King

Isaiah 9:1-7; Luke 2:15-32 / Psalm 110:1-7

I. God Gave His People a King

A. The Holy Nation wanted a king; God’s government made them different from the people around them.“Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

B. God had intended His people to be different from the world. “But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.” (Leviticus 20:24-26)

C. The appeal for an earthly king expressed rejection of God as king. “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” (1 Samuel 8:7)

D. God’s plan is larger than what the world can imagine. “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6)

II. Eventually God Gave a Better King

A. As the fruit of the Fall ripened across the ages, God promised a far better king for His people than the one they sought—Jesus Christ. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

B. Christ the King establishes His own Kingdom. “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:” (Acts 15:14-16) “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:34-35)

C. Christ the King rules His kingdom. “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.” (Isaiah 33:22) “But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” (Psalm 75:7) “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)

D. Christ the King defends His people. “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” (Isaiah 32:1-2)

E. Christ the King overcomes all His and our enemies. “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” (1 Corinthians 15:25)

III. Acknowledge the True King

A. The kingship of Jesus was acknowledged at His crucifixion. “And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.” (Matthew 27:11) “And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.” (John 19:19-22)

B. The church acknowledges the High King and continues in the world to serve Him above all other powers and authorities. “I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:13-16)

C. Believers testify to the resurrection of the King and warn that all people will give accounts before His throne at the end of this age. “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

D. Christians thank God for the gift of His king and acknowledge His government in both this world and the world to come. “And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” (Luke 11:2)

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Massachusetts Bishop Phillips Brooks (1835-1903) of Boston wrote the words to O Little Town of Bethlehem in 1868, following a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He was inspired by the view of Bethlehem from the hills of Palestine, especially at nighttime, hence the lyrics of O Little Town of Bethlehem. His church organist Lewis Redner (1831-1908) wrote the melody to O Little Town of Bethlehem for the Sunday school children’s choir. Brooks had been educated at the seminary in Alexandria and was ordained in Virginia.

I. Bethlehem Was a Patriarchal City

A. Bethlehem first appeared in Biblical history when Jacob buried his beloved wife Rachel, the daughter of Laban. “And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.” (Genesis 48:7).

B. The town was also the home of a concubine who figured in a famous murder during the period of the judges. “And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah. And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.” (Judges 19:1-2)

C. Some 123 men of Bethlehem came with Zerubbabel to restore the holy city after the Babylonian captivity. “The children of Bethlehem, an hundred twenty and three.” (Ezra 2:21)

II. Bethlehem Was the City of David

A. The story of David begins with Boaz and Ruth in Bethlehem. “Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.” (Ruth 1:1) “So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?” (Ruth 1:19) “So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.” (Ruth 4:13) “And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.” (Ruth 4:21-22) Tradition identified Jesse as a Temple weaver.

B. The royal line of David began with an anointing at Bethlehem. “Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.” (1 Samuel 17:12) “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.” (1 Samuel 16:13)

C. As the passage of time sidetracked Bethlehem, the prophet Micah reminded the faithful of the promises to David to establish the messianic line in the city. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)

D. The religious leaders in the time of Herod and the Wise Men acted on the message of Micah. “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” (Matthew 2:1-6)

III. Bethlehem Was the City of Jesus

A. Bethlehem or “House of Bread” was well named as the birthplace for the heir of David who would be the “Bread of Life.” “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)

B. The entire story of the savior is counterintuitive; only God would have chosen Bethlehem to keep His gracious promises. “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28)

C. Bethlehem was an appropriate starting place for a life of “living in plain sight” where the world could not see the Lord of Glory. “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2) “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:7-9)

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

Priest

Isaiah 35:1-10; Hebrews 9:1-20 / Isaiah 40:1-8

I. God Gave His People Priests

A. The title “priest” was first applied in Scripture to Melchizedek. “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” (Genesis 14:18)

B. A priest makes offerings to God to satisfy heaven’s justice, reconciles people to God, and intercedes for people with God. “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” (Hebrews 5:1-4)

C. Originally God called all His people to be priests. “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:6)

D. God granted the Aaronic priesthood at the request of the people when they expressed fear of approaching God. “According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.” (Deuteronomy 18:16-17)

E. Christ is the ultimate gift from God: A perfect and permanent priest. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10) “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;” (Hebrews 10:12)

F. God has given the gift which erases sorrows and guarantees hope. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” (Hebrews 1:1-3)

II. Christ Provides Believers What They Need

A. Because believers have the best possible priest, Christians have reason to hold on to hope under all circumstances. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” (Hebrews 4:14)

B. Christ guarantees full reconciliation with God; there will be no little surprises on Judgment Day. “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17) “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:26)

C. Christ is both uniquely priest and uniquely sacrifice. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

D. All the old terrors, the bloody sacrifices, and fearful penalties have come together in the priesthood of Christ; the perfect sacrifice has been made. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:28) “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.” (Ephesians 5:2)

E. Christ now lives to intercede for His people. “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12) “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25) “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” (1 John 2:1)

III. The Gift Continues To Give

A. What Christ did restored the priesthood to all God’s people. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” (1 Peter 2:9)

B. Through the gift of Christ and the gifts from Christ, the holy order for eternity is in place; even now Eden’s curse is passing away. “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:6)

Genuine Worship

Psalm 50

I. God Is Coming

A. God [El, Elohim, Jehovah] has spoken to the entire world; the Judge is ready to pass sentence. “A Psalm of Asaph. The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.” (Psalm 50:1-2)

B. God consumes as He comes. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.” (Psalm 50:3) “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” (Exodus 33:19)

C. God will settle accounts. “He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.” (Psalm 50:4)

D. All doubt about God’s authority above everything will disappear when He gathers the world to stand judgment. “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.” (Psalm 50:5-6) “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:31)

II. God Demands Appropriate Worship

A. God has a charge to bring against His people. “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.” (Psalm 50:7) “To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” (Proverbs 21:3) “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)

B. God did not object to the offerings being made but to the implications in which they were cloaked; God does not need offerings in the form of bribes. “I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.” (Psalm 50:8-11)

C. God needs nothing and, if He did, He would not ask His creatures for it. “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.” (Psalm 50:12) “Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” (Psalm 115:15-16)

D. God prefers sacrifices of genuine thanks and integrity to bloody offerings. “Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:” (Psalm 50:13-14)

E. The faithful can expect help from God for simply asking but unrepentant evil people can sacrifice all they want without interesting God. “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?” (Psalm 50:15-16) [Literally—But to the evildoer Elohim saith: How doest thou dare to tell My statutes, And that thou takest My covenant into thy mouths].

F. When people refuse to be corrected and then side with evildoers, their worship provokes rather than pleases God. “Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.” (Psalm 50:17-18)

III. When People Ignore God, He Notices and Acts

A. People are always ready to distort the truth. “Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.” (Psalm 50:19) “Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.” (Psalm 31:18)

B. The closest human bonds count for nothing. “Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son.” (Psalm 50:20)

C. When people do these things, they imply that God has a shadowy character and approves what they do, but He will not. “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. Consider this when you forget God: He will destroy anyone who ignores Him and no one will be able to stop Him. “Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.” (Psalm 50:22)

E. People who do what God requires will be gloriously saved. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.” (Psalm 50:23) “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” (1 Peter 2:9)

Prophet

Isaiah 11:1-16; Hebrews 1:1-14 / Genesis 3:1-24

I. God Promised a Wonderful Gift—New Life

A. Life began for people with bright prospects and fearful warnings.“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)

B. Death entered the human story and life became miserable. “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 3:19)

C. Jesus Christ is a marvelous and utterly unmerited gift. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)

The English word prophet represents some one who bubbles [nabi] or gushes messages from God or a person who sees the future [ro’eh] from God’s perspective. The prophet proclaimed the message given to him, as the seer beheld the vision of God. Consequently a prophet was a spokesman for God; he spake in God’s name and by His authority.

II. With New Life Comes New Understanding

A. God promised to explain His objectives. “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)

B. Christ became a man by taking to Himself a true human body; that process prophetically revealed the intent of God to save people. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” (Hebrews 2:14) “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” (Hebrews 2:16)

C. Through the gift of Jesus Christ, God demonstrated His willingness and His ability to save; Christ is both fully God and fully man. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

D. Christ is the ultimate revelation of God in the language and experience of humanity. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” (John 1:18) “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:” (Colossians 1:12-15)

E. All of history turned on the gift of Jesus Christ. “Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.” (1 Peter 1:10-12)

III. Christ Also Prophesies of Better Things

A. Not only does Jesus Christ pay off the debt of sin, He brings with Him the assurance of gifts far beyond simple redemption. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

B. Things which cause sorrow will have no place in the world to come. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

C. The good times will never end. “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 60:20)

D. As God became part of the world, believers will become part of heaven. “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Corinthians 15:45-49)

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)