Sermon for 11/7/2010
Psalm 73- Glorify
HoHum:
C.S. Lewis said, “I have an elderly acquaintance of about 80, who has lived a life of unbroken selfishness and self admiration from his earliest years, and is, more or less, I regret to say, one of the happiest men I know. As you perhaps know, I haven’t always been a Christian. I didn’t come to Christ to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of liquor would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
WBTU:
The writer of Psalm 73, Asaph, has similar thoughts. He notices that those who have little regard for God seem to be doing better than those who revere God.
Vs. 12- The righteous man goes broke, while the fellow who cheats gets rich and it doesn’t seem to bother him, he doesn’t loose any sleep over it. The wicked in Israel enticed others to follow them and their evil example, and yet their lives were seemingly blessed with financial prosperity and physical well-being, a fact which seemed contradictory to the covenant God had made with Israel.
Doesn’t it bother us? How good happens to bad people and bad happens to good people?
Where is the pay off? Why bother with the Christian faith if all we get is a raw deal?
There are times that I struggle with my sins but there are others whose sins don’t seem to bother them. Maybe I should adopt their attitude and not let my sins bother me and just give in and live it up. Let us eat, drink and be merry. As long as it feels good do it.
Vs. 16- 17: When Asaph went to church, it changed his perspective. This is more than just going to church. Some people come to church and this does not change their perspective because they do not engage their minds. They go through the motions without much thought and leave the church unchanged.
When it says I entered the sanctuary of God, this is talking about glorifying God. G’s of the godly, we have talked about grace, good news, group, growth, gifts, giving and now glorify.
Glory is all of the good attributes of a subject. Concerning a person, it is the manifestation of one’s good qualities, such as appearance, abilities, virtues, or personality. “At the kitchen, she was in her glory.” Concerning God, it is the display of his perfect characteristics, attributes and acts. When we glorify someone we worship, we admire, that persons good qualities. When we glorify God, we admire and praise Him for his perfection in all areas. Holy!
One of the ways we glorify is by participating in a church service that gives God praise. We can and should glorify God alone but it is more moving to do it in a group.
Thesis: How does going to church (glorifying the Lord) change one’s perspective on life?
For instances:
II. Reminded of eternity (Heaven and hell)
Hell
Vs. 17- Their final destiny is death, the second death. The first death is separation of the soul from the body. The second death is separation of the soul from God forever.
Vs. 18- Slippery ground- It’s like trying to go up or down a mountain when it is icy. Their position is so dangerous. No sure footing, no confidence.
Vs. 18- Cast them down to ruin- The Lord has allowed them enjoy the pleasures of this world and great will be their fall from the heights.
Vs. 19- How suddenly are they destroyed- 1 Samuel 20:3- (David) There is only a step between me and death.
Vs. 19- Terrors- Death beds- 23 minutes in hell- "Even if you don't believe my story, you should believe these Bible verses and avoid hell just the same. To me, it doesn't matter what causes you to understand the truth as long as it sinks in.”
Vs. 27- Those who are far from you will perish- No matter how comfortable they now seem to be, destruction is their final destiny.
Vs. 27- You destroy all who are unfaithful to you. Just saying that we are Christians is not enough. Matthew 7:21- Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
There will be a day of reckoning for the arrogant. Vs. 11- How can God know? Hebrews 4:13- Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
knowledge? Psalm 44:21 says that God knows the secrets of the heart.
Heaven
Vs. 23- I am always with you- Jesus Christ will never leave us nor forsake us. Lead us through the valley of the shadow of death to the other side.
Vs. 23- You hold me by my right hand- Like a child taking his daddy’s hand. Then he takes me by the hand and leads from through the Promised Land
Vs. 24- You will take me into glory- in heaven we will see all the glories of God
Vs. 25- Whom have I in heaven but you? God is what makes heaven, heaven.
Vs. 25- Earth has nothing I desire- Lord, You are more precious than silver. Lord, You are more costly than gold. Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds, And nothing I desire compares to You.
This life is a time of testing
In the TV show Everybody Love Raymond, little Alley begins asking some questions about babies. Raymond, the father, gets nervous and refuses to answer her questions. Later on, Raymond realizes that he needs to answer his daughter’s questions. Raymond goes and gets all of the books to explain the birds and the bees. Raymond goes into Alley’s room and starts to tell Alley about the facts of life. Ally, not interested in the facts of life, throws Raymond off by asking, “Why are we born? Why has God put us here?” Ally goes on and asks, “If we all go to heaven when we die, why does God want us here first?”
First, we all don’t go to heaven when we die but this is a good question. Why does God want us here first? When a baby dies, we say that the baby goes to heaven. Why did God create us and put us on this earth, we suffer here and then we go to heaven to be with our Creator?
God could have made us and put us in heaven. However, then we would not have a choice. On earth we have free will to accept or reject Jesus Christ. God doesn’t want robots, he wants us of our own free will to worship and glorify Him.
Ecclesiastes 12:13- Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
This is not heaven. Life can be unfair and unkind. The wicked and godless many times do fair better than the faithful. But this is not why we are here. Our duty is to prepare for heaven. Plan of salvation. Matthew 27:22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
God is good. (Psalm 73:1, 28)
This is the central question, Is God good or is He not?
The Bible tells us that the Lord is good. Do we believe it? Hebrews 11:6- Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
From a man named Steven: I had a cousin, about a year older than myself. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was only ten. In the summers I used to go and stay a week or two with her family to be company for her. We gained a closeness that never seemed to leave the relationship over the years. She was among the most honest people I’ve ever known. I recall talking to her in the months before she died (it was known that she was dying). We were both in our 40’s. In the conversation the subject of faith, God, heaven, etc. came up. She spoke with great tenderness about God. I remember asking her, “How is it that you’ve been in pain and crippled for 35 years and yet speak so kindly of God?” Her answer was very enlightening: “I haven’t always felt this way about God,” she said. “There was a time when I would wake up in the morning and curse God.” but then her voice lowered and she added meekly, “That was before I knew He was good.”
Vs. 28- It is good to be near God. The greater our nearness to God, the less we are affected by the attractions and distractions of earth. How can people like Bill Finley and Donnie Bowman say that God is good? Only because they were near to God.
The ultimate good in life is not prosperity, nor the absence of pain, but the nearness of God. James 4:8- Come near to God, and he will come near to you.
Our invitation hymn is “Near to the Heart of God” by Cleland McAfee. This is the story behind this hymn- Cleland McAfee, a minister in Chicago, had just received word that his brother and sister in law had lost both of their daughter to diphtheria within 24 hours. Grief stricken, McAfee couldn’t think of deep issues; he could only think of verses in the book of Psalms that brought comfort and rest to those who sought the Lord. As he meditated on God’s Word, he wrote the words and music to this simple hymn. At the double funeral, outside the house of his brother, Cleland McAfee with a choking voice sang this hymn publicly for the first time. McAfee went on to become well known, writing books and scholarly articles, but today he is best known for the words of comfort he was able to offer in a time of grief.
