(Slightly edited transcript of a sermonette preached at Bible Truth Baptist Church, Griffin, GA, on 23 November 2014.)
Around this time of year, it’s traditional (and appropriate) to read psalms of thanksgiving. I’d like to read Psalm 100 to you this morning, because there’s an important word in it: “thankful.”
1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Notice the word “thankful” in v. 4. While the words “thank,” “thanks,” and “thanksgiving” each appear numerous times in scripture, the word “thankful” only appears three times: once here, and the other two times in the new testament.
Rom. 1:21, Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Col. 3:15, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
I’d like to give you a few brief exhortations this morning.
1. The word is “thank-ful.” We should be full of thanks, not sparing. We tend to thank God around mealtime, but we need to thank him “always for all things” as Paul tells us in Eph. 5:20.
2. Speaking of Paul, I noticed that he begins 11 of his 13 letters with thanksgiving. We should begin things with thanksgiving: prayer, correspondence, meals, and other things we do. Everything that we have comes from God, and to thank him (and anyone else) is to acknowledge that he gave you something. “…and what hast thou that thou hast not received?” Paul asks in 1 Cor. 4:9. Nothing, absolutely nothing.
3. Paul even thanks God for the carnal Corinthian believers, some of his most disobedient converts. Principle: find something to be thankful for, and look for people’s virtues rather than their vices. It’s easy to spot anyone’s vices, given enough time, but it takes grace to note people’s virtues, even at low points in their lives...like when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians.
4. Lastly, note the three groups that thankfulness is aimed at.
a. In Psalm 100, the Jew was told to be thankful, and rightly so. As
God’s covenant people, they had tremendous blessings that they
owed God thanks for.
b. In Col. 3, the church of God was told to be thankful. As the body
of Christ, we have been blessed “with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3), so we certainly should be
full of thanks for all that we’ve received, amen?
c. And in Rom. 1:21, God condemns the Gentiles for their ingratitude.
So God is looking for thankful hearts in all men, since those three
groups (1 Cor. 10:32) make up mankind.
5. How about you, Christian? Is your heart full of thanks? I hope so. If not, read through Paul’s epistles and see how much God has given you, and may your heart be filled to overflowing with thanks for the grace that you’ve received.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Saturday, November 1, 2014
When Will Sci-Fi Catch Up with the Bible?
At work this week I found a copy of a magazine whose cover portrayed the earth as one big city. This reminded me of something from a series of sci-fi books that I read years ago, The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov. The capital of the universe in that trilogy is a planet named Trantor, which is actually one big city (remember the "Death Star" from the original Star Wars trilogy?). What a thought! A planet that's one big city. But is that thought original to Asimov? Note Isaiah 5:8 in the King James Bible: "Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!" Beginning with Cain, who built the first city (Enoch; Gen. 4:17), fallen man craves to join house to house for self-preservation. Cain is succeeded by Nimrod, who rules over multiple cities (Gen. 10:10), and later in Genesis (ch. 13-19) we see five cities of the plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Zoar) adjacent to one another. The city of Nineveh in Jonah's day took three days to walk through (Jon. 3:3-4), probably due to expansive suburbs. Even today, as some cities expand, they actually join with other cities into a population region (e.g. Atlanta). My thought: if men were not checked by God, they would turn the earth into one city, since by nature they want to avoid the curse of sweaty, agrarian labour imposed on them with the fall (Gen. 3:17-19) and live together in cities (the pre-flood, Cainite world!). So Asimov's thought is not original. Every thing that man comes up with can ultimately be traced back to the Creator and his thoughts recorded for us in scripture. If man could come up with something outside the scope of God's thought, then he would be the Creator, but the fact that he cannot proves that he is a creature and not the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Things that God Says Are Awe-some
In the United States, you often hear people, especially younger people, refer to certain people, places, or things as "awesome." Not sure how that got started (maybe the hippies), but the common usage is the same as saying "great" or "wonderful." But the scriptural usage is something different, and that’s what I’d like to discuss in this post.
The word "awe" appears in scripture only three times, all in Psalms, and that’s no coincidence, as we’ll see later. In this brief devotional, I’d like to (1) show you these references; (2) define awe; and (3) look at each passage to see what we can learn about awe from it, since it’s a grace that should be present in our hearts. First, let’s look at the three references to awe in scripture.
References
• Ps. 4:4, Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
• Ps. 33:8, Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
• Ps. 119:161, Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
Definition
The second reference above, I believe, provides the scriptural sense of "awe": a holy fear, like we saw in Ps. 66:13. "Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him." See how a word in one part of the verse helps define a more difficult word in another part? The Bible is full of this, and it’s a principle of Bible study that the English text defines itself. So awe is a holy fear, since the context is either a holy God (Ps. 4:3-4, 33:8) or his holy word (119:161). In Heb. 12:28 we read about “serv[ing] God with acceptably with reverence and godly fear,” but not all fear is godly. Prov. 29:25 says, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” So some types of fear are good and some are not, and we’ll discuss that more later.
Principles
1. Awe is a heart condition that begins with the individual. Ps. 4:4 and 119:161 are directly aimed at individuals, and their heart attitude toward God and his word. For both objects, the attitude or spirit should be one of holy fear. Awe is what we call a grace, like humility, faith, kindness, etc. Heb. 12:28, which I referred to earlier, says that godly fear is a grace that ought to be present in our lives. One can even be in awe when lying down. In Ps. 4:8, the psalmist mentions laying down to sleep, but between the time he lies down and falls asleep, he’s communing with his own heart and feeling God’s awesome presence. Great way to end a day, amen? When you go to bed, think about the day and how good God has been to you, and “stand in awe before him” in your heart.
2. Awe leads to holiness. Ps. 4:4 says, “Stand in awe, and sin not,” so awe discourages sin. Prov. 16:6b affirms this, “by fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” And even under grace, Paul says that our business should be “perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).
3. Awe should be universal, but it has limits too. All the earth should fear the LORD and stand in awe of him, not just individuals, and they will in the millennial kingdom, which this psalm is pointing to prophetically. But believers in Christ are not to be in "awe" of princes like we are God and his word (119:161). Paul tells us to "Render...fear to whom fear" is due, namely "rulers" (Rom. 13:1-7), but I think that, Biblically, awe is a higher fear due to God and his word than that due to "the powers...ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1). Princes should be in awe of God and his word themselves; maybe then they wouldn’t persecute believers, and we should pray for them along these lines (1 Tim. 2:1-6). But if we want others to be in awe of God and his word, we need to start with “the man in the mirror.” The reason why there’s so little respect and reverence for God in our government and society is because these things are so lacking in the church. This leads to my fourth point.
4. Awe should characterize our worship as well as our walk. All the references to awe are found in the Psalms, the praises of Israel, which is no coincidence. Praise should include a holy awe of God: both testaments affirm this.
a. Ps. 5:7b, “and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.” Someone might say, “Well, that’s the Jews in the old testament.” OK, let’s see what Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, has to say about it.
b. Eph. 5:18-21. This passage deals with the filling of the Spirit, and its results: worship (v. 19), thanksgiving (v.20), and submission (v. 21)…in the fear of God. If you don’t fear God, you’re not filled with the Spirit! Remember 2 Cor. 7:1, “perfecting holiness in the fear of God”? Look at Acts 9:31, “…walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.” The Holy Ghost produces a holy fear, in our walk and worship, because it’s part of his work—to prompt men and angels to fear and worship God (Is. 11:1-2).
We live in a generation that says this is awesome and that is awesome, but let’s make sure that we’re in awe of the two most important things in the universe: God and his word! Awe is a heart condition that begins with individuals, and it should lead to personal holiness. Awe should be universal, but it has limits too. We should be in awe of certain things, not everything. That’s why I think the common usage of the word detracts from its power, though the world naturally uses it because it’s a powerful word. Finally, awe should characterize our worship as well as our walk. Worship is acknowledging God’s worth, and truly grasping God’s worth will produce holy fear in us and make us rejoice in him “with trembling” (Ps. 2:11).
The word "awe" appears in scripture only three times, all in Psalms, and that’s no coincidence, as we’ll see later. In this brief devotional, I’d like to (1) show you these references; (2) define awe; and (3) look at each passage to see what we can learn about awe from it, since it’s a grace that should be present in our hearts. First, let’s look at the three references to awe in scripture.
References
• Ps. 4:4, Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
• Ps. 33:8, Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
• Ps. 119:161, Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
Definition
The second reference above, I believe, provides the scriptural sense of "awe": a holy fear, like we saw in Ps. 66:13. "Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him." See how a word in one part of the verse helps define a more difficult word in another part? The Bible is full of this, and it’s a principle of Bible study that the English text defines itself. So awe is a holy fear, since the context is either a holy God (Ps. 4:3-4, 33:8) or his holy word (119:161). In Heb. 12:28 we read about “serv[ing] God with acceptably with reverence and godly fear,” but not all fear is godly. Prov. 29:25 says, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” So some types of fear are good and some are not, and we’ll discuss that more later.
Principles
1. Awe is a heart condition that begins with the individual. Ps. 4:4 and 119:161 are directly aimed at individuals, and their heart attitude toward God and his word. For both objects, the attitude or spirit should be one of holy fear. Awe is what we call a grace, like humility, faith, kindness, etc. Heb. 12:28, which I referred to earlier, says that godly fear is a grace that ought to be present in our lives. One can even be in awe when lying down. In Ps. 4:8, the psalmist mentions laying down to sleep, but between the time he lies down and falls asleep, he’s communing with his own heart and feeling God’s awesome presence. Great way to end a day, amen? When you go to bed, think about the day and how good God has been to you, and “stand in awe before him” in your heart.
2. Awe leads to holiness. Ps. 4:4 says, “Stand in awe, and sin not,” so awe discourages sin. Prov. 16:6b affirms this, “by fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” And even under grace, Paul says that our business should be “perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).
3. Awe should be universal, but it has limits too. All the earth should fear the LORD and stand in awe of him, not just individuals, and they will in the millennial kingdom, which this psalm is pointing to prophetically. But believers in Christ are not to be in "awe" of princes like we are God and his word (119:161). Paul tells us to "Render...fear to whom fear" is due, namely "rulers" (Rom. 13:1-7), but I think that, Biblically, awe is a higher fear due to God and his word than that due to "the powers...ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1). Princes should be in awe of God and his word themselves; maybe then they wouldn’t persecute believers, and we should pray for them along these lines (1 Tim. 2:1-6). But if we want others to be in awe of God and his word, we need to start with “the man in the mirror.” The reason why there’s so little respect and reverence for God in our government and society is because these things are so lacking in the church. This leads to my fourth point.
4. Awe should characterize our worship as well as our walk. All the references to awe are found in the Psalms, the praises of Israel, which is no coincidence. Praise should include a holy awe of God: both testaments affirm this.
a. Ps. 5:7b, “and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.” Someone might say, “Well, that’s the Jews in the old testament.” OK, let’s see what Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, has to say about it.
b. Eph. 5:18-21. This passage deals with the filling of the Spirit, and its results: worship (v. 19), thanksgiving (v.20), and submission (v. 21)…in the fear of God. If you don’t fear God, you’re not filled with the Spirit! Remember 2 Cor. 7:1, “perfecting holiness in the fear of God”? Look at Acts 9:31, “…walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.” The Holy Ghost produces a holy fear, in our walk and worship, because it’s part of his work—to prompt men and angels to fear and worship God (Is. 11:1-2).
We live in a generation that says this is awesome and that is awesome, but let’s make sure that we’re in awe of the two most important things in the universe: God and his word! Awe is a heart condition that begins with individuals, and it should lead to personal holiness. Awe should be universal, but it has limits too. We should be in awe of certain things, not everything. That’s why I think the common usage of the word detracts from its power, though the world naturally uses it because it’s a powerful word. Finally, awe should characterize our worship as well as our walk. Worship is acknowledging God’s worth, and truly grasping God’s worth will produce holy fear in us and make us rejoice in him “with trembling” (Ps. 2:11).
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