Text: Psalm 71:15-24, Title: New Riverlutions: Love Christ, Date/Place: NRBC, 2/6/11, AM
A. Opening illustration: Finish Strong video, Lyrics to Who is like You
B. Background to passage: this is a psalm of old age. David (or whoever) was remembering and praying to God in their old age to again vanquish those who oppose him. The last 10 verses of the psalm will be my focus, and here’s the reason: I can tell you to “love God” over and over, but I am dependent upon God to enable you to do that, change our hearts, draw us to Himself. But I know that presenting the beauty, desirability, and wonder of this God that I am calling you to love will help you to love him. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word, so please now hear what the Word says about our God. May God open our ears, and incline our hearts, and fan the flames of our love for Him into a raging fire of passion and desire, that it would be fuel for the realization and the vision of increase, improve, and impact!
C. Today I will call for a commitment to the pursuit of God and this vision for NRBC in 2011, and we shall see how we respond to the challenge laid before us.
D. Main thought: This is arguable the most important of the three resolutions to achieve increase, improvement, and impact. Truly, if we fail here, it doesn’t matter if we increase or improve or impact. This is a foundation stone as well as a pinnacle for our thoughts about 2011; for if this is true then the other things will flow more naturally. Our desire for a revived church, our burden for others, our sense of urgency and passion, our willingness to commit and discipline ourselves, will all come more easily and more genuinely and flow from our deep love for Christ. Resolution # 3, we must passionately, increasingly, demonstrably love Christ!
A. Impeccable Character/Attributes
1. David speaks of God’s righteousness; in fact, he says it 4X in these last 10 verses. God’s righteousness consists of His moral purity, His sovereignty, His kingdom among the nations, His justice and carrying out of punishment, and his vindication of his people. David also mentions strength and power 3X. Like righteousness, it is limitless! The reservoir of righteousness, strength, and faithfulness will never run dry, nor even go down in capacity. David also mentions faithfulness of God, which goes on forever.
Illustration: In Christ We Have…(see below), A man was walking through an art gallery when he came upon a picture of the Lord Jesus dying upon the cross. He stopped and looked at the beautiful portrait of Calvary's love. As he stared into the face of Christ, so full of agony the gallery guard tapped him on the shoulder. "Lower," the guard said. "The artist painted this picture to be appreciated from a lower position." So the man bent down. And from this lower position he observed new beauties in the picture not previously shown. "Lower," said the guard. "Lower still." The man knelt down on one knee and looked up into the face of Christ. The new vantage point yielded new beauties to behold and appreciate. But motioning with his torch toward the ground, the guard said, "Lower. You've got to go lower." The man now dropped down to two knees and looked up. Only then as he looked up at the painting from such a low posture could he realize the artist's intended perspective. Only then could he see the full beauty of the cross.
2. We have a righteous God! Absolutely right and pure in everything that He does. Sovereign in doing all that He pleases in heaven and earth. Controlling nations and kingdom properly. Administering justice and punishment according to His infinite wisdom. And ensuring that His people are not ashamed! Everything He does or allows in your life is according to this righteousness. He never has an impure motive, never an improper thought or desire; never a back up plan, for He needs none. We have no need EVER to question His character, even if we don’t understand His providences. Every thought toward you is good and right. Every purpose of His is the greatest, highest, and best! He will raise you up! We could exhaust the thesaurus and the wells of ink and quills, and never scratch the surface of our God.
3. His power and ability to do whatever He wants and whatever, whenever, however you need is mind-blowing. No man, no circumstances, no army or nation, no obstacle can restrain His hand. You need a miracle, He can do it! Need a job, He can do it! Nothing is too hard, too difficult, too strenuous, too high, too wide, too dark, too expensive, too heavy, or too far. He’s our rock we run too; the judge we plead with; the Master that we are provided for by; sovereign whom we respect and revere. He is everything that we need now, or will ever need! Need help? Hope? Love? Kindness?
4. God never fails, not once, never has, never will. He will always be there for you, never leave you, and never forsake you. He will always do exactly what He said. People will fail you, God won’t! He always provides what you need; always sustains you, satisfies you, encourages you. He is the greatest, the highest best ever and ever. It also goes on forever, and never ends, never decreases. Don’t you love Him?!
B. Powerful Past Wonders
1. David again has three works that God has done that give him experiential confidence in God. First he speaks of God’s salvation. While this probably has undertones of eternal salvation, it probably means deliverance; situations that God has delivered David from-the lion, bear, Goliath, Saul, Absalom, etc. He also speaks about God’s wonderful works, which I would liken to miracles. God spoke light into darkness, rained fire down on Sodom, brought frogs, flies, locusts, gnats, hail on the Egyptians, make the walls fall flat, sun stand still, rocks fly straight, fire fall from Heaven, axe heads float, oil and meal multiply (bread and fish too), donkey’s talk, whales spit people out, kings eat grass, walked on water, raised the dead, water into wine, lame walk, dumb talk, deaf hear, lepers cleansed, demons leave, veil torn, rocks split, stones roll away, and the list can go on. And he had been there, done that! Finally, David speaks about God’s redemption in the past tense. Time will fail to allow to tell of the glories of redemption. Tell some.
2. Ps 18:19,
3. Illustration:
4. We serve a God who likes to deliver. He delivers because He delights in us! This does mean that He allows situations to come to pass that inherently have the need for deliverance. But once we are in the throws of trials, then He can deliver. And the trial and deliverance brings more glory to God that had you never entered into the trial. This doesn’t mean that God ALWAYS delivers, but that He always can. He delivered from Egypt, from Red Sea, starvation, Canaanites (and every other “ite” “ines” and “ians”), from the Assyrians (185K slain overnight), from famines, murderous plots, from sickness and death, AND HE STILL CAN/DOES. Don’t you love Him?!
5. The magnitude of God’s miraculous works throughout the last 5000 years is incredible! And if you need a miracle, he can do it! Sometimes its an accident that you should have been killed in; sometimes a test that comes back clean; sometimes houses and property that is spared. But there is no shortage of wondrous w.
6. If by grace through faith you have been born again, these blessings are yours! Stand in awe of the God who poured out His wrath on His Son, then transferred His righteousness to you, and your sin to Christ. Relish His love and mercy, wisdom and grace. Thank Him for dying for you, drawing you, opening your eyes, and saving you.
7. Don’t hear me up here sounding like a health and wealth gospel preacher. God’s priorities are not to make you healthy and wealthy, in fact for things like deliverance, the opposite must take place. It’s not that God wants to do these things and can’t because of your lack of faith; it’s that God definitely can, and on some level wants to, but is committed to the advance of His glory and your good, whatever that may entail.
C. Confident Future Grace
1. David then expresses his confidence in what God will do. There is much discussion as to whether this phrase and the second one are dealing the life and lift from troubles, or up from death in the resurrection. Both could be both. For David does believe that God will give him new life, after this trial or after death. He believes that God will lift him up through/after his trails or after his death in the resurrection. Next David speaks for the increase of his greatness (temporal and spiritual) and comfort on every side (God will encircle him).
2. Argumentation
3. Illustration: Carl Lundquist, former president of Bethel College and Seminary. In 1988, the doctors told him he had a rare form of cancer called mycosis fungoides, which invaded the skin over his entire body and ended his life three years later. He wrote this letter the day after he heard the news of his cancer: That day in the hospital room, I picked up my Bible when the doctor had left. I turned to the joy verses of Philippians, thinking one might stand out. But what leaped from the pages was Paul’s testimony in chapter one, "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." And I discovered that a verse I had lived by in good health also was a verse that I could live by in ill health. To live - Christ, to die - gain. But by life or by death, it’s all right either way ... So I simply trust that [God] in His own way will carry out for me His will which I know alone is good and acceptable and perfect. By life or by death. Hallelujah!
4. Don’t you know that God wants you to have a great hope in Him and the future that He will oversee for you? You will have life again, revival will come to your life after this trial! Makes you want to jump a few pews, right? God will lift your head up from the depths of sorrow. If not in life, in death! Maybe not today, but in His time. God is not done with you, not angry with you, hasn’t put you out to pasture. He will revive you and life you up! And he will do the same for us as a church! He will give you favor in the eyes of men, if you follow Him through these difficulties! He will increase your greatness, and reward in heaven! And he will encircle you with comfort! Don’t you love Him?!
5. My prayer is that God will enable us to love Him more fully, and that we will desire that, and do the things needed to enflame that passion. O NR, love Christ!
A. Closing illustration: MacArthur video – Love for Christ, Just like in a relationship where you are emotionally, mentally drawn to a person that is awesome, has done awesome things, and will do greater things, my prayer is that you will be more intimately in love with Christ
B. Gospel call: repent and believe
C. Choose you this day…Joshua 24:14-16, 19-24
a. You have heard over the last five weeks what 2011 could mean to NR. You know that the time is NOW, and we must seize the day. Our common ground is that of increase, improve, and impact. You have heard the call to love others (oppressed, unborn, orphaned, poor, lost) shedding many tears and beginning ministries to help them. You have heard the call to determination and commitment as we play the man in praying more, being consistent in our attendance, serving others and the church, giving more, and making disciples. Now you have heard about the beauty of the Christ who calls us to go and passionately love Him, pursuing Him, living for Him, and dying for Him if necessary.
b. So now I ask you, “Are you up for the challenge?” I do not want shallow, surface, pressured, guilted answers. Only stand if you are committed to seeing 50 more this year, new ministries started, buildings built, etc. If you stand it indicates that you feel strongly about the vision for 2011, and you are committing yourself this day to do whatever it takes. Just because you don’t stand doesn’t mean you are against God. It could simply mean that you are not sure that NR is ready for this, or that you are not sure this is the direction for us to move in. And this may indicate our need to wait. If so, we will Luke 13, wait another year, through some fertilizer on it, and see if it makes any fruit then. But my hope that we are ready for commitment!
D. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• In Christ We Have:
A love that can never be fathomed
A life that can never die
A righteousness that can never be tarnished
A peace that can never be understood
A rest that can never be disturbed
A joy that can never be diminished
A hope that can never be disappointed
A glory that can never be clouded
A light that can never be darkened
A purity that can never be defiled
A beauty that can never be marred
A wisdom that can never be baffled
Resources that can never be exhausted.
Psalm 113:5, Psalm 93:1-2, Isaiah 40
Who is like You in the heavens? Who is like You on the earth? There is no one with such power There is no one with such worth
Almighty King of all creation Robed in splendor and majesty Neither ending nor beginning Reigning from eternity
God of strength beyond all measure Worthless idols bow ashamed To You who hold each star of heaven You call every one by name
Who can fathom Your understanding? Who can grasp Your perfect ways? You whose lowest thoughts are higher Than the highest thoughts of man
WHO IS LIKE THE LORD OUR GOD?THE ONE ENTHRONED ON HIGHYOUR KINGDOM IS FOREVERYOUR GLORY KNOWS NO END
You are God there is no other So worthy and so great Highest praises and all honor Be unto Your holy name
