Sermon Brief
Date Written: June 15, 2007
Date Preached: June 17, 2007
Where Preached: OZHBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: A Spiritual Clean Sweep
Sermon Title: Let’s Clean out that garage!
Sermon Text: Psalm 4:1-8
Introduction:
Can anyone here guess the fastest growing business in the USA today? It is the mini-storage business, or controlled atmosphere storage units. This is a testament to our nation and its affluence and also to its poverty!
Let me explain what I mean, as a nation, we have so much that many of us buy things we don’t need and then we have to go out and rent a space to store the things we really don’t need but want to hold on to them because we feel we have invested too much into them to let them go…
Let me give you some statistics:
The self-storage industry in the United States brings in $15 billion a year. Now let’s compare that to the movie industry in the United States, an industry that brings in $9 billion per year.
At 2,330 square feet, the average American house today is 55% larger than it was in 1970. But yet the self-storage/mini-storage business is still the fastest growing business in America…
One in 11 Americans rents a mini-storage unit today as compared to 1995 when it was 1 in 17. If we look at this statistic that one person in 11 rents a mini-storage unit that would mean that there are about 25 million active mini-storage units in use by the people of our nation today.
Ladies, you are known by the world as the shopaholics, but I am here to tell you that even though you may GO to the marketplace many more times than your spouse… on average, you do NOT outspend him!
Men have the tendency to spend money on BIG ticket items, such as boats, cars and high ticket entertainment where women tend to purchase the smaller things such as shoes and clothing.
The problem with this is that we have become a nation obsessed with the material things of this life. More than family, more than church and more than God Himself… our nation is searching out MORE and MORE things to add to their own collections…
However, when we view this from a spiritual perspective we need to understand how this prevailing attitude can and does have an impact on how we serve God…and dads you are the spiritual leader of the home and it is your responsibility to BE responsible in your leadership!
This morning I want to share Scripture that teaches us how we are to live… that teaches us how to be a spiritual leader in the home… that reveals to us how to be a good dad… turn with my to the book of Psalms chapter 4…
1) To be the dad God’s wants you to be a God-seeker [v.1 - read]
In this verse we find the psalmist revealing first and foremost where he knows he can go for help when the world seems to be too much for him…
In this verse the psalmist is probably having a crisis of faith or action and he cries out to God for God’s help. But notice something here, he is not crying out to a god [with a small ‘g’] that he may have doubts about or a god that may fail him! But we see that he cries out to the God who has been faithful and has delivered him in the past…
When we read this verse and this chapter we can see that David reveals a strong confidence in his prayer in that he trusts God and he knows God is going to answer his prayer and God is going to take care of him.
As Christian men there are going to be many times when we are stressed and strained to what we think is the breaking point! For some of us here this morning, this is the only time we find ourselves crying out to God.
When we find ourselves in this position, most of the time, we know that it is because of something we have done and we are crying out to God because we need God’s help to deliver us.
But there also going to be times when we are going find ourselves calling out to God for His deliverance because the attack or difficulty that we are experiencing is coming from the Enemy and from the evil in this world!
But the point I want to make this morning is that as Christian men and Christian dads… it is our duty to be like the psalmist and trust in God! It is under our leadership that our families are guided and we need to know and understand that God is the only source of true righteousness and true joy, and that it is only thru God that we can receive true and pure mercy that will save us!
God’s mercy is there for the taking, we merely must go to Him and ask for it, dads today are you going to God when you step in it… or when the enemy is crashing down around you? Go to God first and allow Him to lead you! But I can also see that…
2) To be the dad God’s wants you to point out evil when you see it and call evil what it is…EVIL! [v.2 – read verse]
In this verse we find King David crying out to the wicked around him and asking them to tell him how long they were going to continue in their wickedness…
As believers, I believe we can look at this passage in 2 ways…
First, we can see it as David did and we can be crying out to those around us… we can point to the evil and call it evil and try to reconcile those in evil with God!
But another way we can see this is that it can be a cry from ourselves to ourselves… Ask yourself just how often do you find yourself doing what you know NOT to do and saying what you know NOT to say?
The Apostle Paul wrote that even though he was a firm and solid Christian but we also know that he struggled with this very issue! And then even though he knew what to do… he wouldn’t do it… and even though he knew what NOT to do… that he would do it…
Dads, today I ask you the same question the psalmist is asking…
a. How long will you continue in seeking your own way?
b. How long will you continue to treasure in your heart the worthlessness of this world?
c. How long will you continue to believe the lies of the enemy and doubt the truth of God’s word?
As the spiritual leaders of the home we cannot allow our lives to be cluttered with the things of this world. We cannot allow the evil that wants to destroy us become strong in our lives or in the lives of our loved ones!
It was once said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
If we as Christian men will not stand in the gap when evil is present, who will! When we see evil and do NOT point it out and do NOT try to purge it from our ranks, we are NOT being the dads that God desires us to be!
Here we find David calling out those in the nation who were putting shame upon God and not living as they should. In Matt 18 there is a formula for how this is done in the Christian church… but what many believers do NOT know or understand is that this is to be done with love and forgiveness and reconciliation is the goal, not retribution…
The Bible tells us that first you must go to the person (face to face) who is allowing evil to influence their lives…and if they refuse to repent to God of their ways, then, God then authorizes you to confide in a few men and take them [usually leaders of the church] with you go to visit this person!
If they still refuse to repent of their actions, the Bible says that you bring the matter before the church and that if that person is still NOT willing to repent then they are removed from the fellowship to prevent further damage to the body…
Paul does not say here that the one removed from fellowship is not saved, but he simply states that they must repent and reconcile before they can be restored to the body…
You may be sitting there in your seat and saying to yourself… well preacher that has never been practiced here! Well if you haven’t… you should have… and I want you to get ready because we are going to begin using this in OUR church!
As believers, we can no longer turn a blind eye to the evils of this world… Jesus tells that BAD fruit comes from a BAD tree… and GOOD fruit comes only from the GOOD trees… when we see bad fruit we are to get rid of it!
We are to be God-seekers and we are to recognize evil and point it out when it is present in and around our lives, but there is another point I want us to look at and take into account as well…
3) To be the dad God’s wants you to live a “holy” life[v.3 – read]
Here King David gives the reader assurance that those who know God are not put off by God! He shares with his readers that God does hear their voice and will answer their prayer.
Jesus said that no man comes to the Father unless He calls them… and therefore, any man who is saved, God has called him. God has called you and has set you apart for His glory and for your salvation.
And when we are called of God and set aside for His purposes, we have the promise from Jesus that He would never leave us NOR forsake us, and when believers call upon God to help, He is going to be there for His children!
I want us to understand that when the nation of Israel was in right standing with God, their destiny was rosy and their pathway was clear, but it was when they were disobedient and separated themselves from God that they suffered.
And as believers when we are obedient and submissive to God’s call on our lives… our pathway is going to be lit brightly by Christ Jesus Himself!
I know that in our world today it seems as if all hope is lost and! But dads hear me when I say this, when you are living submissive and obedient lives in Christ, you can rest assured that Christ has not abandoned you and that God is still on the throne and in control.
But understand that if you are saved and because you are not saved, you are NOT obedient and submissive to God! His path is not clear, His plan is not going to be known!
And when believers are sinful in their life, and they cannot hear God or see His path, it is NOT God who moves… it is the believer who moves away from God.
Dad’s I say to you this morning, and this is a promise from God Himself… God is NOT in the business of bringing out of sin only to dump us and let us fend for ourselves! God’s promise is that He will always fight for us…
4) To be the dad God’s wants you to be…you must focus on serving Him:
5) To be the dad God’s wants you to be willing to sacrifice for God, not just your family – [v.5]:
6) To be the dad God’s wants you to be, rejoice in His promises and love for you – [v.6-8]:
Conclusion:
Psalm 4
v.4 – the psalmist teaches us that anger is NOT the problem of sin, but the attitude of our heart is the sin. Being angry is NOT the sin, and the psalmist reveals that we can be angry, but we do NOT have to sin.
Dad’s how many times have you found yourself in this situation? A situation comes up and it may upset us, but what we are being taught here is that anger and sin are different things.. you can be angry without sinning.
Paul addressed this issue as well in the NT, but Paul was speaking about a righteous indignation of sin. What Paul was saying was that it is ok to be angry against sinners and the sin in the world, but that your anger must be against the sinfulness and iniquity of the situation. We are NOT to allow ourselves to get angry enough to cause us to stray from our righteous walk in Christ Jesus.
The psalmist says to avoid this sinful anger we are to meditate in our own heart in our bed. This is a picture by the psalmist that shares with us that focusing on God was an intimate and personal time… it had to be taken seriously and held most sacred. The bedroom is held sacred in the Bible for many reasons, and here the illustration of meditating on your bed brings us the picture that this meditation is a sacred and personal and indepth time with God.
v. 5 – Here the psalmist instructs us to offer the sacrifices of righteousness. Just what does he mean? He is sharing with us that God calls us to living a righteous life and that living that righteous life is going to be a sacrifice on our part! We cannot live righteously for God without sacrificing who we are and submitting to who God wants us to be.
Paul said, “I am crucified in Christ that no longer I live but that Christ lives within me.” We are called to live a sacrificial life and to seek the righteousness of God, but just how can we do this?
Paul shares in Col 3 how we can begin to live a life of righteousness. He tells the believers in Colossae to put off the old self and to put on the new person they have become in Christ Jesus. Paul shares that we are to make the effort to rid ourselves of such things like, hate, malice, sexual immorality, impure thoughts, evil desires, dark passions, slander, obscene talk and even coveting what is not yours!
And as we rid ourselves of these things by the grace of God, we are to put on the clothing of the new believer and that clothing is…compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearing and forgiving one another.
For us to successfully seek out righteousness as the psalmist calls us to do, we must actively put off the old, and we must actively seek to put on the new. We have become NEW creatures in Christ, and Paul shares with us that we have died and our lives are hidden in Christ. We are not our own anymore, but we are called to serve Him, and we must seek an active and righteous path.
But for us to be able to put on the new and take off the old, we must learn to trust completely in the word of the Lord… to trust His promises… that He will do what He said He would do.
v. 6 – Here the psalmist lets us know that there are going to be those in this world who doubt our faith, who doubt our sincerity and who doubt our salvation… they want us to PROVE things to them… they think that being a Christian means that we are perfect and judgmental!
But that is NOT the case, we are called out of darkness by God, we are saved BY His grace NOT our works. We are sealed by HIS Spirit and not by our righteous living. We are not going to be perfect, but we are forgiven and we do have a promise to hold onto!
Reaching out to the lost in today’s day and time sometimes can be difficult because they want PROOF and they usually look to your life for proof, and if you have fallen in any shape, form or fashion then your faith is NOT true or real!
The psalmist shares that in times like this we are to call on the Lord for our deliverance and for our guidance. For HIS love and mercy to shine on us, for when God love and mercy shines on us and thru us… we cannot be put down!
v. 7 – Here the psalmist lets us know that God brings more happiness and gladness in our hearts than we can ever experience from the world’s bounty. Better than any material gift the world can bring God can bless our hearts beyond anything we can imagine!
Dad’s we cannot trust in the things of this life to bring us the joy and peace that we seek in our lives. The material things of this life and the successes in this life may bring us temporary pleasure and happiness, but it is an empty joy… one that fades over time… in fact most of the time when we achieve what we long for, we find out that it is not what we thought it would be and that we have to seek more and more things or successes to fill us with the joy and happiness we seek.
v. 8 – Here the psalmist comes to the ultimate conclusion that only when He rests solely in the Lord can he find true peace and rest.
Men, today you may be seeking happiness, you may be seeking a peace in your life. You may be trying to fill a hole in your life that you just don’t understand. Today the only lasting peace and joy that you can receive is found only in God… it is found in the person of Jesus Christ.
