers cannot avoid being happy when God establishes the New Jerusalem in His own way. “Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.” (Psalm 48:11) “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” (Revelation 15:4) “And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” (Luke 13:20-21)

D Believers benefit from simply looking around for themselves rather than listening to unbelieving detractors. “Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.” (Psalm 48:12-13)

E. The greatest thing to observe is the eternal reign of our King. “For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.” (Psalm 48:14)

Watch Your Attitude

I. God Notices Neglect

A. When ancient Israel confused Worshiped and worshiper, God found the thoughtless neglect wearisome. “But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.” (Isaiah 43:22-24)

B. Ignorance of God and what He wants is functional atheism. “For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” (Jeremiah 4:22)

C. Neglecting God and what He requires amounts to picking a quarrel with Him. “Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.” (Hosea 4:1) “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hosea 4:6)

D. Forgetfulness of God is abnormal in a true believer.; the behavior is provocative. “Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.” (Jeremiah 2:32)

E. Avoid being provocative; to live intentionally for God is the safe way to live. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)

F. The safe way to live is also the most successful way to live. “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” (Proverbs 16:3)

II. God Notices Bad Attitudes

A. Some things about God are so obvious that ignorance of them is insulting; God cannot be the product of His creatures. “For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” (Acts 17:23) “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” (Acts 17:29)

B. If God is God, then representing Him as if He were one of His creatures inherently misrepresents Him. “To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?” (Isaiah 40:18)

C. Assuming that God is marred with human flaws ignores His holiness and leads people to take dangerous and unnecessary risks with their souls. “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.” (Psalm 50:21 )

D. God also notices and appreciates good attitudes. “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” (Proverbs 3:7-12)

III. Bad Theology Compounds Problems

A. God has revealed what He wants people to know about Him and what He wants them to do; neglecting these things to focus on things God keeps to Himself inevitably causes problems. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29)

B. Jesus made a point of telling His disciples that some things were none of their business. “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” (Acts 1:7 )

C. Theology which conforms to the spirit of the age produces unnatural loves which leave no room for the love of God. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15-16) “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:2) “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:” (Colossians 3:5)

D. Be cautious about letting ideas take root; not all theology is good theology. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)

E. Avoid heretics like contagious diseases. “A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;” (Titus 3:10) “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” (Proverbs 1:10)

F. Organize the mind around what is virtuous and productive so that there is no room for what is not positive and productive spiritually. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

God Is in Charge

Psalm 47 – We Win When He Wins

I. God Chose His People

A. God brings good times as He gathers all people to Him. “To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.” (Psalm 47:1)

1. The Bible is optimistic about God’s triumph. “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12)

2. Sometimes joy and weeping come simultaneously, but no one can ignore the revival of God’s work. “And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.” (Ezra 3:11-13)

B. Reality has no neutral zone outside the law and administration of God. “For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.” (Psalm 47:2)

C. God takes the side of His people and He will certainly prevail. “He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.” (Psalm 47:3) “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” (1 Corinthians 15:25)

D. As God gave inheritances to His ancient people; He will provide what is best for believers across eternity. “He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.” (Psalm 47:4)

1. The final victory has been part of the plan from the start. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” (Matthew 25:34)

2. There will be no question about the victory when the King seizes the kingdom. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.” (Psalm 24:7-10)

II. God’s Government Is Revealing Itself

A. The faithful hear the victory shout of the ascending King of Glory; the war has been won. “God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.” (Psalm 47:5)

B. The celebration of God’s victory does not have to wait for the future. “Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.” (Psalm 47:6)

C. No place is independent and outside God’s control even at the present stage of history. “For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.” (Psalm 47:7)

D. The world does not understand the Lamb of God and therefore it does not grasp that the Lion of God is even now triumphing. “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:5-11)

III. God Is King

A. Holiness is the standard by which God is reigning and that government extends over unbelievers as well as believers. “God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.” (Psalm 47:8)

B. All people will eventually acknowledge the Lordship of Christ. “The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.” (Psalm 47:9)